Assassin's Prophecy (Moon Struck Fox & I)

It is the dead of night and while most things sleep in the darkness, there is one man who is unable to afford that luxury. For him, sleep is a weakness and if he were to retire now, his life would most likely be forefit. For weeks now, he's been chased, accused of an atrocity he had no part in. Yet the person sent to assassinate him clearly believes that he is guilty. With no other recourse, he is forced to flee, only stopping to defend himself if neccessary. While he fled, these thoughts kept running through his head like, "Why me?" and "What did I do?" His thoughts then turn to that fateful day back then when this chaos all began...

Three Weeks ago...

It is 6:00AM.The smell of burning fibers and smoke fill the air. The people had no idea what happened when the first building caught fire. All they knew that it was just one of many that had broken out over the town of Delt. There were screams of terror and panic quickly filling the roads as the people fled the crimson inferno. But for one young man, he could only stand in horror as he faced the destruction before him. It was a sight that was familiar to him, this widespread firestorm that consumed everything in its path. He was six years old then, celebrating his birthday with his family. One minute he was enjoying life with his family and the next, everything around him was consumed in fire and brimstone. Everything that he knew then, his family, his friends, they all disappeared that day. It was only thanks to some traveling monks that he was able to survive, him and him alone. That's how he was able to learn how to fight, how to defend himself from the evils of this world.

And seeing the fire before him, he knew that this was definetley the work of evil. He felt it in his bones, his very soul. Perhaps the mystery of twelve years ago would come to light through this tragedy. Thus, he stayed, surrounded by the inferno while others fled. Only by experiencing this horror again did he believe that he was capable of finding the truth. His body moved forth, only stopping to offer aid to those who could not flee on their own. When they were capable, they took the path of safety and left him alone to deal with his past. Little did he know that by remaining here, he himself would be the very blame of the tragedy that befell him not only today, but that moment twelve years ago...


At Present...

The young man was sure he was safe this time. He had taken refuge in an abandoned mill just outside the next village. That damn assassin that was chasing him might have either lost him or simply gotten tired. Whatever the case, he had to use this opporotunity to regain his strength and stamina and think of what to do next. He couldn't simply run forever. His body, though trained well in the physical arts, could not withstand a pursuit of such dilligence. He only had two options. Whether to try and prove his innocence, or to take the offensive and possibly rid himself of the one who now threatened his very life.

there was no doubt about it. the feeling that she was feeling was annoyance! she had been stalking this bastard for two and a half weeks now! somehow, the little prick kept getting away from her, and he wouldn't sit still, he just kept on running! she'd been without food for almost four days now, not that she couldn't handle a little stomach grumble, but it was a luxury that she enjoyed, being able to sit down and enjoy a meal. she was slowly catching up to him, this she knew, she could smell his fear even with her weak human nose. her grip tightened on the Spear that she was holding, the golden tip was gleaming with it's so very fine sharp edge. she would make him suffer for making her walk all over hell for this, and then she would go back to her bosses and make THEM suffer for sending her on this damn mission!

Her name was Rin, or at least, that's what she'd always been called. she had no real name, because she'd never had any parents. the people who had raised her, had no idea where she'd come from, she'd just appeared one day, in the middle of a blizzard, just born with the cord still attached, laying nude in the snow on one of their doorsteps. The Hunters had raised her to be completely free of morals, taught her to enjoy killing, taught her how to disable a man with a single glance, and use her body to make herself seam harmless. they taught her everything she needed to know, and she had loved every minute of it. there was nothing that she loved more, than to see her Scythe, or her spear slicing through flesh and skin, the red of blood sinking into the ground as her prey gurgled and died... but this bastard was denying her that pleasure, he just wouldn't stop running! but she had a lifetime of training, he could never outrun her, never.

she tossed her long, ebony black hair behind her shoulder, and studied the village she had come across. he wasn't in the Village, she knew that, the footsteps she was following did not lead that way. she was very thankful for the yard rain that had turned the dusty ground into hard packed mud for her to easily follow him. he was in the Mill, she knew that in an instant. she settled onto a rock to regain her breath and pulled out a rock, gripping her spear she sharpened it until the sharp edges shined, and a single touch of her finger drew beads of blood. she would make him suffer for making her follow him all across the damn kingdom. he was a danger, and he needed to be dealt with, as she sat and sharpened, she wondered how best to go about slaughtering her prey... she couldn't go inside, he might not actually be in there, he might set the place ablaze if she went in... she stood instead, and studied the place before nodding.

"You Cannot Run forever Fire Starter!" she had called him that ever since she had started hunting him, and this wasn't the first time she'd called out to him. she had done so three times, each promising him a swift death if he just stopped running and let her have him. "You cannot escape me, i am stronger than you, i can go without food longer, i can go without water longer! how weak are you now, Fire Starter? Four days without food? you must be terribly exaughsted. how much longer do you think you can run?" she asked, advancing slowly on the Mill, her eyes narrowed as she gripped her spear tightly. "Come out, Fire Starter, and meet your death like a man!"

