by Willow
Emerald whistled through her teeth and darted through the crowds, avoiding elbows, hip-checks and pickpockets. The problem was, other than hanging out on roofs some more, she didn't have any idea where she could find that dark clothed figure. And something was bothering her at the back of her head. She could have sworn there was another figure. So two black figures that bounced over roofs. This was gonna be harder than she thought.
Luse wandered aimlesly, having no goal in life, and not eager to get one. He didn't care, really, but he didn't want to die, precisely. He got the vagu impression that dying wouldn't solve anything, even if he wouldn't have to listen to Parintachin any more. Or would he? Luse put a cigarette between his lips and lit it. He'd come close to death a couple times, and well, recently, he'd seen Par. The thought of any long amount of time having to deal with the undead clown was a little staggering.
A tall elven figure rode into town that day, on a massive horse. His red-gold hair was arranged into a neat, unitarian braid down his back between his shoulder blades. He didn't look rich enough to be a noble, nor did he wear the manner of a mage. His fierce green eyes scouted the streets as he rode slowly, and anyone that noticed his gaze shivered, becase they were the eyes of a lunatic. This is Franklin Balmi. He is after his daughter. And he is not a happy elf.
Emerlad shivered suddenly. 'I feel like someone just walked over my grave,' she thought. Then she stopped ,one foot in the air, and turned. Looking in the other direction was a familiar shape.
"Father," she gulped, and ran down the alley she'd been passing, snagging the bottom of a fire escape, and swinging up onto it, and from there onto the roofs. 'I'm not running.' she thought as she skittered along the gutters. 'I meant to come up here tonight, look for those black figures.' Her fiercely clenched teeth and the sweat that soaked her as she ran made her realize that she lied to herself. She found a abandoned building and hid for the rest of the day, sharpening her weapons in the dark.
Franklin went into the police station, looking disdainfully at the dregs of society that filled it. But he had found, in his long and varied life, that cooperating with systems that were already in place. Besides from the headlines, it was quite possible that he didn't have to do anything, and his daughter was already dead.
Emerald ran along the ledge just above the gutter, arms outstretched for balance. The night was deep and rich around her, and the sounds of nightlife came from beneath her. Something was going to happen soon. She could feel it. Reaching the end of the roof, she clambered up the slope of the shingles, and began running along the ridge pole. She had gone less than a yard when the wind lifted her off her feet, tearing her into the night sky and for half an instant, giveing her a dizzying, heart stopping glimpse of the street below, bfore it quit. She barely managed to land on the next roof. Cursing her small, pre-adolecent form, Emerald clung to the shingles, panting. She raised her head and a mad smile twitched at the edges of her mouth. Standing she resumed her ledge running, finally sliding down a gutter to the street below and giggling softly, almost inaudibly, disapeared into the night.
Tenth felt someone approach his room. He shouldn't be staying in the city, he realized, but then, risks were what made his life more interesting. There was a knock. The door opened on its own. A petite strawberry blonde woman stood there, jaw falling open. She was nearly twitching with fear.
"h.... Crow...." she said, green-blue eyes flashing with fear. "I'm sorry... wrong door!" She turned heel and fled.
"What was that about?" Tenth asked himself.
Eddie sat grumpily, alone in the room he was supposed to be sharing with his brother. Of course his brother was in the next room over with Havoic, their bass guitar player, and his twin's lover. And their opening performance had been posponed untill tomorrow. So he was alone, grumpy and craving a drink that wasn't readily availabe in this place. Wait.... Eddie looked out the window. There was still a good amount of time before his self-, guardian-, and sibling-enforced curfew. He stood, and grabbed his dagger from the bedpost, strapping it on. Eddie kicked open the windows, and tied a black bandanna over his wispy blond hair. Then he leapt out the window without a backward glance.
He fell through the night, feeling the wind against his cheeks. Eddie's green eyes floated in the darkness, and he sighed. His feet found the roof under him, and he opened his eyes. Eddie yawned in the dirty night light of the city. It was only an hour or so before dawn, and the night life was winding down, as pepole who worked during the day were starting to think about waking up. He wrinkled his upturned nose. It still smelled though. He smiled and trotted along the gutter softly, his light soled boots making little noise on the tile. He looked down.
Lusiphur walked down the streets, looking for someone to practice random, impartial violence upon. It was going to be hard at this time of night.
"Hey, backbiter!"
Or maybe it wasn't. Luse turned to see three brutish humans, just drunk enough to think they were invincible. The dark haired ex-assasin looked carefully at them, and smiled. And two out of three were drugged out of their minds. This would be too easy. He dropped his coat to the ground.
Eddie saw a slight elvin figure being set upon by three figures each at least twice his size. His sense of fair play cut in and he dove off the edge of the building, then landed, boots cracking shoulder blades to the ground beath him, and holding the larger figure's hair at waist level. He turned to grab the last one, as the first beat uselessly at his arm. And green eyes widened, becase the smaller, dark elf was holding his own. No, not holding his own; slowly, and purposefully, beating the larger figure to a bloody pulp in the most painful way possible. Shocked, Eddie cracked his arm like a whip, breaking the neck of the man he held by the hair. Eddie looked down at the dead figure as he heard the dying scream of one of the other two. He looked up and saw the dark elf aproaching with blood in his eye.
