{"sf1_id":875108,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter 3: The Bloodletter","author":"Volcan MacAingeal","words":19715,"posted_at":"2015-06-18T22:31:00.000Z","tags":["Assassin","Ice","Kitsune","Nogitsune","Phoenix","Violence","combat","competition","earth","fire","murder","wind"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/875108-chapter-3-the-bloodletter","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/875108","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=875108\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"The Os-Nàdarra Sentinels\nArc Three:\nThe Overlords\nChapter 3: The Bloodletter\n-January 19th,\n2011, afternoon-\n            \"Pavan, my mom is going to kill you\nwhen she finds out you dragged me out of bed for a TV show,\" Volcan rasped as\nhe leaned on the wind phoenix for support while descending down the stairs one\nshort, slow step at a time.. \n            \"C'mon, man; a little action TV will\ndo you wonders,\" Pavan stated as he led Volcan down, surprisingly patient in\nthe trek as normally Pavan was always in such a big hurry to get to wherever he\nwanted to go, hating the very thought of taking his time. But even he\nunderstood he could not rush with an injured phoenix using him for a crutch.\n\"Nothing heals a man better than a good guy's night in.\"\n            \"Tell me again why you couldn't just\ngo get the smaller TV from the kitchen and bring it up to my room? There is\ncable in there you know.\"\n            \"Because something this badass\nshould be watched on a big screen!\" Pavan replied, excitedly. \"If you can't go\nsee it first-hand, then you should at least watch it on a forty-two inch if not\nbigger, and your mom's got an HD! Now hurry up; we've already missed the first\ntwo rounds of the tournament!\"\n            Volcan groaned, but reluctantly\ncontinued to do the best he could to drag himself down the steps. For two weeks\nhe'd been bedridden; even though his recovery was already surprisingly\nprogressed, he still couldn't move anywhere on his own. Every movement of his\nexhausted, injured body felt like he was lifting an I-beam, and the stiffness\nof his legs like trying to bend iron with every step he took.\n            They reached the ground floor, and\nPavan dragged Volcan over to the living room, plopping him down on the couch\nbefore he zipped off into the kitchen. \"Watch the antiques; you break anything\nmy mom will bend you like a pretzel!\" Volcan called, coughing as he strained\nhis vocal cords. \"Ow...\"\n            \"Just grabbing some snacks!\" Pavan\ncalled back. \"...Hey, where does your mom keep the junk food in this house?\"\n            \"There's usually a bag of potato\nchips in the pantry,\" Volcan replied as he struggled to find a more comfortable\nposition on the couch. The very effort winded him; 'I thought only morbidly obese people could get this worn out just by\nmoving,' he thought in exasperation. '...Okay\nmaybe a little mean of me to think that, but still, this is humiliating. Look\nat the big hero of Unity Falls now.'\n            Pavan appeared seconds later with a big bowl full of potato chips,\nplacing it on the coffee table before reaching for the remote to switch on the\nTV, flipping channels until he reached the right one. \"Ha! Here it is; get\nready for some asses to be kicked, Volc.\"\n            From the television, the announcer\nwas just reporting the conclusion of a fight, seeing a white tiger Volcan\nrecognized quite well kneeling down with many a bruise flowering beneath his\nfur. \"What a startling turn of events! In\nan unprecedented conclusion to our second round, a newcomer has defeated one of\nour top-ranking competitors in the second round!\" The camera shifted to a\nnew figure...\n            Volcan and Pavan both gawked, eyes\nbugging wide open and bodies going completely stiff as they saw who it centered\non, and both of them blurted the same name simultaneously.\n            \"VINGE?!?!?!\"\n~~~~~\n            Tsume let out a triumphant cry as\nshe slid under her opponet's roundhouse kick and delivered a powerful upwards\nkick to their jaw and sending them flying two feet across the fighting ring\nbefore they hit the floor, holding their mouth and curling up into a fetal\nposition. The referee called the fight following that kick, when they saw that\nTsume's opponent was not getting back up. He walked over to her, gripping her\narm and holding it triumphantly over her head, letting the crowd see the\nwinner.\n            Tsume beamed at the cheers, raising\nher other arm for all to see as a medical team approached the arena to help her\ndowned competition. Following that, she started making her way back to the\nlocker room to let the next fight begin, feeling a sense of pride and\nconfidence at her win that brought a joyful spring to her step.\n            When she entered the room, she\nstepped aside to let the next two fighters pass, and saw Vinge had been waiting\nto greet her when she returned. \"Welcome back,\" he said, offering her a bottle\nof water. \"And well-done.\"\n            \"Thanks,\" she said, and smiled at\nhim as she took the water, popping open the cap and taking a long drink. When\nshe had her fill, she looked at Vinge. \"So, are you ready for your fight with\nMr. Colman?\"\n            \"I am,\" returned Vinge. \"I think\nI've figured out his fighting style enough that I may know how to beat him.\nStill, it could go either way.\"\n            \"So, I could be fighting either you\nor him in the finals,\" said Tsume.\n            Vinge chuckled. \"Assuming you win\nthe third round,\" he pointed out.\n            \"I'm not stopping until I get to the\ntop,\" she stated. \"I've finished in the top four every competition I've been to\nprior to here; I think I'm long overdue to finish in first now.\"\n            \"Pride comes before the fall,\nTsume,\" Vinge said in friendly warning. \"Remember that.\"\n            \"Is that something else Sun Tzu said\nin his book?\"\n            \"No, actually, that one's from the\nBible.\"\n            Tsume's expression turned from\nintrigued to flat at the very mention of the Bible. \"Two weeks ago you found\nout the Egyptian Gods are real; you can't possibly tell me you believe in the\nBible -that seven deadly sins thing is complete bull-\"\n            \"I don't,\" returned Vinge,\ninterjecting. \"But just like some of the proverbs in Art of War, some in the\nBible are true, and that was one of them.\"\n            Tsume irked an unconvinced eyebrow\nat him before she shrugged. \"Well I can agree with that. Don't worry; I'm not\ngoing to let my pride get out of control.\"\n            \"I've heard that before... but\nfortunately I know and trust you, so I'll trust your word,\" stated Vinge,\nbefore he turned his gaze towards the television screens, seeing the fight\ncurrently going on outside. \"Looks like my next battle is starting soon; this\none is almost finished.\"\n            Tsume nodded. \"Good luck.\"\n            He nodded back to her. \"Thanks,\" he\nreturned, before his gaze went to the doors out to the ring, seeing Mr. Colman,\nhis opponent and soon-to-be teacher if he were to win, already proceeding out\nto the ring ahead of him. \"I may need a little luck against this one.\"\n~~~~~\n            The ship rumbled as it slowly crept\ninto port of the west-coast metropolitan city of Vancouver, the largest city in\nBritish Columbia known for its beautiful coastline and nearby mountains that\nbroughts tourists aplenty to the city. The ship was arriving and loaded to the\nbrim with shipping containers marked with the national flag of Japan on its\ndeck; hundreds of metal containers of various colours, filled with imported\ngoods and ready to be loaded with exports from Canada. Crew men on and off the\nship immediately got to work, securing the ship in the harbour and bringing\naround a crane to unload the containers currently on the deck, while others\nbegan to inspect the boat for travel-induced damage or illegal cargo.\n            However, the stowaways leaving the\nship went unnoticed; a large, dark winged figure leapt over the railing,\nfollowed shortly after by a many-tailed vulpine, both of them spreading broad,\nfeathery wings to fly away from the ship, over the docks and out to the city\nbeyond, making their way over to a far-off building where they landed, so far\nno alarms being roused by their presence. They landed silently on the rooftop,\nand proceeded to survey their surroundings, confirming they were alone.\n            \"That was easier than I thought,\"\nCalhoun remarked. \"Hours on that boat and not a single person spotted us.\"\n            \"It was difficult not going after\nthe crew,\" Kumori snickered as the strange wings that had appeared on his back\nslowly began to recede into his body, shrinking and collapsing until they\nmelded with his flesh through the open back of his suit, which sealed over as\nthe last of the wings shrank away into nothingness. \"On such a confined space I\ncould've massacred everyone and they'd have had nowhere to run!\"\n            Calhoun rolled his eyes, groaning.\n\"You've got a one-track mind,\" he muttered.\n            \"I heard that,\" Kumori retorted in a\nwarning tone.\n            \"Just save your murderous urges for\nVolcan Skilerain,\" Calhoun returned to the nogitsune.\n            \"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten\nour agreement,\" Kumori assured the dark phoenix. \"Though I have to ask; where\nshall you and I meet once this task is done?\"\n            Calhoun was slow with an answer,\nadmittedly having not thought that far ahead. He thought back to his knowledge\nof the layout around Unity Falls, compliments of his shared memories with his\nprevious host. Soon, he arrived at a decision. \"There's an old ranger station\nthat overlooks the city on the mountains near Unity Falls. I'll wait for you\nthere.\"\n            \"A simple task,\" returned Kumori.\n\"I'll have that phoenix bleeding before dawn tomorrow.\"\n            \"You can fly that fast?\" Calhoun\ninquired, irking an eyebrow at Kumori.\n            \"No... but I can do this,\" returned\nKumori as he backed away from Calhoun, followed by jumping over the side of the\nbuilding.\n            Surprised by the reckless act,\nCalhoun walked over to the ledge and peered over the side, seeing Kumori\ndropping down towards the street in the shadow of the skyscraper in complete\nfree fall with nothing to cushion his landing. Just as Calhoun felt certain\nthat the nogitsune was about to become paste on the sidewalk, Kumori seemingly\nvanished just before making contact with the ground, melting away into the\nbuilding's shadow to fade as if he never were. \nCalhoun had not met one before, even harbored within\nhis old vessel, but he recognized the power displayed by Kumori. \"Hm. A Shadow\nWalker; very useful,\" said Calhoun before he stepped away from the railing.\n\"He'll be in Unity Falls before I am with that ability; should've asked for a\nlift.\" He shook his head. \"Oh well. Now that I've had lots of time to rest...\"\n            With that, Calhoun ran towards the\nother side of the building, sprinting over the rooftop before jumping on the\nrailing and making a mighty leap into the air, spreading out his wings and\nsoaring off into the sky, rising higher above the skyscrapers of downtown\nVancouver and turning his direction east, passing over the Grouse Mountain as\nhe flew on towards the peaks, fire exploding from his feet to propel him onward\nwith a boost of speed and leaving a smoke trail in his wake. The dark phoenix\nfelt a nostalgic glee rising within him, a glee that brought that diabolical\ngrin of his right back to his face.\n            He was almost back to his happy\nhunting ground...\n~~~~~\n            Vinge's battle with Colman was on.\n            He engaged the horse out in the\nring, opening with a high-striking kick that the stallion easily evaded,\ndeceptively swift for an anthro of his height. Vinge came around again after\nmissing the initial kick, aiming one directly for Colman's chest, which the\nstallion actually caught between both hands to stop it.\n            \"Good speed,\" complimented Colman.\n            \"Thank you!\" Vinge returned before yanking his foot away, catching himself\non his hands and cartwheeling back onto his feet properly, returning to his\ndefensive stance.\n            \"Sikaran requires speed to master,\"\nColman explained as he and Vinge circled one another. \"But it also requires\nprecision and an acute ability to read the movements of your opponent.\" He\nmotioned with both hands for Vinge to come at him, which the Ice phoenix did,\nthrowing several quick punches, after each he'd move back out of range to avoid\na counter-attack if one were to come; every punch was successfully blocked by\nColman, using only his hands to defend. \"You use your hands ten percent of the\ntime...\" and with that, went into a series of kicks, each one at a different\nheight; he performed several low or medium kicks, a reverse-hook kick that\nnearly caught Vinge right in the head, and concluded with a powerful direct\nkick that sent Vinge reeling. \"And your feet ninety percent!\"\n            Vinge gasped for breath after that\nkick and barely managed to catch himself before he went over the ledge, and\nhurriedly moved back towards the middle of the ring, not willing to lose by a\nring out. But even with safety equipment, kicks from hooves could really hurt,\nand Colman had a powerful kick, not to mention the ability to perform so many\nin succession was quite a feat, and left Vinge with more than a few bruises on\nhis arms where he'd blocked them -probably one for his chest where he'd taken\nthat direct hit. While Vinge contemplated this, Colman rushed in to attack\nagain, putting Vinge on the defensive and forcing him to focus on avoiding or\nblocking the kicks of the stallion.\n            Following Colman's example, Vinge\nmade use of his hands for defending against the kicks, using quick hand-motions\nto redirect the kicks over his head or off to the side where they could do no\nharm, but he had to watch Colman's movements carefully as the horse never did\nthe same kind of attack twice, always changing direction, and when he started\nto tire, he'd back away, going back on the defensive and fully prepared for any\nsort of attack Vinge could make. The Ice Phoenix stood to catch his breath for\na moment before he moved in, faking out with a punch to the head that only\napproached halfway before redirecting his momentum to his feet extending his\nleg and performing a low, sweeping kick that caught the back of Colman's leg.