A cloaked figure appeared out of the shadows. A glint of metal reflected in his eyes, telling him who exactly this person was. He could not see her whole, but he could feel her presence; she was there, but not at all. If one were to look for her, she would not be found. The sunlight bounced into his eyes, and he had to blink and turn away, looking back to where she was, not finding her there anymore. �Rynn,� he began. �I can�t believe you�ve returned. There is nothing left for you here, is there?� He walked to where the shadow was. �No� So why are you here?...�
The sound of metal clashing against metal awoke the town even before the sun had risen in this working town. People awoke to a war, but this was only a battle to be waged in that war: the final battle. The short brown hair was sticking up and about as the man tried to regain his footing, losing his balance so easily against his old foe. She leapt in at this moment, choosing to kill her prey slowly. �Don�t doubt my intentions� This is not a complimentary call.� She slashed at his arm, leaving a gash to let blood flow freely from within his body. Lucky for her, it was not his sword arm.
A few more of the townspeople joined in on the battle for two. They did not know it was a duet, a dance that could have only two participants; it was not meant for a group: it was a tango for two, and only two. He called the helpers off; she slew a few as they came. Neither of them expected such an interruption; neither was surprised at the other�s thoughts and actions.
�You can�t throw all of this away! Look at what you could�ve had: leadership! Power! Absolute power to do whatever you wanted when you wanted! How could you throw that away, Rynn?� She shook her head in disbelief. She could not believe she was hearing this from him, even though the events that had set this in motion had happened years and years ago.
�I left of my own volition. The path you were taking would lead this clan to ruins. You were sending all of us to hell, weren�t you?�
�Because that is where we belonged.� He continued to calmly stare at her. �There is where we were meant to be.� The townspeople were shocked. They were being lead to the very grave they were digging, not for another, but for themselves.
�You�re a stupid animal, you know that?� She readied herself once more, taking an aggressive stance. Her left foot forward, her right behind; the left arm extended out to create the illusion of a range, her right arm bent above her, holding its claw mockingly to anyone who might want to do the same.
�Talk is cheap.�
Rynn began her flight first, running with a great burst of speed toward her mark. The town was now wide awake; no soul was left to be sleeping, all were watching, observing. This was a dance you did not want to miss. He was on the defense in this round. She had already started her fury before he had recognized her presence. His swords met hers, creating sparks in their dark air, giving light where there was none. There was even no moon out on this night; it could not bear witness to such a feat as that being performed in the starlight. The sun did not care; it rose from its rest without any difference in his stride, in his step.
She landed above him, her claws holding her weight as he pushed up upon his swords, hoping not to fall, ending this waltz prematurely. He sent her into the air, jumping after her and slashing the fluttering cloak, only to cut through the morning sky and the fabric of which it was made of. He heard a soft thud behind him, turning around just in time to avoid being cut in the throat. His sword slashed down upon the unprotected arm, but found an enemy from the other hand, brandishing its fangs like a lion protecting its young. He received a swift kick in the stomach as he flew through the wall of a house, landing upon and crushing a wooden dinner table. He quickly rolled out of the way of a metal boot, jumping to his feet as he lunged with both arms extended at his enemy. She parried both attacks in one swift motion with only one claw, creating a gash in his yet to be defiled arm with her free hand. She jumped back and landed upon the deck of a house, continuing to jump up upon its roof, standing at ease as if to mock her former ally.
�This can�t be all you�ve got, after all these years. You can�t tell me you haven�t gotten any better!� Her frustration was apparent. She was not enjoying this. He stood upon his feet, rebrandishing his weapons.
�Maybe you�ve just gotten much better than I, love.� He smiled in mockery. There was a hint of truth in that sentiment, which his recipient had long forgotten throughout the years. He jumped towards her, leading this dance for the first time this morn. She stepped deftly backwards, and gave him only enough room to land before she kicked him in his chest to send him down into the ground, breaking an overhanging roof before reaching his destination. She went after him, flying down like a hawk upon a mouse in the fields, ready to deliver the final blow. He rolled backwards and out of the way, slicing her upper arm with the very tip of his second sword as he swung both around in desperation, charging at her in his furious whirlwind of blades.
�An old dog can�t learn any new tricks,� said Rynn as she ducked an rolled out of the way, leaving the circular mess to catch itself but a moment to reorient the body and mind and replenish his breath. Another swift kick to the back of his head sent him flying through a window, shattering it into thousands of tiny little pieces. He was able to recover in this round, jumping off of the opposite wall, catching her off-guard for a moment�s notice, their weapons in a deadlock in the air. He delivered his heel to her gut, sending her backward, yet still on her feet as she dashed forward, the sun rising behind the two combatants, blinding any person who was looking upon the dance.
In but a moment of a moment, she stood a few lengths behind her partner, her claws battered and cracked, falling to the ground, bursting into pieces. Pieces of his sword were dancing circles in their air, glittering in the morning light before they embedded themselves within the dirt beneath their feet. Her face bore a look of disgust as she threw the weapons down onto the earth. He threw his hilts aside, shattering the rock that they landed on. Their weapons may have been broken, but their spirit to fight was not doused at all.
