---

Ragged breath huffed from her lungs, beads of hanging adornment clinking lightly against one another with each frantic step that hit the cobbles. Where was Saizo when she need him? It was her fault for loosing track of him. She really shouldn’t have allowed herself to get so distracted and wander from the promised safety at his side. Yet here she was making a mad dash from roving eyes and hands. Wide eyes peering over her shoulder as if to ensure the unknown had been lost, a chance given to hide herself within the sea of people already enjoying themselves this night.

Uncertainty plagued the mind though even still that brief sprint steadily faded into far calmer paces as Haru ducked into the crowd. Knowing well enough that she painted a target upon her back moving so quickly. Blend in, pretend that one belonged. Shaken sigh escaped, a heart pounding in her chest as cheeks burned at recollection of all which had laced the other’s tongue. Frustration overrode any embarrassment she may have felt. Phrases such as those always spelled trouble whether heard here or upon lands across the sea. She knew of intention yet, no matter what anyone thought, she was nobodies call girl.

Perhaps it had been foolish to believe things would be different here. That the eyes of perverse strangers would not be drawn so easily. Oh how she tried in vain to cling to such hopes but time and time again shadows revealed themselves for what they truly were. The city’s underbelly housing individuals just as dark whether they came for passing pleasures or even dwelled at her side. An arm rose to wipe at her face, to be rid of all which threatened to blossom upon anger. She had come out to enjoy herself not to entertain the fantasies of another. Yet peace could not last as the vague familiarity of that voice hit her ears, a distance askance not directed at herself.

Chances would not be taken.

Alarm brought a heart to flutter, encouraged steps to quicken until eyes fell upon one partially sectioned off from the rest beneath the porch light of a bar. And it was to him she drifted. Delicate tones calling out to this unknown as if he where a long known friend, “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I see you’ve already gotten a head start without me.” Cheerfulness easily feigned as Haru found herself stopping closely at his side. Nearly thinking to lace her arm about his own in hopes that his presence alone may dissuade the advances of one evaded prior. But she thought better of grasping hold of this stranger without permission.

Instead, to busy her hands, the parasol carried with her lay pushed open. Decorative tendrils fluttering with a gentle twirl as she leaned in close, a voice hushed as it fell in softened murmur between them. Barely a whisper, hardly loud enough to be heard, “If that man comes over here please play along. I will repay the kindness.” And leave the horned devil whenever it was asked of her but for now she would forge her own role. Eyes carefully regarding the other. Saizo had given her a few coins from his last job - helping someone with their carpentry or something like that - he’d implored her to be wise with it. No better time than the present she supposed. A practiced smile painted her lips as she took a careful step forward, never out of his reach before a freehand offered itself to be taken in his arm, “Shall we?”

---

roll for bounty presence of: Besentaent Lon

---

Truthfully, the last few days had been a blur of drunken pleasures and reckless mistakes.  Naga didn't remember much but what he could recall was arriving back in Shanton with the ginger-headed criminal from Kaisermont.  They got that much-needed drink, sang a few shanties, and then it all went downhill from there.  His memory was a haze, a mire of confusion.  Flashes of a woman's face, Lif standing on the bar, the both of them pissing outside.  Then there might have been a fight with some fellow... something about a wife.  That'd explain the kink in Naga's jaw that he attempted to work out by gently moving the appendage. 

Of course this night, too, wouldn't go without some type of complication.  Naga couldn't get that lucky.

"There you are!  I've been looking everywhere for you."  A voice called out from the street causing the vampire to turn his head from the menu where flippant musings pondering whether to find someone to pass the time with or to feel the sting of alcohol.  The anxious churning of his stomach answered that question the moment its acrid smell hit his nose from a different patron.  Not tonight.

Surely the girl mistook him for someone else.  That had to be it.  He didn't recognize anything about her but that didn't stop the woman from coming to stand beside him and offer a plea.  So that's what it was.  A bemused brow arched up while his crimson gaze reached out to their surroundings, finding nothing out of place. 

"Uh, sure thing, miss."  He muttered before taking her offered hand into his arm and waiting for her to take the lead.  "You in trouble or something?" 

Before she could answer, a shrill cry rang out and a knife flew through the air between them landing in the post with a loud thump.  From the chaos he saw it, the face he'd only seen on bounty posters.  The very same which had eluded him in Kaisermont.  Naga rose his hand up to point a single finger at the burly man. 