\n            The horse went down following the\nwell-placed kick, but he wasn't out yet; just before Vinge could try and pin\nhim, both of his legs shot up with incredible speed, kicking Vinge off balance\nand sending him careening the wrong direction, allowing Colman to jump back to\nhis hooves just in time to defend himself as Vinge regained his balance and\nresumed the attack, trading several more blows with the stallion until he\nmanaged to land a successful kick to his stomach. Colman took the hit,\nstumbling a little but maintaining his balance.\n            The two stopped for a breath,\nstaring each other down for a moment. Colman had a satisfied expression on his\nface at how proficient in his practiced arts Vinge was. \"For someone so young, you're\ngood,\" he complimented.\n            \"I've dedicated much of my life to\nthe martial arts,\" he said. \"I have my reasons for doing so, but I never\nconsidered my training complete until I was able to defeat even my own sensei.\"\n            \"Impressive... the student beats the\nmaster, it seems,\" stated Colman. \"With all your current talent, why do you\nwant to learn Sikaran? It seems to me like you are already an excellent\ncombatant.\"\n            \"It never hurts to expand one's\nhorizons,\" Vinge replied, glib.\n            At that, Colman flashed a smile.\n\"Open-minded; good,\" he stated. \"I like that in potential students. Now, let us\ncontinue!\"\n            The two resumed, fists and feet once\nmore exchanged in a clash; Colman was older and more experienced than Vinge,\nwhile the ice phoenix was more agile and better practiced than the stallion\n-Vinge trained almost every day, while Colman had to prioritize his career as a\nschool teacher and not devote all of his time to martial arts practice. As\nsuch, despite being larger and stronger than Vinge, the latter was a more\nrefined fighter, and that difference was showing itself.\n            Soon, Vinge changed styles,\nswitching from his Tae kwon do and Karate-style of fighting and caught Colman's\nleg as the horse attempted a sideways-kick at him, twisting his body and using Colman's\nmomentum combined with centrifugal force to execute a judo throw, hurling\nColman over his head and sending him falling belly-first into the ring floor,\nknocking the wind out of him.\n            Vinge made his move, leaping onto\nColman's back and seizing one arm with both of his, pulling it back and pinning\nit between himself and Colman's shoulder blades. Despite being more than strong\nenough to lift both himself and Vinge off the floor, it was hard with only one\narm, and he was being held at an angle, preventing Colman from using his legs\nto lift himself -any attempt to do so resulted only in his knees sliding over\nthe floor as the referee counted down from ten.\n            \"Zero; pinned!\" The referee called,\nbefore gesturing to Vinge. \"The winner!\"\n            With that, Vinge released Colman,\nand even helped him stand up in a show of good sportsmanship. Colman accepted\nthe help, turning to face Vinge fully and nodding his approval. \"Well done,\" he\ncomplimented.\n            Vinge bowed his head respectfully.\n\"Thank you,\" he returned, graciously.\n            \"You asked me to take you on as my\nstudent in Sikaran. Well, in honor of this victory, I'll do that,\" he promised.\n\"When we get back to the locker room I'll leave you my contact info, and we can\nset up training days from there.\"\n            Vinge nodded. \"Sounds perfect,\" he\nstated. \"Thank you for this opportunity, sir.\"\n            ~~~~~\n            Vinge and Colman returned to the\nlocker room at almost the exact same time. As promised, Colman presented Vinge\nwith his contact information, writing down two phone numbers, one for his home\nphone and another for his cellular phone, as well as specific times at which\nVinge could contact him, and handed this information to Vinge. During this\ntime, Tsume headed out for her next match, which the two of them sat back to watch\non the television screen. Her opponent was a Muai Thai fighter; a tall,\npowerfully built anthro primate, almost twice Tsume's height.\n            She was in for quite a battle; Muai\nThai fighters were difficult opponents, and this one utterly dwarfed her in\nsize -the martial art only became more dangerous when the opponent was tall, as\nthe greater length of their limbs made the mighty blows of Muai Thai that much\nmore powerful.\n            Fortunately though, she had learned\nto use her smaller size as an advantage.\n            The fight began, and the primate led\nwith a flying knee attack, aimed directly for Tsume's head, but she ducked,\nrolled under him, and then lashed out with her foot, delivering a hook kick\nstraight to his flank. He took the hit, but only flinched from it, before he\nturned around and tried delivering a low-spin kick at Tsume while she was down\non her hands. Tsume somersaulted away, landing back on her feet and turning to\nface the primate again just as he rushed forward to keep the pressure on her,\nattacking with fists and elbows. She dodged and weaved side-to-side to evade\nhis hands, but then he surprised her with a diagonal knee-strike that caught\nher in the ribs, making her squawk in pain, but she didn't stay still for even\na second, getting down low again and rolling to the side.\n            She found herself dangerously close\nto the ledge; one clean hit and she would go right out of bounds, and her\nopponent was clearly aiming to do just that, because he came at her with a\nsweeping kick that would surely knock her out of the ring. But Tsume wasn't\nabout to let that happen; she tumbled forward, rolling in the direction\nopposite to where the leg was coming from, and then, using her hands to support\nherself, double-kicked the primate in the backside, sending him stumbling\nforward, and instead it was him who fell out of bounds.\n            \"Ring out! Winner!\"\n            \"Yes!\" Tsume exclaimed cheerfully as\nshe caught her breath, hopping in place joyously. \"I'm in the finals!\"\n            Of course, at that, she remembered\nwho else had made it to the finals in the last round. \"Oh... that means I'm\nfighting Vinge.\"\n            Suddenly, she did not feel as confident as before.\n            ~~~~~\n            Meanwhile...\n            \"You never said both Vinge and Tsume\nwere in this competition,\" Volcan remarked to Pavan.\n            \"That would be because I didn't\nknow,\" replied Pavan, honestly. \"Really man, I had no clue they were in this.\"\n            \"Wait... but if Vinge just won last\nround against that horse, and Tsume just won against that primate, does that\nmean they're both advancing to the finals?\"\n            \"Looks like it- hey wait,\" Pavan paused,\nand then he and Volcan looked at each other, clearly thinking the same thing.\n            \"That means they're fighting each\nother,\" Volcan concluded.\n            \"Oh man, the shit just hit the fan,\"\nPavan returned, before both of them found themselves positively fixed on the\nTV, waiting for the next battle. Pavan munched absently on the potato chips\nfrom the bowl in his lap, his beak practically chattering as it munched through\nthe snack food, feeling anticipation for the next round rising in him.\n            ~~~~~\n            There was only a short pause between\nthe end of Tsume match and the final round; long enough for her to catch her\nbreath, hydrate herself and do whatever else she needed to in order to prepare.\nBut she wasn't so certain that she could win against Vinge; this was the first\ntournament he had ever competed in, and yet he had made it all the way to the\nfinals; Tsume had competed in several tournaments before and she'd never\nactually won any of them; it was only in the last four competitions she had\nfinished in the top four of the roster of combatants.\n            And, Tsume had not told Vinge this\nbefore, but she had lost to Carlos Chang at two of those tournaments, and yet\nVinge had succeeded where she had failed! She'd been training so hard to get to\nthis point, but could she beat one of her own teammates that knew her well -let\nalone the only one of those people even more skilled in combat than her? Her steps were slow as she\nproceeded back out to the ring, knowing what was waiting for her out there. She\ntried to keep a brave face, but the Earth Phoenix was actually worried about\nthis battle; to have some so close only to lose now would break her spirit...\neven if it was against someone like\nVinge. \n            Out of the corridor and into the\narena -all too fast for her. Tsume's heart was racing as the spotlight shone\nupon her, illuminating her as she descended down towards the ring. Vinge,\nalready standing in the ring, watched her as she approached; the lights above\nthe ring left his eyes shadowed, and yet Tsume could still see those ice blue\norbs staring back at her. In the right lighting, Vinge could look absolutely\nmenacing, which was not helping with Tsume's confidence in her chances in this\nbattle. That pale body, those eyes, and simply knowing what he was capable\nof...\n            But she was at the point of no\nreturn. She had to fight him.\n            When she finally climbed on to that\narena, she stood four paces from Vinge, who had his arms crossed until she\narrived, and let them fall to his sides, and his gaze meeting hers as the\nreferee called out their introductions, announcing to all that this was the\nfinal round of the tournament, and for their voices to be heard as the two\ngreatest fighters to battle at this competition would decide who between the\ntwo of them was the best.\n            \"Tsume,\" Vinge stated suddenly,\nmaking her jump a little.\n            \"Y-yes?\" She asked.\n            \"Before we start, I want to thank\nyou,\" the ice phoenix said.\n            Tsume stood there, stunned, having\nnot expected those words to be spoken when she was about to do battle with one\nof her own friends... \"Quoi?\" She questioned, blinking at him.\n            Vinge chuckled, detecting the French\nword in her inquiry, and much to her surprise, he spoke back in French to her.\n\"Merci,\" he said, \"Pour moi amener ici.\"\n            'Thank\nyou for bringing me here?' Tsume translated in her mind, still confused as\nto why he was being so... grateful, and for what? They were rivals now; they\nwere about to fight! What was going on in his head?\n            \"I did not realize,\" Vinge carried\non, \"what kind of opportunities that battling competitively could do for me.\nAll this time I just thought everyone was in it for the fame and the glory, or\nto show off skills they think they had. But being here has given me the chance\nto test what I am capable of, and even helped me find a way to expand my\nhorizons and learn something completely new.\"\n            He smiled... the Ice Phoenix\nactually had a warm smile at the fleshy portion of his beak. He rarely smiled,\nand had certainly never given one to her... \"So, thank you, Tsume, for bringing\nme to this tournament. Now, I ask one thing from you in return.\"\n            \"What's that?\" Tsume asked, watching\nas Vinge began to slide his foot back, standing sideways but keeping his\nposture straight. \n            And at that very question, Vinge\nswitched to his defensive stance, spreading his legs apart and putting up his\nhands, his expression turning to what Tsume could only describe as an attempt\nat appearing smug; he had a wry smile, but his eyes were narrowed slightly,\nwhile he shifted his weight from side to side. \"Don't hold back, because I want\nthis fight to be one I'll remember for a long time.\"\n            Suddenly, Tsume felt her confidence\nreturning. The entire reason she'd wanted Vinge to join her at this tournament\nwas because she wanted to test her\nskills against his... and now it seemed he had really gotten into the spirit of\nthings; he looked just as eager for this battle as she was when she'd first\nsigned up. How could she have forgotten that? She felt so foolish all of\nsudden, but that foolishness was quickly overwhelmed by how much she wanted to\nfight now, and how she wanted to win.\nTsume spread her hands out to her sides, and stood\nwith her legs wide, turning partway to the side and tracing over the ground in\nfront of her with one toe, making a half circle with her foot. Vinge watched as\nshe made an unseen line in the stadium floor, and finished a 180 turn to stand\nwith her left foot forward and half crouched, the diabolical and confident grin\nreturning to her face as her gaze met Vinge's.\n(Play 'Way of the Warrior' by Hammerfall)\n\"Bring it, frosty,\" she stated, taunting him with a wiggle\nof her finger, daring him to make the first move.\nMuch to her own surprise, he did just that; Vinge\nwas normally patient, but so was Tsume, like the glaciers and the earth itself\n-the elements the two of them represented, they could always wait for their\nopponent to make the first move. But this time, he lunged forward with a jab,\nforcing her to duck away, and then immediately following it up with a front\nsnap kick -a quick-striking kick which she again had to evade. She was the more\nagile fighter of the two but with Vinge also having Judo training, he'd be set\nto counter-attack her at any moment. She would have to time her attacks\ncarefully if she didn't want to get thrown.\nAt the end of Vinge's kick, Tsume moved in with one\nof her own, performing a hand stand with her feet held high in the air, kicking\nat Vinge repeatedly; he put up his arms to defend, using the palms of his hands\nto slap away her feet, employing a little of the Sikaran technique he'd learned\nfrom Mr. Colman while avoiding the points of her talons -safety gear or not, it\nwas mostly instinctive to keep them away from himself. She tumbled forward -or\nbackward, from his point of view- to return to her feet, and back-flipped away\nfrom Vinge before he could deliver a side-thrusting kick.