Just when he thought he was safe, just when he thought that he could rest his weary legs and sate his thirst and hunger, there was that voice again, the voice that made the man who called himself Sol Gareth groan in displeasure. It had only been the third time she called out to him, asking him to give up his head to her, but already was he tired of it. It wasn't simply the fact that she was persisting in chasing him so much as the way she was mocking him while doing so. He was actually more than capable of defending himself. At least, that's what he believed in his mind. But while he learned many things from the monks that trained him, it was to never fight an uneccessary battle. This situation clearly fell within that parameter, but the thought of going out there and putting that girl in her place was awful tempting. Instead, the monk resigned himself to one again try and negotiate his way out of his situation...if she'd let him.

Quickly, Sol crawled over to a wall so as to not let this assassin see him easily. For all he knew, she was just waiting for him to pop his head out so she could fling that damn weapon of hers and seperate his head from his body. When he felt his safety was assured, he called out to her in a huff, "How many times do I have to tell you?! I didn't start that fire!" It was essentially the same thing he the monk had said to her before. There was no way he was capable of burning down a house, let alone and entire village. These words did not seem to phase the girl, however as she then began spouting some crap about a prophecy and how he was meant to destroy the world. What a ridiculous notion! He was a monk sworn to protect the innocent, not some architecht of anihilation.

she scowled, annoyed when he failed to poke his head out, she supposed he'd learned his lesson after the first time, she had no idea how she'd missed, but he had very nearly lost the tip of his nose. she rolled her eyes as he called out that it hadn't been him, and unrolled the order of execution and read it aloud. "One Sol Gareth is wanted dead, for the burning of two towns and the deaths of Dozens. Sol Gareth is hereby life forfeit due to A Prophecy where he is declared the Harbinger of Doom, and the Bringer of the Apocalypse!" she went on, reading the rest of the letter before folding it up and tucking it into her pocket once more, pausing as she considered. "The People who want you dead, are very good at what they do Sol Gareth!" she declared, loudly and with great annoyance. "they have spent their entire lives looking for people like you! just because you are not actively going to destroy the earth, doesn't mean you won't cause it's destruction by accident! do you really want the deaths of thousands, of millions of people on your hands!?" she demanded. "Either come out of that Gods Fucking Mill and turn yourself in to be executed, or i get annoyed and come in after you... and i'm already pretty pissed off Sol, and i've been itching to find out how much skin a human can loose before they bleed to death!"

that was a new threat, usually she just threatened to cut off his dick, this time she was actually talking about torture. "we'll start with your forehead! the face is really rather sensitive you know." she admitted with a smirk. "or, we can always play it out where you sit in there and slowly starve to death, and i sit here with a nice warm fire, and plenty of Rabbit and dried meat and fresh water to eat and drink. your trapped in there Sol, i don't even have to go in after you, now that i think of it, i can just sit out here and enjoy a nice long rest while i wait for you to waste away in misery." she cackled, delighting in that. "it's a shame really.." she admitted simply. "i had been hoping to fuck you before i killed you." this was a ploy that usually worked. Sol knew he was dead, at least, she figured he did by now. there where very few men who would resist a final fuck before they hit the dirt, after all, who didn't want to go down having sex?

The list was read. The accusations were made. The monk was not pleased. Sol never believed in the idea of being forced to follow a certain path or destiny. He believed himself to be a man who could create his own lot in life and control it in any way he pleased. That's why the idea of being this supposed destroyer displeased him so. It was made even worse when that list accused him of being the one who burned his hometown to the ground twelve years ago. He was a fucking child then! It was so damn insane! This had to end one way or another. And he'd be damned if he was going to let some pretentious assassin do him in before he got to the bottom of this mystery. Trying to put the provocations of the woman out of his mind, he readied himself for what he believed to be a drawn out, annoying as hell fight.

A few minutes passed with no words from him until the sounds of footsteps could be heard coming towards the door. As if he were a man resigned to his fate, he stood within the doorway, his hood covering his eyes and his arms lowered to his sides. It appeared as if the monk had finally given up and surely, that might please the assassin. But if she thought she could be the only provocative one in this encounter, she would have another thing coming. "Well, I guess it can't be helped," he began, his gaze seemingly lowered to the ground before suddenly looking directly at her with eyes full of vigor and determination. "I thought I could put this off by convincing you of my innocence, but I guess I'll have to physically force you stop!" And with one swift motion, Sol pulled off his jacket to reveal his fit and ready form. A form hardened through years of training with monks who mastered the art of physical combat through constant training and dedication. There wasn't a man or woman alive he believed could take him in a fight and he was about to prove it.

she smirked as he proved to be stupid, and stepped out into the light of the sun, she licked her lips at how very meek and submissive he looked, she assumed he was tired from all the running. she scowled as he spoke again, some nonesense about proving his innocence, she couldn't care less. her hands tightened on the golden spear in her hands and her eyes fixed on his, watching that determination. "you hav e trained for twelve years. your endurance and physical prowess are impressive... but i have been training for twenty two. you cannot hope to defeat me Fire Starter." she stated simply. "i have capabilities that you could only dream of... you see my spear?" it had a strange gleam to it, as if it was wet. "it is bathed in one of my own unique creations, it will shut down active muscles, sparing only your internal organs... it will leave you as limp, and helpless as a doll, and it only takes a scratch." she smirked at him. "what hope do you really have? you where better off in that Mill." she stated before striking at him.

she was before him in an instant, proof of her training as the Spear sliced through air. he would be cut across the chest if he wasn't paying attention. if he was, it was almost too easy to step away from the attack, it was almost as if she was... testing him, instead of trying to kill him. "go on, Fire Starter... lets see if your training, comes close to mine." she taunted, striking again, a jab this time, sending the tip of her spear right for his belly, but again, it was easy to evade... she was either testing him, or taunting him. it was hard to tell with her, hell the first time he'd met her, she'd been pretending to be a girl, sobbing over the supposed deaths of her parents, and then spent the next several hours 'pretending' loudly, to be playing Hide and Seek... maybe she was a little mad?

