1: Guidance

As a token of her "gratitude," Ravine decided not to speak to Vincent for a while. As a matter in fact, the next day, she walked out and determined that she was not to return until the end of the day until she was done with her search. Then that'll teach him to ever touch her face again.

She had thought about what she was going to do before, how she was going to start her search. Perhaps if she wandered about at night, then she'd run into one of the assassins and be able to catch them, and interrogate them? That didn't sound much like a style that she'd like to use, and it didn't sound much like anything she would do at all, but whatever worked was--

Thoughts interrupted by a jerk backwards, Ravine found herself plummeting into the ground with another body falling on top of her. Unable to even let out the slightest sound of a squeak or mutter, she opened one eye that was filled with tears of pain, and saw that there was blonde hair in her face, and then gathered her thoughts to realize that a person was laying on top of her. Her eyes shifted nervously, as she then took the person by the shoulders and lifted her upright, Ravine not sitting up, and found that it was a girl.

Light, sandy blonde hair that reached to her shoulders, briefly cut like someone had used a knife, her appearance revealing her to be no more then seventeen or eighteen years old; she was wearing a red scarf, forest green shirt, cloak, and jeans, and when she opened her eyes, Ravine noticed that they were crystal blue.

The girl's eyes shot wide with shock. "I'm.... Oh god, I'm so sorry--"

"Don't worry about it," Ravine muttered. "I just make the perfect cushion."

"Honestly!" she gasped, jumping back so that she could get a good look at Ravine. "I am sorry! I was just in a hurry from--"

"--Eyrie! Eyrie, where are you? Please don't run anymore--"

It looked as though she were ready to scream in distress, as she jumped and hid behind Ravine, pulling her up to her feet and started dragging her further into the crowd of people down Diagon Alley. Ravine tried to resist, but the girl's grasp was solid and firm, and Ravine couldn't find a way to reach her and toss the girl out of her stronghold.

"What the...? Stop that and let go of me!" Ravine wailed, trying to reach over her shoulder, but then found herself tossed up against the wall as soon as they reached a solitary alleyway.

The girl's eyes shifted as she looked on the outer walls, then turned back to Ravine, whispering, "I'm sorry about that, but it was the only way to get myself out of the streets. I have these people following me, but that's an elongated story and--"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's a long story nowadays," Ravine said, irked, rubbing the back of her aching neck and brushing the dust from her shoulders and sleeves.

"I'm really sorry about that!" she said, pressing her hands together.

"Right, don't worry about it," she told her, flinging a hand in passage as she started to walk out, and that was when the girl grasped Ravine's hand and pulled her back into the alleyway. Ravine gasped, and turned to the girl. "What the hell...?"

"Please don't leave me! They might be after me and will come any moment!" she said, jumping irritably. "To top it all off, I sort of can't see," she pulled out her broken oval glasses from her cloak, the glass possibly shattered from her fall.

Ravine sighed, taking out her hand. "Give me the glasses."

Confused, the girl did so, and then handed them back within five seconds of holding it. The girl looked puzzled at first, until she looked down at the glass pieces and noticed that the glass was in perfect condition, not even a scratch on them anymore. She looked down at the glasses, and then back to Ravine, confused and intrigued. "How did you...?"

"It's also a long story," Ravine replied, looking out into the alleyway. "Very long...."

"Strange.... You didn't even chant a spell or anything," she said, looking down at the glasses before sliding them onto her face. "How'd you do that?"

"Magick," Ravine droned, then peered over her shoulder. "Follow me, and try to be as discreet as you can. I'm going to take you back to where I am staying right now," she said with a sigh. She wasn't so sure why she decided on helping this girl, but she reminded her a bit of herself, just more eccentric. Still, it wasn't everyday when Ravine thought that she'd be picking up a stranger from the streets and end up helping her in the end as well, considering that Ravine wasn't much of the "saving" type. Perhaps it'll give her positive marks for her own karma.

The girl had been looking at her lenses curiously, which looked rather humorous on Ravine's part, because when she turned around she noticed that she was cross-eyed so that she could look at the glass pieces, then up to her, "Are you the person that they said they're also after?"

Ravine squinted, her heart jerked as she spun around. "What?"

"Those people. They mentioned something before about a golden-eyed witch who uses no wand and has a lot of power and such," she started to say more, but Ravine had already moved quickly, grabbing the girl by the scruff of her cloak and had her pinned up against the wall, her face close up to her own and Ravine's was the mask of anger.

"What'd they say? Do you know where they're located?"

Her eyes shot wide, fearful, stunned, dazed, the girl lifted her hands. "I'm sorry, I only know so little--"

"Tell me, goddammit!" Ravine snapped, jerking her aggressively.

She flinched, her glasses fell in the process down to the brim of her nose, as she tried to pull back yet found no space to do so. Her fearful expression led Ravine's heart to guilt over her own ruthlessness, and she sighed, letting the girl go. She felt even worse when she noticed the hesitant look on her face, which revealed that she was contemplating whether to flee or to stay. Ravine tried her best to smile, yet it had been hard for her to make a trustful-looking one, since she hadn't done one for such a long time.

"Let's start out with names, first, so that I don't start calling you Hey, you!' while we're out on the streets and anything goes wrong. My name is Ravine."

There was a strange start that gave way in her face, when she replied discreetly. "...Eyrie Nekokaburi," she said, pushing her glasses back up to the top of her nose, her strange, sky blue eyes vanishing within the midst of the shimmering glass.