\n\"You're quicker than I thought,\" Vinge stated.\n\"Back at you; reading me is one thing, but being\nquick enough to block, that's skill.\"\n\"Spending ten years sparring against all of your\nclassmates will do that.\"\n\"I would say you need a hobby, but I think we already\nhad that conversation.\"\n\"We did.\"\nWith that, the two resumed, trading blows of their\nrespective styles; Tsume relied on quick strikes to avoid giving Vinge the\nchance to counter-attack with a Judo throw, and when she thought she saw an\nopportunity, she dropped onto her hands again, swinging her hips and legs\nthrough the air to unleash the powerful escorpião kick -the capoeira equivalent\nof the Scorpion Kick in many martial arts that was hard to read and, in the\nhands of a master, could be devastating...\nBut it seemed Vinge had caught on to Tsume's\ntactics, because just as she lashed out with her leg, Vinge suddenly ducked\nlow, avoiding her kick entirely and turning himself about, holding his hands up\nin knife-hand forms as he performed a rotating attack, striking her\nsimultaneously in the shoulder and hip, making the Earth Phoenix yelp in\nsurprise as she suddenly toppled over, falling onto her side; she had not\nexpected that move, and mentally slapped herself when she remembered Vinge\ndidn't just know two martial arts, he knew four;\nthere were a lot of techniques he knew that she probably had never seen\nbefore.\n            'Well\nthis just got even more difficult,' she thought, but didn't let her\nconfidence slip again. More difficult just meant that if she won, it'd show how\ngreat a fighter she was. And, fortunately for her, she knew a martial style\neven Vinge hadn't practiced.\n            Deciding it was time to go all out,\nshe went on the offensive again as she scrambled back to her feet, standing\ntaller this time rather than keeping low, and letting Vinge come at her again.\nShe employed a maneuver that, although hadn't practiced often, she had always\nbeen rather good at, called the Macaco em Pé; so far, Vinge had only seen Tsume performing\nattacks that struck high from down low -most of her best practiced techniques\nrevolved mostly around this as striking from such a position was the bane of\ntaller fighters or those with weak low defenses such as boxers, but now she was\ndoing something completely different, stepping out of her comfort zone and\nchanging her strategy.\n            She\ntumbled back, falling onto her hands; no hop or crouch, simply dropping,\nthrowing all of the weight of her lower body around herself to create a\ncircular motion that brought her feet up in a wheel-like fashion, making Vinge\nback off to avoid the first, but she used the momentum of the first maneuver to\ncarry on into a second one, her foot catching him under the chin as he tried to\nmove in. After that hit, he backed off, aware of the sudden change in method;\nshe had to keep up the pressure.\n            After\na third roll, using this one to change direction and move closer to a safer\npart of the stage, she saw Vinge moving in again, this time with a palm heel\nstrike. She fell back again, not even hesitating, and fell back into a\nbridge-position, standing with her body completely arched and letting Vinge's\narm pass over her; as soon as he looked down at her, her foot came up and once\nagain struck him under the beak, with more force this time and causing him to\nstumble back slightly. She then crab-walked away from him before she\nsomersaulted back onto her feet, facing him again, and this time they were\nseveral meters apart.\n            Vinge\nrubbed the lower part of his beak where he'd been kicked, easing the vibrating\nache that he felt in his cheeks from the strike. \"Those Yoga sessions really\npay off; you're as flexible as a contortionist.\"\n            \"I\nlike to think I'd make even them\njealous,\" Tsume returned, flashing that smug, competitive grin of hers. \n            Once\nmore, they went into a trade of attacks, with Tsume switching between this new\nstrategy of hers and her original one, but although Vinge began on the\ndefensive, soon the two were level again, scoring blows and taking hits like\nthere was no tomorrow, yet neither one backed down. At one point in the fight\nthough, Vinge discovered -the hard way- that Tsume's bones were much harder\nthan those of an ordinary avian, because he actually recoiled in pain when he\nscored a direct hit right in her sternum. Although still having the effect he\nwanted, it backfired when he felt his knuckles go white-hot with pain, shaking\nhis hand to try and suppress it before looking at his fingers, seeing them\nreddened as if he'd just punched a solid slab of concrete.\n            'That dense skeleton of hers is hard to deal\nwith... her bones are literally as hard as rock,' he thought. 'If I'm not careful, I can break my own\nhands fighting her.'\n            Tsume stood,\ncoughing for a moment as she struggled to regain the air that had been forced\nout of her lungs from the sternum punch, and was slow to retaliate as Vinge\nrushed in to attack again, delivering three consecutive kicks to her. Stomach,\narm, face, they landed, and it wasn't over; he turned about, and delivered the\nsame kind of triple-kick with his other leg; stomach again, forehead, and\nchest; the kicks were light, not intended to knock her backward, but stagger\nher enough that he moved in with a seventh kick, twisting his body around and\ndisplaying his own flexability as he brought his leg around in a crescent\nmotion before bringing it straight down, his heel striking her shoulder and\nnearly dislocating her arm as she was sent directly onto her front.\n            'Move, girl, move!' Tsume practically\nscreamed at herself in her mind; if she didn't move away immediately, Vinge was\ngoing to pin her down! In a surge of adrenaline, she rolled away just as he\nmoved to drop onto her, falling instead onto his knees on the arena floor and\nwatching as she rolled onto her back, adopting the crab-walking position again,\nand, just as he moved towards her, attacking with another kick.\n            But\nit failed her; Vinge had seen this trick once already and he did not fall for\nit a second time. He blocked her leg and then seized it with both arms,\ngrabbing the limb and hurling Tsume across the field. She fully expected Vinge\nwas trying to throw her out of bounds, but much to her surprise -and relief,\nshe landed on the arena floor once again, bouncing off of floor and falling to\nher side after the throw, dazed and a little lopsided from the counter-attack\nthe ice-phoenix had done.\n            Even\nthough she'd changed strategies, and was now using a completely different style\nof fighting as opposed to her usual 'strike from down low' method, Vinge had\nstill adapted to her tactics and was now performing techniques that countered\nher perfectly! It was as if she was fighting multiple fighters in consecutive\norder, each one with a separate fighting style from their comrades watching her\nfight with their comrades and learning her methods to come up with a way to defeat\nher when it was their turn. But she wasn't fighting multiple fighters; she was\nonly fighting one -a single fighter, who was practically a living think tank\npacked into a single brain. Vinge could process information so fast he could\nlearn how to defeat his opponent and adjust his tactics accordingly within\nminutes, just as he had done to Carlos. \nWith such a brain at his disposal, Vinge may as well\nhave been able to slow down time, or have some sort of rewind button in his own\nhead, because he'd recognize every attack she did if she ever used it a second\ntime. She felt frustrated, but kept her calm; if she lost her head now, she\nwould lose without a doubt. She had to end this fight now, but what hadn't she\ntried yet?\n            She\nthought back to her days of training in Capoeira; though she'd always favored\nthe attacks that kept her under her opponent's eye and striking high and hard,\nthat was not working here. She had to change tactics again if she was going to\nwin, but she had to make it count; if she didn't take Vinge out fast he'd\nanalyze her again and she would once more be right back where she started.\n            Tsume\nand Vinge met eyes again, studying each other. They were both tired, nearly at\ntheir limits. They'd walked into this battle sufficiently hydrated and\nenergized, they'd begun the fight with their spirits high, and now they were\napproaching their limits. One way or another, this fight would be ending soon;\nthis would be the decisive attack, and it all depended on who executed the most\neffective move first...\n            There\nwas one technique she hadn't tried using yet. It was powerful, but had to be\nperformed and timed perfectly or she could be countered or worse, miss. \n            All\nor nothing!\n            Tsume\nbegan to move first. Vinge followed up with the first muscle twitch, stepping\nforward less than a second after her, the two of them bringing themselves\nwithin range of the other. Time seemed to slow as they made their moves, ready\nto bring this battle to its close. Vinge unleashed a mighty roundhouse kick,\ndrawing back his leg before lashing it out ; Tsume lowered herself, twisting\nher body around as her entire upper body became horizontal, pivoting to the\nside and kicking forward with all of her might. Vinge's leg whooshed over her\nat stomach level, but she was now down at waist height, narrowly evading his\nkick.\n            But\nhers found its mark.\n            Following\nhis leg flying over her and the Earth Phoenix having now moved a foot to the\nside, Tsume delivered a powerful kick to Vinge's exposed lower back, scoring a\ndirect hit that sent him staggering, leaving a red mark hidden only by the\nwhite of his feathers on the skin beneath. Vinge actually grunted at the hit,\nfeeling Tsume's rock-hard foot barely miss striking his kidney, and it was just\nenough to stun him for her to make her final move.\n            Acting\npurely on instinct, she charged forward again, propping herself up on her hands\nand throwing her legs into the air, launching herself towards his turned back.\nHer back met his, his wings were pressed flat to his body as she hooked her\nfeet around his neck to hold herself up, and seized his legs with her arms,\nsecuring herself to him. To the onlookers in the audience it was quite a sight;\nliterally back-to-back with each other, but Tsume was upside down, held up only\nby her hooked, long-toed feet and ankles that now had Vinge in a chokehold\n-even the ice phoenix himself was caught off guard by the maneuver, having never\nseen anyone do something like this before.\n            Focusing\nall of the muscles in her stomach and holding onto his legs with an iron grip,\nTsume bent forward, crunching with all of her might, and successfully pulling\nVinge's legs with her; down he went, falling right onto his stomach. Tsume let\ngo of his thighs and seized his ankles, rearing up and pulling his legs back,\nhooking them beneath her arms and forcing him into a hunched position while\nkeeping the rest of her weight on his back; without his legs, Vinge could not\nget up, try as he might to free them from Tsume but she tenaciously held on as\nthe referee counted. \n            At\neight, Vinge knew he was finished; he couldn't break free, and so simply let\nthe countdown finish...\n            Tsume\nhad won. \n            ~~~~~\n            Volcan\nand Pavan stared wide-eyed at the television as the referee called the match,\nutterly blown away by what they had just witnessed. They could only stare,\nwatching through the television as Vinge and Tsume returned to their feet\nfollowing the conclusion of the ref's countdown to Vinge's defeat. Both of them\nknew how skilled he was; how great a fighter the ice phoenix could be even\nagainst opponents vastly more experienced or, in the case of Volcan when they\nfirst met, superior in strength. Hell, even Pavan had sparred with Vinge many\ntimes, and was the fastest member of the team, yet Vinge had still managed to\nbeat even him.\n            But\nnow, before their very eyes, Tsume, who they had never actually seen in a\nstraight up fight themselves, only the awards on her wall, had just beaten the\nmost skilled person the two had ever met. Tsume had won her very first regional\ntournament, and the two male phoenixes had the pleasure of seeing it with their\nown eyes... well, at least through a television screen anyway.\n            Pavan\nsuddenly burst out laughing, raising up his hands and applauding gleefully.\n\"Whoohoo!\" He crowed. \"That's our girl!\"\n            \"Way\nto go, Tsume,\" Volcan rasped, smiling as he saw Tsume standing tall and proud\nwith the camera focused on her as she gathered her breath. \nLetting the referee hold\nher arm up in triumph, a happy smile appeared on the fleshy portion of her\nbeak. And then the excitement they could hear coming from the crowd through the\nspeakers only intensified as Vinge suddenly appeared at Tsume's side and held up\nher other arm for all to see, cheering her name to the room -of which the crowd\nhappily joined in, the name 'Tsume' being called again and again in harmony.\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, a star has been born in the minor leagues this\nday!\" The announcer chimed. \"We've seen Miss Mondiale here before, and it is here on this very day\nwe have seen her win the championship for the first time! Thank you for joining\nus here today, at the sixth annual Unity Falls Martial Arts competition!\" As\nthe show began to draw to a close, the screen was overlain with a view of the\ntournament roster, showing headshots of all of the fighters at the bottom of\nthe rising pyramid. \"A big thank you to\nall of the competitors we met here today; we hope to see you again!\"\nThe show began to conclude,\nand the last thing they saw was the fighters rising through the ranks, leaving\nbehind red trails to mark how far they had made it in the tournament. Volcan\nand Pavan were both surprised to see Carlos Chang had only made it to the\nsecond round before being defeated by Vinge; the lowest he had scored at a\nregional tournament in years. He'd claimed the championship twice, and reached\nthe semi-final every other time. Yet this time, he had a shameful stain on\nfighting career to lose to a first-timer on the circuit.