Fog. More fog. Trees. Damn! There was another batch of bushes in her way that refused to be cut down by her longsword (a rather sturdy one, mind you, and it was not to be toyed with). She was growing impacient; for over four hours she had been searching through this forsaken forest and yet had found absolutely nothing at all, nothing, zero. It was beginning to look grim, she thought sadly, sighing to herself all the same. I won't die out here, she commanded herself, if I die out here I'll never be able to kill that witch who took away the nuns from me. I'll get her and make sure she pays for having to make me walk through this-

"UGH! AAAAH-"

Her scream was sharp, loud; it probably awoke more than enough of the animal habitat. She was falling, too fast - she had slipped, and badly, certainly, almost to the extent that she could break a limb. Screaming all the way, she felt the whipping twigs and vines lash against her soft flesh, scratching and scarring the pretty skin as she wasted her strength just yelling at the top of her lungs. She had lost her sword moments ago, but she couldn't really recall ever wanting it at this point in time so she didn't really pay any attention to that. Now she lost one of her dark-tan colored pouch-belts, and it went flying out above her. Then a scrape of her dress, and finally, she came to a halt: against a hard, solid rock.

The impact was hard, and it was fierce, not to mention extremely unstable. The rock itself began to shake, and rolled out of the way, allowing her to fall face first into the brew of mud and ecosystem below it. Groaning, she slowly lifted her upper half out of the brown abyss and snarled, wiping away a clean cut of mud from her eyes and finally taking in her surroundings.

Oh, damn. It was the same exact thing as all the other places in these woods; foggy, bush, underbush, vines, twigs, mud, soil...terrible! Absolutely-

-dark. Dark as can be; in fact, she couldn't see a thing, well, barely anything. There was practically nothing around her except encasing shadows and a strangely ominous mist that strolled over her mid section, almost daring her to go forward. Cautiously glancing up towards where she had fallen, she could not see a thing; the path she had come from was gone, and she was surely lost now. Well, not that she wasn't before, but this was really, really worse.

"This sucks, I hate this," she muttered simply, thrashing around in the mud for a little while before finally deciding to take a coarse of action. She'd get out of this alive. That witch would see her face again and be, um, petrified, or something. Whatever! She thought hastily, shaking her head as if to erase the thoughts from her head, I've got to get out of this hell hole!

Sleeping. Ryu's favorite hobby, after mountain climbing, fighting, fishing, and a whole other host of stuff. His sleeping was interupted by a loud, high pitched shriek from not to far from his camp. The small glow from his lightly burning embers, all that was left from a roaring fire he had conjured up earlier, dimly guided his eyes to the direction. Pulling on his gauntlets, belting on his sword and grabbing his bow and quiver of standard arrows, and five piercers, Ryu made sure he had his Kunai and Shuriken handy as well, before setting out to find the cause. Quietly and nimbly stepping through the brush, he climbed up the tree with the low branches and swung to the higher ones. Ryu decided the path of the branches would be faster and more direct, not to mention discreet, than the one by foot. His acute ears picking up some more noise, Ryu headed off in the general direction, tree to tree. As he drew nearer, his eyes fell on her. She was extremely attractive, tall, long legged, and her hair was a dazzling shade of pink, made more vivid by the golden eyes that framed her face. She was apparantly lost, and RYu wanted to get back to sleep, a feat that would prove difficult with her stumbling around so loudly. Ryu drew his bow and nocked a regular old arrow and slung them into some trees, making a path towards the exit. Taking a good careful aim, considering his tiredness, he put an arrow into of one of the trees nearby Nephilim. The archer in question had taken a careful aim to make sure she would see it. The woman was obviously lost and Ryu, the Ninja-Warrior, was also a kind and decent spirited person, for the most past. Ryu wanted to make sure she got out of the forest. Ryu lived here for quite some time now, and he had memorized almost every square inch of the region in question...and he wanted to go back to sleep, very badly.

Nephilim cursed quietly under her breath, sighing heavily when she saw that there was no way for her to see through the fog. She knew she should've learnt the light spell, it would've been so much easier this way. But wallowing in self pity wouldn't save her, she decided, and her face picked up a triumphent gleam to it before she began to set out on her new adventure, walking just a step before, quite suddenly, something wizzed by her, fast, straight, and dangerously close to her body.

Nephilim let out a tiny "eek" and jumped out of the way, crouching as she landed as to avoid attracting anymore uneccessary attention. She glanced up, and saw nothing from her angle; a tree was obstracting her view. Damn, she thought quietly, looking towards the arrow that had landed near her, I'm under attack, most likely; either that or this forest just wants me dead like everything else does. Well, that would constitute as being under attack as well, I mean, the whole forest attacking me, but whatever, I really don't have time to think about trivial things like what counts as what.

Cautiously and almost fearfully taking a peek behind the tree, Nephilim spotted a man of average height, thick head of brown hair and dark eyes; she cringed. Did I run into a ranger or something? She wondered, ducking back before making a plan of action. Alright, he knows I'm here. I guess I'll just have to either talk my way out of this or make a run for it. Well, let's try talking.

"H-hey!" Nephilim called out awkwardly, still unsure if this is the plan she should be initiating, "What where you're shooting those!"

The wind ristled the leaves faintly, and he sent the last arrow with a nice accuracy, despite his lack of focus. He intended to catch her attention with it, not her flesh."H-hey! Watch where you're shooting those!" She had a nice voice, Ryu thought, at least when she wasn't screaming. Still sleepy, the words registered slowly. Oh, right... he thought. Ryu took her shape in once more, his eyes went distant for a second, and then he snapped back into focus. He was too tired for this crap. Stifling a yawn, he knew in an instant, the truth. She was most likely not hostile, just lost. He decided to respond to her outburst and put any unwanted anxiety to rest. "Do not worry." Ryu called from his vantage point in the tree. "I mean no harm to you." he assured her, though not putting his bow away yet. "You seem lost and I mean only to get you to safety." he said. "I can offer food and shelter for you for the night first, if you'd like." he said with all honesty. She would probably not be a great and or terrible burden. Weighing the possibilities in his mind, Ryu looked at her once more. She looked a bit travel worn and Ryu felt sympathy. He definately knew the bad parts to hard traveling. What do you say? he asked her, "Will you let me help you out? If not, I can mark the way out from here for you." Ryu sort of wanted her to rest up before she went, but it would all be up to her of course. Ryu was just the kind sort of person that looks out for others, human or not, deserving or not. Just so long as they did not try to stab him in the back...or, for that matter, anywhere.

Nephilim sniffed quietly, listening for a bit for a bit. She tossed a bit of pink hair in back of her before she heard a man, not that old, speaking; "Do not worry, I mean you no harm," was basically what he said, and she quickly decided that if this was an ambush or a trap he'd have done it much better, considering her, er, keen senses, and she eventually came to the conclusion that it was possible, even if slightly, that this man was not trying to kill her in any way, shape, or form. Sighing heavily and loud enough for him to hear, she stepped out from behind the tree with her armored hand and ungloved hand on her hips, a pout visible on her pretty face.

"Alright, alright already!" Nephilim barked, her oddly femme voice filled with a sense of impatience and reluctence. She hid her ignorance of the forest poorly, and she was beginning to sweat slightly under the pressure of trying to seem...cool, or something, "If you want me so badly, I'll come. It's not like I was lost or anything, you know; I'm just kind of, um, dissoriented. Tired. I'm TIRED, ok?" She huffed and turned her back to the man, her arms crossed and one of her hands fluffing her hair with a sense of attitude. She didn't mean any real disrespect to the man, she just prefered to stay as superior as she could.

