[IC] Saving the Damned Cont. (AkiraShadow & HiddenBeauty)

[akirashadow]

Akira observes the people of the tavern though keeps his head lowered as possible so as not to attract attention to himself. He was essentially scoping the place out. Routes for exits both quick and otherwise, and a general feel for who could be potentially dangerous or threatening. Although after a short inspection it appeared for a change their was no threat to be found. As the woman rushed away Akira returns his attention to Allura. "It's all part of the experience." He says with a smile. "You'll soon be used to this type of atmosphere if you stick it out with me. In fact you'll probably learn to handle hostile situation better then I do. I usually answer any problems I have with other men in places like this with the tip of a sword." He shakes his head at the seriousness of his own comment. "It'll not be a nice time if you have to experience that side of me at any time. I suppose the only time you've known me to be violent is when I'm not in control." He soon quietens down after he'd finished what he was saying, right up until Allura spoke again.

"What we do here? Well..." Akira says with a smile. "These places are the best places to gather information... usually, when they're not just filled with drunkards that is. My gold is betting this merchant paying people to go into the catacombs will be in one of these taverns and seeing as neither of us have any real legal way of making money for our travels, it's probably our best bet. On this occasion though it would seem we're just here to drink ale." Akira quickly gazes round before continuing. "Of course there are... other activities people get up to in places like this, gambling for example. Playing with lady luck is always a chosen form of entertainment for the drunk."

Akira finally concludes "Though on this occasion it's probably best that we just sit here together, so that you can get a feel for the place." Upon finishing the woman was returning with their drinks as she slides Allura's drink over first before handing Akira's his. She stands by the table as Akira fumbles with his coin pouch for the required gold before handing it her "and not one piece more, as promised." He states as the woman cups her hand over the gold pieces passes the pair a forced smile and walks away. Akira lifts his tankard holding over towards Allura's side of the table. "Well... cheers" he says spiritedly with a wink.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Allura listened to his every word intently, absorbing as much information as she could. She figured that it would be a much easier task of learning to coop with different environments if she got a bit of tips from someone who was already familiar with it. The angel continued to listen the woman returned with their drinks, in which Akira paid for. IT was only after the woman had walked away that Allura felt herself relax again and then looked up when the demon held his cup up for a toast. Smiling, Allura lifted her cup of ale as well and clanked it lightly against his. She then brought the rim of the cup to her lips before taking a sip. Before she came back to earth, Allura drank nothing but water so she felt a little thrill in drinking other than water or milk.

The fiery liquid scorched a path down her throat, making the angel cough slightly into her hand. This caused a few 'veteran' drinkers to snicker in amusement, making Allura pout slightly to herself. Seeing her fail at drinking ale wasn't very funny to her and she soon found herself to be very determined to finish the cup without chocking to death. However, after two more coughing fits, Allura finally decided to accept the fact that she would have to drink it slower if she wanted to live through their time at the tavern.

"This stuff is much better than water." The girl mumbled before grinning over to Akira. For a moment, she fell silent to think of something else to say and, after ruling out ones that would be dangerous if they were over heard by someone, the angel spoke: "Did you grow up in a town similar to this one?" Allura asked curiously. She was suddenly interested in what Akira's life was like before the demon tried to take over his body, before he became an outcast to everyone. Everyone knew about the dangerous half demon that supposedly went around and killed people but no one knew of the man that existed before that.

[akirashadow]

Akira watches with an almost shocked expression as Allura tries to down the tankard of ale. "Hey, hey, take it easy will you?" Akira asks slightly concerned with how quickly Allura was trying to chug down the drink. As he watches her slowly accept that she wasn't going to drink it all in one go he says. "It's not a race you know? Don't want to be putting yourself in a drunken state the blacksmith won't let you retrieve your staff if you do." Akira shakes his head as he reaches over and rubs Allura's arm after she had finished coughing over her extreme goal. "and... try not let those idiots get to you." Akira states as he looks over at the taverns many patrons "they're just trying to anger you cause they've got no other way of entertaining themselves in their said little worlds of existence."

He passes Allura a warm smile before lifting his tankard from the tankard and taking a long swig of its contents. The drink barely phased him as he lowers the cup back down to its resting spot. The taste was as empty as most things he'd drink now. Just like Allura it wasn't really essential for anything other then keeping the mortal part of him content, Volkran could go weeks without any type of substance to provide energy. As Allura questioned about Akira's past he replies with. "From what I can remember, sort of yes. Up until the days the hunters took me in I used to live with my family in a small house on the outskirts of a town like this. So full of people, they were always rushing around too busy to give anyone else the slightest bit of notice. Had any of them done so, they may have noticed the corruption that ran down its streets darkening its very core." Akira looks down to the table before making eye contact with Allura once more. "Most of my time growing up was spent in the study and training halls of the Hunters guild, I occasionally went out into the town to collect supplies, but outside of that the guild was my world. What about yourself? Surely the part of you that is mortal wasn't a vessel from the day you were born?" Akira asks somewhat as a 'returning the favour' he'd given his answer to the question it now seemed only fair that he knew of Allura's past, if she could remember it that is.

[HiddenBeauty13]

"My life before now..." Allura mumbled softly to herself as memories that she usually kept hidden came flooding back to her. Biting her lip, she considered avoiding the question but, since Akira hadn't held anything back, the angel thought that it would only be fair that she do the same.

"Well, I grew up on a farm that was way too far away from a town similar to this one, so we had to grow our own food and raise animals to get the resources that we needed. I was the middle child of eleven kids so I usually got over looked by everyone else, especially since I didn't act like my siblings did. That didn't bother me as much since I had my animals. Life was pretty pleasant for me."

Allura paused for a moment to take a swig of her ale, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to say next.

"Then, one day, one of the animals got loose somehow and I went to look for him on my own. It was a mistake, a horrible mistake. As I was searching near the lake, a man appeared out of no where, asking me if I needed help with whatever I was doing. Feeling suspicious, I said no and proceeded to look around for the lost puppy bit as soon as I turned my back to him, he grabbed me and pushed me into the lake. I had no trouble swimming but, when someone is holding you down beneath the water, that's another story. I don't know why he did it nor if my family ever found me."