\nOn and on, Tsume and\nVinge's portraits had climbed before, in a nice trick of animation, literally\ncolliding on the top-most bar, and it was Vinge's who went flying off-screen.\nTsume's rose to the top, taking place in the center of the star that rested at\nthe top of the graph, sealing in stone -metaphorically speaking- the victory\nshe had earned.\nPavan looked at Volcan.\n\"So, glad I brought you down to see this yet?\"\nVolcan gave him a look.\n\"We still could have watched it in my room,\" he rasped, forcing the words out\nthrough a tired throat, but he turned his gaze back to the screen and nodded.\n\"But, yes... I am glad I got to see this. Tsume earned that victory, and I'm\nproud of her for it.\" He grunted as he leaned forward, feeling his muscles\nscreaming at him in a hundred different languages of pain as he moved. \"Now...\nhelp me back upstairs, before my mom gets home and tans both our wingjoints.\"\n\"Aww, come on, Volc,\" the\nwind phoenix returned as he scooted over to the fire phoenix, draping Volcan's\narm over his shoulders before carrying both of them to their feet. \"What's the\nworst she could say?\"\n\"Something along the lines\nof 'you little turd; what were you thinking'?\" Volcan returned, rhetorically. \n\"Would she really say\nthat?\" Pavan asked as they crossed the hall across from the front door towards\nthe stairs...\nAlmost as if on cue, the\nsound of a key turning in the deadbolt lock of the front door caught their\nattentions, and the door opened to reveal Degra stepping into the house. She\nsaw the two immediately; they froze as her gaze fixed upon them, first to\nVolcan. \"What're you doing up? You should be resting!\"\n\"His idea,\" Volcan returned,\npromptly pointing at Pavan.\n\"Traitor!\" Pavan shouted.\n\"Pavan, you little turd!\"\nDegra shouted. \"What were you thinking?!\"\nPavan looked at Volcan\nwith a surprised expression. \"Dude, you totally called that.\"\n\"That's my momma,\" Volcan\nreplied with a weak chuckle, followed by a cough\n~~~~~\nAfter Tsume was presented\nwith the champion's medal, the tournament officially concluded, and all of the\nfighters and spectators were free to return home as the cleanup began.\nBleachers cleared; people called their congratulations to Tsume as she and\nVinge left the arena, returning to the locker room. Already, most of the\nfighters had departed from the convention centre. Those who remained were in\nthe process of polishing off what remained of the cold drinks in the fridge and\nchanging back into proper attire in the washrooms before they walked out with\nbags slung half-heartedly over their shoulders in post-tournament\ndisappointment. \nTsume and Vinge left the\narena; the sun was already set; the tournament had carried on throughout the\nentire day, and now they both felt the exhaustion of twelve hours of combat\ncatching up with them, walking slowly towards the parking lot. \n\"Do you want a lift home?\"\nTsume offered.\n\"I think that's a great\nidea,\" replied Vinge. \"Yes please.\"\nShe nodded. \"Alright. My\ncar's this way,\" she said, gesturing for him to follow her. \n\"So, how does it feel to\nwin your first competition?\" Vinge asked as they walked across the campus\nground, heading towards the parking lot.\n\"Honestly?\" Tsume returned,\nbefore she smiled at Vinge. \"I love it.\" The ice phoenix answered her with an\napproving nod, and she quickly noticed how even he was smiling at her victory.\n\"How is it that while all these other fighters are bummed out for losing,\nyou're not bothered at all?\"\n\"'He who can modify his\ntactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be\ncalled a heaven-born captain',\" Vinge remarked\nTsume eyed him blankly.\n\"Uh...\"\n\"You changed your tactics\nbased on your opponent,\" he said plainly.\n\"You were changing your\nstrategies too,\" Tsume pointed out.\n\"Indeed I was, but just\nlike me, you tried methods beyond your usual comfort zone, and eventually found\na way to defeat me because of it,\" Vinge stated, before making a second quote.\n\"'To secure ourselves against defeat lies in\nour own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy\nhimself'.\"\n\"You're... saying you made\na mistake in the fight?\" Tsume asked.\n\"I did; right at the end,\nin the last attack. I was hasty when I was watching how you moved and misread\nthe way you were moving when you performed that kick,\" Vinge explained. \"You\nsee, the way you were beginning to turn, I thought you were going to do that\nback walkover you did when you changed your attacks the first time, changing\nfrom your usual method of striking from down low.\"\n\"Ah, you mean the Macaco\nem Pé technique,\" replied Tsume. \"Yeah, I may not have used that maneuver often\nbut I was always pretty good at it.\"\nVinge nodded. \"Indeed. But\nI misread the way you were moving; I assumed you were using that technique\nagain to put some distance between us again, so I was putting that roundhouse\nkick where, upon impact, it would put you onto your back, and that is where I\nwould have finished the fight. However, partway through your turn, you\ncrouched, and even if only by an inch, you went under my leg, moved a foot to\nthe side to reveal my back, and unleashed that powerful kick.\"\nTsume smiled. \"That one's\ncalled the chapa giratoria. It's really hard to do, but if you can time it just\nright, it's extremely useful.\"\nThe ice phoenix nodded\nagain as they stopped on the side of a road, waiting for a car to pass before\nthe crossed the street towards the parking lot. \"It certainly was, considering\nit let you land that last attack. What was that one called?\"\n\"Actually, that one sort\nof just... came to me,\" replied Tsume. \"It's not a move I was taught in\nCapoeira; I guess you could say I made that one myself.\"\n\"Oh,\" said Vinge, before\nhe shook his head. \"Either way, you won. You changed your strategies as you\nneeded to, and you took advantage, even without realizing it, of a single\nmistake I made in the fight. Victory can be just as dependent on good timing as\nit is on skill.\"\n\"Okay, I get all of that,\nbut it doesn't answer my question earlier; you're not at all upset about\nlosing?\"\n\"Of course I am; I would\nhave to be emotionless to not feel at least some\nmeasure of disappointment,\" replied Vinge as they reached Tsume's car.\n\"So why aren't you acting\nlike it?\" She inquired further as she unlocked the door of her 1995 Dodge\nAvenger -a two-door car, before she climbed in, reached across to the passenger\nside and unlocked the door manually to allow Vinge to get in.\n\"Losing a battle can be\nmore educational than winning one; I know where I went wrong, and now I have to\nfind a way to overcome that, but without losing the battle at all, how can I\nknow where my flaws were?\" Vinge chuckled as he finished adjusting his wings\nbehind him before fastening his seat belt. \"You have to understand defeat;\nrealize and acknowledge the reason that you lost, before you can appreciate\nvictory.\"\nTsume stared blankly ahead\nthrough the windshield of her car, becoming silent and still until a shiver at\nthe cold air seemed to snap her back to reality. \"Good grief, I'm never going\nto figure you out,\" she said in surrender.\nVinge chuckled\nlight-heartedly at her comment, before he had a thought and looked back at her\nagain. \"Could we go get something to eat? All that fighting's made me really hungry,\nand I could use the boost.\"\n\"Sounds like a great idea.\nYou buying?\"\nVinge rolled his eyes.\n\"Well, I did lose, so yes. Dinner's\non me.\"\n\"Sa-weet. Where did you\nwant to go?\"\n\"Well, there is that\nrestaurant not too far from Volcan's place,\" replied Vinge. \"We went there\npretty often when I was living with him.\"\n\"Ah, I know that place,\"\nagreed Tsume, nodding. \"Alright, off we go then. We can just leave this car at\nmy place and walk over.\"\n~~~~~~\nKumori's head phased\nthrough the wall next to the balcony door of the apartment, violet eyes\nscanning over the room as he slowly, carefully, inched the rest of himself through\nthe wall and into the living room before he dropped down to all fours, ears\ntwitching as he listened, hidden beneath the table in the event his target\nhappened to come walking out. He sniffed the air, detecting the pine-fresh\nscent of household cleansers employed recently in the residence, along with the\nfaint, ashy smell of a fire phoenix. \nHowever, the scent seemed\nold to him... as though the owner of that scent hadn't been in the house over\nthe last little while. Curiously, Kumori crossed the living room, seeking any\nsigns of life inside the apartment. He could smell two other very recent\nscents; one of them was of soil and flowers freshly coated in morning due -the\ntypical scent of a career gardener, or someone who wore a very potent perfume,\nwhile the other was harder to discern, having a faint trace of lavender\nincense, but the main scent was like winter air.\nThose two unusual scents\nwere the most recent to have been in the apartment, but if the owner was a Fire\nPhoenix, he should have been in there. Kumori picked up his pace and searched\nthe house, checking both bedrooms and the washroom, but there was no sign of\nhis target anywhere, yet he was at the address Calhoun had given him. He\nmust've been away from home at this time; though it was early morning in his\nhomeland, here in Canada it was into the small hours of the night. But it was\nalso winter; the phoenix would not be far from some source of shelter if the\nweather turned foul.\n\"Appears I may have to\nlook elsewhere for him,\" stated the nogitsune.\nHe began to look around\nthe house, searching for anything that might give him a clue to the location of\nthe phoenix, even checking his home phone and recent messages. But the last one\nthat was left for him had been two weeks ago, yet until now it had not been\nchecked. It was only an automated message anyway, but to have left it unchecked\nfor two weeks was certainly unusual. \nStill, it made him begin\nto suspect that perhaps Volcan had not been at home in some time; Kumori just\nneeded to find out where he was staying then.\nRubbing his chin in\nthought, he came up with an idea. Perhaps\nthe owner of this building would know something; if he was going to be away for\nan extended time, he'd be required to let them know,' he thought.\nDeciding the next place\nfor him to check would be the main office, he left the apartment, walking\nthrough the front door and descending downstairs to the manager's home on the\nbottom floor. It appeared the manager was also out -unfortunate, as Kumori\ncould already feel his killing urge starting to creep in, the desire to see and\nfeel warm, flowing blood racing through his mind, but he fought against it; he\nwas working, after all.\nHe found the office\nquickly enough after traversing through the residence. The first thing he\nchecked was the phone, playing back messages; the manager had compiled quite a\nfew, some of which were several weeks old. He started back with the oldest\nmessages first, and listened as they played back.\nOne in particular caught\nhis attention. \"Good morning, Kim; my\nname is Degra MacAingeal, I'm calling on behalf of my son, Volcan, who lives in\nyour building. I'm afraid he was in an... accident, and will be spending the\nnext few months recovering. I just needed to check in with you to let you know\nhis friend Vinge will be taking care of the place for him while he's stays with\nme in order to heal, and he's offered to pay each month of rent while he waits.\nI was just wondering if you could give me a mailing address with which to send\nyou his rent cheques for the next few months or so. He really loves his\napartment and doesn't wish to be evicted yet.\"\nThe message went on to the\ncaller, introduced as Degra, leaving her phone number, thanking Kim for her\ntime and then hanging up. Kumori reached for a phone book lying by the\ntelephone and opened it to the local numbers, leafing through the pages until\nhe reached the 'M's, and found 'MacAingeal, Degra,' on the page. He grinned\nsadistically as he found the address as well, and then set the book down on the\ndesk.\n\"Ah, modern conveniences\nmake finding my targets so much easier,\" he said.\n\"Kim?\" A voice called from\noutside the office; Kumori looked over in start, suddenly noticing the front\ndoor of the suite was open, and a second later, a man appeared in the doorway;\nan anthropomorphic wolf in a gray T-shirt and blue jeans.\nThe wolf saw Kumori\ninstantly, his brown eyes going wide at the sight of the fox. \"Who the hell are\nyou? What're you doing in my house?!\" He demanded.\nKumori only grinned as he\nturned to face the man, licking his lips as he eyed the man's neck, seeing\nwhere his veins were. The wolf flinched as he saw blades seemingly appear from\nnowhere in the intruder's hands.\n\"My friend... you picked a\nvery bad time to come home,\" Kumori remarked as he fixed the wolf with a\nblood-thirsty grin. \"Well... bad for you at\nleast.\"\nThe wolf tried to back\naway, but the seven-tailed fox was fast, charging at him and delivering a\nprecise, swift cut across the wolf man's neck before he could scream...\nHis head hit the floor in\na shower of blood.\n~~~~~\nAfter dinner, the two\nphoenixes felt refreshed, and stepped out of the restaurant feeling\nre-energized. Their muscles still felt sore from all the fighting and their\nbruises would be a lasting reminder of their day at the competition through the\ncourse of the night. Despite this though, they were in high spirits, enjoying\nthe lingering sense of satisfaction at how the tournament had progressed, and\nalso ended.\n\"Perfect end to a perfect\nday,\" said Tsume, patting her stomach as the two walked up the street, heading\nback to the complex. \"You were right; that places makes some mean salads.\"\nVinge nodded to her. \"I'm\nglad you enjoyed it.\"\n\"So what's next; you still\nwant that ride home?\" She asked.\n\"Actually, I thought I'd\njust fly home from here,\" replied Vinge. \"One last bit of exercise through the\nwinter air can be good for my species. But, I'll walk you home first, if you\ndon't mind.\"\nTsume snickered. \"Quite a\ngentlemanly thing for you to do,\" she remarked. \"If I didn't know better I'd\nsay you had a thing for me.