Ravine quirked an eyebrow. "Eyrie Nekokaburi? Well, that's...an interesting name," she said, then turned back and looked on either side of the street, making a lookout to see if anyone suspicious were to be around. She then gave Eyrie a nod, and took her by her arm and pulled her away onto the streets. With the crowds, they were sure to be hard to find, or so Ravine thought.

And that was when she felt something solid smack the back of her head. At first Ravine didn't know what happened, until she saw the colors swirling before her eyes, and noticed that her body was falling. The next thing she knew, she was laying on the ground, and blood trickled from the back of her head. The world spun rapidly, making Ravine feel like she were going to vomit, which surprisingly she discovered that she hadn't heaved in the first place.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Eyrie, and found that she had also fallen. Only she must have been struck harder, because she was completely knocked out. Ravine tried to get up onto her knees, when the flat of a foot came down onto her spine and knocked her back down onto her face.

She wondered why there was nobody screaming, no one making a fuss about two girls being beaten to the ground, when she looked up, and noticed something irregular. There had been a pocket watch dangling over the waist of a passing man, and the second hand had gone completely still, as well as the world around them.

Ravine managed to peer through the reflection of the watch to see who was standing behind her, yet the features were that of a stranger, Ravine had already knew what this person was.

"Well...?" she finally said, closing her eyes. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"Kill you?" said an unfamiliar voice. "What makes you think that's just what I want to do?"

When her eyes reopened, the pupils dilated, when Ravine spun around, supporting her upper body by her arms that laid flat on the ground, looking up into the face of a cloaked man. His hair and lower jaw was hidden underneath a black cloth, his eyes were a strange hue of yellow, and he wore a long dark gray robe, concealing any sort of weapon that he might be hiding underneath. She narrowed her eyes upon the sight of him.

Time altering magick, Ravine pointed out to herself. Is that his power or was it given to him...?

His yellow eyes glared in a peculiar hatred, as he put his hand behind his back. "You don't remember me, do you?"

"What're you talking about?" Ravine demanded, getting up onto one knee, she took a closer look at him, at his eyes. She'd never seen those eyes before, yet she could tell that due to the lack of wrinkles or any bodily aging, she knew that he had to be young, but not too young, about a few years older than herself. But did she know him? She never knew anybody else with yellow eyes....

Air sucked in when she saw that he was pulled something out from behind his back, and a shimmer of a silvery blade appeared from the edge of his robes. It wasn't so much that Ravine feared for her life, for she had come to fear death no more, but it was the hungered look that he had when he turned to Eyrie.

Of course Ravine didn't know her well, she was just a girl she ran into, but to her she was one with vital information that might help her find the assassins, and felt that if she died, then her only chance of revenge would have been all for naught. Eyrie was her last resort of ever bringing herself into the right direction, and this man was thinking of killing her.

The blade went down upon the fair-haired girl.

And within that moment, Ravine jerked forward, her hand outstretched, yelling. "Stop!"

2: Guardian

Blood splattered.

Red liquids seeped from the blade and down Ravine's palm, as she winced in discomfort, though not much. She was standing in front of Eyrie, her hand meeting the blade, its sharp edge seeping into her skin deeper and slowly, causing excruciating pain.

"Don't touch her," Ravine growled, meeting the shocked eyes of the assassin, as she pressed her weight into the blade, it leached deeper into her flesh, yet she tried her best to focus her energy on the pain and the pain that formed itself into rage, and within that rage Ravine was given the energy to throw him back, her blood was tossed into the air, the assassin was gone within the crowd.

The clock ticked, and the crowd became animate once again.

Doing her best to be as disregarded as possible, Ravine turned back to the unconscious Eyrie, hoisting her arm over her own shoulder and glanced behind her once more, before carrying Eyrie off back to the inn. She found it strange that nobody had even bothered to see two girls walking down the street, two girls which should be in school this time of year, one of them with a bleeding hand, whilst the other in comatose.

Either way, it was a way to get around. Ravine had made sure that she mapped this alley out real well in her head, making mental landmarks here and there that'd help her get around okay.

When she opened the door and set Eyrie down flat onto the bed, she realized that Vincent wasn't anywhere to be seen. Ravine decided not to complain, and went downstairs to find something to eat, for both her and the girl. She had returned with a glass of water, and a few biscuits for herself for the time being, since Ravine noticed that she hadn't eaten anything all day, since she wanted to ask Vince earlier to make breakfast, yet her pride and stubbornness had gotten the best of her.

Later that day, when the clock rounded about four in the afternoon, Eyrie had just started to wake. Her hands twitched and her eyes slowly began to open, and within that moment, Vincent had walked in through the door.

Ravine walked out of the bathroom, rinsing the dampness out of her hair after she had taken a shower, looking up at Vincent who was staring blankly at the girl who had been displayed upon the bed.

"You are a strange girl with a strange fetish, you know that?"

"Fetish?" Ravine blinked, then looked over at Eyrie, then back to him. "She was being chased by the same people who were after me," she told him, just so that he didn't get any bad thoughts about a girl being sprawled onto Ravine's bed. "I'm thinking that she may have some information on them."

Vincent nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off her, dazed. "Well, that's...interesting."

"You being truthful this time?"

"As a matter in fact, it is," he said, setting down the paper bag he held to his chest onto the counter, and then back to the girl who was starting to bring herself into consciousness. "Hey, and she's another cutie, what a coincidence!"

