[Edward Crane]

Neo-Tokyo, the city of shadows and creatures of the dark, was mostly quiet during the day when weak sunlight filtered in through the heavy clouds. It hadn't always been this way, but recently it seemed as if the shadows were lifting only slightly. Slinking through the shadows, Ed couldn't help but grumble to himself.

"Wa' did ay do ter get stuck wi' dis job?" To be perfectly honest, it could have something to do with whatever was attacking the Hunter's Base and that left pretty much just him to do the stupid, little jobs. At least it wasn't chasing down that old moggy for the four hundred and seventy-second time.

The devil's spawn was in the care of a batty, old bird that hired him every time the damn thing went for a jaunt around the corner. He was starting to have nightmares about chasing it but never catching up enough to nab it.

Of course, Ed always caught the furry devil and brought it back, but that meant the woman remembered him and asked that he do it again, always with the same, old pleas that the cat could be lost, trapped, or hurt if he didn't save and bring it back.

Sometimes it felt like the gods were laughing at him.

Well, maybe not the gods, but definitely the Hunter's Council that allowed for such missions and repeat missions to be undertaken for so little cash. How could he ever progress in the Association if all his time was taken up fetching that damn hellion?

Now, he had to tread lightly in this pit of leeches lest those repeat missions be the only thing on his record before his untimely death.

Sneaking down the main streets was either brilliant or suicidal, depending on what was out and about, so Edward did his best to alternate between them and mostly empty alleyways to keep things from getting the jump on him.

[Blood Brothers]

Bleeding out of the shadows, Nanashi smiled widely at his passengers whose hands he still held. Sato was putting a ridiculous amount of stress on his ribs, but he could excuse it with all the bad times he'd had with Shimi. Said brother wasn't very nice to Sato in the first place and then there was the fact that Sato wasn't meant for shadow travel.

Things like that never ended well.

"Thank you for choosing Sha-Nana! Please, come again," Nanashi snickered, waiting for the other two to release his hands so that he could attend to his favorite brother. They both seemed a little surprised, but then none of his three passengers were attuned to the shadows in, well, any way.

[blackcat]

Madeline did not know what she had been expecting Nanashi to do, but this way of travelling was definitely not what she had expected. It had caught her completely by surprise. The shadows had chilled her heart; leaving her to feel utterly misserable. She was trembling all over... Never, ever would she do something like that again. It was utterly horrid. Once she came to her senses she quickly released the man's hand. She cast him a rather hurt look. How could she be so stupid to trust a random stranger. Served her right for being so incredibly foolish!

"Thank you..... but I... I don't think I will", she managed to utter rather softly after a while in reply to Nananshi's "joke". She did not see the fun in it at all.

[S-O-Y]

Oraku held his breath until his feet were standing on solid ground again, that only happening seconds after they had taken off. Opening his eyes and smiling widely he looked over to the vampire and took his own hand back.

"Thank you. That was delightful. Maybe again sometime in the near future."

He watched as the blonde gave a dizzied replied. It seemed she got rattled up by the travel they just went through. Poor mortals.

"Well, Looks like Im back at home so I guess I could be on my way now."

The red haired, red eyed man looked to the vampire, the blonde, and the other little red headed male. Showing the politest smile he possible could, he bowed at the vampired who brought them all here and turned around to start walking away.

[Edward Crane]

He nearly choked when the four seeped out of the shadow of a nearby building, right before his eyes. Hiding behind a parked van, Ed silently cursed his luck. Weaker vampires generally didn't even know about shadow travel and weren't strong enough to even attempt it, regardless. The only way that he knew about it was because one of the more experienced Hunters had been complaining about an older vampire doing it frequently to creep everyone out.

Their conversation was faint, but he caught pieces of it. None of it made much sense, but then he wasn't trying very hard, either. The vampire must be very distracted with the others to not have noticed him yet and for that Ed was quite thankful. He just hoped that it stayed that way.

Usually, the ability to travel through shadows marked the time when a vampire was too strong to be affected by his banishing gun. If the vampire was weakened, then Ed could possibly banish it if he fired the entire clip into the vampire. It was still liable to fail, though, and he didn't want to risk it.

That, and the vampire was not alone.

At least two of the group didn't seem to be bloodsuckers, but that was just his barely educated guess and there was always the question of why they were hanging out with a vampire. Were they werewolves? No, werewolves and vampires rarely got along, period.

