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...This was bound to happen. She repeated it over and over again scanning through the small note held within her petite hands, a crow sat casually by the window pane. Eyeing her with its beaded eyes, as through it was thinking of numerous other things it could be doing instead idly sitting in a blank office room that smelled strongly of ink and paper, numerous stacks of paperwork filled the brown wood desk, numerous folders each labeled different sat stacked hazardously on the shelves, some lay on the ground half open, some of its contents sticking out.

This was a normal day in the office of her skimming through and filing the cursed paperwork her brother left for them to do. Actually more of them taking the burden off the red king’s back so he could concentrate on other clan affairs that needed to be looked into... it’s obviously what in her words, cursed them into the hellish plane of battling an opponent that had no death no. Paperwork had no death it... knows how to multiply, groaning the young girl sat up on the chair then without a word slammed her forehead in a loud thud on the hard surface of the desk.

“Stupid, damn, bloody, fox.” She swore mutinously. Now no one ever heard the young woman swore. The young girl that was considered to be a doll in the group and the current apple in the eyes of the red king. Well her brother hadn’t her swear either, this marked the occasion for doing so while she was alone with just a crow unwillingly keeping her company.

Considering how trouble glued itself onto the man this shouldn’t come as a surprise what irked the child the most was... that every time he managed to get his tail in a pinch it’s often her that comes to bail him out. No matter how Nise wanted to ignore the cry for help on behalf of their missing friend she couldn’t ignore it. She couldn’t place the note on the desk without the jarring figure of hesitation looming over her shoulders.

Should she ignore it? Tempting, oh the temptation was there waiting for her to take the bait in the form of the paperwork that needed to be filed for the day but at the same time it also served as another temptation to run over and help her... disaster stricken friend. Oh the choices running through her mind.

“Star... I’m going to strangle you for this.” A sigh dripping in exasperation left her lips, pushing her way out of the chair she grabbed a nearby pen and paper, scribbling a short note of her absence before tossing it on the desk, and another to answer the message sent by that strange individual. Don’t get her wrong, she wanted to know who sent the SOS signal to them, and why them?

A tiny drop of paranoia began rising in her throat but she pushed it back, hoping against the humor of the gods that the fox hadn’t gotten himself into too deep of a trouble she made her way towards the door to head to her room to prepare.

---

Three hours since she received the note, then another three to head over to over to Lilla, thanking the gods for connections in traveling or this might as well be the closest thing to a hellish walking time. She jumped down the cart, carb in a loose cloak that hid most of her features the young girl was quick to pull down the hood from her interfering with her eye sight. The place was just as she remembered it to be, oozing in the air of booze and the faint smell of business life. Her nose crinkled in mild distaste as her ears rang with the loud cries of the barkers advertising certain business. Business or pleasure this was the mark of the city but this time she was here purely for business. Sharp eyes scanned the area, eyeing each sigh she passed through as she duck through the heavy stream of people walking through the dirt encrusted road. She stopped, seeing the door marking a tavern right ahead of her, the child’s head veered towards the sign the fishing out the paper within her pockets she glanced back at it then back towards the sign. Seems like she found the damn place. A breath of relief swept from her lips as she slinked inside, looking around till her eyes landed on another cloaked individual with others clearly already sitting along the round table. Making her way towards them, she just hoped she had the right group. The cloaked one seems to be the instigator from the way he’s positioned and the angle of how he spoke, she tapped his shoulder, discreetly showing him the note before taking her seat beside a the red headed man. Her attention stilled latched onto the dark haired one with the strange eyes. “...Lemme get this straight... the damn fox managed to land himself in an illegal underground ring this time?” She wanted to make sure she heard her ears right as it drowned the other noises from the drinking patrons. She couldn’t have heard him right did she? Star in an underground STRAIN fighting ring? The notion made her stomach curl in discomfort. The damn idiot was going to cost her being revealed as one at this rate. No no, she tried shaking the jarring thoughts from her mind. It wasn’t easy... it still keep coming back. Their plan was a simple infiltration scheme of them entering the place as contenders, Nise some of the risk involve but to be honest this sounded like one of the most sound route they could take.