Ravine rolled her eyes and walked over to side of the bed, thinking that it would be best if she gave the girl a good explanation as to what happened, when Eyrie sat up while rubbing the back of her head, wincing in pain. "Ow...." she made a slight movement with her hand, and she winced again. "Ah! Ow!" Eyrie dropped both hands onto the sides of the bed and looked over to Ravine.

"Hey," Ravine said simply, giving her a wave.

"Yeah, I'm not going to pay for this, she's going to need a separate room," Vincent said to Ravine, setting out a box of noodles. "It'd be bad that I got me and you the newlywed discount, and then I bring in some other girl to share a room. Gods, I just don't have this sort of money lying around anymore...." he groaned.

Ravine shot a glance over at him. "I thought you were joking when you said that...."

"Did I have my joking face?" he turned to Ravine with a sincere look. "I said it with this face, this is my serious face. Should I have had this look," he screwed his face and stuck his tongue out, "then that would mean that I was joking," he stuck his tongue back into his mouth and his expression became earnest again. "...but it wasn't."

"Ha ha ha. Oh yeah, that was very funny," Ravine said sarcastically, looking away from him and back to Eyrie, who was looking about curiously.

"Where am I...?" she asked.

Vincent seemed to have found the opportunity too rich to pass up. "Welcome, miss, for you are on board the Crazy Train, where me, her, and you are all going to the padded white house, and I don't mean the one that's one the east side of America if that is what your thinking!" he said brightly, dancing around the room.

Smacking a hand over her forehead, Ravine groaned. "My apologies.... He normally isn't like this."

"Oh, I'm not, aren't I?" he said vibrantly, smiling cheerfully as he picked up some vegetables and tossed them all into a bowl over the frying pan, and placed it over the oven. "According to you, I happen to be the biggest pervert in the world or something, I don't know what she thinks, because she refuses to even talk to me now!"

"I'm talking to you, Vince, see? Talk," she looked over her shoulder with a cynical grin. "Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. I'm talking. Are you happy? Everything recently has been nothing but talk. All talk and no action, until today when I nearly got killed by a guy with a freaking katana!"

He stopped dancing around, dropped the vegetables that were in his hand, and his jaw fell. "Killed? You're joking right?"

"I wouldn't know," Eyrie said, rubbing the back of her head. "I sort of...got knocked out."

Ravine turned to her again. "What do you know about them, anyway?"

Eyrie looked as though she began blushing, and Ravine had no idea why. "It is a weird story, I can tell you that. Its a stupid reason why they're after me."

"Well, dinner won't be ready for a while, so you might as well tell the girl, mmkay? Mmkay!"

Shifting her weight uncomfortably, Eyrie spoke but only managed to make a small sound akin to that of a mouse. When she tried to speak again, it only came out the same way, and her drifting eyes told Ravine that at the moment she was trying to find the right way to inform them of her story, yet not even she knew where to begin.

"Okay, uh, we'll just talk about this later, I guess," Ravine said, standing up.

Just as Ravine had begun to walk away, Eyrie's hands clenched into fists, bowing her head low as her eyes glared in an emotion between anger and hatred, it had been her words that was the only thing that could make Ravine halt and turn around. "They...are called the Gingitsune."

She knew what that meant, she spun around to face her, "...silver fox?"

Eyrie nodded. "Those assassins,'" she looked up at Ravine. "They don't like our kind. They hate us, anyone who's different from them.... Or affiliated with some group of people that I have no recollection of! When they tried to befriend me, just some neighbors, a kind family next door...they killed everyone. My parents, my brother and sister.... And I was off with my boyfriend. He freaked when we got back...he told me that he never wanted to see me again, and...." she cringed.

Exchanging glances between Ravine and Vincent, they looked back to Eyrie. Vincent set down the wooden spoon he was using to stir the soup he inaugurated to make, and then walked over to her. At first Ravine had a bad feeling about him doing so, considering her previous experience when she wasn't feeling quite up to par, and he used the only method he knew how to use on her. But it was discrete this time.

Vincent sat down next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her. Ravine forced a small smile and turned to the table, sitting down and remained by herself quietly, listening to Vincent finishing his cooking, and Eyrie resting quietly. Nobody spoke of anything, just the sound of metal clinging against wood, and a melody of a band playing outside. Ravine turned to listen to the music that filled the air, tilting her head, when Vincent then placed a bowl before her and smiled.

"Dinner is served," he said gleefully. "Eat up, everyone."

Ravine picked up the spoon and swirled around the vegetable soup, with bread and noodles clinging the metal and swirled it around the basin. She looked back to Vincent, who was over with Eyrie, talking to her in a low tone so that Ravine couldn't hear. She wasn't so sure if he was doing this on purpose, just to provoke her, or because he seemingly found Eyrie more interesting than she. After all, she preferred to not speak much about herself to him, so there would be a reason for him to pity her.

But pity wasn't what she wanted, or so Ravine thought as she ate her soup, thinking deeply to herself about her previous events, trials, whatever she'd wish to call them, and the road ahead.

Take my hand, hold it until the end of time, when we will much later part. As long as you and I walk along the same path together, I will protect you, just like you will protect me, only then will our hearts and souls become one, she'd heard those words after she died, the words that slowly brought her back. When she met with Sheika, her so-called biological "mother," Ravine noticed that they didn't sound anything alike.

So then whose voice had that belonged to, anyway?

Shaking her head, she continued to eat, until she realized that there was nothing left. That was when Vincent came and picked up her bowl, taking it off and dumping it into the sink next to the stove. "What was that look all about?" he asked her.

"Hm? What look?"

"You looked all...dazed or something. I dunno, maybe it was just myself," he scratched the side of his nose and began to clean the dishes, rinsing them under the sink.