To Sol, this girl was so naive. It didn't matter whether or not he had twelve years of training or twelve hundred. It was how the person utilizes that training that determines how strong they were. It was a point the monk was about to prove to this girl who essentially blurted out how her weapon worked. Either she was super confident or just plain stupid. Either way, he knew what to look out for now as she came at him. If there was one thing she did prove to him, it was that she was indeed quick. The way she utilized that spear also proved that she was very capable of handling weaponry, a far cry from his mere ability to use his fists. But while he lacked the tip of a spear or the poison strong enough to bring down a bear, he did have the flexibility of a cat. This allowed him to bend his body back and avoid the first slash of the spear by mere centimeters.

She was not done yet, however as her next move proved to be a little trickier. Having not moved from the spot where he first stood, perhaps as a sign of bravado or simply the fact that his evasive technique used no uneccessary movements, he was open to a full thrust from the assassins spear. But as the spear inched closer and closer to his gut, the monk was beginning to feel something was a bit off. It was as if this woman were slowing down to see how he would react to her movements. With very little time to spare and the desire to end this fight quickly with minimal injuries to both parties, he was forced to oblige her tactic, this time using his palm to strike the shaft of the spear and divert its path. As it moved away from him, so did Sol take his first steps, turning his body towards the assassin. This twisting momentum brought his arm swinging around, his palm prime to deliver a chop to the back of her skull and render her unconcious then and there.

This was the martial arts training of his kind. While assassins like her prefered weaonry and poisons to deliver death quietly and from a distance, monks like him thrived on close quarters combat, delivering crushing blows with their fists and painful submission locks with their nigh breakable grip.

she laughed as he slapped the spear away from him, she laughed because he had made a very serious mistake, as many did, assuming she couldn't fight without a weapon, or rather, couldn't fight in close quarters... what kind of idiot was this? she was an Assassin, logic would have told her to be aware of several different kinds of fighting styles, especially after twenty one years of training. she would teach him his lesson... but she had to admit, at least he hadn't batted away the actual spear, a scratch would take him down, a smudge of the liquid on his palm would be enough to make him dizzy enough to seriously affect his fighting style. she had to admit, she was impressed with him, he was fast, quick and nimble, like a fucking cat... but then again, so was she.

as he struck the shaft of her spear, she dropped it, twisting her body away from his strike, her fist burying itself in the nearest 'soft spot' she could find. there where many places that where shockingly painful, aside from the obvious. sure there was the groin, or the belly, but a monk like him would have been trained to ignore the obvious pains... she wanted something a little more debilitating. her fist would strike the soft spot just under the kneecap, or she would strike the inner thigh on the nerve cluster, which would make his leg numb for a few moments, and then tingle terrible, as if he had sat on it too long and it had fallen asleep. she might even have a chance at his Kidney if he twisted too much going for the back of her neck. the most annoying part about her own unique fighting style, was that as soon as she made a hit, she was leaping back, away from retaliation.

she struck and then she rolled away from him while he was distracted by the knee strike, her fist had struck just right to crumble the knee on a normal man, but this was no normal man and she gripped her spear tightly, the tip aimed at him as she watched his every movement, he was hurt, that she was certain of, but some people handled pain better than others, and she wasn't about to let her guard down not knowing how badly she had, or had not damaged him. she had felt no bones grating, shifting, or breaking, so she knew he wasn't hurt any more seriously than a bruise... maybe a torn and strained muscle if she was very lucky. "your better than you look." she teased, her eyes fixed on him. "go on... let's see what else you got." she ordered, smirking viciously. "i'm not going to hold back anymore." and she struck again, the tip of her spear slicing through air, much faster than before, there was a good chance of him getting out of the way in time, so long as he wasn't affected by his knee too much, but she wasn't holding back now, as soon as he ducked or dodged one attack, there was another right behind it. she was trying to wear him out, and give him no chance to attack her. she was a very offensive person... which meant, she was probobly very weak when it came to defense, which he could find to his advantage if he could get her on the defensive...

With the woman boasting about her poisoned spear so much, it was a surpirse to Sol that she actually dropped it. It was just barely enough to distract him so that she could go for her next target, his legs. He had to admit then as the sensitive parts of his leg came under attack that her strategy was sound. Taking out the base of his power and movement would leave him vulnderable to attack. He would have put a stop to it had she not been moving all over the damn place after each strike, causing him to concentrate on following her with his eyes rather than actually continuing his attack. What was left was him forcing to move backwards and out of harms way lest she decide to go for his other leg. He slid the weakened leg behind him as if to protect it while the numbness and tingling died down.