"There you are!  Do you have any idea of the trouble I've gone through to find you?!"  He managed to growl out before standing in front of the strange woman.  "Drug myself all the way out to Kaisermont.  The place stunk worse than your mama's cunt! And to top it off, you weren't even there!  You were here this whole time.  But your lucks run out now, Besentaent Lon." 

Using speed to his advantage, Naga attempted to swing his fist into the man's face only to watch him duck at the last second. 

---

Naga
100/100 HP
70/70 SP
No wounds

90. Attempts to punch Lon but misses.

---

Brief pang of worry reverberated in her chest. Unspoken fear that this one would turn her away without a second glance, the brightness of his gaze retreating long before he thought to consider her plea. Though no matter what this one may do she would not allow herself to falter nor back down from the prospect to the guise of company. She may not have known this man in the slightest, however, even less was her desire to return to the hands wrenched away from but moments before. Yet worry is replaced by a temporary relief for despite the confusion which turned his brow he does not stray, instead he welcomes the touch offered.

Warm smile held against soft features as the dulled gold of her gaze remained glued. It was him she addressed after all. This dear ‘friend’. Though no matter how an arm may loop so easily about his own, the urge to draw closer and speak in hushed tones is nothing more than a passing thought as hopefulness swiftly fades upon the whistle of a blade. Sudden withdrawal as a hand jerks away to press closely to her own figure. Focus so clearly held upon the faint quiver of what know burrowed deep within the wooden post just past where they stood.

Only for attentions to wander toward a face more familiar. It seemed a trail had not been lost.

There is little time to think. No place to truly run to now unless she fled into the crowd and yet already she had drug another into this. However, the swiftness that one at her side took to hurling insults caught her off guard. Did he know this man? Whatever the case may be it certainly didn’t appear to be on friendly terms. So - for now - she still felt safer to stick on his side of this encounter.

Yet unlike the nameless one who rushes forth Haru wasn’t so keen on closing the distance between herself and that disgusting pig just yet. All that had transpired before now had been more than enough. She did not wish for the touch of those hands, did not desire the leer of his stare to find her. Though she would not run now. Without much thought she freed that blade from its post before chucking it back toward this ‘Besentaent Lon’. Only to be met with sickening disappointment as it sailed past and toppled to the earth with a clang.

---

Haru
70/70 HP
50/50 SP
Injuries: None

100. pulls knife outta sign post to throw back but she misses

---

"This ain't got nuthin' to do with you, kid."  The vampire's drawl was rough, like gravel, grating to the ears as he dodged yet another attempt on his life in the form of a flung blade.  "That bitch owes me so scram."

Naga sneered.  Fangs protruded from his crimson lips as he repositioned himself from the swinging momentum of the failed strike.  Deft fingers pulled the twin daggers from their sheaths with a quickness that would appear as a blur to the mortal eye.  Lon, however, had been quick to observe it, quicker to prepare himself as he crouched down ready to strike.  Like a leopard, a voracious predator eager to sink its fangs into its prey.  Naga jumped back with each of the man's volatile swings that would - should they land - surely break bones.  Agility was the younger man's strength and he played it perfectly. 

Crimson eyes narrowed on the limbs of his target, each motion Naga made seemingly to flee from those swinging fists but in truth, he observed the most opportune time to strike.  Like a viper he did, the blades piercing flesh with a sizzling hiss and roar from their victim.  A guttural sound, akin to a wounded beast.  Once the satisfying puncture of skin was felt, Naga swung behind his target, drawing the blades down his back with the motion before jumping just out of the burly man's reach. 

Naturally, a confidently smug smirk dressed the young vampire's mouth.  "That's no way to talk about a lady, Lon."  

---

Naga  100/100 HP 70/70 SP No wounds 96.  Stabs Lon in the shoulder and drags the blades down his back for a crit.

Lon 85/100 HP

---

That rumbling voice brought the woman to bristle, a sharpness to her tone as fingers coiled ever tighter about the parasol still clung to. “I don’t owe that pig anything!” Never before had one lain eyes upon such a brute, never had she felt those crawling hands wander and attempt to steal away any chance for escape. Not until this very night. Thankfully it seemed the unknown hardly believed this Lon’s lies for blades swiftly found themselves digging into the beast’s flesh.

