Bright are the Stars[Fely]

[Felypsa]

Six months indeed. Six months and all it took for them to get home was a good friend with incredible power and that was it. Star was hugging Leon tightly, not afraid to show a little emotion over the unflappable bastard. Then, in just a few winks, they were home, standing in front of the mansion. Starshadow made a face at it. She didn’t like the current residents, which was one of the reasons why she left. But first there was domestic nightmare Somni, who mucked up the kitchen with her cooking experiments. Then there was pretentious I-can-kill-you-without-batting-an-eyelash alien borderline sociopath, who was just two steps away from bringing the apocalypse to Earth just a few billion years early. Neither of them made very good roommates, really.

Needless to say, Alice was glad that Leon was back.

But right as they got home, they didn’t get a chance to sit down and relax. Immediately, they both spotted an unknown car in front. Leon headed in very cautiously, Starshadow right behind him, ready to get into shadow-form and kick some ass if need be. Who was this intruder? They headed deeper, and both of them were greeted with a very strange surprise. Star straightened up as Leon yelled out at the man who could only be…their brother.

Alice let out a series of very violent swears before naming her brother. “———Scott! You jerk!” She didn’t mind walking over to punch him in the shoulder. Eh, he could take it. “Where have you been this whole time? And don’t you ‘lovely’ me, I may look pretty now but you know the last time I saw you I had pimples and pigtails and everyone called me Alice Cooper for some reason.” Oh childhood.

Okay, Somni was going to admit: she was a little freaked out. Who wouldn’t be? She was home alone and there was a stranger in the house. A stranger that not even HARVY complained about. Who was he supposed to be? He just sat right down like he was at home but he wasn’t anyone Somni had seen in all her months living here. For a moment she thought it was Mirror, but then the shapeshifting alien walked right past her down the hallway. Mirror also seemed unconcerned about the intruder. Somni was trying to figure out what to do when she heard the commotion. Leon was home, and, going by the vulgar shrieks filling the air, he had successfully brought back Starshadow. Joy.

She decided it was safe to come out. Pushing back her hair, Somni carefully entered the kitchen, in time to hear that Starshadow used to have pimples, pigtails, and a horrible nickname. She raised an eyebrow. That was interesting. With a shy smile, Somni looked between the strange man and Leon, hoping for clarification.

[Dark Strider]

Leon was to pissed off to even realize that Somni was there, listening to their conversation. Leon watched as his sister walked over to give a mocking punch to his supposidly dead brother. Familiarity? To someone who cause the entire family grief with his "death", as apparent as daylight that he was still alive, this seemed to be a casual family reunion. Leon's pistol came out of its holster and leveled off at Scott's forehead. "Give me one good reason not to send you back to hell..." Leon said, a deep scowl creasing his lips. "I don't want a bull answer either..." he added, his head tilting down as he lined up his shot. Centered perfectly.

Scott, on the other hand, had a completely neutral face set. He looked at Leon, wondering how he could answer his brother's question without the need for a fight. "Well... all I can really say, Leon, is that I wanted to see my family again, and that includes you. Now, if you'll turn your attention to your kitchen, I do believe that we have a listener." Scott said, with a slight smile playing on his lips. Leon turned his head and caught a glimps of Somni. He sighed and holstered his gun. "Fine... You can keep your head, for now." Leon said, turning away. He straightened and walked to the entrance hall. Out the door and into the night, Leon walked a ways, until he was standing in the gardens on his estate. He lit up a cigarette and put it into his mouth. A slight wind picked up, sending the smoke whirling around him, catching on his hat before whisping away into the night air. Leon knew that his parents couldn't possibly come back, they died in a car crash, like his real parents. Depression did stange things to people, and in their case, made them unobservent. Why did the dead have to come and haunt him?

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[Felypsa]

So Leon was pissed off. Extremely. This was the third time he had encountered someone from his past whom he had believed dead. As for Starshadow, she always had a feeling that old Scott was out there. Or maybe she had just been in denial for so many years. Either way, although this was a great shock, she could not be angry. After all, she had played dead for a while too. She was more understanding if someone wanted to disappear. Although Scott had better have a damn good reason for why he was flying under the radar so long.