The angel signed softly to herself before bringing the cup of ale up to her lips and drinking heavily so that she could blame the tears in the corner of her eyes on the fiery liquid instead. Telling the origin of her existence always did that to her. "So now I'm here, drinking ale with you." Allura concluded with a sad smile.

[akirashadow]

"I'm sorry to hear that, and to have brought it up." Akira says apologetically upon hearing Allura's story. "It seems we have both have to experience great pain in our past which has put us here in our present." Akira held a strong belief in fate, although that belief wasn't so much his as it had been forced upon him by Volkran, the demons very presence had, overtime, manipulated and warped his personality with regards to certain aspects.
'So now do you understand?' The demon asks the thought swimming in Akira's mind. 'Tragedy merely acts as a magnet for more tragedy, you mortals, well what's left of your mortalities are drawn to one another by your similar pasts.' Akira's lips move as Volkran speaks in his mind though no words are spoken, it was merely a mimicry that sometimes occurred as the body tried to match the mind. Akira snap himself back before looking to Allura. "I'm sorry that we had to be drawn to one another by such horrible circumstances. Although our current predicament welcomes those circumstances back into both our lives." There was a slight pause followed by a small twist in Akira's voice when he follows up with "But without a creature such as me in existence you would both remained oblivious to one another." Volkran spoke quietly so as to not draw attention from the other patrons within the tavern. "Your family draws near... as does his, consider this your lucky day. Due to you... healing his wounds I'll get to have my fun soon enough and therefore I owe you this much."

The demon relinquishes control but Akira was completely oblivious to the fact it just happened as he looks at Allura and just simply asks "What?" It felt as though he was on the receiving end of a cold stare, though what he'd done to deserve it was beyond him. He tries to ignore it as he smiles to Allura changing the subject from the more morbid one they were recently in "We should probably sort you out with some new camping gear after we re-visit the smithy... then I don't know, maybe return to that old woman's house? She'll probably want us staying there, and I'm not surprised, if I stayed here I'd be up all night making sure no one was trying to slit our throats." He looks down before mumbling "What good that'll do 'em." He stretches his arms before picking up the tankard and knocking against Allura's once again "I guess from now we should avoid the past and think only of the now and the future, it'll probably prove more enjoyable." Although a terrible one, he was attempting to liven up the mood between them, to potentially get it to the type of mood that should be experienced. After all, maybe that would bring an end to the staring if people believed for even a moment that they were normal. They'd only believe Akira's story for so long.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Allura listened to Akira with a slightly raised eyebrow. Fate? It was something that she didn't necessarily believe in but she did agree with the fact that something had brought her and the demon together. She didn't know the reason why but she figured that it would be revealed in due time. Silently, the angel watched as Akira seemed to talk to himself but knew that he was in fact, talking to the demon. She was even able to catch a few words or so, though it startled Allura slightly when the demon managed to take over Akira's body for a few moments, talking about something that sent a chill down her spine.

Her family? Here? That couldn't be true. It had been nearly a century since Allura last saw her family and, although her last memory of being mortal was very vivid and clear, she could not remember her family's faces that well. Not to mention that both her parents and siblings were probably dead at this point, leaving just the great grand children. However, that did not mean that Allura would be able to recognize them as they probably looked way different from their ancestors. The angel was so deep into her thoughts that she barely registered the fact that Akira was now back in control and talking about something that needed her response. She didn't snap out of her trance until he knocked his cup lightly against her own. Maybe I should try to move on and focus more on the future for now...worrying about what that demon said will not do me any good.

With that thought in mind, she looked over to Akira and smiled. "Yeah, you're right." She agreed before moving to take another sip of her ale. However, it was only then that she realized that the cup was now empty. "Hm, I guess I ran out of that drink." Giggling a bit, she pushed her cup off to the side and then placed her hands in her lap. Once again, the table fell silent and, oddly enough, Allura could feel herself getting nervous. Of course, she'd been prepared book wise on how to talk to the common folk about how to get somewhere or other general, information seeking questions. Though, what she lacked was experience with dealing with other, less formal situations.

Just when the angel had decided on what she wanted to say next, a loud thud echoed throughout the tavern and, as she looked up, Allura realized that it was a pair of men having a knife throwing contest; from the looks of it though, they weren't doing so well. "Hey, is it normal if we throw knives too?" She asked her companion excitedly. Allura knew that she could hit the target head on, unlike those two drunken fools who were going at it now.

[akirashadow]

Akira looks over toward the direction of the noise. A typical game played within taverns, although its players were usually drunk out of their minds and would come close to hurting someone, most of the times themselves every time they played it. He returns Allura's smile before explaining. "In a tavern pretty much anything is normal, order isn't exactly held up in these places as it's more likely to scare away potential patrons." He smiles once more before continuing. "If you want to join in, I won't stop you... just know you won't have to beat them, that won't be a challenge, you'll need to beat me." With that Akira reaches down to his left boot and pulls the hidden blade from its sheath as he brings it up and softly jabs it into the table so that it stands on its own. It was a very common defensive weapon for any hunter or adventurer a dagger hidden within their boots in a sheath that was purposely shaped in when the boots were originally made to keep its identity hidden. "So how about it? Think you can take me down?" Akira asks, though instead of waiting for an answer he stands up resting his hand on the grip of the dagger pulling it from its resting place as he walked over towards the other partakers.

On his way over however Akira comes to abrupt stop as he notices something out of the corner of his eye, he turns to face a board which had paper pinned to it by all different forms of tools and broken weapons, it was a bounty board. His eyes quickly skip across the bounties 1 by 1 and he lets out a sigh of relief when he notices his own was not among them. "They haven't been here then." He mutters to himself as he continues to make his way other. When he makes it to the side of the tavern where the board was the laughing and joking of the other players soon die down upon his arrival.
"What.*hic* whada you want *hic*?" one of the onlookers is the first to speak, fortunately for him, and all the other players it would seem he wasn't take part.
"Me and my... apprentice" Akira speaks as he turns his head to look to Allura who was making her way over. "We'd like to join you all in your game here?"
"Why would we want to play with you?" One of the more sober players asked.
"Because, we're hunters if you want to make some real gold you want to play against us." Akira looks the other players up and down. "Not these... farmhands and... well I don't know what he does for a living, a wannabe adventurer mayhaps?"
"You'd dare insult us in our own town?!" one of the other partakes responds angrily to Akira's minor insult.
"But of course, I have to provide you with some sort of drive to win. Afterall I wouldn't win anything if you walked away after the first game due to a lack of determination."
"Well excuse me mr hunter." One of the players remarks as he prods the corroding studs of Akria's armour. "But you don't look very rich to me in that attire."
"Looks can be deceiving my friend." Akira notices Allura had arrived and puts an arm over her shoulder hugging her towards him. "If I didn't have gold how was I to convince this beautiful young lady to become an apprentice hunter."