Curious, Ravine asked, "For a guy, you sure don't mind doing a lot of housework."

Vincent looked over at her, then turned away again, continuing to clean. "Well, number one, you one are guests. Number two, I was raised this way."

"You were raised, huh?" Ravine said. "Well, by whom? Parents?"

"My parents died a long time ago, they were normal. The rest of my family were...weird and uptight all the time, they didn't like me much," he said, putting away the dishes into the cabinet. "Murdered. I lived with my grandfather, but he died when I was twelve, and then I moved in with my adoptive aunt, who brought me up this way, I guess."

Ravine didn't say anything after that, for there was nothing to be said.

***

Later that night, Vincent managed to get a room for Eyrie, though he said that because of her, he was staring to run out of money. Ravine wanted to tell him what she could do, but she knew where things would to should she have told him.

Greed is a terrible price to pay, being used is even worse.

She slept, Vincent vanished within the obscurity, as Ravine found her body hovering in darkness, and enveloped within the world of dreams. Her lightly closed eyes twitched, when she opened them and found that she wasn't just in darkness, but there had been a light ahead, shimmering, flashing. It had been hard to tell, but she could see a white face watching her, and pure, wan hands reaching out to her.

Ravine blinked, looking around her reverie and then back to the light.

The face smiled.

"...never let you die," those words repeated themselves over and over within the depths of Ravine's skull, hammering, drilling. And that was when she reached back towards the hand, yet it always seemed to be too far for her to reach.

Go on, said a soft, feminine voice. Take it.

Ravine tried, and finally, a light touch was swathed within her own grasp. Ravine discovered that she was smiling, as well as the light.

"Who are you?" Ravine asked, engrossed.

"Hogosha...?" she whispered. "What's that?"

The face giggled, and then vanished.

3: Wings

Demara? The Guardian? Ravine's Guardian? Was she the one who helped Ravine out of Limbo? The one who aided Sheika in her efforts to revive her and bring her back?

Once more, Ravine saw herself wandering away from the school, Hogwarts, leaving for fear of her friends, her schoolmates, and those around her, even if they weren't her friends. Ravine feared for them all. She wasn't leaving to be selfish, she wasn't leaving because she wanted to get revenge for being killed, yet after all the suffering she'd endured, revenge that was nobody could understand unless if they had experienced the things she had, seen the things she'd seen.

It was hard to bear, and the thought of walking down the hallways, always in need to be wary because she never knew when she would be attacked from behind, and someone she cared about would be killed in the process.

The scars remained on her body from the torment she'd undergone while in Limbo, the scars that were her reminder of what she needed to do, because if she didn't do this, then she'd have to experience the same thing again, for she can't stay alive forever. She can't hang around in one area, just waiting to be attacked perpetually.

She refused to let it happen again.

Light seeped in between her lids as Ravine woke. The sight of the illumination caused her eyes to burn, but she couldn't break her gaze. She felt weakened and stiff, and when she woke, she noticed that she was in an empty room. Vince was gone, and there was no Eyrie in sight, the only sound surrounding the atmosphere was the people outside in Diagon Alley.

She sat up, then gathered some things, a bag, any bag easy to carry around, Vincent's duffle bag was the first thing she could grasp, and then she reached for any clothes she could find and stuffed them all in there. Ravine tossed the mildly heavy bag over her shoulder and opened the door.

The reason why she was packing, was because she'd consider herself hypocritical to stay. She'd promised herself that she'd find answers, and she wouldn't find any should she be hanging around here for too long. She would speak with Eyrie, get some information from her, and then she would depart, perhaps never to see them again. Not like she wanted to.

Eyrie was Vince's problem, and whatever problems Vincent had had nothing to do with her own, just like Eyrie. Of course she'd lost her family, and lost everything she cared about, just like Ravine. But they were of different worlds. Ravine was...Ravine. Eyrie was born into a world where she could always live happily, just move into another home and could simply settle in. With a contented family, and be with those that she loved and loved her back just the same. Ravine had to go through ground rules, what to do and what not to do, and most likely...Eyrie had never taken a life before. Eyrie most likely had never lost her own life.

Ravine shuddered as she opened the door and began to walk out. She felt stiff and numb, her throat dry and sore. Her eyes had begun to water as she closed the door, and started off down the stairs, when she jumped and saw Vincent leaning against the walls in the stairway.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" he asked, staring at her from the corner of his eyes, since he didn't bother to turn to her.

"Well...then I guess this is goodbye."

"Where're you headed?"

"Away," she said austerely. "Where's Eyrie? I need to talk to her."

"She's in her room, where else?" he said, grinning, then turned her to fully. "We've both been wondering when you'd wake up. Its noon already."

Noticing that Vincent was blocking the exit that went on to the lobby, Ravine couldn't help but glare down at him, irked by his doggedness. "I don't care. I'll just speak to her, and then I'll leave. Thanks for all that you've done for me, by the way."

"Really?"

"Well, not all," she said, setting the duffle bag down by the side of the stairs, and walked over to Eyrie's room, opening it slowly, finding her sitting next to a window reading a book on Quidditch. She looked up, pushing her glasses to her eyes and smiled when she saw Ravine, who waved over to her. "Mind if I come in?"

Eyrie smiled brightly. "No, of course not," she said, closing the book and setting it down. "Sit down anywhere, and--"

"No need," Ravine said sharply. "I'm leaving anyway."