By this time, of course, the assassin had regained control of her spear and once again pointed it at him. There was a chance that if he showed any affects from the attack, she might see it as a sign of weakness and go in for the kill. Thus, he gave no indication of pain or discomfort and instead readied himself for the next attack...as soon as she stoped the chatter of course. What came next was much faster than before and, just as she had said, she didn't seem to be holding back this time. Again, she released the spear, this time like a javelin hoping to impale him on its sharp, poisonous tip. However, unlike the constantly changing angles of the girl's debilitating blows, the spear was flying but in a straight line. A simple task to dodge which Sol did by bending his good leg into a sort of crouching position. Knowing the weapon would fly off somewhere other than his flesh, he could, this time, concentrate on the girl who once again came on the offensive.

With his lower position, it almost seemed as if Sol were kneeling to his attacker in defeat. What he was really doing, however, was putting all of his power into his good leg. As soon as the assassin got close enough, he would push off with it and go for a tackle attack. It might not have the impact had he been able to use both legs to their full potential, but at such close range, it would be nearly impossible to dodge.

she scowled when her attack seamed to have failed. he was favoring the leg she had struck a little, but not much, she assumed that he simply had a higher pain tolerance than she had anticipated, or she had missed the sensitive flesh and had struck something less damaging. she threw the spear at him, hoping to nick him to no avail, not that she had expected it to work, the spear was too large anyway, it was in the way in the close range combat. a spear was a mid range, meant to keep the opponent at a distance while she picked apart their defenses, this was a time for close range work, which meant daggers and knives. she wasn't as good with them as she was her spear, but she didn't really care, he was on his last legs, or that's what she assumed as she saw him kneel. she darted in, knife at the ready, and shrieked in surprise when he struck her in a full on tackle... she hadn't so much as fallen into his trap, as she had raced right into it.

she snarled, her eyes flashing with rage as she hit the ground, all the air rushing out of her lungs, gasping hard her fists flew, striking anything she could reach in a desperate attempt to kick him off of her so she could catch her breath back. "i.. knew.. you.. just wanted... me.. on my.. bad... per..vert!" she managed to wheeze, her foot kicking, trying to find the ever so sensitive spot between his legs, she was dizzy and couldn't figure out how he was laying on top of her. her fists struck for flesh, flinging blindly. wildly, but even wild swings hit flesh on occasion. unfortunately for her, she was pretty much defenseless, she wasn't even trying to defend herself, it was as if it hadn't even occurred to her to try, her face, her neck, her chest, all exposed and defenseless... as a Monk, he would no doubt try to not kill her, but she couldn't count on that, she'd known plenty of Monks all too willing to kill to defend themselves. no, she attacked instead, her punches and her eyes desperate, almost afraid as she shook her head, struggling to clear it even as she fought to get her breath, one hand swinging, the other struggling to get to a blade that she had along her thigh, which was rather hard to get to and she was cursing her own inability to think as she struggled to push him back, away from her before he could slit her throat.

His counter was perfect.

If only she had hung on to that spear a little longer, she might not have resorted once again to charging him with guns blazing. Now the two of them were entangled together, Rin recoiling at the impact Sol had hit her with and struggling to get his mass off of her so she could go for her weapon, and Sol, taking advantage of such struggling to apply a restraining hold on her. It was clear she probably had no experience with a ground game, doing nothing but flailing about, and for the monk, it would be easy for him to control the situation now...that is if he didn't feel a sudden impact between his legs. This brought about a grunt of pain from the young man who, despite his desire to smack the assassin right upside the head, kept his cool and squeezed his thighs together under him, effectively stopping the lower limbs from doing any more damage. Now all that was left was to restrain her hands.

In this aspect, the assassin seemed like a defensless girl, perhaps fearful that he might harm her physically or sexually as she huffed under her breath. Sol wasn't the kind of guy to do that, though under different circumstances, he would use this opprotunity to, as they say, go wild...with her permission of course. But now wasn't the time for such thoughts. As he caught one of her flailing hands, he quickly reached for the other. It was just in time too as the monk could see that she was dangerously close to a weapon which, for all he knew, was just as poisonous as the spear. With both hands secure, he pulled them outward, leaving the assassin in a sort of crucifix pose. "You can stop struggling now," the monk let out with a breath of exhaustion. "I doubt any training you have now is capable of pulling a secure mass such as myself off of you. Besides, I need you to conserve that energy so you can tell me what the hell is going on around here. Who are you? And what's with this 'Fire Starter' nonsense?"

she snarled like a wild animal as she found herself pinned to the ground, struggling and wriggling before going limp underneath him, panting hard as she closed her eyes to regain her breath. there was one or two things she could do to get him off of her, but she wanted to rest for a moment and calculate her best options... at least her theory about him not wanting to kill her was correct, which meant he wasn't directly responsible for the fires. he was too soft hearted, he could never had lit those fires on purpose. self defense? maybe, if no one else had been around, no, this stupid idiot wasn't responsible for the fires, but that didn't mean they weren't his fault... unless he was being framed? who knew? at this point, she knew as much as he did. she stared up at him with anger and hatred in her eyes before looking away and muttering something under her breath, making him either order her to speak up, or lean down to hear her.