The other players turn to look to one another and huddle around as they whisper and exchange words quietly. As they turn away Akira moves his arm away from Allura, as much as it gave him a comforting warmth he didn't want to make her un-comfortable. "Don't worry." Akira whispers to Allura "We've got this one in the bag easily, there's no way they'll back down from this challenge." He passes Allura a cocky smile as he awaits the players to cast their verdict. It was certainly going to prove a most interesting game when it would be down to just the two of them.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Allura grins, already accepting the challenge before he could even finish his statement. She then searched for her own knife in her pouches but soon remembered that she strapped it to her leg as she usually did when wearing pants. Sighing a bit, the angel quickly retrieved the item before standing and walking over to where Akira was talking to the two original players. At the mention of being his apprentice, she raised an eyebrow but eventually remembered that that was her 'disguise' and made a mental note to make sure she played the part. Once close enough, the angel was suddenly pulled in close by Akira, making her stiffen slightly. However, she relaxed moments later and flashed a charming smile to the other two players while ignoring the faint blush that coated her cheeks. It would take the poor angel a minute to get fully used to physical contact, especially in public.

Despite that, Allura felt herself oddly disappointed when he removed his arm but decided not to dwell on the thought for too long. "Just remember that the real challenge will be once we get to go against each other." She reminded the demon with an even cockier smile and then turned towards the men as they called to the pair. "Oy, we accept your challenge!" He slurred before pointing lazily to the throwing board. "We'll go first, so we can show you how its really done." Raising an eyebrow, Allura glanced over at the throwing board, which was only about 5 or so feet away from where they were standing. It was a wooden, circular target that had a series of rings--six in total-- painted on it until there was a small dot in the middle. The rings were slightly faded and had various cuts and dents in it but it was still visible enough.

Grinning, the man took a swig of his ale before throwing the knife at the board, but it barely hit the outer ring. "Dammit...my hand slipped at the last moment." He grumbled to himself and stared at his hand, as if he would find some sort of solution for his failure on his hand. His companion then gestured to Allura. "You're up next missy." He said before taking a swig of his own drink. Shrugging, Allura walked over to the spot where the man had previously been and exhaled slowly. While she was excellent at wielding her staff, Allura was no expert at throwing knives. That didn't mean that she wouldn't try her best to beat both the drunken pair and Akira. Taking a deep breath again, the angel blocked out all surrounding noises and focused solely on her heartbeat and the board ahead of her. On the fifth beat, she brought her hand back and then flung her arm forward, flipping her wrist in the direction that she wanted the knife to go in.

Seconds later, a thud echoed through the air and, when she looked up, Allura noticed that she managed to make it in the fourth ring. "Awesome." She mumbled to herself and then looked over to the man's companion, smirking slightly as she did so. "Think you can beat that?"

[akirashadow]

The second man gives Allura a glare for her cockey comment, wiping his nose with his hand as he snorts in stepping towards the pair. "Stand aside boy." The man speaks to Akira wiping his and on his clothes as he does so. "With pleasure." Akira steps back somewhat disgusted by the mans bad habits, he didn't seem to be as heavily under the influence as his companion, for one he didn't wobble when standing in one spot. "heh, this should be good." Akira whispers to Allura as he watches his opponent stretch his arms in some kind of minor exercise before making the throw. "We want to beat these guys sure, but they've got to have the impression that they stand a chance at winning otherwise they won't put much money down on the table." As Akira speaks to Allura he completely misses the mans throw. Doing significantly better then his companion, well it'd be impossible to do worse and remain on the board. He'd made it to the third ring between his friend and Allura's knife, Akira claps in congratulations to the man. "Nice throw, maybe wannabe adventurer was a bit harsh after all."
"Heh, what you scared now, having second thoughts on whether you can beat me."
"Oh yes, definitely, why I certainly feel sorry for any creatures you've hunted with a throwing knife." There was a hint of sarcasm in Akira's voice although it would of been hard to pick up on by these people that had never met him before today.
"You see this is how you lure them in." Akira whispers to Allura. "You butter them up and make them think they're better then they are for the first round.... then you go for the kill." His voice quietened down the closer he got the end of his sentence having move closer with each word.
"Hey! Quit your flirting and get throwing, Hunter." The first man slurred to Akira.

Akira smiles nervously in response to the mans comment as he move to the standing point. "Hey.. you know pretty girl like her I can't help myself from time to time."
"Heh maybe she should be more worried about you then any of these demons you hunt." The second man comments as the two of them laugh together.
Akira keeps himself separated from their joking, or at least tries to in order to avoid further embarrassment to Allura. "Oh trust me, she's certainly worried enough when it comes to me."
"Yeah I bet!" The first man says and their opponents laugh once again.
"Ok! Lets... just play the game shall we?" Akira asks snapping the two of them back to reality. He stands sideways on holding the knife in his left hand as he brings it level to his chest. He tilts his head slightly as he stares at the board, before moving it back to its normal position. He shifts his feet getting in a comfortable, secure standing position. He brings his arm from his side folding it towards his chest until the blade of his knife rested against his armour. Blocking out the noise that was going on in the background he concentrates solely on the target in front of him. Then with a slow soft exhale there is a sharp flinging movement as his arm moves back to his side in line with his chest with some speed, realising the blade at the right moment had it cutting through the air, straight as an arrow. There's a thud as the blade embeds itself in the board, resting neatly atop his most recent opponents knife also in the third ring.