�You broke them,� said he as he took his stance. He placed his left foot before him as he readied his arms, bending his right knee to give him some balance.
�As you broke them.� She took stood as she had before, but the only difference was there were no claws. �I shall just have to destroy you with my bare hands and feet, it seems.�
�We were both trained in the same way Rynn. Do not think I have forgotten out time in the temple. We only chose different weapons: I the sword and you the claw. Everything else was the same.� He became a little tenser. His shoulders tensed, his breathing became a little rapider. He prepared himself for yet another round.
�We shall see,� she said, smiling maliciously. She was standing before him in the blink of an eye, delivering her boot to his face, feeling the force of his skull against her heel; only that it was not his head, but his hand. He took her by the legs and swung her into the air and onto a wall, on which she was able to soundly land upon and kick off to start anew. A closed fist found its place on his jaw as an elbow dug into her stomach. She rose into the air as she kicked him in the shin.
He flipped back a time or two, landing in a position that readied him into a lunge. She placed one foot on the ground and managed to gain enough force to jump over his furious charge. Landing once more on her feet and looking over her shoulder, he had knocked down a wall with the force of impact from his assault. He turned around to face his adversary with just enough time to flip out of the way of a flying foot, and with another cartwheel avoided another fist. He launched himself into the air and took her neck by his feet and flipped once more to throw her into a window, completely shattering it, but not enough to give way and break.
He advanced once again, amazed at her recovery speed from the impact upon the glass. She blocked his hand, he stopped her knee; she parried his foot and he felt a boot on his face as he flew backward, but onto his feet. Landing, he held his head in an attempt to stop the world from spinning too fast around him, completely out of touch with the current happenings. He saw a blur moving towards him as he held out his hands in an attempt to slow it down.
It did not do a thing to slow the rampage.
A ball of energy enveloped her fist as she drew it back and screamed at a ferocious pitch, as if the viciousness of her shout determined the success of her attack. Landing soundly upon his jaw, a loud cracking sound rang throughout the town as a body flew back and into the solid steel wall of the smith�s forge. The blur had yet to keep still, still in a forward motion towards the motionless body against the wall. Another flying kick sent him into a self-made indention into the wall, when another foot knocked him through it, splitting the steel with a loud groan. He kept above the ground for a few more lengths, hitting the ground as dead weight would.
�Hang on to the grass if you feel like you�re falling of the earth, bastard.� She spit some blood onto the ground beside her. �I can�t believe you still know how to fight. Then again, you�re dead now, so it doesn�t really matter, does it!?�
The body shook a little, then lay still forever more.
But the war was yet to begin. The wolves had only begun their assault upon a disbanded clan and a defenseless town.
�Wolves!� Shouts echoed through out the alleys, through out the grounds, throughout the town. �The wolves are upon�!� He never finished his sentence.
The soft pads of the beasts reverberated in their minds as the wolves flooded through the open gate. Men were brought down, caught by the throat by strong jaws containing sharp teeth. Caught unprepared, the packs quickly began to take more and more ground, climbing over the walls and appearing from tunnels dug. Rynn was caught among them, fighting for her life, having not the time to take rest from her previous tango.
�Damn it! Who the hell released these things?� A wolf found its face in her foot, and another�s leg was caught in her arms, being thrown into and across the grounds and into a wall, knocking it unconscious. The leaped into the air with one or two behind her, kicking them and pushing off of the other to reach the temporary safety of a rooftop. She sees a cloaked figure in the distance atop the walls, encircled by a pack of ferocious beasts.
She looked a little closer, and the cloak was colored grey.
�Is that the priestess?!� She began to hop from rooftop to rooftop, kicking off any wolf unfortunate enough to be in her way as she made her way towards the figure clad in grey. She leapt upon the battlements and came face to face with a grizzled beast, baring its teeth in a merciless smile. A few other wolves quickly took their places around the alien figure, preparing to strike upon their leaders command.
The softening steps of a leaping wolf began the deadly dance.
She kicked out behind her, missing the flying beast as another took her calf in its teeth. Another leaped up towards her throat but her arm batted it away. The elder wolf attempted once again. She could see the threat advancing, but could do nothing about it. Closing her eyes, she accepted her death.
�Halt wolves!� A voice that sounded not as gentle as it could have commanded the wolves to release their prey. �Rynn is a friend, not foe. Release her at once.� She felt the pressure on her leg released, and the senior wolf landed at her feet.
He growled something that the figure could apparently understand. She nodded. �I am sorry, Rynn. They believed you were here to kill me, and by their instincts, they sought to remove any threat upon my life.�
Grasping her leg to stop the bleeding, Rynn began to gasp aloud. �What the hell,� she began, her breaths becoming more rapid as she began to relax, �is going on here?� She collapsed upon the floor, wearied to the point of death, a wakeless slumber.