Turning in an awkward manner, Nephilim sighed slowly before letting her dragging steps take her towards Ryu. She cocked her head to one side and brushed a bit of non-existent dust off her pink dress before smiling, or rather, smirking quietly at him. She extended a hand, her politeness from days as a Lothlomendil cleric-knight coming back to her, "Nephilim. My name's Nephilim. How about you, unless you're some brooding man with amnesia," Nephilim teased, tempted to jab his shoulder.

Nephilim ignored the fact that she had just insulted herself in some way, instead deciding that keeping up an oddly happy persona was a much more ideal situation for the both of them.

Ryu yawned, she was a unique one, for sure. "Alright, alright already! If you want me so badly, I'll come." she told him "It's not like I was lost or anything, you know; I'm just kind of, um, dissoriented, tired. I'm tired, ok?" she tried explaining. As she spoke, her sense of aloofness disapparated. She was tired? She certainly didn't sound tired, though she did look of it slightly. "Nephilim." she said suddenly, "My name's Nephilim. How about you? Unless you're some brooding man with amnesia..." she teased, extending her hand. Ryu shook the sleep out of his own eyes as he took the words into consideration. She seemed to enjoy taunting him slightly, in a non-irritating, peaceful way, particularly with the 'if you want me so badly' thing. Ryu laughed quietly a little bit. She was definately amusing. He raised his right eyebrow as he considered the next best course of action. Deciding on it, he gracefully hopped down from his branch, adding a little front flip to the free fall before landing on his feet. "Ryu," he told her, shaking her hand lightly, "Ryu Hayabusa, I think, not brood, and my memory is just perfectly fine." he replied, as if he had not ever heard sarcasm before, but of course he had. "Pardon..." he said as he released her hand and eased his way past her, his feet totally silent on the leafy, twig and dirt strewn forest floor. Ryu walked over to the old birch trees, not one to waste things for no reason, and retrieved his arrows. He had not shot them very hard, so the process was singularly simple. When he gathered them all, he dropped them into his quiver and walked back to her. "So, you want to rest up for the night?" he asked her, his exhaustion fading slightly, his emerald eyes met with her golden ones. They certainly were distracting, he gave her that.

Nephilim giggled quietly as he came down, shaking her hand with general peace. She was glad she didn't get killed by some wildlife and rather got saved by him; she probably would've wound up lost in the woods for days. Staring intently at him, her seemingly bold gaze was unusually calm, watching his face change as he spoke. She did this with most people; recognizing how they acted normally was usually a way to tell if they were up to something later on. Well, it wasn't like she suspected him of anything, but her days in the "military" told her to always keep an eye out for any strange behaviour in anyone, and that was just one way of doing it; observation.

Her observation broke, however, when she saw him walk; elegantly, peacefully, almost surreal in its own way, as he made no noise; must be years of practice, she thought quietly, raising a slendar eyebrow to show her generally interested aura. Crossing her arms, she lazily and casually sauntered with him, smiling lightly before digging one booted toe into the ground and quickly regaining focus, tossing back her head to get the pink hairs out of her eyes. She should've worn a clip today, she just knew it.

"So, you want to rest up for the night?" he asked, looking into her eyes. Ever since she was born, Nephilim had been ignorant to the fact that her eyes were so enchanting and rather found it perfectly natural for others to stare into anothers eyes; most found the idea to be romanticized, but since it happened so commonly with her she only thought of it as perfectly normal. Matching his green eyes with the same level of intent, she shrugged uncrossed her arms, twirling her back to him and hooking her hands together behind her back.

"Hmmm," she mumbled, lifting one finger to her chin and tilting her head slightly to look back at him, "I guess that'd be good, you do look awfully tired, after all. I'd probably be better off on my own than with a half-aware merc-oh, sorry," Nephilim suddenly gasped, taking her hand away from her mouth, "I shouldn't have assumed your title, you know. Sorry, kind of rude, yeah, I know."

Huffing, Nephilim flipped her hair gently and sighed heavily. "Ok, I'm not making any sense. Whatever," she said bitterly, before smirking again and continuing, "I think it'd be a good idea. Ya know, the whole you'll probably collapse if you move another inch thing. What do you wanna do, Hayabayusoso...oh, I'll just call you Ryu."

"I guess that'd be good, you do look awfully tired, after all. I'd probably be better off on my own than with a half-aware merc-oh, sorry," Ryu shrugged, then she continued, "I shouldn't have assumed your title, you know. Sorry, kind of rude, yeah, I know." When she tried to pronounce his surname, she failed, quite miserably at that, and decided to go by his much shorter one. Thinking of absolutely nothing else to do in response to her humorous manner, he laughed. "Well, you were close enough," he said with a seeming indifferance. "I am more along the lines of a Shino-" he paused. "...Eh, let's just stick with mercenary for now, okay?" he did not feel like really explaining his precise title, particulaly since he did not really know this lady. He was waking up more and more every minute and he looked up to the small patches of the sky he could see. "Follow me, he called out with a gesture, turning his back on her and striding over to the southwestern direction a little bit. I know the perfect place to take shelter. There is good shade, a prefect stream, and hostile animals do not go there very often anymore." as he spoke this, he turned back around to wait for her to follow him. He could probably fashion her some kind of cover to sleep under, and there would be apt protection from the elements. Ryu thought back about his fire, he would probably have to rebuild it when he got there, and the thought occurred at a wonderful time. Ryu looked down at the floor of the forest, there were many likely candidates, and Ryu was particular about which to burn. He looked down at the size and reached down, feeling for any moisture, and selected a few good sized pieces.
Now Ryu, he enjoyed the company of all of the elements to a moderately large degree, but he was definately a Pyromaniac more so than a fan of the others, with the blatant exception of none other than Time itself, which was something he did contemplate in his spare amounts of it. His thoughts strayed back to the matter at hand, or more precisely, the human at hand. Oddly enough, he thought tonight was one of the least strange of his life. And even though she had woken him up in a particularly foul mood, he did not find her a burden.

Curiously cocking her head to the left side when he began to explain his title, Nephilim simply shrugged it off, mentally agreeing with him that despite the fact that he may want to tell her, it'd probably be best left unknown; she probably wouldn't attack him if his title was bad or anything, but she could make no garuntees. There were, and are, many horrible things in the world, so for all she knew he was going to say something that would make her ears bleed in some foreign language...but probably not, she reasoned again, mentally slapping herself for even thinking up such a bizarre topic of thought. What does it matter what he is? Let's just get on with this.

"Follow me," he said to her, and she couldn't help but nod gently and curtly towards him before following in suit. There was little different about the area, though the images and items he described were beginning to make their appearence in the bush, the river's seemingly depressing water sliding like glue down the trail, and a fire set up not far from where they stood; it seemed as though he had been camping out here previously, which she wouldn't doubt. Taking it upon herself to pick up a few pieces of wood here and there along with him, she only dropped four by the fire for later use before practically falling to the ground in a huff. She was just glad that she was safe, or so she hoped, and that she wouldn't be starving out in the woods and proceed to be savaged by swamp-people or swamp-roaches or something along those lines.

She coughed quietly; it was somewhat cold, a spike of wind brushed against her exposed arm. She shivered, lightly, and cradled herself with no real strength or determination in the action. Her sun-colored eyes scanned the area, taking in whatever they could see; Nephilim spotted him happily making the fire, and she raised an eyebrow. Safe, psh, was what she wanted to think, but she couldn't help but let herself trust him, even if he turned out to be a pyromaniac. Sighing softly, she rinsed her hands through her hair once more before leaning against the tree near her, the glow of the fire resting beautifully against her ivory skin. In a nervous habit, she reached down to feel the hilt of her sword...

Then she remembered.

"Oh, damn! I lost my sword!" She shrieked, jumping up, startled, and her eyes widened in anger, "I'm so stupid!"