"Hey now, it looks like the apprentice is better then the master on this occasion." One of their opponents comments as the pair laugh to each other.
"Yep, it would appear so." Akira comments back to them. "So that's the warm up round over..." Akira states as he unties his coin pouch from his belt. "What say you we start playing for real. Not just for a reputation under this roof, but the sweet feeling of gold in ones hand?"
The pair look at each other as they turn away from Allura and Akira having another one of their 'private conversations'. "Don't worry." Akira whispers to Allura, "There's no way they'll turn this opportunity down. They probably think you're the only one that poses a threat to them winning. How long you want to drag it out for? Could make some real money on this if we play it right."

[HiddenBeauty13]

Allura took a step back as well as the man with the disgusting habits walked over to the throwing board. She then focused on what Akira was saying to her and managed to miss the man's throw. Not that it was that important to her. She knew that the real challenger that she was truly going against was standing right beside her and was a lot less disgusting than the other guy. She was so busy listening to Akira's fool proof plan on how to beat the losers that she barely heard the guy when he called to them. The comments that followed after that only managed to make her blush and the angel bit her lip slightly, trying to keep herself from hiding under the nearest table. Yeah, this was something that she would have to get used to.

Allura was still recovering from her initial embarrassment but looked up when Akira stepped up to throw his own knife. The angel found herself staring at him as he took a comfortable yet powerful stance. The way his head and arms were positioned would result in a bull's eye if that was what he was aiming for. Much to her surprise, he landed in the space behind her own when Allura was positive that he could've done much better. "We'll let them think they're going to win for one more round before smoking them." The angel said with a competitive grin on her face. Moments later, someone cleared their throat behind them.

"We'll do it." The more sober one declared, holding out his own bag that was significantly smaller than Akira's but Allura figured that he had other money hidden somewhere on him. "I'll go first then...I'll show them." His drunken partner called as he pulled out another knife and stepped in front of the throwing board. He then took a quick swig of his drink before tossing his knife with no regard for accuracy at all. The weapon flew and nearly stabbed a nearby woman in the head. She gave him a very angry look with which he responded to with a slight shrug and shuffled to the side to drink some more.

"That'll be hard to beat." The angel murmured under her breath and retrieved another knife from her leg strap. She then took up a stance that was very similar to the same one that she had seen Akira do only moments before. However, he releasing of the knife was not as accurate as his as she was only able to move up a ring and a half from where he first knife had been. "Oh darn," She mumbled to herself then turned to the other drunken man. "I think it's your turn now." The angel said with a smirk; she couldn't let him know that she didn't necessarily like where her own knife had landed.

[akirashadow]

The second man steps forward in recognition of Allura pointing out was his turn. Reaching down to his belt he un-sheathes another knife from a series that were sheathed at his belt. This time Akira was determined to ensure that he didn't miss the mans throw, the first one had been quiet accurate after all, he wanted to see what he was up against. It seemed from his stance that he was preparing for a pretty amateurish throw. His arm was positioned as though he was going to go for an over arm throw, but if he'd done that before how could he of got such a great score? However when the man made his throw it was less of an arm movement then it was a flicking wrist movement, the knife twirling through the air as it made for its target. The knife embedded itself within the fourth ring this time, more accurate then the mas it was closing towards the target of the centre bullseye. The knife was angled in a downwards fashion across the board meaning that there was less surface area for Akira to be able to hit during his own turn. The man turns to Akira, a smug look on his face. "Your turn, Mr Hunter."

"A clever move." Akira says as he steps forward. "But a throw like that isn't going to save your coin." Just as Akira was about to step to the throwing line he stops mid-step. He reaches down to un-sheath a knife from his right boot and upon doing so turns to face Allura. A smile across his face as he raises the blade between them, his eye's were of course as red as a burning fire. Keeping his voice down so that the other players can't hear him and keeping his movements hidden so that the also couldn't see he softly taps the knife against Allura's chest. "Do you really think you should be playing games with demon hunters and angels on the approach." The demon flings his arm back round him realising the knife. The blade embedding close enough to his opponents to knock the barely secure knife from its place. "You should stay at that creepy womans then leave." Akira coughs several times as his eye colour flickers between each cough before Volkran manages to bring it to a stop. "You know... that holy water hurt... I look forward to dealing you some harm of my own." As he speaks his softly strokes Allura's cheek with the back of his hand before releasing control back to Akira.

Akira blinks several times as he looks Allura in the eye. He turns back around ready to throw, only to realise that his knife was already within the board. In confusion he looks to the opposing players expecting them to poke fun at him and Allura again. However they were just staring at him in bewilderment of what just happened." H-How did you do that?" One of them asks a hint of worrying fear in his voice.
"Luck I guess." Akira states with a shrug. "So I guess that's our round, how much you want to put down on the next?"
"The next?" One of their opponents asks with a somewhat nervous laugh as he makes his way over placing some coins in Akira's hand. "There's no next round, the bets off, being capable of a throw like that! There's no way we'd win!" The two men retrieved their knives from the board and... the tavern wall before returning to mingle with the other patrons. A disappointed frown spreads across Akira's face as he looks to Allura. "20 gold... we only made 20 gold, what happened?" Akira asked openly somewhat confused to what had happened only moments ago.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Allura tried her best to keep her facial expression calm as the demon took over Akira's body once more; she assumed that the effects of the holy water were nearly gone, leaving a very annoyed and angry demon in its wake. The closer he came to her, the more she had to work to keep her own angelic side from surfacing. In fact, if one was to move her hair back behind her ear, they would have seen her tear drop birthmark glowing a faint blue color. Allura just hoped that the entire situation would return back to normal before both of their true identities were discovered. Thankfully, Akira was finally given his body back but, by that.time, the entire mood has shifted form fun and competitive to hesitant and cautious.

"You uh...you managed to throw the knife and hit the board without even looking." The angel mumbled and then turned away, heading towards the door. "C'mon. Let's get out of here...I'm sure our weapons are done by now." Allura said with a soft sigh, not bothering to check and see if Akira was following. She was too busy lost in her own thoughts about what Volkran said: That demon was right. What are we doing? Going to that tavern, sitting down and having a drink then throwing knives like it was something we do on a daily basis. Allura thought with another sigh. All this 'normal stuff' that they were doing was drawing her attention from their true situation at hand: beings of all races now were looking for them and Allura doubted that they took a break like her and Akira did.