It just so happened that Leon was literally ready to send him back to the grave, and Star tensed up. She would knock Leon down if she had to. He was being rash and would probably regret this. But they were in luck, so to speak. Their dea ex machina was here. Scott pointed out that Somni was present and listening, which caused Leon to put away his weapon and walk away. Starshadow frowned and placed her hand on her own gun at her hip, making sure Scott saw the motion. “You had better come up with a good reason for where you’ve been and why you think it’s okay to walk into our lives so suddenly,” she said quietly. “Somni, beat it. I need a heart-to-heart with my brother here.”

It was a tense situation. Somni almost regretted walking into it as soon as she was there. Leon had the gun pointed at the man, but he drew back and stormed away when she entered. At the same time, Star was dismissing her and it was all because this man was her brother. Somni blinked. Oh. Family reunion time. Without a word, she walked back out. She could remember the time she saw her own brother again and was going to respect that moment for Star.

But why was Leon taking this so hard? Somni knew she probably shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help but seek him out. She headed out onto the balcony, where she paused, spotting him instantly. Leon was in the garden, having a smoke. No doubt he wanted to be alone. She sighed as she leaned her elbows on the railing. This house never seemed to be able to be free of drama. It was always one thing after another.

[Dark Strider]

It took the better part of an hour for Leon to calm down enough to even toss about the notion of going back inside. Seeing his brother, after all these years, angered him even more then it did when Alice had shown up. His old running buddy, his partner in crime, his team-mate, his best friend... A part of Leon wished that Scott had stayed dead after that crash he had been in, all those years ago. He remembered the twisted, burning wreckage, with no identifyable trace of his brother's corpse. The funeral was a closed casket, of course, as to not horrify the on lookers. Must have been a pretty interesting cover up, using another person as a fill in for his brother. That, or someone had dug him up and brought him back to life.

With that thought now playing in his head, Leon's tember surged anew. He bit down hard on the stub of another cigarette he had in his mouth, his fist clenched as tight as could be. Sparks began to run down his arms, the surge of anger fueling the servoes in his arm to an overload state. Soon, currents of electricity coursed over his arms, lighting up the grass as it arced from his body to the ground. Pulling back his arm and thrusting it forward, Leon discharged the energy in a straight shot lightning bolt, which glowed an angry red. Needless to say, it took a lot out of him. Leon watched after the bolt of energy as it faded into darkness, his shoulders rising and falling with his hard breathing. Leon took a few long breaths, steadying himself.

Cursing himself for falling into anger like that, Leon walked farther into the gardens, inspecting the damage he had done to the hedges and trees. Soon he was out of sight from the house, secluded in the gloom of the night and the over head trees. Luckily enough, there wasn't much in the way of harm. A few scorches, one or two small branches were burning, which Leon quickl put out between his thumb and index finger. All in all, nothing too serious, and the plants would grow back fine. With a sigh, Leon moved into the deep darkness of the gardens, to the maze. Following the well traveled path, as well as his memory, Leon soon arrived at the heart of the maze, at the large monolith. Guilded into the side of the slate of polished stone, it read, In Memoriam, William and Angela Deltova. Benieth the message, a cross with interwoven ivy and a rosery was carefully chisled into the black stone. Leon knelt before the monolith, falling into slient prayer. He bowed his head and pushed himself up. Taking a seat on the stone bench, Leon looked up to the moon, wondering what his life might have been like if he still has his parents.

~

Meanwhile, after Leon had left, Scott had returned to his chair, and to his drink for that matter, and explained to his sister everything that had happened to him over the years they had been appart. He explained, vaguely, about his connections to the mob, but skipped over the part about him being a were-wolf. He didn't think it was important to mention, remembering how his sister looked down on the entire anthro thing. He laughingly brought up a story of one of his anthro friends whom he and Leon convinced that their sister had a mad crush on him. Even for a fox anthro, he couldn't have been any more red. He could have sworn that his cheeks were red all school year after.

