"You sound like you had a bit of a problematic night," Sovereign's landlord noted as she stepped down the stairs, heading for the dojo. The red
haired woman was idly sewing as smoke lazily drifted upwards from her cigarette. She glanced up from her work, looking at Sovereign with those same piercing
blue eyes that'd practically drilled her to the spot the day she'd first come here to live. "Any problems I can help with?"
"No, not really," Sovereign replied. "But thank you for your concern," she replied honestly.
Touko looked at her for another long moment, before nodding slightly. "Whatever you say," she said, and that was the end of it.
Walking to the dojo, Sovereign mentally remarked on the fact that that represented a significant change in attitude from their first meeting as it was. Touko
had hardly intended to do her any favors when they'd first met...
***
"Go ahead," the red haired woman had scowled at her, ponytail lashing slightly behind her as her blue eyes seemed to evaluate Sovereign like some
kind of wild dog. "Give me a reason not to turn you into the police. Or some other hero. It'd be inconvenient for me, but I moved here to get away
from all the chaos and live a nice, quiet life."
Sovereign sized the woman up, trying to think if she could perhaps intimidate her into letting her stay here for a night at least, but her threat analysis
rebounded off the scarlet haired woman. By mere appearance, she was no threat. Average height, messy long red hair tied back into a ponytail, average clothing,
albeit cut to reveal an above average degree of physical attractiveness. Glasses indicated she was probably near-sighted, as she'd set them aside when
Sovereign had burst in, and the cigarettes smouldering in an ashtray nearby as well as one sitting in her lips meant she'd probably have less endurance
than the average person to boot.
But Sovereign's instincts kept going over to the closet, and a traveling suitcase she could barely see in it. If she attacked this woman, she was dead,
because of what was back there. She didn't know what it was, but her instincts had never guided her wrong in combat, to the point some of her instructors
had mistaken them for the rare precognition reflexes that randomly seemed to manifest in some Scimitars.
Still, she needed some place to rest, and the minute she left this house, the woman would call the police and in her exhausted state, Sovereign would most
definitely be caught. She did not know where some of the Sabres that might take her in were, and couldn't rely on the chance they might find her in time.
Reluctantly, she began to draw her sword...
"Touko, what's going on?" a soft voice spoke up as both Sovereign and the woman, presumably Touko, turned to look at the door as a younger woman
dressed in simple clothes and a red jacket came in, a bag of groceries in one hand. Touko's eyes narrowed slightly as if her position had been compromised,
while Sovereign's instincts screamed at her that she was trapped, that of the two people she was between, the new arrival was far more dangerous. Slightly
over five foot, dark hair in a near-pageboy cut, and soft, light skin on a face with remarkable gray eyes. Eyes Sovereign found herself staring at for a
moment, as they reflected nothing, like a well so deep she couldn't see the bottom. She was leanly muscled from regular training, but otherwise entirely
normal. Yet everything in Sovereign screamed that she was trapped between the hammer and the anvil and that even if she hadn't been, if she antagonized
this girl, she was almost assuredly dead.
"It's...nothing, Shiki," Touko spoke up, with the sound of someone coming to a decision. "This woman was just thrown out of her old home and
was looking for a place to get shelter from the cold...I decided to let her stay here since she wandered into our door."
Shiki looked at her for a second, before smiling slightly. "That's unusually nice of you, Touko. If you're not careful, you'll lose your
reputation as a cranky old witch."
Touko snorted in amusement. "I have my reasons. Go ahead and put the groceries away and I'll see to getting her settled."
Shiki nodded and headed into the kitchen, though not without a curious glance at Sovereign. However, once she got to the kitchen, she shut the door behind her.
Touko sighed heavily, standing up as Sovereign waited, on edge. The red haired woman waved her worries away with a hand. "I said I'd let you stay
here, and I will. But there will be consequences if your trouble follows you here, understand? I came here to retire. To live a nice, normal life. And most of
all, I came here to get her away from this kind of bullshit. So you go dragging any of that onto my doorstep, and I will make sure you regret it for the rest
of your life. Which may be longer than you'd expect, but longer than you'll wish it was when I'm through with you."
Sovereign nodded, standing up and beginning to open her mouth, before Touko cut her off.
"Don't thank me. I don't know you and I don't want to know you. I don't want to know your troubles, your sob story, or any of your
baggage. This is purely because any other alternative would be more inconvenient for me at this point. So just go upstairs and pick out a room. I highly doubt
you have any belongings with you."
Sovereign nodded, stepping upstairs without another word, hearing Touko sit down heavily behind her and mutter a curse about her bad luck.