I'll make sure that we stay focused from now on. Allura thought, smiling with determination as she finally cleared her mind of such thoughts. However, that smile turned to a frown as she realized that the crowd has grown considerably since they'd first been out there and she could not see over those people who were much taller than her...meaning that she could find Akira nor the weaponry that she was originally looking for. "Uh oh..." The angel said to herself as she avoided getting knocked over by the bustling crowd. "Akira? Where are you?" Allura called more to herself than to anyone in particular. If she didn't find him soon, who knew what kind of trouble that they could get into?

[akirashadow]

Akira walks over to the board to obtain their knives pulling them fro their resting place and sheathing his back in his boots. "Well... guess I don't know my own talents." Akira responds still facing the wall. He turns to hand Allura her knives only to realise she wasn't there. He quickly scans the tavern over "Allura?" He calls out somewhat loudly, this only drew attention from the other patrons however. At this point it was obvious that she had already left, whether she had assumed he was following was beyond his comprehension. He hastily walks towards the door squeezing and shoving his way passed patrons who seemed to be deliberately getting in his way. "Move!" He shouts in his anger as he makes it to the door pulling it open and stepping outside, now he was in trouble.

Crowds of moving people as far as Akira could see in any direction. Finding Allura in this wasn't going to be easy, a few passers stop and point, and exchange whispers upon seeing the man alone and without his companion. Most of these were followed by content smiles and wicked grins as they then went to go about their business. "So, they find enjoyment in this it would seem." Akira mumbles to himself as he begins to make his way through the crowd. "They're more like me then they wish to accept. Where is she?"
'Where ever she is Akira you should know, her brethren close in on this town.'
'you seek to let me know this now?' The demon does not respond, it had parted with the only information deemed necessary for saving it's own hide. "ah... where is she? Allura!" Akira calls out once again but it seemed his voice was just drowned out in the rushing of people passing him.

Although it seemed it had succeeded in drawing him some much un-needed and unwanted attention, as a trio of young men approach Akira. "Hey friend, lose your companion did ye?" One of them asks as the three of them circled around him.
"We should help him." A second one suggest. "Help him on his way that is. No offence, but you came through that tunnel without a scratch on ya, there's something not right about ye, and we don't want the likes of yo here."
"Well that won't be a problem." Akira responds to their attempt at threatening behaviour. "Once our equipment is all ready we'll be leaving I've no desire to stay here."
"What our town isn't good enough for the pair of ye?" The first one asks. Akira couldn't help but notice the third one had remain silent the whole time and the tone on the other two hadn't exactly been friendly. Watching the third man's movement their is a slight pause as Akira is distracted by the realisation of what was about to happen as he notices an alleyway a short distance from them. "No wai-...hngh..." Akira's hand drops limply on the thirds man shoulder as his head slumps forward. Looking down, he could see the hilt of the blade that was now embedded in his stomach.

Akira's head lifts slowly his eyes fire red as the rage and pain consumes him, his voice twisting as he says "You'll wish you hadn't done that." The first two men run in fear in witnessing the transformation as Akira's hand squeezes on the thirds shoulder as he tries to flee. The demons somewhat suppressed abilities made his evil aura emanate like a beacon within the town. He heard the satisfying crunch and soft cry of pain as his grip eventually shattered the man's shoulder. Although this then gave the man the ability to flee as the demon releases him and pulls the knife from Akira's wound before losing control to Akira once more. "Wha.. wha..." Akira's speech was interrupted from his heavy breathing. "What... are you doing?... clo.. close it."
'I Can't, my powers aren't back yet this is why it's hurting you so much. Remember fool if you die we both die.' Akira pushes his left hand against the wound.
"Th..Then, then there's only... one thing for it." Akira stutters out as he starts mumbling as he makes his way into the crowd of people. If Volkrans powers hadn't drawn Allura's attention then Akira would use his wound to find her via blood magic. Luckily for him it wasn't long until he located her, resting his right hand on her shoulder and stopping her from turning round, Akira's voice still stuttered as he said "com...come on, we.. we should get to the blacksmith." He knew that Allura would easily tell something was wrong, and hoped that she didn't turn around where she stood as it might only draw them more attention.

[HiddenBeauty13]

It had been only a few minutes since she'd lost her friend and Allura still hadn't found him; by that time, she was getting anxious, worried and scared all at once. Finally, she'd found someone who she could get along with and understand and she had managed to lose him in a town located in the middle of now where."Akira!" The angel called as she continued to search through the growing crowd. She occasionally shot mean looks to those who purposely stepped in her way or 'accidentally' bumped into her. Why do they have to be so rude? the angel thought angrily to herself and was so busy trying to keep that anger in check that she nearly missed the sudden burst of evil energy that erupted from somewhere to her left; at that same moment, Allura moved her hair so that it covered her neck, shielding her now glowing birth mark.

"Akira...what happened?" She wondered, knowing that the evil energy came from him. The girl then tried desperately to go against the crowd so she could get to her companion. However, the crowd of people would not let her through and the angel was forced to stand there helplessly as Akira was in some sort of trouble somewhere else. I won't get to him in time at this rate.. The angel thought with a frown but just when she thought that all hope was lost, she felt a hand land heavily on her shoulder. At first, she thought it was a random person trying to mess with her again but, once that person spoke, Allura knew immediately that it was Akira. Judging by the tone of his voice and the distinctive metallic smell of blood, he was hurt. "Okay...Let's hurry. I have to heal your wound." She replied loud enough so that only Akira could hear her.

Allura then placed a hand on top of his and gripped it slightly as she began to walk through the crowd. She tried to walk a pace that wasn't too taxing on Akira's body but she also knew that they needed to hurry. If his body wasn't able to heal itself by now, then she wasn't sure how long he would stay conscious before he lost too much blood. Not only that, but his sudden release of evil energy gave those who were looking for them a definite idea of their location. Now the pair we're really pressed for time. "Hang in there Akira...we're almost there." She said softly to him as the weaponry finally came into view.

