[Asura]

It was not too long before Asura found herself on the battlefield again. But instead of the living, churning, furious mass of bodies locked in combat, there was only a profound quiet and the vermilion dust and sands of the aftermath. The war had drawn to a close. The world was shattered and Zephyr and Fenrir were now together once again. The world was slowly being remade.

She has served her purpose and it was time to move on.

Both sides had received numerous casualties. She was one of the few who knew to a more accurate extent. She watched from the darkness as injured Divine Captains were rushed in after their battles. She followed the trails of blood that lead her directly to the tent of her fellow Corrupt Captains. She even saw the followers of Darberus and Trey mourning outside their respective tents.

But now it was over.

"I would have been satisfied to continue to float in the void." She grit her teeth in frustration. "Why? Why them and not me, you damned fool. Death, you pathetic ingrate. Why do you only visit those who still have something to live for and not me, who has chased you for eons?"

She wandered the empty field, uncaring of the one being who watched from the shadows and the other who steadily approached.

[Azeil]

Azeil was, as he often was, near Asura. He was often in the shadows looking out, keeping himself concealed. Occasionally he'd not keep himself hidden terribly well. Nonetheless, almost more often than not, he was around. After all, with the war over, and the sides no longer quite so divided... he was out a job. It left him with a lot of free time.

[Asura]

Asura slightly turned her head around to view an enormous man, two feet taller than herself, fully armored from head to toe, who held a sword that measured as long as her own body. Most men would cower, but her eyes only narrowed with suspicion. She did not sense the being's aura at all.

"Why hello there," Asura said as her eyes closed with her normal polite smile. "Isn't the weather just lovely?"

With a speed belied by his size, the armored man charged forward and swung his huge sword in a horizontal arc. But instead of slicing through flesh and bone, only empty air, a few drops of blood, and two severed tassels met the edge of his blade.

Asura's crimson eyes were fully opened, practically burning crimson as she balanced upon the flat edge of the man's weapon. Both of her kodachi were drawn, blood ran down her left cheek from a shallow cut, and the tassels on the right side of her hat were gone. Her form no longer radiated even a trace of gentility, only a fury darker than night.

"Die."

She lunged forward and buried both of her blades into the small slit in the helmet where the man's eyes would have been. But instead of the cry of pain that she was expecting, the only sound that rang through was that of her own blades as they hit the back of the helmet. Her rage evaporated immediately and she froze when she realized that her weapons had met no resistance.

There was no body inside the armor. And for the first time, Asura felt something akin to fear.

Asura held on to her blades, but did not resist as a large, armored hand grabbed her neck and threw her down on the ground. She remained stationary, eyes wide and child-like even as her foe raised his sword. But despite her position, the emotion that filled the single word that spilled from her lips sounded astonishingly like relief.

"... Death?"

[Azeil]

Azeil frowned at the speed of this... thing. He didn't know what it was, but it felt... almost shadowy. Death it was not, though, he /knew/ this. He knew what death felt like. Or... forms of it at least. But this was not one he was sure of.

His movements were quick. Azeil was no fighter but despite his typically lazy demeanor, he was incredibly quick. He caught the blade just above the woman, holding it with his nails. It was awkward, and heavy. He couldn't hold long, and pushed it away so it would cut into the earth next to Asura.

"Hey there, /Dear/," he cooed, but those odd tattoos of his seemed to almost have completely covered him, just as they'd been when she first found him. This time, though, it was in the fighting spirit, not healing. Surrounded by the shadows he so loved, he disappeared into them again, but only to be /inside/ the armor. Where little light reached and it was shrouded in those shadows.

[Asura]

Asura's frozen state shattered like glass when she heard the now-familiar teasing voice. She flipped back and held her swords before her, teeth once again baring into a snarl that was also becoming more and more familiar. The only difference this time was that her agitation, her desperation, was much more genuine than before.

"Azeil!" she roared brokenly as tears she had long-forgotten threatened to fall. "You have no right to interfere with my affairs! It was my time... and you squandered it!"

[Azeil]

Azeil, in the armor, began to just... well, shred it, really. He was not sure /what/ this was, but he suspected magic himself. He supposed the woman would have many enemies, so it shouldn't be any particular surprise. "This is not death," he said, amusement lining his voice, a smile on his lips. "You'd allow yourself to die by some mere /trick/?" He did not enjoy fighting, but the lack of blood helped. He didn't enjoy blood in the least, unlike Asura.