"you started those fucking Fires, that's why your called Fire Starter." she growled, her eyes narrowed. "i was sent to kill you, to stop an ancient prophecy, with which a creature of Man... that's you, unleashes Hell upon the earth. demons, in other words. all the evil trapped in hell, will be released, and set loose upon the earth, and it will be your fault, even if you don't know how, or why, it will be your fault." her voice was getting quieter and quieter, making him lean down more, and more to hear her. "bit i have come to realize something..." she admitted, once he was close enough... if he was that stupid anyways. her head snapped forward, her forehead aimed for his nose, trying to break his nose with her head. even if he jerked his head back in time, she twisted, arching her hips, pressing their crotches together in an almost sexual manner until one realized that she was trying to Roll them, her back leaving the sand underneath her as she tried to take his surprise to advantage, and pin HIM to the sand instead. it only had a slim chance of working, but if Sol was in pain, she might have a more decent chance of pulling it off... she wasn't sure if she'd hit him with her head or not, she had too much adrenaline in her system to care.

It took a moment, but the girl finally seemed to calm down enough for Sol to finally get some information out of her. In fact, he didn't need to interrogate her or anything. She just spilled the beans right there and then. And what beans they were! Somehow, it was too fantastic to believe. Him, the architect of destruction. Bringer of demons, fire and destruction. "What a load of crap..." The monk scowled at the assassin as he found it to be a ridiculous notion before noticing that, as she was continuing to speak, her voice was getting lighter. It was like she was going mute or something. "Eh? Speak up. I can't hear you," he said as he leaned in to listen to what were now becoming whispers. Little did he know that it was just another sneaky tactic to draw him in. It was just the kind of tactic an assassin like her would use and it worked to perfection.

What a fool Sol was. As he leaned in, eager to hear the rest of this girl's little tale, she personally introduced her forehead to his face. Not having any clue it was coming, the monk was shocked and recoiled, loosening his grip on her and allowing for her counterattack. His head was ringing a bit and his vision blurred temporarily, but when he regained his senses, he suddenly found that he was the one on the bottom. Amazingly enough however, he did not appear to resist at all. Feigning serious injury, he let out a low moan of discomfort and lifted his hand to his forehead. He might have been playing a part, but it still hurt a bit, being a blow he couldn't see coming. He began to speak again, making sure to keep an eye on the girl, lest she carry out another deadly attack on his being. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Half compliment, half insult. Maybe it would stay her hand temporarily. She did have a habit of talking from what he could tell and if he could keep her doing so, then he might learn a little more about the people sent to kill him.

she laughed a little as she slammed her head into his, the pain didn't bother her too much, she'd done this too many times to count. she rolled him, and pinned him to the ground, her hands on his shoulders, leaving his hands free, she was enjoying this little fight, she really was. "yes, i know." she teased, snickering as she leaned down, catching his lips with her own, kissing him, passionately, her tongue stroking along his lips as she worked his mouth with her own, enticing him to kiss back as her hand slid lower, sliding along his belly, heading almost straight for his crotch, but she never got there, with the sound of ringing metal, she pulled the blade from it's holster, and she pulled back, her eyes gleaming with delight as she used the tip of her knife to trace an invisible pattern on his arm, her eyes fixed on the tip of his blade. "your really... very fun, Sol Fire Starter." she admitted before getting up off of him with a grunt. "there's no way you purposely started those fires, your too... soft." she admitted with a shake of her head.

"call me weak, but i just can't kill a man who might be innocent." she admitted shaking her head. "blame it on the people that raised me i suppose." she mused, slipping her blade back into it's holster and moving over to her spear, taking out a cloth, damp with something noxious smelling, and started to wipe the blade down. "so, either you did it unconsciously, reacted through... fear, or anger and did it accidentally without knowing it was you, or. your being framed." she mused. "or, you might just be being stalked." she mused. "there might be a demon following you doing these things." she mused. "in any case, i can't risk you being the way to releasing the underworld onto our plains." she admitted, staring at him. "you might unleash hell upon us all, willing, or unwilling, aware or not, the risk is too great." she admitted, shaking her head. "but i also know i can't kill you, i don't kill innocents and i doubt you've done anything bad enough to warrant MY attention." she admitted shaking her head a little. "so, what do i do with you?" she asked, almost more to herself at the end than anything else.

While Sol had expected the girl to pull her blade, she had other things on her mind. For one, she had failed to properly pin him, a mistake he would soon learn was intentional. While he contemplated using them to break free from her mounted position, he found himself under an attack of a very different kind. Without much warning, she kissed him deeply, long and hard. This sudden change of pace caught him off guard and, for whatever reason, he found his body reacting to it, his mouth opening slightly to accept her tongue and allow it to play with his. While she distracted him with this, her hand slid down to reach her blade, playing with the idea that she would strip the monk of his pants. As soon as he saw the blade, his body seemed to freeze. No longer was he under the spell of this assassin's passionate embrace, but rather, the tip of her blade.