Frowning within the long, drawn out silence, Eyrie's hands dropped to her sides, looking dumbfounded at Ravine. "you're leaving already?" she said after a while. "But.... But why? Why are you leaving? Is it because of me that you don't want me to stay? Because if that is it, then I can always--" She was halted when Ravine raised her hand for Eyrie's silence.

Trying her best to smile again, the most Ravine could manage was a weakened smirk. "Don't worry about it, it has nothing to do with you. I just have something that I need to do, and I need you to point me into the right direction in order to do so. Just tell me, and I'll be gone before you know it--"

"What makes you think that I want that?" Eyrie inquired.

Ravine was taken aback. "Um, well, nothing. It's just that...."

"If you want to know, then they are in the north regions in Scotland. You won't have to travel far once you are there, its east of Melrose. It's easy to miss though, because it's a tower protected by magick. Muggles won't be able to see it well, and only high-wizards and witches are allowed to enter," Eyrie explained. "To top it off, it's crawling with their top-ranking Gingitsune, just so that getting passed them will most definitely not be a simple task."

"Crawling with Gingitsune, huh?" Ravine repeated, remembering that those were the assassins. Up until recently, she wasn't sure what to call them. "Gingitsune.... I am sure my parents are worse."

Eyrie raised her eyebrows, and then Ravine added with a chuckle, "Just another long story, don't ask."

"Wasn't going to...too afraid."

Ravine sighed, running a hand through her hair and started to walk out.

However, Eyrie must have felt like she couldn't let Ravine go so easily. "Wait, Ravine.... It's going to be dangerous and all, and I know you may not want me to come, but...I've been inside that tower. The Hinomi Tower is very vast and complicated, it has over two hundred floors, and on each one there is at least twenty Gingitsune. One person can't possibly take them all out."

"She's right," said Vince, who stood behind Ravine in the doorway. "One person against possibly four thousand...." he shook her head. "And I'll be damned if I see you just waste yourself like that. I didn't spend two and a half-hours bandaging you just so that you could go off and get yourself killed."

"You can't come.... You have no idea why I am going, anyway," Ravine told them stubbornly. "For all you know, I could be doing something terrible and.... And when you find out, you'll hate me."

"Hate you or like you, either way my feelings towards you right now is mutual, and trust me, they aren't changing anytime soon," he said with a wink. "I'm not necessarily an experienced fighter like you may be, but I am well with finding my way around places and such, which might possibly help. I also took fencing lessons as a kid, so this may be of some assist to you. Besides, I like you, and I think you are a fairly...appealing person that I may find rather a pity if I just let go."

Ravine sighed. She was too tired to resist, moreover, she didn't want to. Of course when Gabryal had tried to come along with her, Ravine told him that he couldn't follow, so was it unfair to him right then if she went through with taking them along? Plus, she didn't trust herself being around him, too afraid that her feelings might overtake herself.

He's not here right now, Ravine told herself. As far as I'm concerned, what they don't know won't matter.

"Fine," Ravine said harshly, turning to walk out but Vincent had placed his firm arms over her shoulders, preventing her from walking ahead any further. Ravine looked up at him and saw his sincere glance rather troubling, and she didn't even know why. "What?" she asked him, trying to sound as petulant as possible.

"Okay, first off, I'd like to know why you were thinking about leaving," he said.

"None of your business."

"That's not an answer."

"You know what, we know nothing about you," Ravine snapped, putting her hand on his chest to push him away, and he was jerked back into the hallways. "Not much, anyway, other than some crap that happened with you and your family. Like, what is the real reason that you are here? And what were you doing wandering around at night when I was attacked?"

Vincent glared, livid. "Excuse me, Ravine, if I just like asking why my friends are having problems, whether alone running off to commit suicide by taking down others with her. And as for why I was walking around at night, I don't know why, but maybe it was my intuition. Don't ask why these things happen, they just do. Just be glad that someone like me even found you in the first place. And a girl walking around at night, you were stupid not to expect to get beaten anyway."

"Don't call me that again," Ravine barked. "You don't know what happened."

"The tell me, goddammit!"

"Because they tried to kill me! That's why they're after me, are you happy? People are trying to kill me, and now I have to worry about where I go to, who I'm with," Ravine yelled, almost in tears. "...and ask myself everyday if I can keep them alive for one other day. Just one day of seeing them, hearing their voices...and I wake up and I'm glad to be there, but I know that its not permanent unless if I take down the problem that's trying to take that away."

Now it had been Vincent who was bowled over, while Eyrie had her own share of pity that Ravine painlessly felt herself. No...anything but their pity...Ravine didn't want to feel it!

Slowly, Ravine closed her eyes and brushed passed Vincent, pushing him further into the hallway. She opened her golden eyes again, and continued. "And they did kill me. I died, and you have no idea what its like when even your own death goes wrong, because it burns, and it hurts more than the burns. From what was only ten minutes here was like a hundred years of torment, eternal burning, cursing.... That the people I once knew and cared for telling me things that they've never said before, and it all hurts worse than the burning, because it really hurts your heart more.

"Why I was kept alive, I don't know. But I do know that it had been the Gingitsune that killed me, and for that, I am going to show them a indication of appreciation for them, because I'm tired of always being pushed and beaten down by the people who only pretend that their stronger than me. I am tired of rolling over like a dog." She could feel the tears prickle her cheeks, yet Ravine hurt look made even Vincent feel pity, the one thing she Ravine had been trying to avoid. "And that is why I am going off, perhaps not to entirely commit suicide but possibly that if things go down wrong it might go to that, but if it does, then I'll be more than happy to bring as many of them as possible down with me!"