Ryu was glad she did had decided not to press the job path issue, at least for now. The title was more than a little obtrusive. As they made their way to his cozy little encampment, the familiar and surprisingly pleasant smell of burning cedar, Ryu's prefered wood type, danced around on the breeze. When they arrived at what was obviously his makeshift home, Ryu watched her, for lack of any other word choices, plop, onto the ground. He was grateful that she bothered to grab some fuel for the fire herself before plummeting, and he went silently over to go tend the embers, which were scarely more than a whisper. Ryu immediately set up his own hybrid form of setting firewood. The way he did it, the fire would be large, hot, and stay that way for longer than the usual ways. Satisfied, he looked it over, it was going to be a nice one, he thought, as he looked at the part of the firewood stack that had a large vacant spot. He saw her shiver a little bit and extended his index and middle fingers of both hands. Crossing his arms, he said one strange word and let the power go. As he said the word, Ryu thrust his palms out, and a good sized ball of pure fire lept to that vacant spot, catching the wood quickly, though with a certain amount of noise. Not so much noise, however, that her cry of "Oh, damn! I lost my sword!" was inaudible. Ryu had done that before...
He turned to see her on her feet, mixed emotions running through those amazing eyes. "I'm so stupid!" she announced. Ryu's eyebrow lifted, slightly offended. He'd dropped his sword on many occasions...
He indifferently shrugged, placing his hand on the hilt of the superb weapon at his hip. "Let's go get it, then."

Nephilim frantically began to panic; she was going to die out here, there was no question about it anymore. Her breathing became harder, and she was feeling as if she was faint, no, maybe even scared, no, it wasn't that, she was terrifed! Nephilim started to rub her arms, becoming rather alone and delusional in these next few moments; whenever she lost something this usually happened. She was going to get cornered by some feisty mermaid-crocoadile-hybrid and be eaten, she just knew it. This would only get worse, however, since this sword was probably some wierd metaphor, with her luck, and without her having it would mean something like stripped honor or defenslessness or...

"Let's go get it, then."

Nephilim immediately stopped panicking, hearing his calm monotone and seemingly helpful gesture. She cocked her head for the umpteenth time and scratched the base of her chin, wondering why it was that she hadn't thought of that in the first place. Sighing, she smiled politely and brushed back her hair before placing her hands once again on her waist. "Sounds good," Nephilim said, nodding her head in his direction, "I can hold my own if we run into anything out there; I mean, I doubt it, but ya know, it's always nice to know ones allies, or something. Heh! Anyways..."

Nephilim pointed in the direction they came from, their footsteps visibly fading into the marsh. "It's that way," She directed, her finger twirling a bit just out of enthusiasm, "I think. Yeah, that's right. We went left and came around a corner, and then kept going for awhile, so, yeah. It's that way."

A croaking sound was audible in the distance. She shuddered; they probably WERE going to get savaged by mutants out in there.

Her unnerved tone stopped at his cold indifferance to her loosing of her weapon. "Sounds good," she said, nodding her head towards him as she spoke, "I can hold my own if we run into anything out there; I mean, I doubt it, but ya know, it's always nice to know ones allies, or something. Heh! Anyways..." she seemed to lack confidence, but Ryu did not buy it. Yes she managed to leave her sword behind, but Ryu had lost his from tiem to time, and fools challenged him lightly. He stifled yet another yawn. Ryu abhored yawning, it made his eyes water and that was an irritating little thing.
Nephilim pointed in the direction they had come from, the marsh-like area that led into the deep parts of the swamp, where Ogres and other things of equal unpleasantness lurked, "I think. Yeah, that's right. We went left and came around a corner, and then kept going for awhile, so, yeah. It's that way."
"Pleasant..." Ryu noted sarcastically as he wandered back over to the little hovel he had made, weapons stashed so perfectly that nobody would find them. Ryu had some tiem of it even and he knew where they were. Digging out a few more of his special piercing arrows, Hayabusa tossed an uncountable number of them and tossed them into his quiver. Slinging his bow over his shoulder once more, he let his quiver join it and sidled back over to Nephilim. "If we run into anything out there, stay quiet and let me handle it if you would..." he advised, not to offend her though, he added. "No offense or anything, but there are things out there you do not want to fight hand to hand." Ryu would probably become aware of anything out there before she would, unless she had some sort of extra sensory perception.

Nephilim deadpanned, choosing to ignore his sarcastic commentary and huffed, facing her back to him and crossing her arms like a small child. Her eyes opened, however, when she saw him delicately picking out his weapons from a bizarrely hidden spot at the campsite; she had to admit, she probably wouldn't have checked there. Blinking slightly, she continued to watch him as he made his way past her, his footsteps as silent as ever, she noted. "If we run into anything out there, stay quiet and let me handle it if you would...No offense or anything, but there are things out there you do not want to fight hand to hand."

Nephilim gasped, honestly offended by this comment and angrily following after him, her stomps resonating throughout the forest undoubtedly. Her hands were now placed on her womanly hips, and her eyes were transfixed into this sort of glare thing, but even she didn't know if she was putting that much heart into the leer. "For your information, RYU, I've taken on PLENTLY of creatures from large to small bare handed! And NO," She stopped, pointing a threatening finger at him, "It was NOT from dropping my sword! I'm plently careful, just not...today."

Nephilim blushed lightly at her own stupidity before brashly charging on a few steps ahead.

Nephilim gasped and stomped after Ryu, placing her hands on her hips, she glared at her with those golden, solar eyes. "For your information, Ryu, I've taken on plenty of creatures from large to small bare handed! And no," She stopped, pointing a threatening finger at him, "It was not from dropping my sword! I'm plently careful, just not...today."
Ryu smiled at her outburst, she always seemed to make those backhanded jokes. His thoughts dwelling on his own past encounters in these selfsame woods, swamplands particularly, he turned and raised an eyebrow, his emerald green eyes boring into her golden ones. "You've fought fifteen foot Ogres, the ones that travel in packs, massive murderous and ravenous lupines, nefarious, evil little knife wielding sprites, crazed spirits and demons bare-handed before?" he asked with mock astonishment, "By all means, and on my apologies dear lady, I will let you, unarmed of course, handle anything we may come across out there if it please you." he said without the faintest flicker of the smile anymore, though sardonic humor still drenched his tone. He knew she might just come back in the way she had been lately, and Ryu openly admitted he enjoyed it like that. She was the first normal person he had seen here in a long time, well, he thought, as close to normal as she was at least. Shrugging at the thought that most 'normal' bored him to tears, he sort of wished she'd stick around longer than she probably would. After all, the beasts and creatures he listed were the biggest sources of inter-communication he'd had in a very long time until now. "Well, let's not wait here too long, we need to get your weapon back."

Nephilim glared at him as hard as she could as he laughed, and she made an audible sound of breathing in, prepared to speak, but he cut her off short as he began to mockingly tease her. "You've fought fifteen foot Ogres, the ones that travel in packs, massive murderous and ravenous lupines, nefarious, evil little knife wielding sprites, crazed spirits and demons bare-handed before?" Nephilim visibly flinched, her arms retracting and her eyes looking around as if to search for an excuse, trying to avoid eye-contact the most, "By all means, and on my apologies dear lady, I will let you, unarmed of course, handle anything we may come across out there if it please you." Nephilim returned to her previously glaring state, but she was smart enough to realize that his voice was laced with humor. How dare he mock her, she thought, but her feelings weren't exactly pure. It wasn't like she was really mad...she just felt as if she now had to prove herself to him, which would undoubtedly get her into more trouble than it was worth. Sighing angrily, she walked faster as he made his last comment which didn't even register in her brain.