As the two walked inside, the owner looked up from the papers he'd been reading. "Ah, you two. I was wondering when you'd return. I just finished your weapons." He said cheerfully before gesturing to Akira with a concerned frown. "Hey, is he okay?" Luckily, Allura was standing in a way in which Akira's wound was hidden from view. "Yes, he's just having a little stomach pain from something he ate." The angel replied casually and was glad when it seemed that the owner accepted the excuse. "Okay, well I'll give you his weapon as well." He said, quickly dismissing the topic of Akira's random stomach ache as he slide her staff and his sword over to her; both were wrapped in a cloth that made it much more easier for her to carry with one hand. "Thank you for our weapons." The angel said thankfully to the owner before turning and carefully leading Akira back out into the crowd once more.

The crowd was just as rough as it had been before, maybe even a bit more dangerous now that Akira was injured. It was as though the towns people wanted to hurt the pair-- though mainly meaning Akira--even more than they already were. By the time the two managed to make it back to the old woman's house, Allura had acquired a few scraps and bruises from where people ran into her as if they didn't notice her walking there at all. She didn't have time to focus on her own little injuries, not when Akira was still bleeding and there was no doubt that he was nearly unconscious by now.

Once inside the woman's home, Allura placed their weapons on the table and proceeded to lead Akira into the room so that he could lie down on the bed. "What happened?" The old woman called from somewhere behind Allura, who could only shrug in response. "I don't know...we got separated for only a few minutes and he ended up finding me, covering his injured stomach." The angel said as she lifted his shirt up so that she could properly examine the wound. It was a nasty one too. The damage to his stomach had obviously been done by a blade of some kind, probably a knife or a dagger since the wound wasn't too deep. With gentle hands, she pressed against his stomach lightly, watching as more blood ooze from the wound. "Whoever stabbed you managed to get you in a major artery Akira." She added and then looked up as the old woman placed a bowl of water beside the angel. "I've always wanted to witness a healing like this...but you better hurry. He doesn't have much time left."

Nodding, Allura took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing on awakening her angelic side and, when she opened her eyes once more, they were a vibrant blue color instead of their usual brown color. The air around her cracked slightly with her energy as she began to convert the regular water into holy water that she could use to heal Akira's injury. Raising her hands, the angel watched as the water began to glow a light blue color. She then moved her hands towards her friend's wound, chanting softly under her breath as she did so. The floating mass of water lowered onto his skin, sizzling slightly as it made contact. For the next few minutes, Allura kept the water there, until the wound was completely healed and only a tiny scar was left. By that time though, the angel barely had enough energy to replace the water back into the bowl. Allura then returned back to normal, breathing heavily as she did. However, she was more concerned about Akira than her own immense fatigue. So she mustered up enough strength to go and gently place a hand on Akira's cheek, hoping that he'd at least survived yet another healing session. "Akira?"

[akirashadow]

When the pair began to walk together it was becoming gradually more apparent how bad the wound was. Each step was starting feeling more and more heavy, his abilities to observe his surroundings or take in what was actually happening dimming with each passing moment. He knew this would be an area of his life where he would be sure to only remember segments of what actually happened and the rest would be forgotten in his cursed eternity. With each person that bumped into them and shoved pass Akira had to focus his entire energy just to clamping his hand over his bleeding wound, little could he tell that his hand was soon covered in his own blood, as a trail was left down the path they walked to the smithy. He was on the forge of losing conciousness when the smithy spoke and snapped him back into reality, giving him a small amount of motivation to hang on just a little longer. It wasn't until a couple of moments after the pair had left that the blacksmith had realised Allura had lied to him. Blood now pooled on the smithies floor from where the pair had stood waiting for their weapons.

The wake up call from the smithy did not last long, as Allura struggled to make her way through the crowd, Akira struggled to find the energy to do even the simplest task. His feet began to drag as he struggled to keep pace, despite their movement wasn't that fast to take each step was requiring to much energy and Akira found himself making an actual step for every 10 or so that Allura was making for him. 'Hang in there... she isn't going to let you die mortal' the demons thoughts passed through Akira's mind, though like any voice that spoke, it was deaf to Akira now. His mind completely blacked out as it lost the ability to comprehend and process the situation, as his condition began to spiral on a rapid decline. By the time they drew near to the old woman's house his feet was just limply dragging across the stone floor, his body had given all it could, and without the support of the demon, he had only the will and ability of any mortal being.

As he was hauled inside the house his borderline un-concious body slumped down onto the bed, with Allura's assistance, had he been required to do anything for himself Akira would have merely collapsed onto the floor. There was a moment of clarity however, as though time itself had frozen and everything that had recently happened was now void. The peace that Akira had long craved, he would soon discover it. Although he would meet his demise as a demon, he would welcome it nonetheless.

Within his mind it was though himself and Volkran had materialised on a field. Although something felt off, as though what he was experiencing wasn't within his body at all, Akira looks over to Volkran, the demon stood completely still as if a statue. A voice begins to speak to Akira it's origin, a complete mystery, nor was it a voice that he had heard before. 'You failed to release yourself Akira. Well then it seems their mission is done. To think that you would be fell by another mortal, it wasn't what was foreseen. However....'
'Get out!' Another voice calls, this one seeming more familiar, as though was Akira's, but not Akira's at the same time. Another image of a person begins to materialise before Akira although its image was blurred and could not be made out. 'I will have my freedom and you will... not... stop...me!' The voice seemed more infuriated with each word. The light that had once illuminated the field began to vanish as the first voice called out in anger only drowning away from existence along with the light. The new figure walked over to Akira, and although he couldn't make it out, it felt as though it was looking him the eyes 'you will play your part little Pawn! I will be free!' it speaks before vanishing within the darkness.