Vincent then quirked an eyebrow and managed with a feeble smile. "...mind if I call you Kamikaze?'"

Shaking her head, Ravine walked passed him, pushing him again hard into the wall, and stomping down the end hallway and back to her bag. "Fine then, joke about it. Laugh if you want, I don't care. May be funny to you unless if you've gone through with it. I'd like to see you try and find your death gone wrong someday too."

His eyes rolled over to the top of his head like he were thinking inattentively. "Well, when you put it that way, it might be sort of fun."

"Whatever...." she said.

Ravine started to walk away again, when Vincent snatched her by her upper arm, pulling her back. "Hey," he said quietly, "I simply don't want to see you get killed."

"It doesn't matter to me," she retorted, picking up her bag with her other hand.

His eyes followed downward, looking at her hand. "You know, you never asked if you could keep that," he said and then beamed. "In any case, it'll be my parting gift to you once we're finished with this one thing."

Eyrie finally appeared from the edge of her room, peering out through the door as though a child would be watching her parents arguing. "So...how're we going to get to Scotland?"

"Train," Ravine said, and started down the stairs.

Vincent's gaze widened, and he then dashed for her, following. "Do you have any idea how much three train tickets will even cost me?!" he demanded. "Its not going to be easy, I can tell you that, especially since I already paid enough over just the two of you to begin with."

"Don't worry," Ravine said confidently. "I've got it planned out."

"Well, you better, because I'm already starting to question your insanity," he turned to Eyrie and nodded. "Go get whatever it is that you want or need. Just be ready and we'll wait for you down in the lobby, okay?" he told her, walking off to his room and started picking things out himself. Ravine turned and walked down the stairs.

Before she could even consider leaving already without them, Vincent wandered down the stairs and tapped her on the shoulder, finding that Ravine was standing before the exit of the inn. She jumped, turning around.

"We're ready," he said, gesturing to Eyrie who carried just about nothing other than herself.

"Great...." she muttered, turning and walked out, entering Diagon Alley once more.

The three wandered, making their way outward and bounding into London, a casual trio. Eyrie and Vincent were talking, laughing, while Ravine hung along the sidelines, crossing her arms as she kept her distance from the two, watching them both from the corner of her eye, and then away. It wasn't so much as she didn't find them useful, she just didn't want them here. Of course they may be useful, after all, Eyrie knew her way around (possibly), and Vince was good with muggle technology as well as some fighting skills (possibly).

And what was Ravine going to do? The answer is simple.

Her job was just to kill.

Though they didn't know that, Ravine had no reason to do so. For one thing, they never bothered to inquire, and for another, it had been non of their business. Ravine's problems were to be her own.

Bumped and even pushed along the way, Vincent had even once grabbed Ravine by her shoulder in order to keep her from slipping away into the crowd. She knew this was a bad idea, to go wandering around here so early.... They should have stayed in Diagon Alley and waited there for night to fall, then maybe....

Then maybe they'd become perfect targets. What was she thinking?

"King's Cross," announced Eyrie, the three stopped in front of the train station, just before entering.

"I'll pay," Ravine said quickly. "Be right back."

"Wha...? Ravine, wait!" Vincent started, making an attempt to grab her but failed, for Ravine had already made a turn into the station.

Mainly the reason why she didn't want them to tag along was because then they'd see her use some of her abilities, going through with what she had previously had in mind, the reason why she didn't want Vincent to know what she was capable of. She'd managed to use with what little money she had left and manipulated the ticket master into buying her three tickets to Melrose, Scotland. She stopped when she noticed a flash of movement between the walls that separated the platform.

Nothing revealed its face. Ravine shrugged, and yelped when she ran directly into Vincent, who took her by the arms and held her firmly, pushing her away from his enclosed distance.

"Alright, so why didn't you tell me that you had money?"

"You never asked," Ravine growled, then held up the tickets. "Here's yours, by the way. You can still stay, you know? After all, I bought them," her eyes formed into a piercing glare.

Eyeing her apprehensively before he took them into his hands, he looked over the tickets real carefully as though he were checking for any contamination, and then stuffed both his and Eyrie's in his pockets, then headed towards platform bounded for Scotland.

"He's just worried, that's all," Eyrie told her, just as Ravine started following him.

Ravine glanced over at her, and then continued walking. "Yeah? What do you know?"

"Enough," she retorted, walking by Ravine's side, Vincent not so far away from their range of voice, yet with the muttering sounds of people talking surrounding them, it would prove itself difficult for him to overhear. "That's all he seems to be is worried. I'm not sure why, yet he's pretty keen on protecting you," she said with a smile.

"Wouldn't know why," Ravine muttered. "You two are always the ones talking and such, like you were a pair. He really seems to like you, though."

"Only a friend, of course," Eyrie smiled, just as Vincent vanished into the train. Within the next minute, the other two would be doing just the same. She continued while they bid with their time. The train signal rang, calling for them to come aboard, and with that, Eyrie managed to say, "He likes you a lot, Ravine. Don't forget that."

They found themselves their seats and settled down, each car was done up rather fancy-like and made her feel comfortable just sitting there. She sat in the seat alone, while Vincent and Eyrie shared the seat from across her, mainly because Ravine had kicked up her feet over the bench so that nobody could do so otherwise. Vincent waggled his eyebrows and poked her before they started leaving, sticking his tongue out at her and made faces.

Ravine looked over at him from the corner of her eye with a smirk, and snorted when she noticed what he was doing. By that time, both her and Eyrie were chuckling to themselves, sound like how school girls would talk about their current crushes.