"So, suffice to say, I'm just here on a social visit, Alice. Sorry that I hadn't come out for so long, but things connected to the mob generally don't allow the members or those tied to it any real freedom. It took a while, but eventually I did get out. So, here I am now." Scott said, taking a sip from his drink. It was watered down, due to the long explanation and the amount of time that had gone by. "Nothing wrong in having family visit is there?" Scott asked with a qwirk of his shoulders.

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[Felypsa]

Starshadow crossed her arms over her chest while she stared down Scott, listening to his explanation. He was vague, not going into too much detail, but he did mention doing work for the mob. So he had been undercover this whole time. Probably was too dangerous for him to reveal himself. She wrinkled her nose at the mention of a practical joke he and Leon had played once. “So that explains why he always ran away from me. I just thought he thought I could kick his ass.” Jerks. She shook her head.

She leaned back against the table when he apologized. At least he had the decency to do so. “S’all right. Truth be told, I did the same thing. Didn’t let know Leon I was alive for a while. Probably one of the reasons why he’s so P.O.’d right now. He probably thinks the whole world is conspiring against him.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “It’s been crazy living around here. Leon’s got this thief snooping around…and a weird alien shapeshifter thing…how long do you think you’ll stay, Scott?” He had said it was purely social but she wasn’t sure what that meant in terms of time. “Hopefully a long time. I’m sure Leon will come around eventually and be getting you wasted all over again.”

[Dark Strider]

Scott shrugged. "I have a villa over on the east side of the city. Up in the hills and towards the state park. I spend a lot of time there. You're welcome to come over as often as you'd like, Alice. My home is yours. And, if I may be so bold as to mention, you'd probably benifit from being out of the house. Albite its into another one, but from what you have just told me, it must be frusterating around here from time to time. I'm sure our brother must be a hand full at times, aren't we all?" Scott said, offering with genuine sincerity the use of his own home.

It had been such a long time since he had felt at peace with things. Though his foster brother was angry, Scott knew that soon he might come to forgive him, even to accept his as his family again. That was something that Scott wanted deeply. Alice, so far, seemed to have accepted him back into her life, more or less with open arms. Now it was just Leon that he had to work on. Pushing himself up and out of the chair he was in, Scott made himself ready to go and talk to his brother. "I just hope I'm not going to rub salt in the wound..." Scott muttered to himself. "I'm going to go find Leon. Maybe after I explain a few things to him, he'll come to understand the need of all of this. Well... lets hope any way..." Scott said, smiling at his sister. He walked past where the two of them had been talking to the entrance hall. There, he picked up his hat and coat and pulled them on. Walking out the door, Scott wandered off, past his car. The gardens was one of the more obvious places that Scott decided to look in, them being semi-secluding and quiet at this time of night. That, and the fact that Somni was looking off in the general direction of the gardens. With a mystical smile playing on his lips, Scott wandered off in search for Leon.

Cheating a little, Scott used his wolven abilities to catch Leon's scent. Following that, along with the tell-tale signs that Leon had indeed headed that way, Scott began his trek into the maze. Looking carefully at the path that Leon had take, the foot prints clear to him under the moon light, Scott wound his way to the center of the maze. Still sitting in the same spot he had been, Leon hardly reacted when Scott came to the clearing in the center of the maze.

~

Leon had figured Scott was going to follow him, and that he would find his way here so quickly. "So, how long have you been a were-wolf, eh?" Leon asked, keeping his face hidden in the shadow of his hat. Scott, just walking into the clearing, was caught of guard by Leon's remark, as well as the monolith of a memorial to Leon's parents. "Come now... you don't think I don't notice it? The mark on your chin, and the slight pull around you eyes. As well as your smell. It's one of the reasons why I flipped on you." Leon said, looking down at his coat and brushing off a bit of dust. He and Scott shared a common dislike of hanving dirty clothes.