All this had happened during Allura's spell process. Once it had ended Akira's conciousness began to slowly crawl back in existence. Akira's eyes weakly open looking upon Allura, but before he could pass on any words of gracefulness, his mouth slowly opens as a soft cry of pain escapes him. The cry escalated becoming louder as it transcended to the demon roaring in agony of the holy water that had just bathed against Akira's skin. His back arches elevating his mid-body from the bed slightly as the roar continues for several seconds. Upon its ending his body drops back against the bed once more, his eyes closing again. When they open once more Akira lifts his arm and strokes Allura's shoulder, though there was something that didn't seem right about the situation, it wouldn't take Allura long to notice, but what was wrong wasn't on a demon level as a warm smile crosses Akira's face and he sits up as though his injury never happened. "Sister." Akira's voice speaks with a soft echo to it, it wasn't normal, nor was it sinister. I fact it seemed to carry a rather calming tone with it. "Sister, it's good to see you are well. Your powers have been used rather frequently recently in close proximity to the demons. We've been worried that the two of you may have fought." Like Allura, this angel 'borrowing' Akira's body could not identify him instantly as their target. "Though, you remember our mission correct? I understand you feel compassionately about helping these mortals but this will only slow us down in our mission."

This was not an ideal situation to be occurring the old woman knew nothing about why Allura was here and this angel was just blurting out every detail. Not only that but unless the angel left voluntarily the only way to get it to leave would be for Volkran to try and force it out. A stalemate of sorts for the demon to act it would have to take down the barrier it was currently holding to block the angel from traversing Akira's thoughts and memories. "I hate to tell you this sister, but the master feels you are lying to him. We have all felt your powers in close proximity to the demons, on more then one occasion, it is hard for him to believe that you still haven't found him. Unless... Allura do you seek to bring the demon in alive? I hear this... Akira was it?" Akira's line of sight quickly shifts to the old woman's as she's surprised by the mention of Akira's name. "These mortals display the strangest of emotions... besides I hear he would be too proud to allow such a thing to happen." It seemed this angel was intel gathering and wasn't looking to leave any time soon. Volkran weakened the barrier enough non vital thoughts be accessible to the angel so that he could conserve his strength, it would seem that force, might soon be their only option.

[HiddenBeauty13]

A relieved smile had begun to form on Allura's face when Akira opened his eyes. He's alive... She thought, but her relief was short lived due to the events that would follow in the next few moments. Akira went from screaming in pain to talking as if everything was fine, but Allura knew something was off as soon as he said that first word: Sister. There weren't many people who called her that and the ones who did were either dead or supposedly did not exist. Oh man...they've found a way to speak to me directly... She thought nervously to herself, but was careful not to show it to the being inhabiting Akira's body at the moment. It would only make Allura seem more guilty. She did, however, wonder how the being was able to overtake his body like that anyway and wondered if it had something to do with her healing Akira's wound. Shaking that thought away, she focused on the task at hand: making the angel believe that she still had not found Akira....though Allura wondered how long she would be able to keep this up.

"Brother, I apologize for the minor set back. This woman's son was dying and I couldn't just ignore her plead...after all, it is our duty to defend and help the people. Allura stated, crossing her arms as she did so. At that same moment, she felt herself falling forward and she quickly reached out a hand to steady herself against the bed. She was still quite weak from using her power to heal Akira, but she tried not to let that affect her conversation with the noisy little angel. "As for me, I have come into contact with other demons and fallen angels during my search for Akira and, let's just say that those battles were particularly nasty." Allura frowned slightly as images from their last fight popped into her mind but she quickly moved on. "So we are not the only ones searching for the demon, though I feel as though I'm right on his tail now. He was last spotted in this town two days ago so, if I leave tomorrow, I should be able to catch up to him by the end of the week." Lie on top of lies....but Allura just hoped that the angel would believe it before it found out that it was using the same body as their most wanted target. "I want you to tell the master that this is no easy task, but I am still capable of completing it...without help." She added firmly at the end,

As the angel waited for an answer, she wondered how the old woman was taking this entire situation. She had no doubt figured out that they had lied to her but Allura just hoped that she had enough common sense to keep her mouth shut or she would end up getting hurt as well.

[akirashadow]

Akira remained sat on the bed, the two angels still conversing. 'What... What's going on?'
'So you finally return to the land of the living Akira, do no be alarmed but... an angel is trespassing within our body. It used Allura's spell to hitch hike its way inside to talk to her. Luckily for us though it doesn't seem to realised who we are. Though if it doesn't leave soon' The demons thoughts were seeming more strained 'we're going to have trouble.' The demon was of course referring to the mental barrier that was stopping the angel of having free-exploration of Akira's mind and body, it was starting to fade, and its was only a matter of time before it would collapse.

"Her Son?" The angel asks somewhat confused as he looks over to the old woman. "Sister this woman has told you lies, she cannot have a son." Akira bows his head softly. "I must apologise, we know your motives are pure but when you married a demon we had to keep close tabs on you. We thought you would be the bringer of the abomination, not some low-life hunter." The woman may have said something about the entire thing, had she not been under the shock of it all. For some reason angels were looking for this man, and for other reason Allura seemed to be protected him. On top of all this it would seem that angels had been watching her ever since she met her demon husband. Akira's attention in the mean time had returned to Allura. "A week you say? Then a week is what Master will give you, but only if the demon is brought in alive. Should this task require any further extensions know that the consequences rest on your shoulders. For each day he remains on the run, is a day this world comes closer to oblivion." The angel reinforces everything that Allura was briefed before she was even sent to earth.

The next comment that was passed from Allura was met with a rather threatening tone. "That is not your place to decide Sister! The Master has deemed that help is required to make up for any.... short comings. He has employed the help of the 'Shadow Slayers' these men known the most important of information, they know what this 'Akira' looks like." The angel looks into Allura's eyes before commanding. "Should you cross paths with these men you are to assist them in anyway that is required, is that understood?" The angel doesn't break eye contact with Allura, there was something very off about the situation. A slight amount of distrust seemed to be lurking within the angel ranks, maybe there was some evidence for this, but more then likely it was the ugly emotion of Jealousy, a lot of Angels took great pride in their own existence and become easily jealous when someone other then themselves is picked for an assignment. "Having seen one of the fallen I trust you know what will happen to you should you fail in your task?" Another probing, yet probably pointless question, it would seem at this time the angel was stalling as though it was waiting for Allura, or the old woman to potentially slip up and say something incriminating.