"You know what? I'll just show you. When we run into an ogre out here in the middle of this forsaken swamp, I'll take it out and slit its throat with my FINGERS if I have to, just to show you. What, don't believe me?" She shouted, her pink hair flipping up and down as she walked faster, but she abruptly stopped. Nephilim's golden eyes lit up, and she ducked down into the bushes. "Found it!"

Her slendar hands reached for the blade's neatly done handle, and she smiled; but only long enough to see the rather reptilian looking foot that appeared near her sword in an instant. Her eyes widened; her breath hitched, and she swallowed nervously, not daring to look up at whatever owned that foot. She skidded away, back, and looked up finally, a look of worry and a slight snear plastered on her face; but she couldn't see the creature in the plants, only its figure.

"Something's there. But I'm sure you've already sensed it."

Ryu continued on his merry little way as she mentally searched for a comeback. When it was found, he listened as she made a boast about killing an Ogre with her fingers. He could not help but grin at that. He wondered what would show up, if anything, which he doubted. The only reason he felt as secure as he did in his little area was because of his fine swordsmanship, agility, and magic. Well, magic for lack of a better word that is. It has become widely known to the malevolent creatures in the woods that whatever tried to make a meal out of that with two legs, did not teturn to it's dwelling, the only reason they ever left the domain of that with two legs was when he pushed the body into the river to carry it away so the other animals could eat it. On the random occasion something did stray into his neck of the woods for hunting purposes, they were usually scared off by some type of flash and bang before they could kill or even begin to skulk anything. Ryu kept his pace with hers still as silent as ever until he heard her voice. "Found it!" she exclaimed. As she reached for it, however, he felt somthing eerie, not only about her mood, but something just wasn't right. Before he could say or do anything though, she grabbed the sword and danced out of the way towards the Ninja. "Something's there. But I'm sure you've already sensed it." She was a perceptive one. "Yes." was all Ryu said. He felt the familiar feeling of his blood going cold, his mind going numb. Forming an odd symbol with his mind, he launched it down into his hands and with a strange word, let it fly. A large fireball carried towards the being in the darkness. A Lizarian? How? Ryu had not once seen a Lizarian anywhere near here. He drew his blade and hoped against hope it was not the one he thought it was. If it had the name Dengar, they were both dead. The Guardian of War would destroy them all. But Ryu had the sense that it was not. Dengar was more powerful than this one seemed to be.

Xoco ducked as he saw the flash, just barely allowing it to zoom over his head and watching as it smashed into the ground several feet away. He contemplated simply stepping away, but this opportunity was simply too sweet to pass up. He enjoyed lurking here in the swamp. There were always aptly-equipped travelers to take advantage of. Xoco preferred to travel as a Lizarian when he was wondering the swamp, but now he put on his human guise as not to frighten the humanoids too much. Concentrating, a swirl of shadows engulfed his form and he emerged from the cloud of black magic as a tall, intimidating human. He preferred this guise over others for it’s mobility and prestige, but not it’s power. Humans were less apt in the brute force category.

Xoco put on his best nice-guy impression and stepped out of the mist, where the two travelers stood. Both were obviously experienced with the swords that they held in their hands. He flicked his cape over the hilt of his own blade as to avoid them doing anything unnecessarily violent. He looked at the two travelers, sizing up his targets. One was an apt magician, the other an elf with keen eyes and odd pink hair. He acted surprised by their swords.

“Woah, there, no need to get messy here,” he said in a smooth tone, eyeing the weapons cautiously.

“I noticed you two were slightly… er… misdirected. I figured I could lend a hand,” he lied. He looked them over for any sign of valuables or gold. He didn’t see much, but hoped that he might discover something worth taking later. If not, he could always leave after toying with them for a while. He leant against a tree with one hand, acting casual and awaiting a response from one of the two travelers.

Nephilim didn't seemed detured by the new man; in fact, it looked as if she barely noticed he wasn't a lizarian. Instead taking to growling, she listened to his sentences with utter rage.
“I noticed you two were slightly… er… misdirected. I figured I could lend a hand,” the new man said, but Nephilim didn't really understand this; while Ryu had probably put away his blade, Nephilim just held hers tighter, rage in her golden eyes that was just full of the want to kill. Not some brooding, dark, angst type kill, she just wanted to kill whatever this was that was trying to trick her into believing that it was human. Illusions! She thought quickly, it must be! The gasses in the swamp; oh, no, what if they're poisonous?

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Nephilim screamed at the top her lungs, and she just pointed her sword's end towards the man; the blade was rather long, though not exactly wide, and was probably taller than her; she, an above average in height woman, could tell you that the sword's blade was rather large, not to mention the two foot long handle that was encased in gold and pink ribbons that seemed to cascade everywhere she went. The garrish weapon gleamed in the sudden stroke of moonlight through the murky trees, and Nephilim just continued to rant. "Just be quiet and face your stupid demise, freak!"

With that, Nephilim charged, her comedic rage getting the better of her as she forcefully and clumsily swung the blade down in a cross-slash from left to right.

((OOC: Sorry it took awhile to post. x__x))

Xoco raised an eyebrow as the girl began to scream like a man possessed. Was it something he had said? “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” came her crazed scream. He began to back away, suddenly very disturbed by how unstable this traveler seemed. Her blade seemed oversized for her, almost as tall as she was. He found this almost laughable, but wasn’t about to let that on. Chuckling might only prod her on to further unnecessary violence. The fire of slight insanity burned in her eyes, somewhat similar to the necromancers he’d dealt with a few decades before.

She clumsily swung her blade, but it was easily dodged. He leapt backwards, almost smashing into a tree behind him. The blade slammed into the ground only inches in front of Xoco.

“That wasn’t very nice, was it?” he asked sarcastically. He now eyed her slightly more warily, stepping away a few paces to get a better look. “So much for ‘unnecessary violence’,” he thought.

Drawing himself upright, he looked dead into her eyes and muttered a curse under his breath. A single word of black magic, and his guise fell away, at least, so it seemed to her. The fear spell was one of his favorites, as it was always such a laugh to watch people’s reactions. He appeared to her as a black, hooded specter, floating several inches above the ground. His eyes burned red underneath his hood, and his bony hands and face were as black as the cloak that billowed around him. It was quite a terrifying sight. He emanated a bone-chilling chuckle from underneath his hood for good measure.

Nephilim growled slightly at his sarcastic comment, and she braced herself yet again as she watched him unleash a rather intimidating spell. Blinking, her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness that suddenly resonated from him; she winced, and held the blade up to shield her eyes from the strangely haunting light. When the pain ceased, she saw a bizarre figure; something different, though not entirely. The only thing different was him floating several feet above the ground and his eyes glowing with a raging fire. Blinking herself, Nephilim staggered, backing up slightly and laughing with cockiness.

"Flashy lights and some dark stuff, huh? Trying to scare me, huh? Well, it won't work!" She shouted, holding her sword up to start a running cross attack towards the newer, updated new guy-enemy-aquantince thing. She didn't really know what he was, she just knew that he had to go. How dare he take her sword! Wait, she thought quietly; umm...is THAT why I'm fighting him? Whatever, she thought bitterly, but suddenly felt her feet flip out from under her.

She had TRIPPED ON A STICK. Wow. How pathetic, she thought sarcastically, and a light yelp came from her lips as the sword went rapidly speeding towards a rather peculiar rock formation, hitting the rock and cracking the blade down the center (the blood groove). Nephilim felt the wet ground drag her deeper, but she resisted, and rose, humiliated and somewhat depressed with herself. Then she saw her broken sword; her face dropped about -20 in expression.

"You BROKE my SWORD!" Nephilim cried, clearly her face mixed with sadness and rage.