"It's kind of remarkable that you guessed it right off, Leon. Not a lot of people can do that, even if they share my curse. I'm curious as to how you know..." Scott said, walking towards, but not to, his brother. "I know, because I have a kind of similar curse to yours. But, MY curse is much worse." Leon said, standing up, looking down at his brother. Leon had always been the taller of the two, though Scott had been the larger of the two when it came to muscle mass. Now, looking at him, Scott seemed frail and thin, nothing like his former self. Now, Leon stood over his brother, imposing and dark.

A firm frown was on Leon's lips, and seeing that made Scott's smile vanish into the night. "Well now. This is a bit of a turn of tables..." Scott said, throwing a probing remark towards Leon. Nothing. Not even a blink. Tough crowd... Scott though quickly. "What do you want, Scott? Can't you see I'm trying my hardest not to snap?" Leon said, the frown taking a slow turn to a scowl. "Well... I just wanted to come by and say I'm sorry Leon. I wanted to apologise for all this smoke and mirrors jazz... And I was hopeing... maybe we could go back to the way things use to be? Running buddies again?" Scott said, spreading his hands out wide with a truly innocent look on his face. He must have blinked, because in an instant, Leon's fist was there connecting with his face.

That was one hell of a punch, Scott though, as his head lolled around. Gathering the few wits still about him, Scott propped himself up on his elbows. He rolled his jaw with his hand and nodded. "Okay... okay, I deserved that one." Scott said, picking himself up. Getting to his feet, shakily, Scott turned his attention back to his brother. Leon's fist was stopped, in mid air where it had connected with Scott's face. He was shaking violently. The two stood there for a long time, with only the sound of the wind breaking the silence. Then, finally, Leon spoke. "Do you have ANY idea... of the countless nights I spent awake, listening to your parents talking... and crying over yours and Alice's deaths? Sophie was blessed with ignorance. She was sad, true, but she didn't know the true scope of it at the time." Leon said, his voice shaking. "Do you know the depths of torment I went through, going through the military, going through school again, growing up... not to have my best friend at my side? The promises we had made... broken in an instant... brough to a hault by the crash of one flaming car." Memories, much like what had happened with Alice when she had turned up being alive. "So... after putting me through all of that... sending me to hell before I was shipped to hell... you're asking me to forgive you for all of that? For the years of self torment and soul searching I had to endure, you're asking me to forget that? Well... I have one thing to say to you, and it's not that I forgive you. PROVE TO ME YOU'RE SORRY, YOU WORM!" Leon roared, his body shifting into that of a hulking were-wolf. Silver fur rifled across his body as claws formed on the ends of his fingers. His face pushed out into a wolf's muzzle. His clothes shifted to accomidate his chaning form. His boots and socks vanished as his legs took on an anthro appearance and claws grew from his furred toes.

Scott, expecting something of this calibur, simply sighed and nodded his head. Like Leon, Scott shifted into his were-wolf form. Hunching down, as Leon already had, they circled each other, eyeing one another. This seemed like what they would use to do back when they were kids, mock fighting, showing off how strong they had gotten and what not. But, unlike their childhood, this one had taken a sick twist, a fight in which no punches were pulled, no rules applyed. A fight between two men, not brothers. It was Scott who made the first move, one in which, however, lead to a losing fight. Leon had the skill, the training, and above all, the speed and knowledge of how to fight and the various weaknesses of a person, or in this case, a were-wolf. With his combined fighting skill as well as his bio-mechanical upgrades to his body, Leon was a blur of motion, countering Scott's best efforts to land hits. In certain cases, Leon accepted blows that he knew were unavoidable, but took them in ways to dampen the effectiveness of the attack, all the while retailiating with powerful attack after powerful attack.