\"\n\"I-I-I'm just being...\"\nVinge stammered, lowering his gaze in embarrassment.\nTsume laughed. \"Relax,\nVinge; I'm only messing with you. I'm not going to muscle in on Yurui's turf.\"\n\"Right... sorry.\"\n\"Man, you can analyze a\nfighter and know exactly how to beat them just by watching them, yet you can't\ndetect a little facetiousness from friends? We're going to need some more work\nwith you.\"\nHe nodded half-heartedly,\nuntil his gaze was directed straight ahead and he stopped mid-step, staring\nintently at something in the distance. \"That's strange...\"\nTsume stopped and looked over\nher shoulder at him. \"What's up?\"\n\"There are lights from a\npolice patrol car straight ahead,\" Vinge said, pointing to the next block,\nwhere some flashes of blue and red illuminated the dark of night, reflecting\noff the snow piled up on the curb.\nTsume shrugged. \"So what?\nMaybe someone got pulled over around the bend.\"\n\"It seems like a lot of\nlights for a traffic violation,\" replied Vinge before he broke into a gentle\nsprint and strode ahead, with Tsume following after him, telling him to wait\nfor her.\nThey strode around the\ncorner, and surely enough, they saw several police cruisers parked out front of\nthe apartment complex, along with the coroner's van, indicating a death\n-possibly a murder- was involved. Surprised, they ran across the street towards\nthe scene, wondering what happened. The crime scene itself appeared to actually\nbe inside the building, and not outside. Nevertheless there were a number of\npolice officers outside, including one they recognized; a light brown wolfess,\nnamed Rachel Hernandez, the second in command at the First Division Precinct.\n\"Lieutenant!\" Vinge called\nas they approached.\nThe wolf turned to them,\neyeing them curiously before she recognized them and smiled. \"Well now, was\nwondering when one of you guys would show up,\" she remarked. \n\"What happened here?\"\nVinge asked.\n\"A murder in the manager's\napartment, apparently,\" replied Rachel, cocking her head towards the apartment.\n\"Kim?!\" Tsume demanded.\n\"Is she okay?\"\n\"Kim's fine,\" replied\nRachel. \"We just confirmed she wasn't home when it happened. I can't say the\nsame about her husband, though.\"\nVinge frowned, perplexed\nby the news. \"Thomas... I met him when I was staying here. Seemed like a decent\nman.\"\n\"Where's Kim now?\" Tsume\nasked.\nRachel glanced off to the\nleft, towards a police SUV parking in the parking lot, where a constable was\ntaking a statement from Kim, who was wrapped in a blanket, her face stained\nwith tears and looking absolutely sick with grief. Even from this distance,\nboth Tsume and Vinge alike had a feeling they knew what she was thinking.\n            Tsume\nshook her head as she saw the heartbroken vixen at the van. \"Poor thing,\" she\nsaid, sympathetically.\n            \"Lieutenant,\"\na voice called from the apartment as a white-furred Arctic Fox emerged from the\nfront door of the building, walking over to Rachel carrying what appeared to be\na small briefcase in his paw, etched with 'CSI' in bold, black letters.\n            \"What's\nup, doc?\" The wolfess asked, humorously.\n            The\nfox faked a chuckle, before he went on with his report. \"Coroner puts victims\ndeath at approximately eighteen hundred hours -about an hour ago, and I've\nchecked the rest of the house. No fibers, no fingerprints, nothing. Whoever did\nthis seemed to just vanish when they were finished. Cause of death was a single,\nangular slash to the neck and decapitation. Judging by spray on the ceiling and\nthe blood pool around the victim, he was standing when he was slashed.\"\n            \"I\ndon't think I've seen this fox before; who is he?\" Vinge asked.\n            \"That's\nDr. Marcus Kent; Crime Scene Investigator. Part of Greg's team,\" Tsume replied.\n            The\nwolf turned to Tsume and Vinge. \"I don't want to imply anything,\" Rachel began\nas she reached into the pocket of her vest and produced her notebook and a pen,\nflipping it open to a blank spot and holding the pen over, ready to write. \"But\nwhere have you two been for the last hour?\"\n            \"We\nwere at the Athlete's Counter restaurant,\" replied Vinge. \"Our waitress said\nher name was Lana; she can vouch for us.\"\n            \"Don't\ntell me you suspect one of us, Rachel?\" Tsume asked.\n            \"Not\nreally, but I need an alibi if you don't want to be investigated too,\" she\nreplied before she finished writing in the notebook and tucked it under her\narm.\n            \"I'll\ngo back in and spray the kitchen knives with luminol; maybe one of them was\nused as the murder weapon and I can find some blood,\" offered Dr. Marcus.\n            \"If\nI may be so bold,\" Vinge stated. \"I have to say that's very unlikely.\"\n            Marcus\neyed Vinge suspiciously. \"How so?\" \n            \"If\nI may also be so bold, I've trained\nwith knives since I was a child,\" Tsume added in. \"No kitchen knife, no matter\nhow much you sharpen it, could deliver a clean cut through a man's neck; the\ncut would be jagged with lots of muscle tearing. In fact most knives couldn't\ndeliver a cut like that either. The only knife I can think of would be a\nmilitary-issue combat knife, but those have an average length of only seven\ninches; it'd be impossible to decapitate someone with that in only one slash\nwith such a short blade.\"\n            \"Exactly;\nyou're looking for a blade that's at least fourteen inches long, as sharp as a\nrazor, probably curved,\" Vinge stated.\n            Marcus\ngrimaced at their analysis. \"I hate to say it, but they're right. I'll still\ncheck the knives to rule them out, but I probably won't find the murder weapon\namong them.\"\n            Rachel\nnodded, dismissing the fox, before she turned to Vinge and Tsume, giving them a\nrather dissatisfied stare. \"Well, you just made our investigation a little more\ncomplicated,\" she stated. \"Anybody ever tell you kids they hate it when you\nmake sense?\"\n            \"It's\nbecoming a trend,\" replied Vinge, shrugging.\n            \"So\nthat's what it feels like,\" Tsume remarked, looking at the sky absently, but\nsnickered before looking back at Rachel. \"Was there anything else notable at\nthe crime scene?\"\n            Marcus\nlooked at Rachel sternly, the wolf only shrugged in reply, giving a wry smile\nbefore she said. \"These guys are heroes, Doc; they're not going to announce our\nfindings to the world. Especially since we haven't found much.\"\n            Marcus\nsighed before he looked away, though kept his eyes rolled towards Rachel.\n\"Sometimes you and Obsidian are too lenient with cases,\" he said before he\nturned his gaze fully on the two. \"There was nothing disturbed in the apartment\nexcept for a phone book that was left open on the desk, open to the 'M' section\nof Unity Falls residents. Beyond that, no traces of anyone even being there.\"\n\"To the 'M's, eh?\" Tsume\nwondered aloud, clearly caught by that as her own last name started with an\n'M'.\nVinge put a hand to his\nchin and thought about what he just heard. \"Clearly, if they were using a\nphonebook, they were looking for someone in particular,\" he said. \"However, I\nthink we can be sure they weren't after you, Tsume,\" he remarked, looking at\nthe Earth Phoenix. \"If so, they wouldn't have any reason to be in your land\nlady's apartment, so they must've been looking for someone else.\"\n\"According to Kim's\nrecords, nobody else in this building has a surname starting with 'M',\" Marcus\nstated. \"So, he wasn't looking for anyone here. Which begs the real question,\nwhat was he doing in there?\"\nTsume sighed, and looked\nlongingly up at her balcony. \"So, are we clear to go in or is the whole place\noff limits?\"\n            Rachel\nshook her head. \"Just the basement apartment crime scene is sealed; you can go\nin,\" she replied. \"Just in case though, since you're the only resident in this\nbuilding who fits the bill of that list of last names, I'm going to send an\nofficer up with you.\"\n            Tsume\nnodded. \"Thanks Rachel, but Vinge here has my back and I'll be okay,\" she\nassured the wolfess. \"Good luck with the investigation.\"\n            \"Have\na good night,\" added Vinge before the two headed into the complex, dodging a\npolice officer who was coming out of the building before they ascended the\nstairs.\n            Tsume\nkept going up to her apartment, with Vinge trailing close behind her. When she\nunlocked the door, she stepped in cautiously, reaching for the nearest light\nswitch to illuminate the room, checking for intruders. Vinge followed her\ninside, and joined her in checking the house for anyone who may have been\nhiding in the suite. But, a thorough check of all rooms and the balcony\nrevealed no one was hiding inside; the house was secure. With that, Vinge\nproceeded to head down to do his check of Volcan's pad before he headed home.\nTsume decided to accompany him, as a further precaution.\nAfter unlocking the door,\nVinge crossed into the living room and switched on the light, and began his\ninspection of the house, making sure nothing was disturbed. Everything seemed\nto be just as he left it; a freshly vacuumed carpet, clean furniture and a nice\nscent in the room. All seemed to be perfectly well...\nVinge paused as his eyes\nfound the cradled phone sitting on the end table of the sofa, and noticed\nsomething odd. \"Tsume... did you check Volcan's messages when we were here?\"\n\"What? No way; that's\ninvasion of privacy,\" replied Tsume. \"Why?\"\n\"The message light on that\nphone was flashing when we were here yesterday,\" returned Vinge. \"And I have\nnot been back since then.\"\n\"Wow, grasping at straws\nmuch?\" Tsume asked, irking an eyebrow at him. \"Maybe Volcan's mom stopped here\nfor him sometime today and just...\"\n\"Volcan's mom...\" Vinge\ninterjected, head perking up and eyes widening as realization hit him like a\nrunaway car. \"Tsume, what is Degra's maiden name?\"\n\"MacAingeal, but I\ndon't...\" Tsume froze mid-sentence as it suddenly became clear to her what\nVinge was implying. \"Attends une seconde,\nare you thinking what I think you're thinking?\"\n\"I think I am,\" replied\nVinge. \"I think the person who came here may have been looking for Volcan.\"\n\"How can you be sure of\nthat?\" Tsume asked.\n\"I'm not... but I'm not\nwilling to believe that this is only a coincidence,\" replied Vinge. \"Volcan's\nmade a lot of enemies; if anyone somehow found out about his current condition\nit'd be far too tempting not to take advantage of his helplessness.\"\nTsume rubbed the back of\nher head. \"Okay, I'll agree with you there, but maybe we should try calling him\nfirst?\"\n\"You can, but I'm not\nwaiting around; I'm going over there to check on him,\" he stated before heading\nfor the door.\n\"Vinge, wait up!\" Tsume\ncalled as she strode after Vinge, shutting the front door behind her. \"At least\nlet me go arm up first!\"\n~~~~~\n\"I guess we really could have done this all along,\" Pavan\nadmitted as he leaned back in his chair, legs outstretched to rest on a\nfootstool as the movie played. After Degra had helped the two bring Volcan back\nto his room, she had brought up the television from the kitchen and placed it\non the dresser against the wall across from Volcan's bed, where Pavan had then\nhooked it up to a Combo DVD/VCR and put on a movie while Volcan settled back\nin.\nVolcan, propped up against\nthe wall with a serving tray on his lap, bearing a platter with a few crumbs\n-remnants of his supper, rolled his eyes to glance at Pavan. \"I told you so;\ncould've saved you that boot in the ass my mom gave you if we'd just done this\nfrom the start.\"\n\"Yeah,\" agreed Pavan,\nrubbing his hip. \"Still hurts too. Your mom has one helluva kick; it's amazing\nshe's not a football player.\"\n\"She's too short to play\nfootball,\" Volcan pointed out. \n\"Eh? No she's not; China\nhas its own football team, doesn't it? Tons of short people come from there.\"\n\"I don't think I've\never...\" Volcan paused. \"Oh hang on; you're not referring to western football.\"\nHe gave Pavan a look. \"You've lived in Canada for twelve years and you still\nhaven't figured out that, over here, we call it 'soccer'? Football's a different\nsport entirely.\"\n\"I'm British, Volc; it's\neasy to forget,\" Pavan returned.\n\"You were born in Britain\nbut you've lived in Canada since you were five,\" Volcan pointed out. \"Speaking\nof which, how's your dad? Seen him on the news a few times; see he's still\ndoing that weather man gig.\"\n\"Doin' good, doin' good,\"\nreplied Pavan. \"Loves his job, and just last week he and I had dinner together.\nHe commented how I'm rarely ever home and wishes I'd bring some friends over\nsometime.\"\n\"Well you do run around a lot, buddy,\" Volcan\nreturned.\n\"Speaking of running\naround, think our band will ever get to do tours?\" Pavan asked.\nVolcan blinked at how the\nwind phoenix had changed the subject so randomly before sighing, letting his\nhead fall back against the wall. \"Assuming I'm ever able to stand up on my own\nagain, I'd love to do that, travel across Canada on tour.\"\n\"'Ey, 'ey, 'ey, don't be\nsuch a Negative Nancy,\" Pavan scolded. \"You'll be fine; Akatsuki did say it'd\ntake a while for you to heal, but he said some gibberish about time always\nhealin' all wounds or something like that.\"\n\"I don't know, Pav,\"\nVolcan stated. \"After what I've been through, I don't know if I'll ever be the\nsame. I feel like I'm made of iron, I have no strength...\" he shakily raised\nhis arm, turning about his hand with some effort and staring at it, fingers\ntwitching. A spark erupted from his palm, but not much else. \"I can't even use\nmy powers to make a candle flame... I've never felt so weak.\" He let his arm slump, winded from the effort of even trying\nto use his powers. \"I can't stand feeling so helpless...\"\nPavan opened his beak to\nspeak, but the words died in his throat as he suddenly realized he didn't know\nhow to respond to that. He absently rubbed the back of his head, grimacing as\nhe tried to find something to say that would comfort his friend, but nothing\ncame to mind; there was really no way to relate to the situation the fire\nphoenix was in. Pavan had never been as strong as his friend; speedy, yes\n-easily the fastest being in all of Unity Falls, but up until three weeks ago\nVolcan had been the strongest. Now he was the weakest, all because of something\nthat had been inside of him his whole life, suddenly deciding it had wanted to\nbe free...