"Wha?" Eddie managed to get out, before the elf snarled at him.
"There was barely enough to be fun," snarled Luse "And you took down two of them! Two!" He waved two fingers in Eddie's face, as the blond rapidly rereated. "Why do you try to ruin all my fun, huh?" The sword started to raise and Eddie flung himself back up into the night.
Luse looked up, shocked, at the pale and scared face that looked down at him over the edge of the roof. For an instant, he looked back at where the youth had been standing a moment before, then he leapt to a fire escape and scrambled up it. If the kid was going to take his fun, he was going to have to pay the consequences.
Eddie squeaked in fear, first as the psychotic dark elf climbed up to his level, then as he looked to the east and saw it pinkening. In a flash of black cloth he was gone.
'Crow!' thought Luse. 'That guy is faster than me!'
Meanwhile, Emerald saw a figure, clothed in black, a couple of roofs over. She was wearing a new outfit, gem green, flowing sleeves slit almost to the shoulders, one sleeve tucked into her wrist band, making it look like a normal sleeve. The other was flowing free, mimicking the loin-cloth that hung down, parroting, poorly the skirts that many women wore. All of her hair, save for the three wraps in front of each ear was pulled into a pony tail, which bounced as she jumped to her feet, grinning. 'Ah HA!" She thought with renewed energy, hurtled towards it, the fake-skirt flapping against her upper thighs, pony tail flying out behind her. She slid down the roof towards the figure, he turned. Em scrabbled along the roof tiles trying to stop herelf. But even so, Luse had only a half second of shock before she crashed into him, sending them both careening off the edge of the roof. Or they would have, if Luse hadn't whipped out a blade as they collided, and managed to drive it through the edge of the roof. For a moment they hung there, Luse holding his blade, and Em clutching at his legs to keep from falling.
"We keep running into each other," Em choked out.
"Oh shut up," Luse growled, hauling himself, and conseqently, her, back onto the roof.
"Why aren't you dead?" he demanded, as she smoothed out her tunic and stood.
"Didn't want to be," she said "That guy couldn't diagnose a chest wound." She grinned. The dark elf, for lack of any better ideas, reached out and snatched the tape off her half healed nose.
"OWWW!" yelped Em, clutching her face. "What did you do that for!"
Lusiphur pulled his sword from the ledge and sheathed it in a smooth movement.
"Why not?" He glared down at her. "Why did you just crash into me?"
Unfazed by his murderous glare, Em smiled in a carefree way. "I thought you were someone else," she shrugged "Sorry."
Luse debated gutting her, and decided not to at the moment. He thought fondly about re-breaking her nose, but discarded it, because she was just crazy enough to attack him if he did.
"So," she said, digging at the slit in the roof with her toe. "Where did you get that sword? It's enchanted, isn't it? I've never seen a normal sword do something like that."
"Why are you chattering at me?"
"Dunno, trying to distract you so you don't try to kill me again."
"You pratically dared me to kill you."
"Oh sure, bring details into it." Em grinned and looked over the edge of the building. "Too-Dah-loo, boy." Then she flung herself off the edge of the roof. Lusiphur followed her flight across the alley with his eyes and watched her land neatly on a ledge only a few stories up. Then she slid down a gutter and waved merrily to him. Luse took the same route down, only much faster.
"Yipe!" went Em as he suddenly appeared in front of her. "Crow, you're fast, it's not natural!"
"Yeah, well neither is your hair color."
"Magic jerk," Em snarled, and her fingers touched the hilt of her sword. Then she took a deep breath and calmed down.
"Alright, why are you bothering me with you -cute- little tricks?" she brushed an imagined spot of dirt off her sleave. Green blue eyes looked up at Lusiphur. "Is this about that Sanctuary thing? Because if it is, you can forget it. I don't know dick 'bout it." She reached up and straightened the little golden skull that was clipped onto her right ear. He saw her rise onto the balls of her feet. She was going to try and run.
"You are a rude bastard." Em hissed between her teeth.
"Yeah, so?"
"I don't think I like you any more."
"Should I care?"
"Yup." Emerald grinned. "Because I resent the fact you're better than I am."
"Wait a sec, if I'm better than you, why should I care?"
"Because the greatest rogue does not fear the second greatest. He fears the worst." There was no trace of sanity in her eyes. Instead of fleeing, Emerald attacked, a foot aimed for Luse's face. He grabbed and deflected it, sending her flying towards the wall. Em twisted in the air, landing feet first on the wall, and bounding off, then leap-frogged over his shoulders, and by the time he turned around, she was gone. Then he heard her voice echo back to him.
"That and all the rest ganging up on him." Luse swore at random, trying to express what he was feeling.
"Should have killed her when I had the chance."
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Epilogue