Soon, Scott's legs buckled under him and he gave way to his own weight, having the crap kicked out of him soundly. Pity, more then anything, stopped Leon from crushing his head into the ground. So, being a small part sorry, Leon reached down and offered Scott a hand up. Scott took the hand with a pained smile. Half carrying him, Leon placed Scott onto the bench Leon had been sitting in, shifting back to his human form. "Not bad, Leon, not bad." Scott said, having changed back to his normal form as well. He rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck, back, and knuckles. Lycans were surprisingly quick healers. Leon rolled his eyes and began to walk off, back through the maze and to his house. Catching him, however, Scott pulled Leon around so that he could look at him. "You know... I never blaimed you or anyone in the family for what had happened. I always regretted what I had done. Now, I'm just here to make ammends for the past. I just hope you can find it possible to forgive me someday." A single glistening spot shone in Scott's eye, and a warm smile sat on his lips. Ok... even Leon's heart, something, in this case, as black as the void of space, was moved. "Damn it, Scott..." Leon said, sighing and sitting down next to his brother.

The air was warm that night, the insects churped and hummed their evening songs, frogs croaked and the trees rustled in the calm breese. Quiet had returned to the estate, and Leon and Scott had begun the road to acceptance and forgiveness. "Nothing like family, eh Leon?" Scott said, walking with Leon's help to the house. Leon only shook his head and smiled a slight smile. "Now, if Alice asks, I fell and hit a rock in the maze." Scott continued. That one made Leon actually laugh. He opened the door and helped Scott inside. Nothing like family...

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[Felypsa]

Somni heard the door behind her and looked behind to see Scott come out. She watched as he went out to the garden. A frown crossed her face but she left just as the two started talking. She wasn’t going to eavesdrop on this. As she went back inside, she saw Starshadow sitting down, nursing a whiskey. Seemed she had had a long day. Star looked up briefly at Somni and then down to her drink. Somni hesitated and then sat down with her. For a moment they just didn’t speak.

Finally, Star said, “He’s our brother. I haven’t seen him in years.” Somni nodded; she knew. “It was the same with me and Randy.” Star didn’t say anything. That seemed to be the extent of her ability to open up. Shortly they heard a small commotion and then the brothers were heading in, laughing. Somni stood up from the table, standing back. This seemed to be a big family reunion that she wasn’t a part of, really.

Alice looked up too and frowned. “You hit him pretty hard, Leon,” she commented, not really fooled. “That’s gonna leave a nasty mark. Oh well—it’s not like anything could have really made Scott’s face look worse than it already is.” She smirked, clearly making fun. “I’m just glad you didn’t die all over again, Scott.”

[Dark Strider]

Leon shrugged and helped Scott into a chair. "Seems like we can't fool her anymore, Leon." Scott said, chuckling as he reclined in the chair. "I'll be fine Alice, don't worry about me. Oh and you, my dear," Scott said pointing to Somni. "Don't worry, my dear. I'm sure that there are no hostile feelings towards you, unfortunatly I don't know who you are, but I would gladly be willing to learn." Scott said, a warm and welcoming smile on his face. Leon gave him a look, but shrugged and sat down, waving Somni over. If Alice didn't like it, oh well. "Now then, with the unpleasentness out of the way, I'd like to go back to what we were talking about Alice. Leon, since you were outside at the time of our discussion, we had been talking about what had happened reciently in our lives, and even what had happened a long time ago." Scott continued, looking from Somni, to Alice, to Leon.

Leon just watched Scott as he talked and regaled him about what had happened to make him vanish. His "death" obviously fegined was a result of his lycanthropy, and his dealings with the everyday life after his curse took up a fairly large portion of the conversation. Slowly, the night wore on, darkness turning to blackness, stars popping up and shinng brightly in the night sky. The lights from the city shone in the near area, but no clouds held the light back, just the shine of the lights. And, though the discussions kept going on, neither did Leon nor Scott notice the passage of time, sharing stories and things that each had seen or done.

Soon, the sun was beginning to crest the horizion and the topics were more or less spent. Leon, now better with the idea that his brother was still alive, walked him to the door, the fight forgotten almost completely. "Thanks Leon. I had fun. Stop by some time, you know where, at least now you do." Scott said as he climbed into his car, turned the engine on, and drove off. Leon stood there, a single wave saying so long to his brother. Once his brother was out of sight, Leon just stood there, standing in the morning air as the sun came up.