Could they be demons of some sort? That was likely and scarier than if they were vampires. Demons, however, were more susceptible to the banishing gun... if he could hit them with one of the bullets.

[Blood Brothers]

Jerking up from where he had been slumped in Nanashi's arms, Sato glowered at the blond girl. His brother was just being nice and completely shameless by carrying them here, but that wasn't enough for the spoiled, little girl, was it? Granted, she looked very shaken up for some reason, but Sato had already dealt with her bossy nature and had no pity for her.

"The easiest and most guaranteed way to never experience someone's kindness is to stay far, far away from them, so I suggest you start walking, mortal, before I show you my own kindness," Sato snarled, still holding his brother close. The feel of Nanashi's disappointment and hurt had been too sharp for him to let go without it being addressed.

"Sato," Nanashi sighed, pulling him closer and thus away from Madeline. Glancing at the other redhead, he wondered why he was so determined to put distance between them now when he had surely been flirting back in Hopeless. Perhaps he was bi-polar.

"Miss, some people don't react well to the shadows, but a way to banish the chill of their touch is quite simple." Snaking a hand down Sato's side, he plucked three brightly wrapped truffles from his pocket, right where Nanashi knew they would be. His brother could not change some things no matter how much he tried. The long-haired vampire offered them to Madeline with a half-smile. "Take these three chocolate truffles, one before you leave us and the other two before you sleep next, and you will have no ill effects from the shadows's touch."

[blackcat]

She ignored Sato's remarks. 'Really he should do something about that temper of his', she thought to herself. As she noticed that she had apparently offended Nanashi she felt quite cross with herself. She could not help but jump to conclusions when it concerned trusting others... That was something she could not change about herself. She hastily added: 'I did not mean to offend you. I am sorry, but that was definitely the most frightning experiance in my life.' She looked at the truffels that he was holding out to her. Of all things he had to offer her truffels. She hated bonbons the most. She took them with a smile, but did not put one of them in her mouth, as she thought that throwing up in front of them would not really go down well with the two vampires. 'If you do not mind, I would like to eat them later. You have been very kind. If there is anything I can do to repay you feel free to ask any time'.

[Edward Crane]

Ed contemplated slinking off to the closest alley and fleeing like mad, but then that redhead was far too close and even facing his direction. If he tried, then he would definitely be seen and then the vampire would be aware of his presence. The image of his own bloodless body lying in a heap floated to the front of his mind, making him shudder. No, that was definitely a bad idea.

Then, the blond girl seemed to be separating from the group, too. While she didn't seem particularly demonic, Ed knew better than to think he had the experience to just know such things like the older Hunters did. She could be just as bloodthirsty as the tall brunette over there with the sharp fangs and glowing, yellow eyes. They shined eerily in the light as he looked between the redhead next to him and the girl.

Creepy! Goosepimples rose on his skin and it felt like every hair on his body was standing on end just from catching that predatory glint. How some of the others could face down such monsters and laugh in the face of their hunger, Ed didn't know.

Perhaps it just took experience, but Ed wasn't anywhere near that sort of Hunter, least of all right now.

[Blood Brothers]

Plopping one hand atop Sato's head, Nanashi smiled weakly, knowing that there was more to her than what she showed. That darkness she had in her was proof enough, but then perhaps that wasn't the right word for it. She had a cruelty that was rather jarring when revealed because it seemed to go against everything she seemed to embody normally. Her sweet face twisted into a vicious mask.

"I suppose that you must do what you see fit, but if you carry one thing away from this conversation, know that consuming a bit of chocolate is the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to rid yourself of the shadows. If you cannot stomach it for some mysterious reason, then seek out someone steeped in light to bless you and give the chocolate to someone who will enjoy it," Nanashi calmly informed her before turning and leading his little brother away. It was out of his hands, after all.

With a great sigh of relief, Sato followed Nana's lead, glad to be leaving the mortals, even if he was going to be breaking his promise to himself. The connection between them would strengthen and everything would feel better, would be better.

His brothers were everything to him, Sato was starting to realize.

[blackcat]

[S-O-Y]

His footsteps echoed upon the brick walls of the dark city as he made his way from the group. It seemed the vampires were up to no good, for the foreshadowing of events earlier made it quite clear to him that there would be some feeding later. A part of him called out to them and wanted to see everything from the victim to the death. The other part of himself was walking now, headed back home, back to his brothers. Where he was needed. Yugure's voice echoed in his mind's ear as his footsteps pattered in the background.