Ryu took the words into consideration at the mention of not getting too messy. Not a fan of unneccesary bloodshed himself. He was about to say something but he was too late. Nephilim saw through the ruse and charged, blade going wildly. She swung and the newcomer had deftly dodged the blow. Ryu cursed under his breath. He did not wear his suit, so he swiftly tied his long brown hair back into a ponytail. Interfered vision was not a plus when in battle. "That wasn’t very nice, was it?" he asked in a voice dripping with a sort of hollow sarcasm. Not Ryu's personal cup of tea in regards to sardonicism, but he was not here for tea anyway. He brandished his sword to let all know he was not counted out, nor one to be ignored for that matter. Nephilim went on the attack again, her rush seemed a little comedic, but those eyes still had that radiant resplendance to them. Then it happened. Ryu caught the breeze that told him in an instant that something was wrong. At that moment, she hit the ground, judging by the sound, a stick had caught her and taken her down to it's own level. The silver flash of the moonlight rays reflecting off of polished metal caught the swordsman's attention. Her sword had left her grip, and Ryu felt a certain sort of appreciation to his fingerless gloves. They kept a grip on a weapon when you needed it. The fear spell had not really registered Ryu, due slightly to the fact that Ryu had no fears, not death, not anything, but also due to the fact that he was not paying attention to the being in question at the time of cast. He was busy wondering what magic was used to guide his fireball away at said time. Nephilim shouted about her sword and Ryu looked at the shapeshifting creature he assumed to be demon or spirit. Being a man of honor and balance, despite being a Ninja, Ryu decided it was best to take steps at this time. Gripping the red and gold wrapped handle of his razorlike weapon, Ryu raised his right arm. Extending the middle and index fingers of his right hand he pointed them just over the creature's left shoulder. Muttering a foreign word a blue yellow bolt of lighting erupted from the fingers, speeding over the shoulder of the creature, emitting a crackling noise as it sped past, followed by a loud crack as it devastated the first tree behind him. "Forgetting something?" ha called out, lowering his arm and retracting his fingers. "Don't bother a lady like that if you will..." said the warrior. His green eyes flashed as he began to assume the semi-emotionless state that coursed through his soul in case of battle. He did not per se want to fight, but if it was unavoidable, then come what may.

Xoco looked at the broken weapon. “That’s what bad little girls get for playing with weapons,” he mocked. It took a small amount of strength not to bust out laughing at her simple bad luck. But any chance he could get to slip in a cynical remark was worth his while. He sensed the aura of a magical attack to his right, and ducked slightly. A bolt of energy slammed into a tree behind him. He raised his eyebrow, trying to find the source of the bolt.

Xoco stood, brushing some of the residual dust off his shoulder following the magical attack. He stepped around the now unarmed girl, taking her out of consideration as a major threat. He let out a small, cynical chuckle. “Ah, a magician. Come now, was it really necessary to hurt that poor tree behind me? You know that the swamp has a mind of it’s own,” said Xoco in a smooth, snide tone.

He was actually rather pleased that the man had let out the spell, for it had showed his hand. He had no Holy weapons and didn’t use Holy spells, which meant that any immediate danger was gone. Xoco still wanted to avoid getting harmed and sent back to the Netherworld for healing, but at least he wasn’t going to die. Xoco grinned a small smirk.

“Now, will you please put that toy away, or am I going to have to break it, too?” commented Xoco, mostly mocking the girl instead of his new adversary. He honestly had no reason to doubt the man’s sword fighting abilities, but drawing a reaction might help him gauge them. Xoco began to circle, never moving his eyes off of the man. He allowed his cape to fall backwards, revealing the hilt of his own sword. Any sense of danger that might draw a strike would be helpful. He continued to move slowly and smoothly, waiting for his opponent’s next move.

“That’s what bad little girls get for playing with weapons,” The man said, mocking her in a somewhat sadistic manner. Nephilim cringed, and growled, before her fists rolled into balls and she launched a verbal attack right back.

"Whatever, you idiot! I'll just slit your throat before you can scold me again!" She roared, and began to prepar herself.

Nephilim, gathering herself up, managed to crawl towards the handle of the cracked sword just in time before the two men's little battle started. She gripped the leather handle, and whined slightly as she saw the curiously large sprain in the steel; how unfortunate, she thought quietly, but quickly decided that it was still this random guy's fault for breaking her sword and simply not her ounce of bad luck that was seemlessly endless today. Sighing angrily, she gripped the handle tighter, her frayed pink her swishing around her face and blinding her for a moment as she stood up in a sense of rage. Nephilim glanced at the blade, at the rock formation, and smacked the blade against the solid earth, breaking it in half; better to have that happen now than in battle when she would be unsuspecting, she decided, and readied herself and the now shattered sword in her hand.

Sadly for her, she didn't know the importance of this sword, but alas, she didn't know, so it was meaningless to her. It wasn't like she had any real attatchment to it. Nephilim could feel, though, an ounce of herself just vanishing as the sword broke; connection, maybe? Well, no, Nephilim bickered in her mind, trying to decide whether or not that sword was really THAT important to her. Coming to the conclusion that it wasn't out of fear that she would be hit or killed, Nephilim realized she had made a mistake to rabidly attack the man, but hey, she needed a little practice anyways.

Getting herself ready, she charged without a word; her footsteps were stilly clumsy, and she knew this upcoming chain of attacks would be a bit too powerful for their own good, but that was her style; hard and fast, but this was a double edged sword (metaphorically speaking, as the sword she uses is actually double edged); although her strikes were fast and powerful, she lacked accuracy and her footsteps were sketchy and random, which just proved to be too much to handle for her in a long fight. Then again, she could counter attack this by her great reflexes and could easily find her way out of a personal-phyiscal-mess...if she had enough time.

And right now, she had no time.

She came close to him, and began what her trainers liked to call Type De Comète, or translated into Comet Buster; the attack was simple, though it was quite damaging if it connected. She braced her arm, jumping from back to front, right foot to left, and jutted the sword's edge out vertically towards him as if to feint; then, she pulled back slightly, and did the same, but this time swung the blade in an arch upwards and launching herself into the air, her blade now swerving around with her as she spun. When Nephilim landed (or rather, while she was in the air), she slammed the sword downwards, the rapid succession of hits inaccurate and vaguely clumsy.

Xoco found the girl’s clumsy form almost laughable. He felt her moving in behind him as he circled the man, and he turned sideways so that he could keep them both in his peripheral vision. He turned just in time to see her begin to run forward and then lash down in a series of poorly executed but powerful attacks. He drew Ice, seeing no other choice, and parried several of the blows. The others fell short, missing by centimeters, and one made a gash in his fore-arm as it grazed past. Xoco gasped, and then decided that enough was enough. He dropped the human guise completely, letting his wraith form show through. He wasn’t employing the fear spell, but he thought he was fairly terrifying in his own right.

He let out a roar of anger and somewhat pain as the girl’s blade connected with his fore-arm. He jumped backwards, out of range of the next series of attacks. He disappeared into the mist, dashing backwards quickly so that the mist covered him like a cloak. He lowered his form, allowing the mist to conceal him. He circled around the other two warriors, trying to gain a vantage point where he could strike. He continued to slip silently through the mist, watching and waiting.