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[Felypsa]

Somni simply raised an eyebrow at Scott. She hadn’t been afraid of hostile feelings from him at all. Oh well, at least he was willing to get to know her. She went over as Leon motioned for her, glancing at Alice, who didn’t seem to care one way or another. Rather she just ignored Somni and focused solely on Scott and Leon, who were doing plenty of reminiscing and catching up. It was a long conversation, one that lasted well into the night. At one point Somni did go to bed, leaving the three of them. As much as she was enjoying their company, she did not have a shared past with them, and wanted to give them their private space.

All too soon, Scott was headed out. Alice was surprised; she had expected that he would stay a little longer, a few days perhaps. She followed Leon outside to watch him drive off. Once he was gone, she turned to Leon. “Hey, wipe that look off your face. It’s not like you’re never going to see him again now.” She brushed a hand through her hair and touched Leon’s shoulder lightly. The corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile, and that was all that really needed to be said. Releasing him, she turned around to go back into the house. Time to get back to life as they knew it. As exciting as the revelation was, she figured it wasn’t going to be a sudden change with Scott being in their lives all the time. He still had his separate life.

[Dark Strider]

Fely... I wanted to say that I'm SOOOO SORRY for this being so long in the waiting... Things have been complicated up until reciently, but now that things are beinging to manage themselves, I can get on here more. Sorry again and I hope you like the post as well as the new color scheme.

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It had been several days since Scott's venture to the home. Because of the introduction of his brother back into his life, Leon's mood seemed to improve, but on a mental level, he was in a twisted tourmoil. On one hand, his family had come back from the grave and had taken a part of his life again. Waves of happiness and relief flooded over him, but at the same time, deep casims of depression and of emotions long repressed filtered up from the torrential void that was in the depths of his heart.

Soon, Leon was at a loss. He didn't know how much longer he could put of a farce. He didn't know how long it would be until his mental state broke down again, and the regression of his past and its events came forward in a violent outburst. Leon didn't want that, he didn't want an unexpected outburst of rage to stream forward while he was in such close proximity to his family and friends.

Luckily, Leon was about to be able to unleash his anger and frusterations in the form of a note. A new client, hearing of Leon's work from the underworld. A coperate official, the head of a research and development sect of a business. He requested that Leon come and meet him, take the information and the contract that he had ready for him, and that the payment was assured. Leon quickly took up the note, looked it over, and mentally accepted the terms of the mission.

So, on Saturday morning, early Saturday, around 3:00 AM to be precise, Leon packed his things and left a small note on the refridgerator door saying that he would be out all day on a mission. It was true, but Leon didn't want those who lived with him to worry about his random absensce. With a final check to make sure that he had everything, Leon walked out of the house, to the garage, and to the door of his car. Opening it, Leon tossed the assorted items he had prepared into the passenger's seat. Adjusting the mirror, Leon rolled out of the garage and down the driveway. It was still fairly dark, but the air was warm and the natural ambience floated along peacefully. Ironic that he was off to kill a man...

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[Felypsa]

oOc| No worries :3 I hope that this helps things go along...I wasn't sure what to post so I just made up whatever xD

Of course, a note from Leon saying that he would be gone was not what Somni wanted to see that morning. But she had more or less gotten used to it. As long as he did come back by the end of the day. She got worried, naturally, but she had waited longer before. And she knew better than to argue. It was obvious that Leon was under some kind of emotional strain, but every time she tried to get him to talk about it, he would pull away. It made her feel like she wasn’t actually helping him. Like she was incapable of making him feel better. But she just had to support him the best she could.

It wouldn’t be easy, though. The man he was aiming to kill was a high profile sort, who hired only the best to guard him. The woman who shadowed him was fairly recognizable from his press conferences. Her skin was pale, white as winter, and her hair was platinum blond. Her eyes were a deep blue and forbidding, her face expressionless and intimidating. A true ice queen. She was tall and slender, but with hard wiry muscles moving under her skin. She was strange too: her apparent weapon of choice was not a gun or anything remotely modern, but a silver sword strapped to her backside. This archaic weapon had been easily underestimated in the past, however. In her hand, it was fast as lightning, and stronger than the average sword too. She had once fended off two sniper bullets with it alone. Everyone who was there barely even saw her draw her sword; there was a single photograph from the day and it was as blurry as hell.