Again, she surprised him by merely tracing an invisible line across his arm, not even bothering to break the skin. It was clear now by her words and actions that she no longer had the desire to take his life, rather, she desired instead to understand how someone like him was capable of starting fires be they intentional or unintentional. Was he really being framed? Or did someone have more sinister thoughts in mind for this young monk? Sitting up, he pondered these thoughts. After a short time, he came up with a response. "Why don't we get to the bottom of this? I still think you're delusional if you think I committed these crimes even unintentionally, but if you believe that there's a chance I'm innocent, then why not help me instead of trying to kill me?"

she smirked as he kissed her back, that pleased her very much. it meant she might get lucky before she had to kill him... if she had to kill him. she laughed a little as he froze completely at the sight of the knife, shaking her head as she watched shock flood his face. "honestly Monk. you have walked into so many of my traps... if you weren't so fun to play with, you'd have been dead hours ago." she teased, shaking her head a little. "honestly." she complained with a huff. "and you'd be amazed the things a person can do subconsciously Fire Sta... Sol Gareth." she corrected herself, studying him. "come, we'll find a place to camp." she ordered, turning on her heal, hiding her own limp. that last tackle had wrenched her knee, which was another reason why she had decided to stop fighting. true she thought he was innocent, but if she wasn't in so much pain, she would have played with him a little more.

she moved over to a large tree and climbed it, shaking loose a large backpack, which gave light to why she was so much faster and well taken care of than he was. the few stops he'd made at the rivers to get a drink, she had stopped and filled water bottles. the few towns he'd stopped to get something to eat, she had bought meals for a week to keep herself fed... it was almost cheating... she yanked the pack open and pulled out two water-skins, tossing him one before uncorking her own and drained half of it before he had even gotten his open. "we'll make a fire once we find shelter." she stated simply, heading higher up the hill. "there's a cave up this way i think. i'm pretty sure i saw one." she admitted as she glanced around. "we need to stay out of sight, others are going to be hunting you soon... not from my Clan, but others are not so honorable, and there's more than just the Hunters that think you started that last fire."

If this was the assassin's way of 'playing' with him, Sol couldn't help but feel a little nervous about what it would be like if she decided to be serious about her job. But during their skirmish, he had this gut feeling that maybe she didn't want to kill him after all. Thus, he held himself back. Even if she did have more sneaky tricks up her sleeve, the monk had alternate methods of defeating his opponents. But even though it didn't seem she wanted to kill him now, he still had to be prepared to use it at any time. Thus, he stayed wary while he followed her so that they could set up camp somewhere. It also appeared that she was well supplied too. It was weird how during their game of cat and mouse that she was able to have enough stamina to pursue him and now he knew why. That backpack was loaded.

Taking the waterskin flask, Sol looked down at it for a second before watching the girl drink from hers and decided that it wasn't drugged. Thus, for the first time in awhile, he had a nice, quiet drink of water. He never took his eyes off of her, even as she proclaimed she had found shelter somewhere, nor when she explained that she wouldn't be the only one after him. "I didn't know I was that popular," the monk joked with curious anticipation as to who else might have bought into the rumor that he was responsible for these fires. "By the way..." Something else had been on the monk's mind since this whole ordeal started. It stemmed from that past experience he had as a child. It was that experience in which he lost everything dear to him and started him down the path as a monk. Just thinking about those flames spreading around him now made him sick, even moreso that this assassin girl thought it might have been unintentional. He cursed her in his mind for planting that idea in his head. Just another reason why he had to clear his name. "That other fire...if I'm assuming correctly, it was the one that happened twelve years ago, right? If I was responsible for that like you claim, then why didn't your little group have me killed then?"

she shook her head a little. "i wouldn't want to be your kind of popular Sol Gareth." she admitted with a small snort. "twelve years ago?... no i'm talking about the one that burned the little town of Saline down about three months ago... who the hell cares about a fire twelve years ago?" she asked, giving him a strange look. "you where seen in Saline, and then you where caught in that fire weeks ago." she admitted simply, flopping down into the sand. "and in any case, even if you where on the radar twelve years ago, the Hunters don't kill children." she admitted simply as she dug through her pack, pulling out a flint and tinder, gently scraping some of the tinder into the birds nest she had gotten out of nowhere. there was plenty of wood for a fire, and she was looking forward to being warm that night. "here, eat something, you look like death." she ordered, shoving her backpack over to him with her foot. inside where large packets of dried meats, showing that she hadn't even had to stop to hunt, she could eat and walk at the same time, just pull out a piece of jerky, and keep on going...

"i take it you weren't aware that Saline had gone down?" she asked after a moment of studying him. "and you where in one when you where a child?" she asked, her head tilted. "has anything odd ever happened to you? tripped on air a few too many times to be coincidence? been pushed down stairs when no one else is around? heard voices on the wind? had long periods of not remembering anything, or blacking out? anything strange or odd?" she asked. "if your being possessed, or being haunted, that might explain the fires, and bad luck you might be having." she admitted. "if not, well then, logically your in the wrong place at the wrong time too often to be coincidence." she admitted shaking her head. "and someone might be trying to frame you." she admitted, chewing on a piece of meat as she stacked the wood up into a small pile before striking the Flint and shooting sparks across the birds nest. she quickly had a fire going, and she looked pleased.

It was evident that the assassin had no clue about the tragedy of twelve years ago. The fire that took out his hometown of Parthis was eerily similar to the one that took out Saline just three months prior. But even if they did know about it then, Sol wouldn't have been targeted because of his age, a strange fact considering what he's being accused of. While he though this situation over, the girl had shoved her backpack right in front of him filled with preserved meats that, when dried, were quite delicious and filling. Quickly, he took a few and began gnawing on them like some kind of animal, a sign that he was indeed very hungry.