\n\"I really don't know what\nto say, man,\" Pavan said, finally. He looked at Volcan sympathetically, trying\nto give his friend the best, reassuring look he could muster. \"But you can't\ngive up hope so soon. I hate it too, but healing does take time. You need to have some faith that eventually you'll\nbe back to your old self again. Maybe better! I mean, you don't even have to be\nafraid of that bloody dark side of yours anymore; it's gone, lost in the sands\nof Egypt. Hell, if we're lucky Izrail and Akatsuki found and killed it\nalready.\"\n\"That kind of luck, I'm\nnot counting on,\" Volcan returned with mild grimness in his voice. However, he\nmanaged to give Pavan a weak smile of gratitude. \"But you know, that has to be\none of the only profound things I've ever heard you say.\"\nPavan chuckled. \"I'm\naround you often enough, aren't I?\"\nThe two shared a laugh at\nthat -a laugh that soon turned to coughing for Volcan, who slumped back again.\n\"I'm freaking exhausted...\" he said, and looked over at Pavan. \"Help flip me\nonto my front, so I can sleep?\"\n\"Sure, buddy,\" returned\nPavan, leaping to his feet and walking up to the bedside, giving a slight\nlaugh. \"I feel like a nurse or something.\"\n\"Well if you are, you're\nan ugly one.\"\n\"Oye!\"\nAnd again there was a laugh.\nBut it didn't come from\neither of them...\nVolcan and Pavan both\nfroze, eyes going wide at the sudden, unrecognized laugh in the room. Slowly,\ntheir gazes met, and they simultaneously said, \"Was that you? No, wasn't me.\"\n\"Ah, I did it again,\ndidn't I?\"\nPavan looked down, and saw, right below him with its\nhead sticking out from under the bed, a black-furred vulpine with violet eyes\nlacking pupils, staring back up at him from between his legs, a big toothy grin\nstretched across his face. \"Kon'nichiwa,\"\nthe fox said.      \n\"Blimey!\" Pavan screamed, leaping away\nfrom the bed in terror. His timing could not have been better either, because\nless than a second after his jumped, the strange foxes arm weapon out with a\nblade in hand, slashing at where his ankles had been milliseconds before.\n\"Oh,\nquick little bastard,\" the fox said before he slid out from under the bed and\njumped to his feet, twirling the wakizashi in his hand. \"Didn't expect to find three phoenixes when I got here either;\nit seems it's my lucky day.\"\n \"Three?\" Pavan repeated.\n\"Volcan? Pavan?! What's\nhappening?\" Someone shouted from the hallway before the door flew open and\nDegra appeared. Her eyes were on the intruder instantly, fixing him with an\nenraged glare. \"Who are you? How dare you\ncome into my house!\"\n\"Like I said, three,\" the\nfox returned, tossing the blade in his hand, catching it by the handle after\neach flip. \"My name is Yaiba Kumori. Wait right there a moment; just going to\nfinish my contract...\" He held his sword inverted as he spun around and faced\nVolcan, who was struggling to move away from the fox, but could barely budge a\nmuscle.\nKumori paused as he saw\nVolcan's face, blinking at him. \"Wow, Calhoun wasn't kidding; you really do look just like him.\"\n\"Who the hell is Calhoun?\"\nVolcan demanded.\n\"Meh, no matter,\" replied\nKumori before that blood-thirsty grin flashed across his face again, as if he'd\nsuddenly changed personalities from thoughtful to maniacal, raising the blade\nhigh. \"Time to die!\"\n\"Like FUCK!\" Pavan yelled as he tackled the\nkitsune from behind, crossing the room in a fraction of a second ad hitting the\nkitsune with all of his body weight, the momentum combined with his own mass\nsending both of them hurtling through the window, glass shattering as the two\nfell through the pane and plummeted two stories to the ground.\n            Kumori\nhit the ground first, Pavan landing on top of him, but he didn't stay there; he\njumped off of Kumori's back, landing a safe distance from the psychotic fox.\n            He\nwatched as Kumori slowly stood back up, placing his hands against the soil to\npush himself up enough to bring his knees under him, and finally raise himself\non his feet. His face had two shards of glass stuck into it, one in his neck,\nthe other in his cheek, both of which he pulled out with only a mild show of\npain, but there was surprisingly little blood from the act. He pulled a third\nshard out of his shoulder, tossing it aside before glaring at Pavan.\n            \"Not\npolite to interrupt a man at work,\" he stated.\n            \"Pardon\nme, 'guv, but when your work involves stabbing my buddy, you bet your furry ass\nI'm going to interrupt,\" Pavan returned.\n            Back\nup in Volcan's room, the young fire phoenix turned to his mother. \"Get my sword\nfrom the closet,\" he rasped.\n            \"Absolutely\nnot; you're not going out there!\" Degra protested\n            \"Not\nfor me; for Pavan!\" Volcan returned. \"He didn't bring his!\"\n            \"Oh!\"\nDegra returned, before turning and dashing over to the closet, pulling open the\ndoor and grabbing the scabbard-coated falchion from inside. She ran back over to\nthe window, looking out in time to see Pavan dodging blade swings from the\nseven-tailed fox, who had somehow produced a second sword into his other hand,\nand was now attacking the Wind Phoenix with a blood-thirsty vigour. \"Pavan,\nhere!\" Degra called, throwing the sword out the window.\n            Pavan\nsaw the blade hurtling towards him, and then looked at Kumori, taking in a deep\nbreath before exhaling a bullet-sized burst of wind that struck his forehead\nhard enough to stumble the fox. A second was all he needed; Pavan made a bound\nfor the sword, jumping over Kumori's head and snatching the blade out of midair\nbefore landing again. He drew the sword from its scabbard and faced Kumori\nagain, but grunted as he held the sword with both hands.\n            \"Aw\nman, this shit's heavy,\" he muttered. \n            \"Might\nI recommend a lighter blade?\" Kumori taunted before he hurled his wakizashi at\nPavan like a throwing knife.\n            Pavan\nducked under the blade, letting it fly over his head, but another one appeared\nin Kumori's free paw and he dashed at the wind phoenix again, forcing him onto\nthe defensive as he struggled to parry each of Kumori's slashes, using his\nspeed to its fullest to protect himself from being sliced to ribbons. The fox's\nattacks were swift, precise and each one would have landed a deadly laceration\nif Pavan had failed to defend. His training with Vinge was showing now, but he\nwas used to using a slightly lighter sword than the one he had now; a falchion\nwas a good sword, but nothing like his khanda.\n            Eventually,\nPavan was forced to dash backwards, opening his wings and bringing the wind\ntowards himself to carry him back from Kumori. With a second to get his second\nwind, it was time for Pavan to go offense, leaping forward and twisting his\nbody about in midair, adding force to the blade with his own upper-body\nstrength, using the strength in his hips to swing the blade. Kumori moved to\nblock, but found his own sword nearly wrenched from his hand from the impact,\nand was forced to move back again.\n            Pavan\nspun and turned and jumped all about, utilizing his strange and hard to read\nfighting style. Kumori tried to parry his attacks, but Pavan was using his wind\npowers to speed himself up further. Their blades clashed again and again, and\nthough Kumori seemed at a disadvantage, he did not seem very concerned about\nit; he was still grinning, relying on his maneuverability to avoid Pavan's\nsword, and never losing his confidence even with his failed attempts to\ncounter-attack.\n            Suddenly,\none of Kumori's swords vanished as he dodged Pavan again, and in his hand, a\nsphere of darkness formed, which he hurled at Pavan mid-spin; the Wind Phoenix\nsaw the attack too late, and felt the pure, black energy of the Shadow Bolt hit\nhim. A creeping chill crept over the point of impact, followed by him stumbling\nfrom the unexpected amount of force that backed the attack, leaving a dark spot\non his flank where it hit for a moment, but soon abated along with the chill.\nHowever, Kumori attacked as Pavan recovered, vanishing his other sword and\nsomehow conjuring eight shuriken -or throwing stars- into his hands, which he\nthrew at Pavan.\n            Three\nstruck into Pavan's legs -two in the right, one in left, all landing in the\nthighs, two into his dominant arm, one into his weak arm, and the last two into\nhis chest; the Shuriken points were too short to inflict a lethal blow to the\nchest, but it was enough to make Pavan shriek in pain and drop onto his back as\nwhite-hot agony suddenly filled his limbs, dropping his borrowed sword as he\ncurled up, fearing to touch the wounds inflicted on him by the eight shuriken.\nNot a single one had missed him, and they left his limbs feeling numb...\n            Kumori's\nblades reappeared in his hands again, and he clicked their flat sides together\nas he stalked towards Pavan. \"You're good, kid, especially for your age, but\nI'm afraid I'm a hell of a lot older than I look,\" he said as he stood over the\nwind phoenix. \"And it's not the first time I've fought someone using the arts\nof ancient India.\"\n            Kumori\nstood over Pavan and raised his blades up high, ready to deliver the death\nblow. Volcan could only watch helplessly as his friend was about to be killed;\nDegra started to climb through the window to intervene, not knowing how much\nhelp she could be as she was not a warrior, but refusing to just stand by as\nPavan was murdered in cold blood right before her very eyes!\n            However,\nhalfway out the window, Kumori suddenly stopped, his gaze darting to the left.\nHe brought around one of his blades to block a flying knife hurtling towards\nhim. Two more quickly followed, flying out of the darkness; he back-flipped\naway from the blades, narrowly evading them and saving Pavan from his wrath.\nWhen the knives stopped coming, Kumori faced the direction they had come from\nas a white avian stepped out of the darkness, glaring at Kumori with a pair of\nice blue eyes that were shining like small flashlights in the night, snow and\nice swirling around his arms.\n            \"It's\nVinge!\" Degra exclaimed, gleefully.\n            \"So,\nthe Ice Phoenix appears as well,\" Kumori remarked.\n            He\nfelt a mild tremor in the ground, hearing stone and dirt shift as the downed\nWind Phoenix suddenly vanished, as if slurped into the dirt. He was not gone\nfor long however; he emerged again near the house, and a green and brown,\nwingless avian leaned him against the building gently. \"Pavan, are you okay?\"\nShe asked.\n            \"I\nwill be once I get these soaring scalpels out of me,\" Pavan replied, weakly.\n            Tsume\nlooked at one of the shuriken imbedded in Pavan's flesh, and with a tender\ntouch she brushed aside his feathers to reveal the skin underneath, and gasped\nas she saw the blackened skin around the points of entry left by the shuriken.\n\"Poisoned,\" she whispered, before looking up at the window. \"Degra! We need you\ndown here; Pavan's been poisoned!\"\n            The\nmother phoenix leapt out of the window without a second thought, falling to the\nground at Tsume's side and then kneeling next to Pavan to examine him. Kumori\nmade a step towards them, but a wall of thin ice rapidly formed in his path,\nstopping his advance. He scoffed, and then spin-kicked the ice wall, shattering\nit with a surprising display of strength. When it was clear, this time it was\nVinge standing in his path, holding the very falchion Pavan had been using as\nhe continued to glare at Kumori. Their gazes met, but no words were exchanged\nas they simply stood, staring at one another.\n            Tsume\ntouched Pavan's forehead, feeling the fever already starting as his body fought\nagainst the poison. She looked at Degra pleadingly. \"Take care of him; Vinge\nand I will handle this son of a bitch,\" she said.\n            \"Don't\nworry,\" assured Degra. \"Just teach that wretch a lesson.\"\n            \"Count\non it,\" returned Tsume, standing up and stepping back from Pavan as Degra\nscooped him up in her arms and ran towards porch and in through the back door,\nleaving the two phoenixes and one murderous kitsune to battle in the back yard\nof the house. \n            Kumori\nwatched Degra leave until she was back in the house, and then looked at Vinge\nand Tsume as the latter stepped up to stand at Vinge's side, drawing a pair of\nkatars from the holsters on her belt. He noticed the throwing knives on the\nback of her belt as she stood sideways, analyzing that she had been the one who\nhad thrown the knives  at him before,\nwhile Vinge held his falchion with both hands, forward at a forty-five degree\nangle and his legs spread apart, right leg forward left leg back -the typical\nstance of a samurai even though he was not carrying the weapon of one.\n            Kumori\nhummed with amusement. \"The Ice, and Earth Phoenix,\" he said. \"It seems Calhoun\nwas right; there really are many of you, all in one place too. Intriguing.\"\n            \"Who's\nCalhoun?\" Vinge demanded. \"And who are you; why are you after Volcan and why\ndid you kill that man back at the complex?\"\n            \"Oh\nmy, seems I slipped up again,\" remarked Kumori. \"You can call me Yaiba Kumori;\nthat's all you'll get to know about me. Although I find it interesting you guys\ndon't know who Calhoun is; how is it that someone you've never met wanted me to\nkill Volcan Skilerain?\" His swords reappeared in his hands as he spoke.\n\"Though, it was equally interesting\nthat Skilerain looks so much like Calhoun; aside from colour, the resemblance\nis uncanny.\"\n            Vinge\nand Tsume briefly glanced at each other before glancing back at Kumori. \"You're\nsaying there's someone out there who looks like Volcan?\" Vinge asked.\n            \"Just\nas I said,\" replied Kumori, before he raised his swords. \"Enough talk\nthough...