The only name anyone knew her by was December. Yes, like the month. It was speculated it was just a codename, a tribute to how cold she was, how she brought about the end of things like the month ended the year. She was unbeatable so far—well, as it was evident, since the man she was protecting was still alive. No one knew anything else about her. She was with her client constantly; some even called her the Pale Shadow. She rarely spoke, and if she did, it was no more than a few words. Virtually silent and deadly. Underestimated because of her sex and her weapon of choice. December was, indeed, the perfect bodyguard…and there was definitely something strange, something supernatural about her, even.

[Dark Strider]

I rather like it :'D The protection for the man Leon's going to kill is an interesting character, a perfect counter-part for Leon to fight lol. Thank ya!

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The rumble of the engine ended in an instant as Leon turned the key in the ignition. The sky was still dark and the lights from the city hid any semblance of the morning approaching. Leon had pulled into a parking garage, one which he used whenever he was working in the city. A secure building with lots and lots of different lockers for all kinds of things. Leon rented out several of these lockers, keeping various things in each of them.

Each of the containers held deadly items in some cases, casual items, things that could allow Leon to move about un-noticed in the city. There were hundreds of things Leon had that no one else knew that he had in these lockers. Leon, knowing full well which of the nearly countless lockers he wanted to go to, walked with a determined calm, an eerie smile on his lips and a cigarette between them. The end glowed in the semi-darkness, the only illumination coming from a light lit at intervals.

Leon walked down the row of un-labeled containers, but stopped at a specific one, having counted out the steps in his head. Leon turned to the touch pad on the side of the container, punched in a series of numbers, and stooped low to enter the opening door. Inside, a light flickered on, showing what rested inside. A large collection of weapons, explosives, and general purpose killing equipment. Leon, knowing where the item he needed was, moved in, grabbed the case, and then moved out of the container, pressing a button which closed the door behind him. Leon, with case in hand, turned and walked towards the entrance with a swift stride.

Leon soon was outside of the large storage facility, moving into the quickly filling streets. It was only four in the morning and people were already moving about, getting ready for the day.

~

Leon was already set up, looking down the sights of his sniper rifle. He was in position, ready to take the shot. His client had supplied Leon with an itinerary of his target, outlining what was the general overview of his target. Perfect. Leon was set up in a way that even if someone looked directly at him, the would only see the bright blaze of the morning sun. A silencer rested on the end of his rifle, so the sound of the shot would be muffled by both the general racket from the streets, the wind, and by concrete, as well as the silencer, needless to say.

The clock chimed seven in the morning, and Leon aimed at one of the windows his target was going to pass on his morning route. Right on time, Leon thought as his target appeared in the window, stopping to talk to a secretary. But, just before Leon was about to take the shot, Leon saw someone he wouldn’t have expected to be there. Miss December, a stand in contract from his past. She and Leon had always been on the opposite sides of the spectrum, Leon killing for the job, her… killing to kill. For the fun in it. And… to make matters worse… She was an extremely disciplined sword-fighter. Leon didn’t doubt that she was as skilled as he was with the art, and he knew that she had… something about her, something rather close to his innate prowess with the space around him. This mission just got all the trickier.

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[Felypsa]

The mysterious thing about December was that not even her employer knew much about her. There were no records of her existence before the age of eighteen. It was like she appeared out of nowhere, armed with her sword and filled with the hard motivation to become stronger. That was all that drove her. It didn’t matter who got in her way, she simply wanted to be the best. She formed no personal attachments. Never spoke of family. It was like she was only planning on being here until she became the strongest…then she would move on.

She stood in the same room as her employer, her eyes taking in every inch of the room, her other senses just as alert. It was impossible to tell what she might be thinking: those violet eyes were stony barriers, letting no one in. The tiniest of huffs left her and she glanced toward the window—seemingly looking right at where Leon was. Of course, no one could see across such a far distance without the aid of a sniper rifle or similar telescope…could they?