[HiddenBeauty13]

Allura tried not to look surprised when the angel informed her that it knew all about the old woman's history with her demon husband. Since Allura was not in that department, she had no idea but she couldn't say that she was completely surprised. Of course they would have kept tabs on the woman...though it didn't seem as though she posed any threat to neither the angels or demons. Shaking the thought away, the angel focused on the question that she'd been asked. "I know what my consequences will be. However, I will not let the situation come to the point where I will be receiving a negative consequence." Allura replied coolly then gestured to the old woman behind her. "Now, Brother, will you please return the man's body back to him? You're startling the old woman here."

"Uhm,can someone please explain to me what is going on here?" the woman seemed to have finally snapped out of her shocked state and gained her voice once more. Allura took this opportunity to turn and face the woman completely, "I'm sorry for the misunderstand here, miss." The angel stated, giving the old woman a look that told her to hold her questions until after the other angel left. "It seems as though your visitor's body has been inhabited by an angel who is currently questioning me." Allura added the last part a bit bitterly...but she knew that the woman would at least get her point. The real question though is whether or not she would keep quiet until the other angel left?

[akirashadow]

'What are you waiting for? get rid of it!' Akira commented angrily in his mind to the thoughts of Volkran as both their thoughts circled in Akira's mentality on a plan. They weren't aware of what Allura and the other angels conversation was entailing as Volkran had shut them both off from being able to hear it.
'Do you think getting rid of an angel is easy!' Volkran snapped back 'It isn't!'
"Very well, I was only here as a messenger sister, although the vessel welcomed me in and hasn't shown any distaste for my being I shall release him upon your request. Know that we'll be..." The angels voice is cut short as Akira's eyes flicker open and shut, his left eye remaining it's normal brown colour and the other turning fire red. He looks Allura in the eyes as he speaks, his voice switching between that of Akira's and that of Volkran's "The will of the two, summon forth the will of the one."
"watching... wait..." The angels voice had returned, and its voice was hinting as though it had discovered something. "The abomination, it's near! Allura be careful!"
"I told you once fool!" Akira's voice had once again returned to its twisted state. "You shall not be told again!" Upon speaking these words the room flashed with a bright, white light. The light made it unbearable for the old lady to see, as she quickly shuts her eyes from a soft pain it was bringing.

Within a few seconds the light had faded from the room, on the wall behind Akira it had looked like it had been burnt long ago, but these markings were new. Scorched into the wall was the outline of wings, to most it would be considered a coincidence, but the outline perfectly lined up with Akira's back. The sign was clear, the death of an angel leaving its mark. Akira breathed heavily, his head facing downward toward the bed, though his head slowly lifts to look Allura in the eyes. Still one eye red, one eye brown, not a sight that was familiar to Allura in either of Akira's 'States'. A smile grew across his face, no malevolence was emitting from Akira's Aura though it was obvious it was most definitely there. "So Angel, will you be the one that sets me free?" Akira turns his head and see's the scorch marks on the wall before turning back to Allura his smile turning to a grin. "Your foolish friend should have left when I gave him a chance... you're doing a fine job of keeping these two safe. I may not kill you after all." Akira shook his head before continuing. "I hope you will not mourn him, he lied you know... What about? Well now if I told you that killing him wouldn't have been as fun."

The demon lays back against the bed as it shifts its shoulders, as though trying to make itself comfortable. "You'll have to forgive this rudeness I wouldn't want my host to be in pain when he awakens, that would simply delay my freedom.... oh and shhh, this is our secret. If you tell him, either of you, I'll snap your necks into bone powder." Akira's eyes flicker shut and once they open again they had returned to normal. "ah... this hurts a little... Allura?" Akira lifts his head weakly to see Allura sat ahead of him before his head falls back against the bed once more. "Good work Volkran, you managed to make it leave."
'What do you mean good work? It didn't work my powers were too weak'
"You didn't...? Then Allura?" Akira's eyes were looking at the wall that was behind him. The scorch marks, like the thing that had killed the angel were gone without a trace. Was this within its power? Or did it even happen? Perhaps it was just smoke and mirrors by whatever that thing was. Whatever had happened it seemed things were starting to return to normal once again. Well as close to normal as things could get for this unlikely duo.

. o O ( I understand that this post might be a bit confusing. If you want me to explain any of it, let me know and I'll explain as best I can in the OOC section. )

[HiddenBeauty13]

Allura narrowed her eyes as she noticed that the demon was beginning to gain control over Akira's body once more. If he could just hold out a little longer, I'll have this guy out in no time... She thought with a slight frown then watch in surprise as a bright light suddenly filled the room. Allura had no problem with staring into and she found, much to her horror, a scene in which that same angel which was questioning her was being eliminated by some unknown strength that the angel did not know was in Akira.

She soon found out that that strength was actually an entirely different being, one who she assumed to be the most entire demon form that Akira could reach. Judging by the threats she received from him, Allura decided that she should at least stay on his safe side and not breath a word about it to Akira and Volkran. Though she was bit curious to know what that angel had lied to her about. I don't have a good feeling about this... She thought with a slight frown but looked up as Akira--the real one--spoke. She was beyond happy but, when he asked who removed the angel from his body, she frowned a bit and said: "I managed to talk him into leaving you body and me alone for another week." The angel did not like lying to the only person she could trust, but she had a feeling that the little lie would keep them alive for a bit longer.

"Enough about that angel though, how are you feeling? That wound in your stomach was pretty bad...I didn't know if you would make it through this healing." Allura said with another frown and moved a bit closer so she could examine the now healed spot; she had not been able to check it afterwards due to the events that quickly followed after the healing itself. "It left a tiny scar and the left over holy water might bother you for sometime but, other than that, you should be just fine..." The angel said with a soft sigh as the exhaustion she felt before suddenly hit her like a train. She'd tried so hard to keep her composure during her talk with the angel and during her talk with Akira's other demon side that she nearly forgotten how much energy it took to heal Akira in the first place.

"I'll make some tea for the both of you." A voice sounded from somewhere behind her, making Allura jump a bit. She'd been so engrossed in the fact that Akira was now awake that she nearly forgot about the old woman. "T-Thank you." The angel said and watched as the woman gave her a look that said 'you better explain to me what just happened' before shuffling out of the room.