"I had heard rumors that there was a fire over there, but I had no idea it was completely razed. It sounds like what happened in Parthis when I was a kid, only...I was in the middle of it..." The monk didn't really like bringing up those memories, though if were somehow a key to solving this mystery, then he would have to suck it up and let the assassin know everything he did. "I can't really explain how it happened. One minute, I was celebrating my birthday with my family and the next...everything around me was surrounded in flames. I was able to escape, but I was badly burned in the process. I probably would have died if the monks didn't find me..." As the fire was sparked, the monk remembered that very moment. The moment where he was walking wounded down the road leading out of town. He was so exhausted that he felt he was near death. And when he finally collapsed on the side of the road, he could have sworn he saw his family looking down on him from the great beyond. After losing conciousness, he found himself awake and bandaged at a mountain monastery.

"I doubt I'm being haunted by anything," Sol replied suddenly upon hearing the assassin's explanation as to why he might have started the fires. "Aside from our training in the martial arts, we monks are trained in the spiritual arts as well. If there were any evil spirit or entity around us, we would be able to detect it. Maybe it is just a case of bad luck..." The monk looked down, feeling a bit depressed now. He took another bite of the dried meat and tossed it aside before laying on his back and looking up at the cavern ceiling.

she shook her head. "there where no survivors... it was more than razed." she admitted simply. "somehow, all the people where sleeping in their houses when the fire started.." she admitted, her eyes narrowed hatefully. "not even the animals survived." she admitted simply. "don't eat so fast, chew it carefully or the jerky will cut your throat." she warned, gripping her Spear as she got to her feet. "and it's too much to be a coincidence... this isn't just bad luck... but we'll get to the bottom of things." she assured him. "i'm going hunting, stay close to the cave." she paused, looking him over. "take a bath or something, you stink." she ordered simply before she left to bring down something fresh, she was tired of chewing dried meat, she wanted something soft and tasty. she came back twenty minutes later with her pockets stuffed full of fresh apples, a little overripe, and two rabbits, already skinned and cleaned. she settled the rabbits over the fire and tossed him a few apples, sighing happily as she sank her teeth into one, mumbling happily. who could blame her? she'd been living on jerky for at least the three weeks in which she'd been hunting him, probobly longer.

there was a moment of shock when a large red tailed hawk shrieked and swept into the cave they where in, the bird landing on Rin's shoulder. it chirped and ran it's beak through her hair as she gently untied a small message from the birds feet, unrolling it as she looked over the strange language, nodding a little to herself. "The Hunters agree with my decision to help you." she stated simply. "we originally thought you where setting these fires on purpose. but now that i know your not, for certain, i can't kill you. we don't kill innocents, least of all Monks." she admitted simply. "so i'm going to protect you until we get things figured out... either you really are the person of the prophecy, and your accidentally opening portals or some such thing just by.. i dunno, sneezing or something... or the real person of the Prophecy is framing you to throw us off their scent... well, that's the Hunters Theories anyway." she admitted, rolling up the message and giving the bird a large chunk of the half cooked Rabbit and set the bird on a stone so it could eat in peace. "and no, you don't get a choice in the matter."

Somehow, Sol knew the assassin was going to say that. Parthis was the same way. No survivors, save for him. If having to relive these awful memories of his was bad enough, now the girl was trying to baby him by telling him how to eat. As if he didn't know how to eat dried meat for crying out loud. She even nagged him to take a bath which seemed to be the last straw, for when she said that, he sat up with a somewhat annoyed look on his face. "Will you cut that out? I'm an adult now you know!" It didn't appear that she really listened to him, for she was already gone by the time his words finished echoing through the cave. She returned a short time later with some fruits she picked from some nearby trees and a couple of skinned rabbits. She seemed happy with her work for whatever reason, but as long as it meant he got some more food in his body, the monk didn't care.

A short time passed and Sol had finished off a few of those apples she brought in. He was starting to get a little tired now due to his belly being filled with food and the ambience of the cave calming his body. He was just about to take a nap when an ear splitting screech shot him to his feet. He turned just in time to see a bird landing on the assassins shoulder and noticed it to be a sort of carrier bird. It was the prefered method of communication around these parts, especially by the monks. It appeared the people this woman worked for picked up on it as well. Upon reading the message, she came back to him and calmly explained the situation to him. It appeared that whoever sent her to hunt him down now knew that he wasn't the one responsible for the fires. As to who, however, still remained a mystery. Until then, this assassin was supposedly now assigned to watch over him whether he liked it or not.

"Great, I have a babysitter now," Sol joked. "Well, at least I know you won't try to kill me while I'm bathing or while I'm sleeping or something. Speaking of which, I'm going back down to the mill to wash myself off." The monk was already on his feet at this time and making his way towards the entrance of the cave. As he crossed the assassin's path, a small grin came across his face as he finished his remarks. "Just like mother ordered me to..." It was clear that he was directing that remark towards her, but unlike the way she screwed with him, he wouldn't give her any time to retort as he broke out in a nice stride back towards the path where they first met.

she just laughed at his comment of being an adult, clearly she thought otherwise... he was sheltered, that much she knew for sure, sheltered people where always children, no matter their age. she enjoyed her meal, and even took the time to fire roast one of the apples, a cultural favorite that she was sure he wouldn't know about. she loved roasted apples almost as much as she loved baked peaches. she watched Sol Gareth devour his meal like a starving puppy, and had to snicker to herself at the images that brought up in her mind... he would make a very cute puppy really. she outright laughed at his mother comment add shook her head, but he was gone before she could respond. she finished her meal with a small snicker, shaking her head a little as she wiped her fingers off and stood up, grabbing her spear as she whistled and walked down to the river to watch him bathe, just to be creepy.