The car jerked as the train started, everyone feeling themselves bounded for Scotland.

***

For the hours that they were there, Ravine managed to buy them some food from the trolley that passed by, yet since it had been muggle food, some of them weren't all interested. However, Vincent got some soda to drink, as Eyrie just sort of watched Ravine as she ate hungrily, almost in disgust.

"Aren't you going to have anything to eat?" Vincent asked her over a plate of salmon sandwiches.

Eyrie wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "No...no thanks. I'll pass."

Later on when the other two had fallen asleep, Ravine walked out, wandering down the hallway of the first car, walking to the back of the train. Though she wasn't supposed to be there, she opened the door and exited, taking a look around before sauntering towards the railing, pressing her weight against it in a leaning position.

Why am I doing this? she asked herself, leaning backwards and watching the sun starting to fall. Maybe I should have just stayed at the school, told a teacher and then.... She shook her head, pressing a hand over her forehead and watched as the first star revealed itself to the heavens. No, they wouldn't understand. They wouldn't believe me. They'd just think that I was saying such wild things to try and gain some of the attention that I possibly lacked from others.

Made sense to her, at least.

The first time she heard a strange bump coming from the rooftop. Ravine looked up, then heard nothing, deciding that it was nothing to worry about, she turned and continued with her thought process, until there was the similar bump coming from the rooftop, only closer to her this time.

Ravine's heart gave a small jerk when she heard a couple more knocking sounds hit the roof, and by that time she was wavering on the thoughts of which idea sounded best; To go inside, or to stay out here and investigate.

Instead of doing either one, Ravine found a latter which led to the top of the train. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she started to crawl upwards, until she then found a face staring down upon her, and the shining the a shimmering blade was caught in her eyes. Ravine yelped and fell down, releasing the handles that she clutched so hard onto. The next thing she realized, was the flash of a blade falling down on her.

Her hands shot up into the air, catching the blade between her hands, it's sharp edges piercing into her palmed flesh once more. Ravine's teeth gritted and she winced in pain, tossing the blade to the side and then discovering a body falling down on her.

It had been a guard, one of the train guards. Ravine looked down in horror when she saw the corpse before her, next to the door. She stared at it for a moment, horrified, for when she looked down at it, face downward, she saw cascades of blood seep from his face. She didn't dare look, but at that moment, Ravine looked up, jumped over to corpse, and started her way up the latter, carrying the sword with her that was jabbed into the corpse in one hand and using the other one to hold her balance so that she could aid herself in walking upward.

The guard must have heard someone up here, too, and decided to go take a look. Was probably caught off watch without him realizing it, and then his killer had done his thing, and tossed it down one Ravine at the moment he felt danger.

Ravine stood strongly on top of the train, looking around. They were riding in the vast country lands between Scotland and England, a beautiful place, yet no witnesses. When she turned around, she almost screamed when she noticed that a man was standing there, the same one who had tried to kill her back in Diagon Alley.

Cloth covered his smile, as the man took a step forward and pulled down the front piece of the darkened fabric, revealing a handsome yet proverbial face. This was...the man she had met while in London!

She staggered, walking backwards and away from him.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" she demanded.

The man laughed. "Don't even care who I am, do you?"

Ravine shook her head. "I don't think I've ever met you before...."

He glared, an obvious gesture of hatred. "Forgot me? Not surprised. You ruined me,' Ravine."

Her eyes shot wide. She remembered those words, that face, his voice.... The eyes were different, or were they? Ravine couldn't remember, all she saw was a vacant face staring up at her from a hundred feet up, the tower where she had tossed a kid out of.

"Grayson Vhankleal," Ravine hissed. "You should be dead."

Indeed, he was. Grayson was a classmate Ravine had when she was transferred to a school in Rome, he had once infuriated her and Ravine lost control. Her powers grew beyond her management, and she killed him. She watched him fall, he landed on his feet and broke them. For a while he couldn't walk...and he then was said to have died. Ravine was transferred from Rome to England where she would go into the school of Hogwarts, where she was supposedly safe, possibly from the Gingitsune, or so she'd concluded.

He pulled down his hood, allowing silver hair to flow down to his shoulders, and blinked with his yellow eyes. His cloak hanging along on one shoulder, held up by a round, golden pin, black pants shirt that wrapped its way from the sleeve to his fingers, so that it fitted his skin like a glove, and a gray undershirt, his dark cloak swayed gracefully in the winds behind him. Grayson laughed at her remark. "So should you," he said audaciously, his gaze turned from her and then to the sword that was gripped within her hand. "You know, it isn't a very good thing to cheat death."

"I had no choice," Ravine murmured. "Let's just say I was given a second chance without wanting one."

Grayson's teeth glittered as he smiled. "A creature like you given a second chance? Garbage. That's all is. You are merely trash that has been forgotten to be taken out, only to sit there as a nuisance and rot, slowly. You always were, the freak in the back of the room, doodling on parchment or listening to others quietly, never speaking, always took the abuse of others and sucked in your pride no matter what was said. So what was it that I had said that made you kill me?"

This isn't happening.... was all that came into Ravine's mind. She took another step back and further away from Grayson, who kept walking towards her.

"Leave me alone," she snapped.

"What're you going to do, huh?" Grayson said mockingly. "Kill me? Again? That'll go great on your karma, dear. Oh yes, everything has just been getting heated up, hasn't it? Your marching yourself back to the Gingitsune's Hinomi tower, for what? Revenge?"