“There’s risk involve here...” She softly added her two cents in trying to keep her voice low so it couldn’t be heard by anyone else outside their group. “But ironically that’s one of the most sound way we could get in.” She added casting a look over to both the dark haired man and the red headed one that volunteered to be the second strain. Ironic wasn’t it? She was one but at the same time she didn’t look like one.

If she depended on them... the thought crossed her mind every night she lay her head on that soft pillow, playing along with the other thoughts racing through her head. She gave the facade of an uncaring child to the rest of the world, but... why cant she fool herself when she can fool so many people. Her own enemy as much as Anise wanted to deny the fact was her own person. She was her own worse opponent. In a sense, this was just one of her ways to retain her personal believe on her own sense of independence.

She cant just... rely on them, seeing them she's seeing those who needed them from behind their shadows. She made her choice the second her hand touched the hilt, the child's reflection played upon the metallic surface of the sharp edged blade, glittering its faint warning as the bright rising rays of the morning sun touched its surface.

How many lives had this weapon ended a life? She found herself musing at it, trying decipher the hidden story this blade she held in her hand is trying to convey, in a sense she was playing a charade game with a inanimate object. Wasnt that silly, she found her gaze lifting towards Ryune, absorbing his words as a sponge she took the gravity hidden underneath his meaning. She had to ready... to wield a blade meaning forgoing the thin veil of innocence she supposedly held against the world. But, if she was going to be completely honest that veil long died years ago. She didnt remember just how it died, but it's dead. She wasnt an innocent angel she portrayed herself to be. She nodded, returning to look at the weapon in her hands she tried to recall the words of the man who originally opened her eyes to the reality of her situation. It was like hearing a recording when Ryune began explaining, the young child couldnt help but play the innocent mask upon her features as she listened, masking the calculating sharpness within those eyes as she listened intently.

"Too much courage can turn a man into a reckless disaster." She muttered softly, or fools willing to draw a death wish in a fight. Cockiness gets a person killed, that's nothing new in this age of time. She took a deep breath, here comes the hard part. To learn the weapon within her grip, her hand unclenched then clenched itself tightly on the wooden hilt, light, fast... that's what was coming through her mind. A knife was built for the fast strikes and a brilliant way to devise a surprises. From what she saw from the others, the girl...felt slightly clumsy with the knife as she hadnt been properly trained in wielding daggers. Who said it was easy getting used to a weapon... clearly had too much mead that day.

She made a quick swipe at the air, testing the weight in her arm. It felt different from how she had to shift the weight of her spear to get a good aim but this one felt light in her hands, almost as light a damn feather. She gave it another strike, watching as the glint of sunlight sparkled at the sharp edge. Before glancing back at Ryune, calculating just what she needed to do. Every path she took in her mental point of view meant utter death, he..was a trained warrior, but that was the point it in, to try and learn what way she should go for. After all, an experienced warrior can eradicate an army with the right strategy. "I think I'm ready..." She said, a bit unsure. She was sure he could sense it through her tone. Well... no one can really blame her for being a tiny bit nervous. The man was a trained killer, but... she had to put his words to the test. He said any part... then she struck, nimbly forcing out the speed her tiny form can produced though a bit clumsy, she made a move to make a quick attack at his side.

Why... if she could ask him now, why did he go to that mission after she warned him before? She told him...she wasn’t comfortable with the job he took, but he wouldn’t acknowledge the throbbing anxiety produced by her gut instincts sensing the premonition of disaster looming over him like a dark rain cloud. He didn’t listen...

And look how he ended up it, she sighed, reminiscing the dark clouds threatening to engulf her mood, intending to spiral it down into the despair she had felt when he disappeared all those months ago. Mixed feelings ate her stomach, making it churn in discomfort. He never listened... now she found him after two months without any warning, without any preparation to steel the heart she swore had frozen over but like her brother the bastard had to worm his way into the edifice that held that frozen disaster of a heart she had.