[Asura]

"Trick or not, I could care less. I live only for one purpose. With this same purpose I joined this damned war, where I met little satisfaction... and you just denied me that desire!" Asura continued to rave. Her entire body shook and she gripped her blades so tightly that her knuckles were even whiter than her already pale skin. "No matter what that creature was, it was a means to an end."

After a few moments, she gathered her composure and closed her eyes once again. Emotion was unbecoming in achieving her purpose. "Azeil, I may never forgive you for this."

[Azeil]

The armor was shredded quickly until the spell was finally broken and it was a useless pile of metal. He turned to look at the small woman.

"You just /gave up/," he said, his nose wrinkling slightly. Still, he wasn't sure which emotion was more dominant in him at the moment. Annoyance or... hurt. Of course he knew the woman did not like him, he was not an idiot, but /this/ he had not expected. The much taller male stood there in silence for a moment before he leaned down, sort of, awkwardly, picking up the two fallen tassels.

"Your hat needs fixing," he said simply before turning away. Despite the battle being over, the strange tattoos remained thick and dark on his skin.

[Asura]

Asura snatched the tassels and gripped them in her hands before shoving them angrily into her corset. "Despite what you may think, I did not just give up. I know exactly what my limits are and how much I can surpass them. Those of flesh and bone are as paper under my swords, but those who cannot be harmed by physical means are often beyond my power to subjugate."

She rounded upon him with an accusatory look. "And why in the hell do you care, fool? The war is over and yet I still see you wherever I turn. Do you not have anything better to do than stalk me like this?"

[Azeil]

"You did not /try/" he said bluntly, flicking his wrist back over his shoulder some, "You did not feel flesh, and so you assumed it was beyond your abilities. You gave up." He frowned a bit at the question, although he supposed it'd come at some point or another.

"Because I find you interesting," he said, "how you fight. What you do." Of course he gave her privacy, but if she was just... /out/, he was often there. He may stalk, but he didn't peep.

[Asura]

"You sound like my teacher..." she grimaced as she sheathed her swords. "Or a nagging mother."

Asura grabbed a metal remnant from her previous opponent's armor and studied it. She may not have met Death, but she may have found another lead. "I can't say I appreciate you following me whenever I go. I do not need a guardian and will not have my fate controlled by someone's whim. But I suppose you have my gratitude just this once, worm."

She studied the metal fragment with no small fascination. "Because I may have found a clue to what I seek."

[Azeil]

"What is it you seek? Death?" he asked, looking back at the small woman. He frowned a small bit. That was a morbid thought and depressing for the one that cared for her. He didn't like that thought at all... but he would not (and could not) stop death from claiming her if time truly had run out for her.

Although he caught the beginning and couldn't help but let it slip past his lips. "You have a mother?" Being born of the shadows, the male had no parents. Perhaps why his social skills seemed... off to say the least. Or nonexistent perhaps.

[Asura]

A mother...?

"I... do not know," Asura said as she turned around and let her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "I've been under Darkness' protection for so long that I don't remember anything of my past life, only my current one. All I know are blood and Death. The only thing that sustains me is the desire to fight without the desire to conquer. Everything else I know, I know from the years I have wandered alone upon this land..."

Her face then smoothed and she turned back to him. "But perhaps I have spoken too much. The war is over, the world is being healed, and all alliances and ties are dissolved. You no longer need to follow me as there are no longer any messages you must provide to Zephyr as she and Fenrir have come to an understanding. Fenrir is now the Divine Goddess, but my journey continues.

"If you must follow me, do as you like," she said as she turned to walk away on the land that was slowly rebuilding itself. "Just don't get in my way."

[Azeil]

"Who said I'd been around to deliver messages in the first place?" he teased, as it was the truth, "I could just have easily given them to Zephyr herself." He simply shrugged a bit, watching the woman walk away for a moment. He considered letting her be... but what fun would that be?

After that moment of thought, he walked after her, but kept his distance. He may not be a terribly social being, but he was not entirely daft when it came to knowing when someone wanted their distance. Although it seemed apparent that Asura would have as little of /that/ as possible.

[Azrael]

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To Be Continued
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[Ashurato]

*yawn* All done for now.