A temptation to release her own defenses growing with each second, pull the blade from the very parasol carried so near, and yet the natural swiftness of devil’s far outmatched her own. Merely seeing them in action brought doubt creeping in. Proximity may help though it could very well hinder the red head who danced just out of reach. At times barely evading the solid swings slung at him. She would need to gauge an opening, an opportune moment. There was no room for uncertainty at a time like this, no reason to get herself or that man killed in a want to be helpful.

Haru knew all too well she was out of practice when it came to fighting. That was hardly what she’d been trained for within Hanzou’s company. Such things - he’d claim - she didn’t need to know.

Jaw tightened as distaste filled her mouth at those flooding memories. No. It wasn’t going to be like that again. She would not allow it. If it was within her power she would remain in control of her life. And without delay a simple command filled the air, “Hang back handsome!” A warning, for it was not the nameless man she wished to harm. The scent of ozone swiftly filling the air before growing heavy and a shock of light branched from the metal of a previously fallen blade. A resounding pop before the rippling crackle of electricity surging into the undead.

---

Haru
70/70 HP
45/50 SP
Injuries: None

18. tazers Lon with a lil lightning (-10 HP)

Lon
75/100 HP

---

He'd done well keeping up with the oafish vampire who - in all respects - had traded reason for this ignoble vendetta.  Each time Naga avoided the volatile swing of Lon's iron fist, the man's face warped further into one consumed by maddened rage till he was nearly foaming at the mouth - a dog possessed by lethal ire.  "God.  Damn.  Flea!"  Spittle hit the ground when Lon hissed out his frustrations.  His strike landed on the ground again and not on the younger vampire who had danced just out of reach, nearly avoiding the heavy blow, one that would have surely broken a bone or two.

"Hang back handsome!"  Her voice caught him off guard, pulling the keen leer of his crimson stare away from the brute.  Naga stood straight, thumb pointed at his chest while the boyish curves of his face mirrored bemusement.  "Me?  I'm handso-"

If it wasn't for his peripherals, the slight movement caught within, Lon would have finally succeeded in landing a strike.  Naga jumped back just in time to avoid both it and the static shock that pulsed in the air between him and the exotic woman.  He couldn't help the cheering hoot, the ere long victory pose and slanted, boyish grin showing off the tips of his immortal cursed fangs. 

"How 'bout this handsome man treats you to a drink after this, cutie."  A wink, the last regard paid to the stranger before he was sorely reminded of Lon's existence.

The man groaned, heavy and fuming, his body barreling towards Naga with a newfound speed that had caught him off guard.  When Lon swung his fist out, Naga ducked under it, his daggers flipping in his hands until he felt the familiar purchase of steel against flesh.  It was a shallow cut, the older vampire moving back before the full brunt of the thirsting blades could sunder his skin. 

---

Naga  100/100 HP 70/70 SP No wounds 19.  Partially cuts Lon's flabby under arms.

Lon 70/100 HP

---

Perhaps she should have stayed silent, hoped that the shifting aromas and crackling surge against the air would have been sign enough of impending danger. Though, in good faith, she could not hold her tongue. Attentions beckoned for upon the very utterance that sought to issue warning yet instead of immediately drawing him away all action seemed to stall. Something she nearly snapped at him for until her own gilded gaze fell upon the foolish delight decorating his visage. One which flashed the points of needled fangs.

Reprimand dying in her throat before it could dare escape. If that’s all it took to bring about distraction than she may have to choose her words more carefully. Refrain from complementary phrase and yet… he had not been hurt. This time anyways. He appeared well, more so perhaps if those hoots of approval were anything to go off of. Haru’s own focus turning toward the ways another’s muscles seized beneath a charge of lighting, but such reprieve could never last as the brute soon shook free of that static pulse.

Flickering remnants she once again reached for in hopes of accosting the man with another bolt only for concentration to wane. The dancing furls of magic loosing their grip upon the element even as the heavy scent of ozone remained, sinking around them despite how static refused to leap back to life. The barest hint of color staining her features as lips pursed. She wasn’t much for drinking, no matter how it may dull the senses and allow a mind to forget for a while. Okay. Just this once.