***
As Sovereign stepped into the dojo, she unconsciously removed her shoes before padding over next to where Shiki was kneeling in silent meditation, the
gust of wind through the back sliding doors that were hidden from the streets causing her hair to move occasionally but otherwise giving no indication that the
yukata clad young woman was anything other than a statue. Sovereign knew that she'd been identified the minute she'd stepped foot inside the small
dojo, but when Shiki had heard that she was a fighter of sorts, she'd offered the use of the place over Touko's objections.
Since then, Sovereign and Shiki had sparred all of twice, and Sovereign was aware that her initial instinct had been correct. Shiki had the training, the
muscle memory, and the smooth movement of someone who had used her art for more than just a sport. But there was no killing intent in their spars, and they
were essentially evenly matched, so Sovereign hadn't pressed it further than that. Shiki herself seemed to use the dojo more as a spot to meditate than as
an actual practice ground, which Sovereign could appreciate. Shiki's skills seemed as much a part of her body as Sovereign's own pre-programmed close
combat engrams were a part of her. Practice could hone them to an invisible edge, but they would never rust from lack of use. While the fact that Shiki had
such deadly skill yet seemed as far from a killer by inclination as one could be was a puzzle Sovereign had yet to truly tackle, it was also one that was, for
the moment, irrelevant.
Taking in the familiar sight of the strange sword rack on the far side, a single katana in its scabbard and a pair of crossed knives sheathed below it,
Sovereign closed her eyes and let herself drift to the closest thing she felt to peace in her life these days.
***
"This is Crey Sweeper Team 2-A, we've lost the target again. She must have some kind of bolthole around here, because she keeps disappearing,"
the agent absently spoke into her communicator. "I don't see how she slipped away this time, though. We had six teams tracking every move she made. We
could've used line of sight to triangulate her position manually," she grunted.
Touko watched them from her front porch as they mulled about in confusion. They felt they were getting closer, which was why they were still following the
young girl, despite her returning home hours ago last night. Yet they'd found nothing with all the equipment they'd brought with them. Touko smiled
slightly at that. It pleased her to see that her work was up to par, as she'd had hardly anyone to really test it against. Truthfully, these technological
goons were hardly ideal tests against her skills, but it was a good start, and if no one ever really tested how hard Touko'd made herself to find,
she'd be very happy. Because that would mean no one had yet realized she and Shiki had left. Which was all to the good.
Lighting up a cigarette, she turned and went back inside.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
haired woman was idly sewing as smoke lazily drifted upwards from her cigarette. She glanced up from her work, looking at Sovereign with those same piercing
blue eyes that'd practically drilled her to the spot the day she'd first come here to live. "Any problems I can help with?"
"No, not really," Sovereign replied. "But thank you for your concern," she replied honestly.
Touko looked at her for another long moment, before nodding slightly. "Whatever you say," she said, and that was the end of it.
Walking to the dojo, Sovereign mentally remarked on the fact that that represented a significant change in attitude from their first meeting as it was. Touko
had hardly intended to do her any favors when they'd first met...
***
"Go ahead," the red haired woman had scowled at her, ponytail lashing slightly behind her as her blue eyes seemed to evaluate Sovereign like some
kind of wild dog. "Give me a reason not to turn you into the police. Or some other hero. It'd be inconvenient for me, but I moved here to get away
from all the chaos and live a nice, quiet life."
Sovereign sized the woman up, trying to think if she could perhaps intimidate her into letting her stay here for a night at least, but her threat analysis
rebounded off the scarlet haired woman. By mere appearance, she was no threat. Average height, messy long red hair tied back into a ponytail, average clothing,
albeit cut to reveal an above average degree of physical attractiveness. Glasses indicated she was probably near-sighted, as she'd set them aside when
Sovereign had burst in, and the cigarettes smouldering in an ashtray nearby as well as one sitting in her lips meant she'd probably have less endurance
than the average person to boot.
But Sovereign's instincts kept going over to the closet, and a traveling suitcase she could barely see in it. If she attacked this woman, she was dead,
because of what was back there. She didn't know what it was, but her instincts had never guided her wrong in combat, to the point some of her instructors
had mistaken them for the rare precognition reflexes that randomly seemed to manifest in some Scimitars.
Still, she needed some place to rest, and the minute she left this house, the woman would call the police and in her exhausted state, Sovereign would most
definitely be caught. She did not know where some of the Sabres that might take her in were, and couldn't rely on the chance they might find her in time.
Reluctantly, she began to draw her sword...