It was becoming apparent to Ryu, though the thought dismayed him, that a battle was impending. At least the enemy was not a friend. 'The Demon', as Ryu mentally decided to give him an alias, was beginning to irritate him and the Shinobi did not enjoy irritation, so he began to contemplate ways to take the wraith out. Nephilim's broken sword was definately something to take into consideration. Broken metal and shards of anything could often be as useful as a well sharpened blade if broken at the right angle, such was the Ninja way. The cocky manor that the wraith eminated bothered Ryu for many reasons. Ryu was partial to balance, blow for blow, eye for eye & tooth for tooth, humiliation for humiliation and even pain for pain. Confidence radiated from Ryu, the cracked weapon and arrogant character would come back to bite the wraith, and at the moment, with the enemies made, that was probably not a god idea. Ryu felt the mood of his new foe rise as the lightning spell was cast. If that was all he believe Ryu could do, he would soon find out how wrong he was. "Ah, a magician. Come now, was it really necessary to hurt that poor tree behind me? You know that the swamp has a mind of it’s own," Not bothering to point out that he lived here and knew the terrain of the Swamp of Shadows and the Misty Forest that housed it second probably only to Samarin the Guardian of Earth himself. "Yes, I know the swamp, if it's a fight you want, then so be it you fool..." Ryu definately did not even think of correcting The Demon about his true class. Magician was probably the last thing he would be called. He was better with his blades than with his spells, but he was far from incompetent. The suit he wore for his missions or for planned or suspected trouble of any nature would have immediately identified him as a Shinobi of some high rank. He would have a certain upper hand if he played the magician's card, the appearance of his bow indefinately aiding him in that goal. "That’s what bad little girls get for playing with weapons," said the wraith in response to Nephilim's outburst. She was edging closer and closer to her weapon and was bent on using it as Ryu had hoped she would. Most people scoffed at broken weapons, but if cracked right, the edge on a snapped blade can be sharper than any arrow. The Demon quickly found that certain fact out. His passing her off as some minor insect proved to be a mistake. As he engaged Ryu, she took her chance and dashed in with the severed edge. Plunging it down, clumsily again, yet it sufficed nicely. The sharp point dug deep into the forearm of the no longer disguised wraith. Ryu gathered that he lowered his human guise as a way to try instilling fear by his own form. Fear. Ryu always thought that people who tried intimidation were usually minor illusionists at best. Neither competent nor confident enough with light their own skills, they sunk into darkness of the false terrors. The shriek let out by the wraith was piercing, and he slunk back into the darkness of the night and wreathed himself in the cloak of mist. Ryu knew, however, that when he struck, the Dragon Sword would be right there waiting for him, perhaps with a few more surprises than the wraith would know what to do with. Focusing on the sounds all around him, he let out a shrill whistle. Fog and mist made sound travel quicker and made sounds more clear. The whistle echoed off of the trees and whatever else nearby, and the sounds came back to Ryu quickly. If The Demon was moving and, as Ryu suspected, waiting for a chance to strike, any sound would reach him at the same speed the whistle echoed back at. Ryu wrapped his left hand around the wrapping of his weapon and choked up with his right. Putting his right foot forward, his eyes went distant as he focused on any sounds. He did not close his eyes in case there were none, or in case the sound in question came from Nephilim.

Xoco listened as the male whistled a single note, and then another. He wondered what he might be doing. Then it occurred to him. Echolocation. “Very clever, human,” he thought to himself. He continued to slink through the mist, wondering how to take the best advantage. The girl was likely the easiest target, and he would be able to sneak around her back more quickly. Yet he feared that if he distracted himself with her, he would leave himself open to the more capable warrior.

The gash on Xoco’s fore-arm stung sharply as the mist seeped into it. He could already feel his essence weakening as it rushed to mend the wound. It would heal, but the process would be a painful one. He noted to himself to make the girl suffer longer for what she had done. He caught a glimmer from a sword in front of him, indicating where the two of them were. They couldn’t see him, but it was a double-edged sword; he couldn’t see them either. Xoco took the opportunity to plot his next move. A frontal attack would most likely prove fatal. Three blades to one wasn’t good odds, even with his skill. He would need to neutralize the warrior first, hopefully with some sort of trickery rather than through combat. But what could he use?

He gazed around, searching for anything that he could possibly use to his advantage. He considered throwing stones at them with the intent to knock him out, but that wouldn’t do. The warrior was too fast and throwing anything out of the mist would give away his position too easily. Then his eyes turned to the smoldering tree that had been hit by the man’s magic. It was weakened, and just maybe…

Shrugging, and deciding it was better than nothing, Xoco began to slink slowly over to the broken tree. He moved slightly faster with each whistle, trying to nullify the effects of the warrior’s clever methods. Finally, he reached the tree, and brought Ice up. He took one measuring swing, and then hit the tree with all of his might. The weakened tree gave way with only one stroke, Ice’s sharp blade nearly slicing all the way through. It fell towards his enemy’s positions, crashing down on top of them. He couldn’t see the effects of his attacks, but noted briefly that whistling had stopped.

Nephilim grunted and jumped back, happy to see that at least one of her attacks had injured her opponent; readying herself in case he counter attacked, she braced the sword in front of her in a parrying stance, but no such attack came. The onslought she had predicted was actually a retreat, and she saw his slinkin figure smooth into the shadows, almost as if they were his natural habitat; something was not right, and as she looked around, glanced this way and that, she could see that Ryu felt the same. She cringed - they were at a disadvantage. She knew that the wraith would likely come after her, though since he was in a seemingly flawless position, he could easily take them both out at once. Focusing, as she saw Ryu do as he flung out his weapons, she waited for the next move.

Her ears perked up, though, their half-pointed peaks twitching slightly as she saw Ryu make a sound; he was trying to find him, some how, and whatever he did just seemed to aggrivate the wraith. Suddenly, she saw a seemingly silver gleam come from one direction; what was that? A blade? But only silence followed...until a little while longer. Nephilim shrieked, and, looking up, saw that several of the trees had been cut in a single strike! Although she would probably gawk at a time like this, she instead took the initiative to evade the falling pieces of wood.

Seeing one of the trees cascading down towards her specifically, she jumped to the right, and landed calmly, only to be thrown back to the ground by the impact of several other trees hitting the ground. She struggled to get back up, but the trees' vibrations were not over yet. She could feel the ground shaking, and it was slightly sickening, almost to the point where she felt herself getting a headache. Nephilim cringed at the pain, and began to rise, looking around for Ryu briefly before spotting a retreating figure in the darkness; she smirked, and, knowing that Ryu's tracking was down for the moment, knew she had to take the chance of finding this monster.

"Kuu datto!" She cursed in Elven, gripping her sword in one hand and jumping high, her combat reflexes coming in handy now. She managed to make an aerial evade of the last falling tree, and let feet happily land on its falling figure; she ran down the quickly falling tree, and jumped off of the wooden bark before it hit the ground, evading the impact and allowing herself a safe landing. She smirked, almost ready to compliment herself, until she almost lost sight of the figure.

"Ryu! He's at three o'clock!" She called, and didn't even consider Ryu not knowing various military phrases. But, considering his vast library of weaponry and seemingly endless amount of strength, he probably knew a thing or two. Then she charged, chasing after the figure with sword in hand.

OoC: (Uh… I only cut down the one tree that Ryu’s spell hit. I didn’t make a bunch of them fall. Just to make sure you didn’t think I was god-moding or anything.)

Xoco slunk back into the cover of the mist, but then a voice rang out after the chaos caused by the falling tree. "Ryu! He's at three o'clock!" came the girl’s urgent voice. Xoco cursed her and her simple dumb luck. How could she have so easily avoided such a huge falling tree? He cast it aside as what it was: pure, unaltered luck. Still, it frustrated him how difficult it was to kill this girl.

Xoco slipped back quickly now, trying to put some distance between himself and the tree. He noticed, finally, that the girl was chasing him through the mist. He smiled. It was foolish of her to leave the company of the more capable male warrior. Now he had her all alone, cut off from her companion by the swirling mist. He watched her movements carefully, allowing the mist to conceal his own. Finally, he back up and bumped into a tree. Thinking fast, he grabbed a low-lying branch and hoisted himself up into the tree with one bony hand. His Wraith form swirled with the darkness of the treetops, completely concealing him from sight. He moved into a position where he could observe the ground below with relative stealth. He finally saw the girl moving rather quickly through the mist. As he had hoped, she was alone. Unfortunately, he knew not what had become of the male warrior. With any luck, he might have been crushed by the tree. But Xoco didn’t count on it.