\" that maniacal grin returned to his face once more. \"I'm ready to kill!\"\n            \"This\nguy looks crazier than a jar full of wasps,\" Tsume whispered.\n            \"I'll\nkeep him occupied; you try and flank him from the side,\" replied Vinge. \"Try\ngoing for his tails.\"\n            \"Why\nhis tails?\"\n            \"I\nthink he's a kitsune,\" replied Vinge. \"According to legends, the tails are a\nweak spot; cut one off and the shock can kill them.\"\n            \"You're\ngoing to plan a strategy around some hokey Japanese myths?\" Tsume asked\nincredulously.\n            If\nVinge could freeze a person with just a look, the stare he gave Tsume would\nhave been the one that did it; a fierce, angry look at her from one eye, the\nice blue of his eye only more pronounced by the dark blue of his socket, making\nher feel as if he was actually glaring through her and not at her. \"If you have\nanother idea, let's hear it. This guy defeated Pavan without even trying and\nseems to be able to conjure his weapons out of nothingness; kitsune have the\npower to warp the very fabric of reality around themselves.\"\n            \"To\nwhat extent?\"\n            \"That\ndepends on how powerful the kitsune them self is,\" replied Vinge, relaxing his\ngaze looking back at Kumori, who was deviously grinding his blades together.\n\"And given that every century is supposed to be when they grow another tail,\nthis one has to be at least six hundred years old; he's bound to be powerful\nand highly experienced. We need to be on our guard, or he's going to kill us.\"\n            Tsume\nsighed. \"It really does suck when you make sense,\" she stated.\n            \"So\nI keep hearing,\" returned Vinge, before his gaze hardened. \"He's coming.\"\n            (Play\n'Peel away the Skin' by Freakhouse)\n            Kumori\nwas starting to advance on the two, shuffling his feet forward on the grass as\nhe got closer, the twin wakizashi he carried flashing in the moonlight. Vinge's\neyes glowed again, his wings shifting and giving a light flap; chunks of ice\nspilled out from his feathers, breaking up and fusing together alike as they\ntook shape and began to levitate around him, orbiting like moons around a\nplanet, each one no bigger around than a Canadian nickel, forming spheres to\nresemble ball bearings.\n            Tsume\nstarted to circle Kumori on his left, keeping her katars in ready positions as\nshe watched him, her talons digging into the ground with each step she took.\nKumori's gaze darted between her and Vinge, keeping a close eye on their\npositions while he considered how to make his next move. He eyed Vinge for a\nmoment, but then made a beeline right for Tsume, deciding she would be the\neasier target. She blocked his first sword strike, and then sank into the\nground to evade his next, disappearing beneath the soil. Vinge charged at Kumori\nwhile he was distracted by Tsume's escape; the vulpine assassin barely managed\nto turn around in time to parry Vinge's first swing with his right-hand blade.\nWhen Vinge's guard was down, he attempted to stab the ice phoenix with his\nleft-hand blade, but an ice pellet struck the sword from the side, causing it\nto miss Vinge entirely, and Kumori nearly suffered a retaliatory slash as Vinge\nbrought his sword back around.\n            Just\nas Kumori tried to attack again, Vinge delivered a roundhouse kick to Kumori's head\ninstead of trying to bring around his sword again, catching Kumori off guard\nand sending him stumbling. The kitsune only chuckled, however, as he recovered\nfrom the kick and turned to Vinge. \"Impressive,\" he said. \"For one so young,\nyou have tremendous skill.\" He spun his two blades in his paws, and then lunged\nat Vinge again.\n            As\nKumori attacked it suddenly became clear that the fox had not been fighting to\nthe full extent of his ability thus far, because this time when he attacked, he\nwas much more difficult to read. He swung high, seemingly going to Vinge's\nhead, to which the ice phoenix tried to block, but then Kumori pivoted and\nbrought his other sword around instead, going under Vinge's guard completely\nand delivering a painful cut across his thigh. Vinge hollered in a mix of\nsurprise and pain, using a downward swing to try and make Kumori back off. The\nvulpine, however, crossed his swords and held them up, catching Vinge's sword\nbetween them and stopping his attack in midair, before proceeding to smash his\nknee into Vinge's stomach.\n            Vinge\nstaggered back, and would have been executed on the spot if not for Tsume\nerupting from the ground between him and Kumori, her katars narrowly missing\nKumori's muzzle as he ducked backward to evade her surprise attack. How he'd\ndetected her was a mystery, but as soon as she emerged fully from the ground,\nshe kicked Kumori in the chest to knock him back, before she charged at him,\nstabbing at him with her katars. Every punch was dodged or parried by Kumori,\nminus one that managed to graze across his face. \nWhen he counter-attacked\nwith a double-slash to her legs, she tumbled back and drove the spikes of her\nkatars into the soil, quickly lifting her legs out of range before landing back\non her feet. He kept coming, lunging forward and stabbing at her with both\nsword, which she blocked with her katars, sparks flying from the protective\nbracers around her hands and wrists as the swords skid across them. As they\nstruggled against each other in a test of strength, Vinge suddenly appeared at\nTsume's s right, and Kumori was forced to break away to avoid an\nupward-diagonal swing from the side, banking right to evade the sword as it\nslashed through the air. \n\"Damn he's fast!\" Tsume\nexclaimed.\n\"He moves like a ninja!\"\nVinge agreed.\n\"You think that's what he\nis?\" Tsume asked.\n\"A real ninja never\nfights out in the open, let alone gives their name; he may move like one but\nhe's far too direct.\"\nKumori chuckled, having\nheard every part of their conversation. \"You want indirect? Watch this,\" he\nsaid as he backed up towards a tree. As they watched him step into the shadow\nof the tree, the fox seemed to literally melt into the tree's shadow itself,\nshrinking rapidly until everything, including his eyes, disappeared completely.\nTsume froze. \"I can't\nfeel him anymore... he's gone!\" She exclaimed.\n\"Don't let your guard\ndown; this isn't over yet,\" Vinge stated as he stood back-to-back with the\nEarth Phoenix, their eyes surveying the yard.\nOf course, it wasn't like\nthey could see very well in the darkness; Phoenixes may have had amazing vision\nduring the say, sharing the same type of eyes as a hawk, but at night they were\nout of their element -they could not see in the dark any better than a person\nwho was not of a nocturnal species. Try as they might, they could not see where\nKumori had disappeared to, but neither one of them was convinced he had left\nthe fight so soon...\n\"Look out!\" Degra shouted\nfrom the upstairs window of Volcan's room, pointing over their heads.\nThey looked up, and saw\nKumori dropping right out of the sky, that diabolical grin visible even in the\nnight sky as he fell towards them. Vinge and Tsume broke away, avoiding his\nattack, after which he looked up at the window where Degra was. \"Three on one\nis kind of uneven,\" he said before he cast a globe of darkness towards the\nwindow from the tip of one of his tails. Degra ducked back to evade the attack,\nbut it turned out to not be an attack; a wall of blackness exploded from the\norb and covered the window, cutting off the matron phoenix from causing anymore\ninterference and blotting out the light coming from the room.\nHe turned back to Vinge\nand Tsume again, who had regrouped already. \"Now, where were we?\"\nKumori suddenly dropped\nto all fours, his tails splaying out widely with a simultaneous flick,\nimmediately after which his tails seemed to bristle, a faint glint of metal\ncoming from each one of them...\n\"Watch out!\" Vinge\nbarked.\nKumori flicked his tails\nforward, and just like that, dozens of Shuriken were flying at them, their\nwhirring sounds barely audible as they raced through the darkness. Tsume\nstamped her foot, and a wall of rock erupted from the soil in front of them,\nsuccessfully stopping the shuriken from reaching them as each one stuck\npoint-first into the stone, saving them from the shuriken volley.\nBut not from Kumori.\nMere seconds after the\nwall stopped the shuriken, Kumori's head suddenly appeared in the rock wall.\n\"Knock, knock,\" he mocked before he erupted from the wall and dashed between\nthem, delivering a simultaneous slash to them both; shallow cuts, but they were\nboth to the abdomen and drew blood.\nVinge recoiled, and\nKumori suddenly lashed out in his direction, jumping impossibly high and\ndelivering a powerful kick to Vinge's head that made white light flash across\nhis vision as he was sent off of his feet. Tsume moved to attack Kumori from\nbehind, but before she even took her first step, he flicked three of his tails,\nthree shuriken flying from each tip and imbedding themselves into her flesh,\nmaking her yelp in pain and lose her balance. Kumori spun himself on one knee,\nkicking her across the shins and sending her face-planting into the dirt,\nstunning her.\nKumori hopped on all\nfours towards the dazed Vinge, pouncing on top of him and standing on his\nchest; he was surprisingly light, even for someone of his size, but still heavy\nenough it forced all of the air from Vinge's lungs as Kumori held his blades\ncrossed over Vinge's throat. \"You did good, youngster, but you're a long way\nfrom matching me,\" he said, still\nholding that sinister grin as he drew the blades closer to Vinge's neck. \"Now\nyou die.\"\nMovement to his left\ncaused Kumori to hesitate; he glanced over and saw a flower -a tulip to be\nexact, had suddenly opened its petals and was facing him. He irked an eyebrow\nat this, confused by the flower. \"How can a flower open its petals at night?\"\nHe asked aloud.\nFoosh!\nPollen exploded from the\nflower, spraying his face with a cloud of yellow; he gasped in reflexive\nsurprise from the attack, and felt a sting in his eyes and nostrils, and fell\noff of Vinge as he recoiled from the surprise floral assault. \"What the hell?!\"\nHe demanded.\nJust as he managed to\nclear his vision, he felt a powerful kick connect with his face, dislocating\nhis nose as it landed a direct hit to the end of his muzzle and sent him\nfalling back, but he rolled upon hitting the ground and leapt back to his feet,\nshaking off the pain before glaring at his attacker, seeing Tsume now once more\nbetween him and Vinge.\n\"How is it you can move\nafter being hit by my poisoned shuriken?\" He asked.\nTsume grinned as she\npatted her chest with the flat of her katar. \"They didn't pierce deep enough to\ndo any real harm,\" she retorted.\nKumori's eyes narrowed as\nhe hummed with intrigue. \"Interesting... I confess, I have not met many Earth\nPhoenixes before, even in my lifetime. It appears there is much I do not know\nabout your kind.\" He looked past her, at the tulip that had sprayed him with\npollen. \"Including a power over vegetation.\"\n\"You've barely scratched\nthe surface, pal,\" Tsume returned as Vinge stood back up, now recovered from\nthe hit he'd taken from Kumori.\nKumori flashed that\nwicked smile once more; every time he grinned like that, it was no less\nintimidating, giving both Tsume and Vinge the image of a complete,\nblood-thirsty maniac standing before them. \"I'll do more than 'scratch' when\nthis is over.\"\nThe fight resumed. This\ntime, Vinge and Tsume attacked together, both of them trying to flank Kumori at\nthe same time, but even this did not appear to be enough to defeat the\nmurderous kitsune; through a series of maneuvers and counter-attacks that even\nVinge's ice pellets could not penetrate, he not only warded them both off, but\nwore them out -they were still tired from battling at the tournament, while he\nseemed to be losing no energy at all. Given his clear Darkness-elemental\nalignment, it was a fair suspicion that he was actually gaining energy from the\nvery shadows around him. All elemental beings, including kitsune, could\nreplenish their strength from exposure to their respective elements. Kumori,\nunlike them, however, seemed to be able to do this ability passively without\nstopping to concentrate on it, while Tsume would need a moment to gather energy\nfrom the ground, and Vinge would need to be some sort of source of cold to\nregain his own, either of which they could do.\nAs their movements\nstarted to slow, Kumori ducked under a simultaneous attack from the two,\nrolling between them and falling to all fours behind them as his tails suddenly\nlashed out like bullwhips, surprising them as four of the tails wrapped around\ntheir legs and yanked them out from under them, making them both fall\nbelly-down into the dirt before the tails pulled back. Kumori called out\ngleefully as he whipped around with lightning speed holding his blades up high\nas he fell towards the two, the swords angled towards their spinal columns.\nTsume grabbed Vinge's\narm, and quickly used her powers to make the earth swallow both of them beneath\nthe ground, feeling the bite of the tips of Kumori's short blades, the dirt\nabove them the only thing that saved them from paralysis.  They re-emerged a short distance away,\nstruggling to gather their breath again.\n\"This is getting nowhere;\nwe can't even touch this guy now!\" Tsume hissed to Vinge.\n\"I may have an idea,\"\nVinge stated. \"What's the extent of that plant power of yours?\"\n\"I can make plants grow rapidly,\ncommand them to do things, why?\" She asked.\n\"Can you use the grass or\nthe roots of that tree,\" he gestured towards the tree in the yard, \"to trip him\nup?\"\n\"I can try, I guess, but\nI've never really used my plant powers in a fight,\" she admitted.\n\"Now's a good time to do\nso,\" replied Vinge. \"I'll hold him off; you see your chance, try and stumble\nhim. We have to finish this, now.\"\nVinge returned to his\nfeet, stepping forward and holding his sword in preparation as Kumori walked\ntowards him again, once more grinding his short swords together, scraping the\ndirt off of the from his failed double-attack before. \"You look out of breath,\nboy; ready to surrender your life to me?