"Touko, what's going on?" a soft voice spoke up as both Sovereign and the woman, presumably Touko, turned to look at the door as a younger woman
dressed in simple clothes and a red jacket came in, a bag of groceries in one hand. Touko's eyes narrowed slightly as if her position had been compromised,
while Sovereign's instincts screamed at her that she was trapped, that of the two people she was between, the new arrival was far more dangerous. Slightly
over five foot, dark hair in a near-pageboy cut, and soft, light skin on a face with remarkable gray eyes. Eyes Sovereign found herself staring at for a
moment, as they reflected nothing, like a well so deep she couldn't see the bottom. She was leanly muscled from regular training, but otherwise entirely
normal. Yet everything in Sovereign screamed that she was trapped between the hammer and the anvil and that even if she hadn't been, if she antagonized
this girl, she was almost assuredly dead.
"It's...nothing, Shiki," Touko spoke up, with the sound of someone coming to a decision. "This woman was just thrown out of her old home and
was looking for a place to get shelter from the cold...I decided to let her stay here since she wandered into our door."
Shiki looked at her for a second, before smiling slightly. "That's unusually nice of you, Touko. If you're not careful, you'll lose your
reputation as a cranky old witch."
Touko snorted in amusement. "I have my reasons. Go ahead and put the groceries away and I'll see to getting her settled."
Shiki nodded and headed into the kitchen, though not without a curious glance at Sovereign. However, once she got to the kitchen, she shut the door behind her.
Touko sighed heavily, standing up as Sovereign waited, on edge. The red haired woman waved her worries away with a hand. "I said I'd let you stay
here, and I will. But there will be consequences if your trouble follows you here, understand? I came here to retire. To live a nice, normal life. And most of
all, I came here to get her away from this kind of bullshit. So you go dragging any of that onto my doorstep, and I will make sure you regret it for the rest
of your life. Which may be longer than you'd expect, but longer than you'll wish it was when I'm through with you."
Sovereign nodded, standing up and beginning to open her mouth, before Touko cut her off.
"Don't thank me. I don't know you and I don't want to know you. I don't want to know your troubles, your sob story, or any of your
baggage. This is purely because any other alternative would be more inconvenient for me at this point. So just go upstairs and pick out a room. I highly doubt
you have any belongings with you."
Sovereign nodded, stepping upstairs without another word, hearing Touko sit down heavily behind her and mutter a curse about her bad luck.
***
As Sovereign stepped into the dojo, she unconsciously removed her shoes before padding over next to where Shiki was kneeling in silent meditation, the
gust of wind through the back sliding doors that were hidden from the streets causing her hair to move occasionally but otherwise giving no indication that the
yukata clad young woman was anything other than a statue. Sovereign knew that she'd been identified the minute she'd stepped foot inside the small
dojo, but when Shiki had heard that she was a fighter of sorts, she'd offered the use of the place over Touko's objections.
Since then, Sovereign and Shiki had sparred all of twice, and Sovereign was aware that her initial instinct had been correct. Shiki had the training, the
muscle memory, and the smooth movement of someone who had used her art for more than just a sport. But there was no killing intent in their spars, and they
were essentially evenly matched, so Sovereign hadn't pressed it further than that. Shiki herself seemed to use the dojo more as a spot to meditate than as
an actual practice ground, which Sovereign could appreciate. Shiki's skills seemed as much a part of her body as Sovereign's own pre-programmed close
combat engrams were a part of her. Practice could hone them to an invisible edge, but they would never rust from lack of use. While the fact that Shiki had
such deadly skill yet seemed as far from a killer by inclination as one could be was a puzzle Sovereign had yet to truly tackle, it was also one that was, for
the moment, irrelevant.
Taking in the familiar sight of the strange sword rack on the far side, a single katana in its scabbard and a pair of crossed knives sheathed below it,
Sovereign closed her eyes and let herself drift to the closest thing she felt to peace in her life these days.
***
"This is Crey Sweeper Team 2-A, we've lost the target again. She must have some kind of bolthole around here, because she keeps disappearing,"
the agent absently spoke into her communicator. "I don't see how she slipped away this time, though. We had six teams tracking every move she made. We
could've used line of sight to triangulate her position manually," she grunted.
Touko watched them from her front porch as they mulled about in confusion. They felt they were getting closer, which was why they were still following the
young girl, despite her returning home hours ago last night. Yet they'd found nothing with all the equipment they'd brought with them. Touko smiled
slightly at that. It pleased her to see that her work was up to par, as she'd had hardly anyone to really test it against. Truthfully, these technological
goons were hardly ideal tests against her skills, but it was a good start, and if no one ever really tested how hard Touko'd made herself to find,
she'd be very happy. Because that would mean no one had yet realized she and Shiki had left. Which was all to the good.
Lighting up a cigarette, she turned and went back inside.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."