[Edward Crane]

The redhead seemed far too distracted to notice Ed as he passed for which Ed was eternally thankful, but he waited until the other male was out of sight before peeking at the rest of the group.

Apparently, they had all split up with the definite vampires completely gone from the area. Heaving a sigh of relief, Ed stepped out into the open and eyed his choices. The redhead had gone the way he had come, the blond was on the path that he theoretically should choose, and the vampires probably went the other way, which was a roundabout way to where he was going.

There wasn't much of a choice, was there?

With another sigh, Ed tentatively headed after the blond, hoping she'd deviant from his path so that he wouldn't run into her or anything. It wasn't like he was stalking her - far from it!

Someone really hated him.

[Blood Brothers]

Having heard something interesting, Nanashi tugged Sato off in that direction, eager to sink his fangs into warm flesh. His little brother seemed to be picking up on his mood, eyes unfocused and fangs lengthened.

"This way, little one," he purred, pulling the dazed redhead through the shadows. It showed how out of mind Sato was when he traversed the darkness without the slightest twitch. Kamikuro's power curled around them, boosting their powers of night.

No matter how the city had lost some of its darkness, the shadows were strong while they walked the streets. There was a group of four people and one canine a good ways away that he slinked closer to curiously.

Right now he felt like he could walk out among them and enslave them all with his thrall, but with Sato entranced as he was, Nanashi couldn't risk it. If Sato had control of his own thrall, they might be able to get such a big group.

'If's did not fill the belly, so he waited and watched.

[blackcat]

Madeline took a deep breath. Gave the wall a gentle push and sent herself on her way. She had to get home. She did not care much for being sick in the middle of a street... that would just not do. She was slightly wobbly due to dizziness and had to grab hold of a wall again. This was definitely not going the right way. Her body was NOT accepting the chocolate. This was exactly why she hated sweets. She tried to look around her if she could see anyone that might be able to help her get home faster. She thought she saw someone in the distance.

[Edward Crane]

The blond girl really seemed drunk with the way she was swaying and couldn't walk in a straight line. When she grabbed at the wall and glanced around, Ed was rather of the opinion that he should turn and flee, but that would seem even more suspicious.

He really just wanted to get out of there, but that meant passing the girl and no matter how slowly he walked since she wasn't moving he was going to have to pass her by. Hoping that she would just let him walk by and let him go onwards, Edward continued stiffly and tried desperately not to look at her. If he looked, then she'd know that there was something wrong, but if he didn't look then he was just a person going about his business and not some sort of spy or something.

Why did this place have to be so creepy? Even passing a young lady in an alley was dangerous. What if she was a werewolf? A vampire like her companions? A succubus? Then again, if she was, she was really subtle, so subtle that she was even wearing modest clothing.

There was always the vague possibility that she was just a vampire's victim. Had he drained her terribly to the point where she had to clutch the wall for support? What if he was shunning a victim?

Guilt weighed heavily on him.

[blackcat]

She saw a boy was approaching her though he seemed rather intent on ignoring her. Well she could not really blame him, as it was late at night and this city was definitely not a place to walk around at night. But that was exactly why she had little choice but to ask for his help. She felt very defenseless now and was not really fit to fight if anything attacked her. 'Excuse me, sir,' she managed to bring out with a rather weak voice for she was trying very hard not to be sick. 'Could you please help me? I need to get to the Taylor mansion.' She specifically metioned her last name as she was hoping that it would ring a bell and that the boy would be more likely to help her.

[Edward Crane]

Freezing where he stood, Ed considered carefully if he could pretend like he hadn't heard her ask for his assistance. If it was a trap and he helped her, he was dead. Then again, if it wasn't a trap and he helped her, then he was wasting his time running around with this girl when he should be working on his mission.

Why did he have to have morals?

Turning his head slowly, Edward considered her ill appearance. There were no visible wounds and he didn't smell any blood. In some situations, those observations might not mean anything, though. Mentally cursing, he slowly turned his body towards her, keeping his senses open for signs of danger.

"Is something wrong, miss? You don't seem well," he commented carefully, hand casually resting over his concealed weapon.