\"\n\"Not yet,\" Vinge returned\nsternly.\nKumori lunged forward\nagain without another word, and once more he and Vinge were trading blows.\nVinge remained defensive, concentrating on keeping Kumori at bay as he\nmaneuvered around to put the kitsune's back to Tsume as she subtly began to\nsink into the ground again without his notice, making not a sound as the dirt\npulled her beneath and closed over her head once again.\nVinge did not last long\nagainst Kumori's onslaught; soon, Kumori managed to land two shallow stab\nwounds to his belly, making Vinge holler in pain, before a knee to his chest\npushed him off of the swords. He fell back several steps before dropping to one\nknee, panting again, but still looked up defiantly at Kumori, his gaze telling\nhim the battle was not over yet...\nKumori glanced over his\nshoulder, and noticed Tsume was missing. \"Seems your friend has skipped the\nparty,\" he stated before looking at Vinge, missing the glance over his shoulder\nas Vinge judged how close to the tree he was, and continued to step towards him\neven as Vinge stood up and backed away towards the tree. \"Did you really think\nyou can handle me all by yourself?\" \nVinge finished gathering\nhis breath, his gaze locking with Kumori's as he spoke again. \"'On open ground,\ndo not try to block the enemy's way,\" he said. \"On the ground of intersecting\nhighways, join hands with your allies'.\"\nKumori irked an eyebrow\nat him. \"Isn't that a quote from The Art of War?\" He asked. \"I fail to see its\nrelevance.\"\n\"There's multiple ways\nthis battle could go,\" Vinge stated. \"And it's clear that fighting you by\nmyself, every outcome would spell my defeat.\"\n\"And your point is?\"\nVinge noticed movement by\nKumori's feet, seeing the grass the kitsune was standing upon was actually\ngrowing longer, and began to carefully wind itself around the kitsune's ankles,\nnever squeezing too tight as to not alert the fox to what was happening beneath\nhim. Vinge grinned. \"Well on this ground of intersecting highways,\nmetaphorically speaking,\" he said. \"The very ground itself is my ally!\" He raised his voice at this statement, to give Tsume\nher cue.\nKumori felt the\nconstriction around his ankles, and looked down to see his feet and lower legs\nwere suddenly wrapped in grass that was far too long to have grown naturally,\nlet alone come alive, and suddenly it became apparent to him that Tsume had not\nleft the battle after all. As he moved to hack away the grass, two roots from\nthe tree Vinge was standing near suddenly shot up with a spray of soil,\nsnatching his wrists and pulling them forward with such force that both of his\nsword were ripped out of his hands. Lastly, a branch whipped down from above,\nbending in a manner that should not have been possible for a tree limp and\nwrapped around his neck, pulling it tightly and stretching his neck, making his\neyes go wide as he suddenly felt as though he were being pulled apart by the\nvegetation around him.\n\"Agh! Tenbatsu!\" Kumori croaked. \"How...?! I\nhad this fight won; how could a whelp like you make this happen?!\"\n\"'Water shapes its course\naccording to the nature of the ground over which it ?ows; the soldier works out\nhis victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing',\" Vinge recited as he\nraised his sword. \"'Therefore, just\nas water retains no constant shape, in warfare there are no constant\nconditions'. You believed this fight to be over, but until your enemy lies dead\nat your feet, it can always turn against you!\"\nWith that, Vinge swung.\nKumori could not dematerialize his body faster than Vinge's sword reached his\nneck, and with a mighty slash, his head was rend from his body, the tugging of\nthe branch pulling the severed head away and hurling it high into the air,\nnever to be seen again. The body fell, in a spray of blood that just... did not\nfeel right, somehow, to the ground, the roots and grass holding it now\nreceding, returning to their original states and freeing the headless corpse as\nit bled out in the yard.\nTsume emerged from the\nground once more, looking at Kumori's decapitated body with a look of disgust\nbefore she turned her head away, sighing with relief. \"Glad that's over,\" she\nsaid.\nVinge shook his head,\neven as he lowered the borrowed falchion in his hand, blood dripping from the\ntip of the sword as it flowed down the blade. \"It isn't, though.\"\nTsume looked at Vinge\ncuriously. \"Why isn't it? We won; we saved Volcan right? What more is there?\"\n\"Remember what he said?\"\nVinge asked, looking at her and meeting her gaze. \"About someone sending him to\nkill Volcan? That person is still out\nthere, and they still want him dead -probably us as well, to send such a madman\nto do the deed.\" He turned his gaze towards the sky. \"This fight isn't over\nyet; we won a battle, but it was just against a mere hired blade. The general\nthat sent them here is still out there somewhere, and as long as they are, this\nis a war, and it's only just beginning.\"\nTsume shuddered at that\nthought, barely noticing the light spilling out from the house as Kumori's\nearlier barrier receded, clearing the window and letting Degra look outside\nagain, along with Volcan, both of them bearing looks of worry; clearly Degra\nhad stayed in the room in the event Kumori made another attempt to attack\nVolcan while she was not there to watch him. It was her voice calling out to\nthem that drew their attention to her.\n\"Are you two okay?\" She\ncalled.\nTsume gave her a\nreassuring wave, letting her know that they were fine, before she turned back\nto Vinge again to voice her next question. \"So... what happens now?\"\nVinge lowered his gaze\nsomewhat, staring at the ground for a moment before turning to face Tsume\nagain. \"Tomorrow, we need to call the rest of the team. We need to let them\nknow about all of this -about Kumori, and about this 'Calhoun' character who\nhas yet to reveal himself to us.\"\nTsume irked an eyebrow at\nVinge, noticing the tone in his voice and the way he said 'reveal' with such a\nsuspicious tone. \"The way you say that, it sounds like you have an idea who it\nmight be.\"\n\"I just might,\" replied\nVinge, matter-of-factly. \"But just once I hope I'm wrong.\"\n~~~~~\nCalhoun tapped his foot\nimpatiently as he sat waiting in the cabin of the Overwatch Ranger station, his\nstaff propped up at his side and held upright in his hand. It had taken him\neight hours to fly there from Vancouver, arriving in the late afternoon, but\nnow it was well into the night, and Kumori had yet to reveal himself, making\nthe dark phoenix begin to wonder if perhaps he had been mistaken to assign the\nrenegade kitsune to slaughter his hapless look-alike in Unity Falls.\nHe had also come to\nregret that decision... after much thought, Calhoun realized how much it\nbothered him to know Volcan would be killed by another, and how much he wanted\nthat pleasure for himself. Calhoun had been trapped in Volcan's body for\neighteen years; his prison, vessel and an unwanted home for as far back as he\ncould remember, and now the dark phoenix was cursed to look just like him; a\nduplicate! He hated knowing this; he was the stronger of the two, and had a\nvision for the future, one that would never feel complete as long as he was\nnothing more than a mere copy of someone! He'd never be as remembered, and as\nfeared, if it was believed that he was just a hopeless clone.\nThe only way to truly\nmake his mark on the world was to ensure it was his face they saw when he\nappeared... nobody else could have that face. Hence, Volcan Skilerain had to be\ndestroyed, and wiped from the memories of all.\nCalhoun perked up as he\nsuddenly got the sensation that he was not alone, like an unseen hand caressing\nhis back and making his wings twitch. His eyes scanned the room for any sign of\nlife, but there was none to be found. He scowled and stood up, holding his\nstaff with both hands. \"Show yourself!\" He commanded.\n\"I'm right here,\" a disembodied voice filled the room, and suddenly\na pair of violet eyes appeared in front of Calhoun. \nHe stepped back, and\nsuddenly realized he could make out the shape of an ethereal, feral fox\nstanding before him, seated with six tails swaying behind it, and propped up by\nits forepaws as it regarded Calhoun with a rather bored-looking expression, the\nsolid, violet eyes blinking up at him. Calhoun studied this fox for a long\nmoment, regarding it curiously as a sense of familiarity coursed through his\nmind, narrowing his gaze to look long and hard at the strange, ghostly\nvulpine...\n\"...Kumori?\" He asked.\n\"Is that you?\"\nThe fox nodded. \"It is,\" it replied, once again with that\ndisembodied voice; the fox's lips moved when it spoke, but the sound of its -or\nhis, as it turned out- voice did not seem to actually come from that mouth. It\nseemed to shimmer through the very air itself, filling up the room with a disembodied\necho with every word the fox spoke.\n\"What happened to you?\"\nCalhoun asked.\n\"The friends of my target turned out to be more powerful than you\nbelieved,\" Kumori replied. \"I dealt\nwith the Wind Phoenix easily enough, but the Ice and Earth ones got in my way,\nand proved to be quite strong.\"\n\"Vinge and Tsume; they\ndefeated you?\" Calhoun asked, incredulously. \"All of that confidence and\nbloodthirst, and you were unable to beat them?\"\nKumori's eyes narrowed\nangrily. \"Do not test my patience, you flaming\ncrow,\" he warned, one of his tails raising high and the tip igniting with a\nstrange, blue fire. \"In spirit form I may\nbe, but that does not mean I cannot kill you if you make me angry.\"\nAt that, Calhoun simply\nlaughed; a bellowing chortle that filled the room so suddenly it was as if he\nwas reacting to a witty joke, tapping his staff into the floor as his other\nhand rested against the belly of his breastplate. When his laugh subsided, he\ngrinned at Kumori wickedly, and opened his arms. \"Go ahead and try; find out\nwhat happens.\"\n\"I'm warning you...\"\n\"Do it!\" Calhoun\ncommanded. \"You idiotic ghost; do it!\"\nThat was the final\ninsult. Kumori flung the blue flame at the black phoenix; the blue fire struck\nhome as Calhoun stood, not even trying to block it or evade it, hitting him\nsquarely in the chest, he barely reacted, only cringing with pain as he felt a\nburning sensation deeper than any external wound could reach, grasping his chest\nwhere the ball had hit, but he remained on his feet, the grin returning to his\nface as he stood back up and stared down at Kumori like a predator over a fresh\ncatch, laughing at him again.\nKumori backed away from\nCalhoun, eyes wide in shock. \"That's not\npossible!\" He exclaimed in protest. \"Fox\nFire burns the very soul of those stricken with it, yet you're not even hurt!\nThis cannot be... what in the name of Inari are you?!\"\nCalhoun hoisted his staff\nover his shoulder, beginning to slowly pace around the room. \"There isn't\nreally a word with which I can answer you,\" he stated as he paced, tapping his\nstaff against his armour. \"I am something... different from any other being in\nthis world. The soul I harbour is not mine originally; I carry the essence of an\nancient being.\" He looked at Kumori harshly. \"A being far beyond your\ncapability to destroy; use your Fox Fire as much as you want, you will drain\nyour own core essence long before you destroy mine, for the soul in this body\nmakes even the Gods tremble in fear\nwhen they hear its name!\"\nHe slammed his staff\nagainst the floor, splintering the boards around where the ankh struck. \"And it\nyearns to be awakened, which is one of my first priorities. I'm going to awaken\nmy true power, and leave a scar on this world that will never heal, and from\ninside of the scar I will spread my influence across the Earth, and every\nnation, every army, and every living creature will beg or they will burn. This\nis what I am born to do...\" He clenched his fist tightly, a black and violet\nfireball forming around his hand as he unclenched. \"I live to destroy... and those who do not submit\nto my will shall be on the receiving end.\"\n\"You are a monster,\" stated Kumori, before flashing a wry smile. \"And that intrigues me. It appears this world\nmay be about to face a threat it's not prepared for.\"\n\"You can be part of it,\"\nCalhoun said, looking at Kumori. \"Even I cannot bring this world down alone; I\ncould use someone who cannot be killed in my army.\"\n\"Do not push it, Calhoun,\" Kumori retorted, losing his grin. \"I have no interest in conquest; all that\nmatters to me is the taking of the lives of others, and the more worthy the\nlife, the more thrilling it is. I have no interest in making war on the fools\nof the modern world.\"\n\"Ah, but you know I will\nnever accomplish this without resistance, don't you?\" Calhoun asked. \"People\nwill fight; they always fight in the face of a conqueror or a destroyer alike.\nThey are stubborn like that, but that stubbornness has saved entire nations in\nthe past, and it could very well again.\" He pointed at Kumori as the fire\naround his hand vanished. \"There will be war, and warriors aplenty who will\nchallenge me; you know that I am right. \n\"Among the millions on\nthis world who will wield the gun, the sword or technology more advanced, there\nwill be those who can and will fight to stop me. You could have endless bodies\nto bleed; all you need to do is stay with me, and before long your urge will be\nindefinitely sated. You saw the Volcan's friends; do you believe they are the\nonly ones with such power? The challenges we'll face will not be lacking, my\nfriend.\"\n            Kumori's\nghostly ears flicked at the proposal, elevating his gaze to look at Calhoun.\nEven in his feral, spiritual form, disembodied from his former vessel and of\nlittle danger to anyone -especially Calhoun- for the next several months as he\nconstructed a new body, that diabolical grin appeared on his face still. On the\nbody of a feral, ghostly fox, it only looked even more terrifying.\n            He\nasked, with a dark hunger in his voice... \n\"Where do I sign up?\"","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/852947-chapter-2-the-competition.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/890941-chapter-4-trouble-in-the-north.json"}