What Lurks in the Dark

The night was almost still at this part of the city, Strings thought as she walked under the dim street lights. She couldn't find him today either--that Devil. She had to go out again and try to summon him tonight. She needed to find someone to prey on, surely it was late enough for her to be able to hide herself. From her thoughts, a strange zipping sound caught her attention leading into a dark alley.

By instinct she hid herself behind the wall nearby while she carefully peered through the darkness. Thankfully, having lived in the forest for so long had let her adapt to seeing in the dark. Not so much as nightvision, but it was good enough for her to make out a figure moving in the shadows. Someone is here, she thought, reaching down under her coat where she hid her blades.

"A perfect prey," she muttered to herself. Strings held her weapon she quietly stalked her target. With a knife raised over her head, she charged up at him, the blade aimed directly at the stranger's neck.

Blades met with a chink as Strings' attack was blocked by the drawn sword. The lighting was dim but even from the outline brought by the streetlight, Aedan could see the disapproving snarl on his assailant's face. Clearly, she didn't expect this turn of events (and her target turning around) but she wasn't willing to give in.

Strings held her ground, holding the knife firm against the sword. "Don't tell me you're one of those freaks!" she hissed quietly. It would have been barely audible to passers-by but their close distance allowed Aedan to hear her.

As Aedan assessed his attacker, so did Strings. She took in as much as she could within that split second before she pulled back, sliding her knife along the blade. Strings didn't allow herself to be too far away from him. As soon as they lost contact, she took another step forward, swinging her knife to his middle. His strength seems normal but he's probably holding back. I can't let him find an opening!

He was good, Strings would give him that. His movements flowed along with hers, as if they had rehearsed a dance--as if he could predict her own. She was starting to think she was making the bad decision of keeping up the fight. But they were there already and for a moment, she thinks she has a chance. Part of her agreed but another part decided she couldn't take any chances. She picked an enemy, not a prey, one of the voices in her head whispered to her.

Their weapons met a second time on her swing as he parried it. Strings was thinking fast and was ready to take another knife with her free hand from the holster around her waist, hidden under her coat. She could have held on to the first knife but the momentary shift in her focus failed her. It fell to the ground with a clatter but Strings paid no mind to it, clutching th new one tightly.

She wasn't trained, but she had fought before to know how to attack and evade. Although, that was when she still had her abilities to phase through weapons to keep her unscathed. The first few swings of her opponent landed along her arms when she tried to shield herself while she stepped backwards. Strings still wasn't used to pain, but her adrenaline kept her from worrying about the sting the cuts had left.

By the third swing, she managed to catch them with the knife, though not without difficulty. She took the moment after the fourth swing to duck forward to his side, intending to throw heavy swings at her opponent.

Strings was sure her last attack would have landed. She was all too confident that he couldn't be able to block it completely — she had found that opening from his earlier attacks like a pattern. Strings' didn't expect her knife to meet nothing but air. It took her only that moment to analyze what had happened when she had dropped to one knee to brace her fall.

One moment her opponent, the next moment he was a distance away from her, dazed and confused. She couldn't fathom why on earth he could look so disoriented at a time like this when she was only growing frustrated. Unknown to her, he was just as surprised by him transporting as she was, if not even more.

But Strings kept in mind she was not there to gawk. Their squabble had stretched out far too long for comfort — she needed to eliminate him. And of course, she still needed a sacrifice to lure out that Devil.

She pushed herself forward, taking with her the knife that had been wrenched from her grip earlier. The first knife met his sword to keep it out of her way, while the other met with fabric and flesh.

"Why don't you just die!?" She growled, angry but stained by desperation.

For just a moment, Strings thought she could finally have this. Before she could manage to continuously attack him, he again vanished out of her reach, reappearing even farther than he had last time.

Stop running away! she whispered into the air as she chased for him. She didn't expect him come forward as well, and she wasn't prepared for another flurry of attacks. Strings managed to block a few, others were caught by her arm, slicing through the fabric of her coat's sleeves.

The scent of blood could be whiffed in the air but that didn't deter Strings as she fought back, throwing her own slices at opportunities she got--mainly at his arms and wrists. She needed him to loose the sword if she wanted to get the upper hand. To say they were evenly matched was an understatement, Strings would think so if she were even thinking straight. Strings' quick-thinking helped her move but she would have known by now that her opponent was quite skilled beyond her own. No one needed to remind her that he seemed to have more up his sleeves than mere skill.

Strings side-stepped experimentally a few times as she went to attack him, slicing at his sides with one knife while the other she held in front of her guardedly. She couldn't give him openings. Not right now when she could miss him and he could easily find her open to attack.