"you know, you really do have a nice body." she commented, once she had herself settled onto a rock with a small smirk as she examined him before she settled her spear down and stripped naked as well, taking her time in peeling off every little piece of clothing, as if giving him a peep show, chuckling a little as she settled on the bank, stark naked, and started washing her clothes, her breasts swaying in the open air, humming to herself as she washed her clothes. clearly she didn't have issues with nudity that most people had. any other man or woman would have been blushing, or scrubbing quickly before hiding to redress, she just sat there and took her time before laying her clothes out to dry on a rock and joining him in the water to sand scrub herself clean... maybe she just didn't realize nudity was... well, not something she should be comfortable with, but from the way she was scrubbing her breasts in long, slow rubs, she was picking on him again. teasing him seamed to be a favorite pastime of hers.

It was about the time the assassin decided to follow him back down to the creek that Sol had reached the same location himself. It wasn't long after that that his clothes were laying in a pile inside and he was outside in the creek washing himself off. Though his body was trained to resist all kinds of pain and suffering, he still found the idea of a nice, hot bath preferable to this chilly river water. Still, cleaning himself would have him refreshed in no time and since it was still about a half a days walk to the next village, the monk just had to grin and bear it for now. For a short while, he was relaxed, the memories of the two week chase becoming just that, a memory. He hoped he would never have to go through such a tiring and annoying experience ever again. He might just snap if he did.

Speaking of snapping, it wasn't long before the woman came down to annoy him, his nakedness being of no concern to her. She even went as far as to strip right in front of him and join in on the bathing and as she teased him with the provocative way she scrubbed her breasts, he turned around and sat back in the creek. It wasn't that he didn't like what he saw, it was just that the cold water would do well to shrink the growing erection he had from looking upon her beauty. "I see you have no problem with getting naked in front of other men," the monk half joked, implicating that the assassin might also be some kind of prostitute. "I bet it's a real distraction for them while they're trying to escape the tip of your spear."

she snickered a little as she watched him trying not to watch her, her head tilted a little. "nudity is a woman's best defense." she teased. "it's had for a target to defend themselves when their struggling with arousal." she teased, snickering a little. "most of the men i take out, are trying to seduce me when my spear ends up in their gut." she admitted simply, sidling closer to him, wrapping her arms around him, running her hands along his belly, feeling his muscles. "why? are you... aroused, by me?" she asked, smirking as she pressed her breasts tight to his back. "it would be ever so easy to kill you right now." she teased. "so defenseless, so helpless, so aroused." she murmured in his ear as her hands slid lower, cupping his cock in her hand, palming it while her other arm tightened around his waist, trapping him tight to her. granted, had she not been fondling him, he probobly could have escaped her easily, but she was fondling him, her hand stroking and rubbing along his length as she kissed his neck.

"i bet you would make a lovely partner." she purred. "all those muscles, and this wonderfully hard length." she smirked. "i've been chasing you for so long, you can't deny, you wouldn't like to pin me down, and take me hard... teach me a lesson about endurance." she purred. "maybe even.. punish me." she whispered that against his ear, to make it sound even more seductive. "tir me up, spank me, whip me, make me beg, or even cry for relief of the pain... or the pleasure." she purred, the arm that had been holding him tight, releasing him to stroke his balls while her other hand rubbed the tip of his cock, pleasuring him. "come on Sol Gareth... punish me." she purred. "punish me for chasing you ever so relentlessly for three weeks, giving you no rest, no peace, no chance to escape me." she hissed, snickering as she let all of him go in an instant and backing away, waiting to see what he would do.

If it weren't for the fact that he had the dilligent training of a monk, Sol too might have fallen victim to the feminine wiles of this assassin. But he was stronger than that. But then again, there was only so much he could take before his body betrayed him and by the way he was standing at attention when she came over to him and caressed his body, he had reached his limit. Even as she whispered how she could kill him right now as if it were nothing, it didn't stop his body from heating up from the sensations he was feeling. The moment she took hold of his length, he tensed up slightly, the feeling of her soft hand sending a shiver down his spine. He gave off a bit of a muffled moan as if he were trying to tough it out and prove what kind of man he was to her. But it was clear that his defenses were weakening and the temptation she presented him with was too much to bear.

Just as he was about to take her, the sensations were gone in an instant, the assassin just standing there above him and daring him to punish her for giving him so much grief these past two weeks. He stood up at full attention, not even caring what it would look like to the girl. He was going to have her and that was that. Just as swiftly as if he were going to attack, so did the monk approach her. It almost looked like he was going to get violent, but if she thought he was the kind of person to be overly rough, especially with a pretty girl, she had another thing coming. He took her in his arm, wrapping it around her waist and bringing them together. They were eye to eye now, his gaze showing to her that he did indeed want to give her her just deserts. But his words rang clearly of his true intentions. "That's just what you'd want isn't it. For me to bind you, tease you, take that body of yours and wear it down to the point where you won't be walking straight for months. Sorry to say, but I'm not that kind of guy. But if you really need a lover, someone to hold you gently in their arms and whisper sweet nothings in your ear while they take you into a nirvanic bliss never before felt by another human being, then you've found the right man. Of course, you still won't be walking straight for months, but I think it would be worth it."