She wondered, as he spoke she tried to listen to his words all while ignoring the urge to make him feel the exact sadness she felt. This is why, she hated feeling attachments, she hated the emotions that followed along with it, now she cant do anything about it. It was there, she had an attachment to this annoying fox no matter how many times he denied it. She arched an eyebrow, hearing him state about her being rude. Sure her words from time to time tend to stem from the blunt attitude she was known for.

Nise should have expected that reaction from him at the same time it amused the child. She still sensed the light tinged of naivety on his tone. Amnesia or not he hasn’t changed this perhaps the young woman can be thankful of...

Now if she can resist that heavy urge to smack him over the head for not listening to her warnings. “I say it how I see it.” She intoned, still leaning her back against that wall, her eyes turned their gaze back at him. Did he really expect her... to just tell him things, when he made it perfectly clear he didn’t know a shit about them. Well maybe she was getting a bit of herself, Nise never prided herself in being an expert in human interaction in fact being in this situation was far too foreign for her to be comfortable. She did her best to hide it from him, hiding it behind the large wall she pulled up between him and her.

“You really expect me to give freebies?” Her eyebrow arched slightly, a faint twinkle of amusement twinkled in those orbs of hers as she maintained that blank mask she wore on her face. “You’re such a troublesome fox...” She then sighed, heaving a breath of air into her lungs to pacify the growing migraine on her head. “You’re definitely one troublesome fox...” She moved her hand over towards the bandages covering her ankle, pulling at the fabric a bit until it loosen revealing part of the mark she gained upon her admittance into the red clan the same one they both shared as being members of the red clan. “Will this suffice as a clue?” She asked, bending down to start fixing the loosen bandages.

She never asked for this, rain steadily dropped from her window pane tapping onto the glass in successive beats she imagined them as tiny little gems falling, only for them to crash onto the ground in tiny little pieces. A kin to life watching the rain fall reminded the young woman how fragile human life could be. She left a soft breath leave her delicate lips. Brushing warm air against her pallid skin the young woman slid from her bed. Dressed already from having decided to leave since dawn but the sudden down pour hindered those plans.

Lucifer rarely allowed the young woman the chance to go out during the rainy seasons knowing just how unstable her health can be on these months. In truth Anise understood the precautious route her brother took. The last time illness took her she recalled her brother’s worried face hovering over her while doing his job as a worried older brother nursing his weak little sister. She shook her head of the image, noting how the rain refused to cease as she peered back towards the lone window in her room. One of the connections she had with the human world within the safe sanctuary of the two cornered walls.

Perhaps, she glanced at the silent clock ticking through the hours in slow successions. Each tick represented the time she spent slowly dawdling on her sanity if she continued to do nothing but waste this day away. The young child uttered a few sentences resembling words from an ancient dialect she once studied from one of the books her grandfather kept in his massive library. It’s still there should she decide to reminisce the days of her being under the guidance of a man who barely took the time to look at her.

Past is past, she stopped the image from lingering within her mind. Casually tossing it down an empty abyss where she usually throws things she’d rather forget but she never does as her mind refused to relinquish its hold upon the annoyance that is her past.

An hour later, pressing her back against the wall of their large compound she slip from the watchful eyes of the sentries akin to a ghost gliding into nothingness she utilized the shadows as her means of being undetected throughout her whole plot, beads of water soaked into her soaked, forcing the fabric to cling onto her skin. She gripped her cloaked a bit tighter than usual as she slipped away into the run down city of piros, even the beggars hated the rain... she thought as she glanced around. People wedged themselves against the small nooks of the alleys trying to keep themselves protected from the falling rain. Those who managed to reside on the partially abandoned decrepit walls of some of the buildings refused to leave, peering from the windows as the child caught their fleeting shadows.

Piros...certainly seen better days,

A few centuries ago or more...she tried picturing this place as like one of the other cities but it was hard to ignore the dark shadows lingering over the forgotten city. This...was the city of the dead and dying. How quaint...

Her steps fell in tune with the falling rain as she trudged through the wet streets of piros. Wonder... just what on earth will fate drag to her doorstep.