[blackcat]

Madeline let out a sigh of releave and tried to stand up a little more, whilst still holding on to the wall. Why did anyone have to see her like this? She saw that the boy was hestitant to approach her. In order to try to come across less scary she forced a sweet smile on her face. 'You do not have to be afraid, I mean you no harm.... I am really sorry to have to ask for your assistance, but indeed I seem not to feel too well. Do you know the way to the Taylor Mansion?' She hastily added: 'I will make sure to reward you for your services if you can take me there'. Hopefully that would make him a little more willing to help.

Her home was not too far from here, but she could not make it alone... not in this state.

[Edward Crane]

Could this get anymore cliche?

Backing away slowly with his eyes still on the girl, he smiled nervously. There was no way he could have come across some sick girl in the middle of a strange city who spoke as if she were rich and would pay him richly if he would just help her find her way back to daddy's arms. This was, obviously, a trap and the fact that he had just seen her conversing with a couple of vampires just made it all the more suspicious.

"Nah, sorry 'bout dat, miss, but ay dun know anybody 'ere, much less oo lives in which mansion er big buildin' er worever," Edward rushed to explain, knowing that his accent was probably making things a little hard to understand. If he didn't know better, he might have fallen for her pretty face. She was a fantastic actress, really, with her big eyes and earnest way of speaking.

"So, yous see, ay couldn't possibly be o' any ellp," he concluded quickly and with a slight jump hurried along the alley, gripping his banishing gun tightly. If this worked, then great, but if it didn't, then he wouldn't exactly have to worry about there being a next time.

[blackcat]

She would have gladly put her sword against his throat to force him to help her, but at this moment she needed all her strenght to keep herself standing. 'I understand. Sorry for bothering....' she failed to finish the sentence as she clealry lost the battle with her stomach to keep the chocolate inside. She felt extremely upset with herself. This was too much; vomitting in the middle of the street like some drunkard. She was just hoping that the guy that just passed would not turn around. She would not want anyone to see her this vulnerable.

[Edward Crane]

Of course, she had to be the real deal, didn't she? No trickster would sink so low as to vomit in public unless they were well and truly sick because if they did and they weren't, then their target would be more put off than anything. That's not saying that he wasn't put off, but he had a hard time just leaving after that. It didn't take much to get back to her.

"Right, 'ere," Ed grunted, offering her his handkerchief. Unfortunately, Ed had left his water bottle on the transport like a divvie, but at least he had this. If her place of residence really wasn't that far away, then she could wash her mouth out there while he skipped off to do his mission and then once that was done he could go back to the Hunter's Town and never return to this place again.

It was a lot of wishful thinking, but that's all he had at the moment.

[blackcat]

[Edward Crane]

"Would ay 'uv said ay didn't if ay did?" Ed grumbled, ignoring the rest of her tittering while slipping an arm under hers to support her down the street. Hopefully, this wouldn't take too long. The less time spent in this city, the better.

"Juss tell me before yous get sick again and we'll call it sou- eh... good," he sighed, thinking that this would probably be easier if he could carry her there on his back. Unfortunately, that would mean he would be in danger of being vomited on and that was not worth the shortened trip. The other two ways of carrying her wouldn't make it any better, either, so this is the way it had to be.

If they didn't get attacked on the way, then everything was fine, but as it was Ed couldn't get to his banishing gun easily as the girl was kind of leaning on it. A dire situation would require him to knock her off and hope he could draw faster than the attacker.

Oh, sometimes he hated his life.

[blackcat]

Madeline tried not to lean to much on the boy. She already felt like a burden enough. She noticed that he was a bit vigity as this position left him rather defenceless. Well if worst came to worst she could at least shield him a little so he could get his gun out. She let out a sigh, 'I am sorry for troubling you. If we take a right here, then a left and another right we should be there soon enough. You are truely very kind. Might I know your name?'

[Edward Crane]

"Ay prefer me anon...  er, anonymity, tar," Ed insisted, stumbling over the strange word. He knew what it meant, but didn't often have to say it. That big hunter used it a couple times in his presence, but he was instructing, not talking about himself. He couldn't be anonymous if he tried, not with his size and that unique scar on his cheek.

On the current situation, he was a Hunter working for free and if the counsel found out, then he'd be laughed at even more than usual. Hopefully, this big fight would keep them busy enough and as long as he convinced the girl not to pry then he had an easy out.

"Am juss do'n this... because Am do'n this. Ay dun want yer little piggybank and ay dun want yous ter go diggin' around afti me later. This is purly stupidity."