His fiery eyes focused on the slight, feminine form that was making it’s way into visibility through the mist. She held her broken sword in each of her hands. The edges were still dangerously sharp, and gleamed slightly in the half-light of the forest. Xoco took a twig that had fallen from it’s branch off of the tree and threw it across the swamp. It clattered to the ground with a rather satisfying clatter. The girl turned to see what the noise was. She was close now, very close.

Taking her distracted, Xoco leapt down from the tree, flashing Ice in his hands. He landed behind the girl, instantly bringing Ice’s tip up to her neck. “Drop your weapons, and don’t make a sound, or I’ll stick you,” he said, deepening his voice to make it more intimidating.

There was a sharp crack that punctuated Ryu's concentration. He dove and rolled out of the way as the tree missed him by inches. Gracefully, he rolled to his feet. The tree that he had ravaged with lightning had been brought down. He heard Nephilim say something in a barely familiar language. He guessed it was a curse or exclamation of some kind, but would not put any money on that guess.
"Ryu! He's at three o'clock!" came her now familiar voice. Ryu remembered the military unit time and directions from his dear old departed elvish friend, a former Knight of the Elven Courts of some distant land. He looked right, in the direction of the tree. Nephilim had just darted to the direction of it's falling. She'd apparantly saw their enemy and took it into her own hands to take him out. Ryu cursed her mildly for that. She should not have gone off alone, so Ryu focused on bringing the skill of Infravision out. His eyesight immediatley went a sort of monotone, and any and all of the lunar based reflective light bounced off of anything palpable or tangible in any way. Ryu noted the familiar shape of Nephilim leaping as he had not seen her do. She was moving gracefully, agile and swift. He was kind of shocked at seeing the clumsy girl moving so, but that did not distract him from the task at hand. Ryu knew he was probably the only one in the woods with such vision, excluding perhaps the falcons and wolves. She came to an abrubt halt as the silver sheen of metal was pointed at her, touching her flesh it seemed, and he knew the Wraith had her at swordpoint. Ryu also distinguished the low, quiet voice that marked The Demon. He did not distinguish the individual words, though if it were not for the mist, he would probably not have heard it at all for it's quietness. Ryu's mind raced quickly as he witnessed this happening. Banking on his improved vision, he quickly and quietly drew out two Shuriken from somewhere on his outfit. Focusing on the wielder of the blade, whom Ryu knew to be the wraith, as Nephilim was of a different build, he aimed as he usually did, and with a precise shot he launched one of the razor winged projectiles at him. Not bothering to follow it, he aimed yet another towards the same spot, then he silently sidestepped his way to the scene of the conflict, edging around the area, trying to avoid as many sticks and other objects that would make noise if he stepped on them as possible. He put his blade behind his back so as the silver sheen of the moon would not reflect upon it's surface.

Xoco caught a small glint of steel out of the corner of his eye. He ducked slightly, and just in time. A shuriken buried itself in the tree just centimeters above his head. Another on followed it, this one slicing across his robes and ripping them. Now somewhat frightened, he leapt forward, grabbing the girl by the collar and bringing Ice’s razor-sharp edge across the front of her throat. He turned to face the direction where he knew the warrior was hiding, putting the girl between himself and the path of any more shuriken.

“Not another move, warrior, or I’ll slit her throat!” he yelled into the darkness. Xoco slowly began to back away, bringing his hostage along with him. It was wise to put some more distance between himself and the warrior. How could his enemy have had such excellent aim through the shroud of mist?

Xoco noticed a small wound where the shuriken had made a razor-cut across his chest. It wasn’t much, but it was still stinging painfully. Continuing to make his way further back into the swamp, he whispered into the girl’s ear,

“Not a word. Not a sound, or it’ll be the last thing you ever do,” he said. Xoco knew that now was the time to make his way out of this fight. The warrior was cunning, and it wouldn’t be long before Xoco’s temporary fix gave out. He began to think, hard, trying to figure out some way to make a quick exit. Every bone in his body ached to kill both of these troublesome fools, but he knew it would be a losing fight. Even if he did manage to kill them both, it would most surely merit injuries substantial enough to send him back to the Netherworld for a time. Xoco’s fiery eyes darted from left to right, trying to find something, anything, to aid his escape. Not finding much, he listened intently, waiting for someone to make the next move.

Ryu's infravision picked up, as he came around behind the wraith and Nephilim, that The Demon was still under the impression that Ryu was still in the direction of the fallen tree. Ryu slowly, with all the concentration and silence that his Ninjutsu training had carved into his mind so as not to indirectly kill the girl, sidled his way over to them. Even he was surprised by his stealth as he crept through the misty dead of night. All of the Shinobi's senses were as acute as he had seen them. Alert to all of the changes in the wind, the temperature, the ground texture, even the air itself, Ryu's night visioned eyes were snapped onto the duo, locked into one place as he took in everything about the situation. He's evil, thought Ryu, That means that anything holy or inherently good aligned would probably be best. Ryu decided that he would bless his sword, the spell would make his weapon glow and so he had to do it at the perfect time. “Not another move, warrior, or I’ll slit her throat!” the echoing shout rang out, hollow, in all directions. As the wraith spoke, he backed up, towards Ryu when he thought he was moving away. Like the unsuspecting fly, creeping towards the web, he edged back, his weapon at Nephilim's throat. “Not a word. Not a sound, or it’ll be the last thing you ever do,” the voice was closer than the wraith had probably intended. Ryu pulled his sword from behind his back, thankful he did not sheath it, for the steel ringing would have announced his presence fatally to somebody, and it probably would not have been the wraith. As soon as he reached the wraith he put his sword tip at his throat and muttered the incantation for the Bless Weapon spell, now he would have to let Nephilim go, for if he jerked the blade, his own head might just decide to leave. "Let her go and we can resolve this without anybody having to die..." His blade radiating and pulsing with holy energy. One thrust would do it if there was any funny business, and RYu was once more, not a fan of unneccesary bloodshed.

Nephilim trudged through the vines and the swamps and the mud, and the worst of all, the fallen wood. She couldn't see very well, despite her inheritence of half-elven blood, and was starting to become fairly disoriented; she doubted that he was actually at three o'clock now, and was starting to worry that she had lead them on the wrong track. Another step, and she heard nothing; just nothing. Silent, too silent, and suddenly, her fears came to realization and were no longer dreams and ideals but actions and scares - a blade was pressed to her throat, she could feel it; cold, unmoving, stone, dead, almost fearful. She didn't move. She couldn't. Her pink her stood on edge as she heard the wraith's cold hearted words: “Drop your weapons, and don’t make a sound, or I’ll stick you,” said the voice, and she didn't move. Not an inch.

Soon, though, Nephilim's keen ears heard the distant footsteps of another of her species; they were careful and percise, and she doubted the demon could hear them. Silently praying that it was Ryu (most likely, she predicted, and was quickly given her answer), and was relieved to see that she was right; a quick, green eyed man was quick to come up, though the wraith could not see; simply, the wraith was at a disadvantage, even with her captive. The blade tightened around her throat for a moment, the sweet flesh tearing slightly and letting the red droplets drip out. It wasn't a giant cut, but she was still panting wildly, her heart racing horribly fast.

The blade loosened, though, for a milisecond; suddenly, two silver lights swiftly swept by her face, and one was avoided by the wraith, but the other caught his robes and tore them slightly; only a little scratch, she noted, but it was enough for a slight distraction. Attempting to break free and think of a plan, she was too late, as the wraith had already realized his weakness and was straightening up his act.