After all, promises had been made. Word given that kindness would be repaid and if all that entailed was joining him for a drink… well that was hardly an offer she could refuse. “As long as you don’t get yourself killed,” again anyways if she were to believe the stories she’d heard of the vampiric beasts who roamed these lands. The ‘undead’, “I don’t make a habit of drinking with corpses. No matter how they may look.”

---

Haru
70/70 HP
45/50 SP
Injuries: None

idk 30??. whatever it was it was a miss 8| let's just say she's distracted

Lon
70/100 HP

---

There were many things in this world that could spur a man into action like the temping clamour of coin against coin, the promise of a warm supper.  Fire smouldering in its hearth with a promise of serenity and the beautiful smile of a lovely woman over the rim of a chilled glass.  The promiscuous sweep of her smouldering gaze and the searing numbness of alcoholic revere.  It was all Naga could think about.  Not the behemoth of a man.  Not the swing of brutal fists that sought to liberate him from this immortal shell.  Certainly, not his position in relation to said fists that hammered into him with all the foaming fury of a rabid dog. 

It stung.  Naga's head rattled with the force of the blow that sent the young vampire flying back against dirt and gravel.  The pointed stones dug into his clothes, and his skin, and the inky red of his bloody lip dripped down the curve of his chin. 

Naga wiped it with the back of his hand that still clutched the hilt of the dagger firmly, the thirsting blades swinging out when Lon threatened to collapse upon him with that savage rage.  He rolled away from the next blow, the next.  Each aiming for the contours of his angular face, his shoulder, any part of him that Lon could reach.  Despite Naga attempting to get his bearings, the burly man was unrelenting in this assault.  The blades would not reach him and only when Naga's booted heel met with the man's chest was he able to get leverage enough to slip from beneath the man's attacks.  He jumped back, both hands drawn before him preparing to defend from another strike that rippled the muscle down his arms and forced him to slide back on his heels.

"Come on dude, chill already!  You want a drink too, is that it?"  Sharp gaze narrowed on him as he jumped away from another swing of Lon's fists.

---

Naga  85/100 HP 70/70 SP Got punched in the face.  Insignificant scratches along his back. 75.  Lon pulls out his uno reverse card and beats some ass :(

Lon 70/100 HP

---

For perhaps too long that softened gaze lingered upon one who offered assistance against the damned. A proposal of drinks accepted in a show of thanks, only for glimpses of a promised night to flicker away upon a rush of dread. Worried pang swelling in her chest as the rabid man descended in a flurry of fists and the signs of impact became too great to ignore. There had to be something more she could do, be more than a liability with the occasional burst of helpful magic. Yet she remained all too aware of her mortal coils.

Haru knew she did not hold much strength. Skills with weaponry were still rather clumsy, however, she could not live within herself if this unknown suffered terribly after practically being drug into this mess. An unfortunate turn of events when the hare could not shake the eyes of a hunter. Encounter which shifted into a fight to preserve one’s life. She needed to do something before an unknown could be robbed of the voice which still range so clearly in her ears.

It seemed his rhythm had been found once more, a perpetual dance away from the threat of impact. Each wild swing observed as they’d been before. Watching for fault, for an opening that a creature without supernatural speed could take advantage of. And upon temporary pause she saw it, a hitch whenever posture lay adjusted - readying for another flurry. Contact which would surely break something should it ever meet her… and it is this which bid her not to draw near and yet she saw no other way.

Surely the unknown needed some manner of reprieve from a barrage and with the proximity kept it was too risky to send another blitz of magic. The gap would just need sealed.

Without another thought slender fingers trailed upon the length of adorned parasol. Pulling it closed before forcing breath to steady, willed paces to shift against the cobbles beneath her feet. The resounding beat of metallic heels against stone nearly blotting out the quiet click of twisted handle, allowing a shaft to pull away and reveal that hidden blade. A mark of defense Saizo insisted she carry, something that wasn’t easily discovered by another’s wandering hand should they seek to disarm her. Keep it sharp. She had with his assistance and it is such a blade that lashes out to seize an opening, sinking deep within an aggressors limb though faltering behind her own momentum as it lodged.

---

Haru
70/70 HP
45/50 SP
Injuries: None

24. slashes parasol sward into Lon's arm but it gets a lil stuck against bone and doesn't severe the limb completely

Lon
60/100 HP