“Mr. Odin, sir,” December said quietly, speaking to her employer. “I highly suggest you move away from the window. Miss Tisdale, you too.” She eyed the secretary. “Perhaps even take a walk in the hall.” She barely moved, though, so to Leon’s eyes, all would seem normal.

[Dark Strider]

Odin, always willing to take the advice of his bodyguard, nodded his head and moved down the hall with the secretary. As soon as he was far enough away from the hallway that he had left his bodyguard in, Odin quickened his pace and moved to the secure elevator. Once inside, he pressed the button for the floor with his office. He wasn't panicing, he had had several attempts on his life before. But, above all else, he knew that he should leave the fighting to December. She was much more proficient in the art of fighting then he was.

As he arrived in his office, Odin walked over to his chair, sat down, and reclined in his chair as things began to life around him. Security monitors began to warm up around him, focusing on different portions of the building and the surrounding area. Luckily for Leon, none of the cameras could see him, but that hardly mattered. Miss December obviously knew that he was there.

~

Why make her wait? She knew he was there, Leon didn't rightly know how, but he knew she knew. Oh well. So, without letting another few moments slip by, Leon got up, collapsed his rifle, and warped into the building, standing a few meters away from Miss December.

" Well, well... Been quite some time since we last crossed paths, December. Still the same psychopathic killer as before?" Leon said, throwing a mocking sneer at her.

Leon has his arms crossed, something that he knew would probably put him at a disadvantage in the long run, but then again, Leon knew that he could generally get out of anything she could throw at him. The last time they had met, Leon hadn't perfected the art of warping around, and he was still getting use to the "upgrades" that the military had given him. He had been a solo agent then, working on the lower end jobs, the ones generally filled with grunt work or lowly assassinations. That's when he had first encountered the woman, introduced to him as Miss December. An enigma to him and to his beneficiaries, but an undoubtably powerful fighter, as well as a woman of high respect. She, however, didn't have the kind of "chill", however unfortunate the pun is, about her as she did now.

It seemed that the years had hardened her even more, turing the cold woman from before into a being made of the coldness of space itself. Not even a shread of humanity left inside of her, all except for her physical apperance, but even then, not all together human at all.

"So... What's it going to be, eh December? You going to allow me to walk past you to get to Odin, or are you going to try and stop me?" Leon asked, un-crossing his arms and resting his had on the pommle of his sword. Either way, Leon knew that this would end in a fight, either now or later on. Unavoidable, so Leon was sure to put on his game face and was ready for anything, or atleast would try to be.

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[Felypsa]

December watched while her employer left in safety and was about to follow him when the would-be killer appeared in the room before her. She was unsurprised as she looked to him. Leon was the same at heart, but there was definitely something different about him. Something aged, matured. He was not holding a weapon and so she refrained from getting her sword, though she could do so in less than a heartbeat. She stared him down as Leon spoke to her in a slightly condescending manner, yet she still did not move, not even when he placed his hand on the hilt of his own blade.

“You know nothing of me,” she said quietly. “And I have no desire to defend my actions to you.” She had reasons for her strength, reasons for her coldness. Deeply personal reasons that Leon had no privilege to know. “You know I cannot do my job poorly, and there is no reason why I should let you accomplish yours.” And just like that, her sword was in her hand, the pale white blade gleaming. The sword itself was what made people wonder. It did not seem to be made of any known earthly metal. It had been known to slice bullets in half, to pierce a glass window without shattering it, like a hot knife in butter, and to never retain blood on its surface. And when December wielded it, it was like an extension of her own arm, like a part of her.

In another moment, the tip of the blade stopped an inch away from Leon’s pulse point on his throat. “Believe it or not, I do hate to kill needlessly,” December remarked. “I know you are no coward, Leon. But I would hate to see this end in death, and for what? For that man. Odin is not worth either one of our lives. I will not die for him, and I prefer not to see you dead for him. At the same time…” Her eyes flashed. “I cannot let you pass.”