“Not another move, warrior, or I’ll slit her throat!” The wraith's dark hooded head shouted, his raspy and eerie voice situating nightmares into Nephilim's head all over again. She cringed, her pink hair draping and...seeping...through the unholy being; this guy would pay, he was messing up her hair to such an extent that it was just too frayed to even consider nice. She'd just straightened it, too, she noted sadly, a slight frown coming up on her pretty face.

“Not a word. Not a sound, or it’ll be the last thing you ever do,” The wraith warned, and by now Nephilim was sagging, her shoulders slouched, and her slender frame not even caring to stand up properly anymore. She just sighed and rolled her golden eyes before muttering, "Whatever," and trying to make herself more comfortable. The blood was still apparent, even in this darkness, against her pale, ivory toned skin and flawless complexion.

Ryu finally came out of his hiding place, exposing his blades and initiating in a peace talk. Fat chance, Nephilim thought quietly. "Let her go and we can resolve this without anybody having to die..." He said, his sturdy voice ALMOST convincing her. Suddenly, though, her blood was hot, and her eyebrows were narrowed; her pupils small, and her hands were balled into fits.

"Screw peace; let's mess this guy up!" She roared, her pink hair flying out back into perfect position as she ducked and slid forward, as to escape the grasp of the Wraith. The struggle was fierce, and she felt herself using all of her strength to get out of the strong grip, blade still in hand; this wasn't practice anymore, this was life or death, and believe me, she knew when to quit; now wasn't a time to quit.

"Let her go and we can resolve this without anybody having to die..." came a voice to his right. Xoco scathed at him, and at his newly enchanted blade. The holy aura of the weapon seemed to heat the air around him, making it uncomfortably hot. “Screw peace; let's mess this guy up!" yelled the girl, struggling to get free from his grasp. Xoco had no choice but to let her go, for he knew that struggling would only get a few inches of holy steel shoved into his head. After the girl was free, he stepped away a few paces.

“Frankly, I don’t trust you, warrior,” he said quickly. Xoco turned slowly to face him. The holy blade was still dangerously close. Xoco looked around, especially at the enraged girl. Xoco felt stupid for not sensing the presence of the warrior. Perhaps he was simply too pre-occupied. Whatever it was, he was unsure of the warrior’s intentions. Xoco knew that even if the warrior was willing to let him go, the girl wouldn’t be, and if Xoco even put a scratch on her, the warrior would have his head.

“But,” he said, “I am willing to give you a small leap of faith. Put that away, and I’ll leave, just like that. I give you my word,” he said. Xoco contemplated his next move. If the warrior really did put his weapon away, Xoco could just leave. But he wasn’t so sure that the girl was going to let him go…. Xoco wondered what he could do. The girl’s weapons were farther off into the mist, where she had parted with them as he took her hostage. But he didn’t know for certain that she wasn’t concealing a smaller piece of steel somewhere. Xoco slowly began to back away, trying to gauge his odds of escaping alive.

“Screw peace; let's mess this guy up!" Nephilim cried as she struggled against the grip of the wraith. Apparantly weighing his options, the wraith finally decided it was best to let her go, and he released his grip. “Frankly, I don’t trust you, warrior,” said the wraith. “But,” he continued, “I am willing to give you a small leap of faith. Put that away, and I’ll leave, just like that. I give you my word,” Ryu contemplated the spoken words for a brief second. Given the whole situation, the Shinobi found the irony almost laugh worthy, given his own title, he was used to peoples distrust, but coming from the Demon that had just taken a lady hostage and had obviously deadly intentions, he found the whole idea laughable, but, thankfully, he did not. The proposal did, nontheless, require a little bit of thought, and after his eyes narrowed, he took out a strange throwing knife and whispered the Bless spell.

"I have a proposal for you." said Ryu, skipping all formalities. "I will sheath my sword, and that is it." he said to the wraith, doing so as he spoke. Gesturing with the empowered Kunai, he went on, "You have no reason not to trust me, if I wanted your head I would have taken it without negotiating for the girl's safety, if I was lucky you would have died before you got the chance to kill her." Ryu was sort of bluffing here, a sort of technique to try and get the seriousness of the situation across to the wraith. The move he would have used to kill would not have put Nephilim's life at stake, but in Ryu's mind, the Demon did not need know that. He also did not need know that Ryu actually cared about Nephilim's life; the ice cold approach was probably best. "Nephilim, I understand you are in anger, but do not let it cloud your mind, or your body. If he tries anything after we let him go, I will deal with the situation unless you beat me to it." Ryu himself was shocked that he cared about her life, as of right now, probably more than anybody elses. Despite the fact, he kept focus on the situation not yet dealt with. "I kept my end of the bargain, Demon, you keep yours." said the Shinobi. He kept the knife looped around the end of his pinky and he tapped the hilt of his ornate sword as he spoke.

Ooc: (I have confirmed with Ryu through PM that it is OK to hurt his character.)

"I have a proposal for you." said Ryu, "I will sheath my sword, and that is it." Xoco smiled under the cowl of his cloak. It was a small smirk, unnoticeable, but he just couldn’t help it. The warrior played right into his hands. Xoco watched as the warrior sheathed the blessed blade.

"Nephilim, I understand you are in anger, but do not let it cloud your mind, or your body. If he tries anything after we let him go, I will deal with the situation unless you beat me to it," said the warrior. “You won’t get the chance,” thought Xoco, keeping all emotion from showing in his face. The cowl of his cloak shielded his expression, but he still felt that he needed to be careful around this warrior. His adversary was full of suprises.

"I kept my end of the bargain, Demon, you keep yours." Xoco nodded. He noticed the warrior’s lips moving slightly, and one hand was behind his back. “Not so trustworthy as I thought, are we?” thought Xoco.

“Didn’t you ever hear?” asked Xoco. He muttered an incantation under his breath, feeling his mana well up inside him as he did. He quickly brought one hand up, completing the Enervation spell, and sending a bolt of crackling dark energy hurtling into the warrior. The bolt slammed into him, and he crumpled to the ground. Xoco cackled evily. “Never trust a Wraith.” Xoco turned, Ice still in his hand, towards the girl, waiting for her reaction. The warrior was the real threat, and now he was neutralized. Xoco couldn’t handle them both, but he could handle this girl.

“Didn’t you ever hear?” the wraith's voice asked, though there was a leering quality to it that unnerved Ryu for some reason. This reason was about to be made perfectly clear as Xoco muttered an incantation and sent the spell Enervation screeching through the air at his body, his eyes widened as the spell started and he tried to dodge it, but it caught him in the stomach. The dark energy collided with him in the lower part of the torso, his stomach reeled and he felt like vomiting, the dark magic poured and coursed through ever inch of him from the point of impact to his extremeties. His head jerked a few times and his body twitched as his knees buckled, he went completely limp and crumpled up onto the ground, tottering on the brink of unconciousness. “Never trust a Wraith.” were the last words he heard before the darkness rolled over him and unconciousness settled in. Ryu's thoughts were still there, but his body would not here them, it had been drained to the point of nigh destruction, muscles devoid of use, all energy sapped from the shell that was his body. Now Ryu understood why the spell got it's name. His thoughts became a prison for himself now, he could still think, and he screamed at himself to move a muscle, but his body would not listen. He wondered what was going on outside of his head, discerning that the wraith would probably attack Nephilim as he did himself. Struggling to move anything, he found he still could not, and he simply laid there, wishing he had not been so stupid. He vowed to himself that once he could use his body again, he would destroy that wraith, should his life depend on it. Outside of the vast reaches of Ryu's mind, Xoco the wraith turned towards Nephilim, his wicked sword in hand, and the blessed throwing knife still glowed underneath the body of the fallen Shinobi. Ryu's finger twitched.