Ravine didn't say anything. Yes...it was revenge that she wanted. Not just for putting her in Limbo, but for not leaving her soul alone all in all, and also for taking the lives of her guardian, Edith, her parents who were already dead.... Everyone, she was avenging their deaths as well as her own. And this time, Ravine had sworn to herself that she was going to make things right again.

"Your right," she muttered. "I am seeking revenge, but it isn't what you think. I died one day, and it was the worse feeling I've ever felt. Being speared by a sword through the chest...it wasn't as swift as yours was," she spoke with slight envy.

His yellow eyes revealed a sense of callousness. "Does that mean that you want me to just leave you alone? To just leave you be after what you have done? You, Ravine Jaxon, are a murderer, a liar, a hypocrite...and a cheat. You've cheated your way out of something that was meant to be left alone, and now given the chance for a second life, you decide to throw it all away on a meaningless revenge. Others have had their pain much worse than yours. Nothing but selfishness."

"So what?" Ravine snapped. "I know its selfish, so just leave me alone. I don't need to see your face again just to be told that I am insincere, I already know."

She brushed passed him, and that was when she had made her error, for she had forgotten that she still had the sword in her hand. Grayson made a swift movement within a hazed interchange, quicker than she could see, and the sword slipped out of her grasp. The next thing she knew, it was digging into her flesh.

Blood dripped onto the ground, and Ravine hadn't even the time to let out a simple gasp, but to fall backwards, her body declining into the air and into the gorge passing that the train had just started to make a turn across. Her feet slipped, plummeting backwards off the train, her eyes shot wide, watching as the image of Grayson started to dim away into darkness. Ravine closed her eyes, and that was when everything that had once been animate, halted.

Nothing else was heard except for the weakened pace of her heart. She opened her eyes, and saw the face she had seen within her dreams. The name slipped from her mouth as she hung in midair.

"Demara...."

A light, barely visible hand touched her face lightly, and Demara smiled.

I promised you protection, she said. And that is exactly what you are going to receive.

Protection...Ravine wasn't certain if that was exactly what she wanted. But just before everything started moving, the darkness wilted back into the coloration of the surrounding world, the train before her and the grinning face of Grayson looking down upon her as she fell endlessly, her back began to burn.

White surrounded her, the light touch of feathers, and the wound in her chest began to seal itself back up already. Ravine's hair flowed, black and white wings on either side of her flapping, sustaining her in the middle of the air. Ravine looked up, and saw Grayson's exasperated expression, his sword trembling in his hands.

She didn't know what happened after that, because everything swirled into a mass mixture of colors, and then faded into darkness as her body made a painful fall towards the earth....

4: Sin

Shifting, stirring quietly in a bed. Ravine rolled over, her eyes lightly closed, and then opened. A room, foreign, not the nicest looking of all places, but still, elegant in a contemptible way. There were rocking chairs off in the corners, and a record player on the dresser next to Ravine's bed, playing a soothing tune that repeated itself over and over.

Ravine laid there for an hour, her body shivering under a heavy set of blankets, trying to remember what happened. She knew she'd done something, something happened surely, because all that she remembered was the spilling of blood.

Whimpering lightly, Ravine pulled the covers over her face, staring at the sheets for a long while, gazing at the complex patterns within the wool fabric. Each strand picked from a life form, each design engraved from the visions of an artist, and yet what meant nothing to her meant the world to one person; the creator.

Nothing mattered to her as she laid there, not even her own life. She curled, her hands against her head, trying to bang in the memories that refused to come. Ravine wanted to scream, she wanted to run and shout and cry until she couldn't cry anymore. Her chest ached, a screaming pain that longed to be released, and a soul that wanted to meet a final end.

Ravine shook her head, shuddering, because she recalled seeing the guard, she remembered Grayson, she remembered Demara appearing to her and the black feathers that enveloped her into gloom. Undeniably, how she remembered the feathers, the wings that carried her upwards into the sky, lifting her and carrying her to safety, because Ravine's time to die hadn't arrived. Grayson's time to die hadn't, either. However, they both knew that the strings that bonded their destiny was shared.

Unforgivable sins, they've both caused; Taking the life of another. Ravine never proclaimed herself to be God, (nor would she ever want to.), she never killed with pleasure or without full regret and sadness, but there was a crevice barred into her heart that prevented her from feeling human emotions.

Stoic, she was an emotionless human being without a soul.

Lightly, she closed her eyes, yet sleep she did not find, but an immense awareness of restlessness, then realized that she started to doze off again when she heard the door open quietly. She turned and pretended to be asleep, listening in on the voices that walked into her room, and a set of footsteps came into the room, a hand over her shoulder.

"I know you've awakened, lass," said an elderly voice.

Her heart gave a jerk, and she looked up, shocked. It was an old man, around the ages between sixty and seventy, he still had dark brown hair with silver linings, the wrinkles, however, barely visible, yet enough to reveal his age range. He wore brown suspenders and a white shirt, and his eyes were a strange, burgundy hue that had a kind twinkle in them, a shine that was there to tell Ravine that this old man was trustworthy for some reason....

Ravine's eyes shifted as they opened, looking at the old man from the corner of her eye. "Who...? Where are we?"

"Excuse me," he said, taking her by her upper arm and helping her up. "Mohan Oakley, is the name. But y' can jus' call me Mohan if you'd like," he smiled cheerfully. "And you are within the rural area near Edinburgh."

"Edinburgh...." Ravine's looked out the window and saw a shimmering ocean, and the rising sun over it. "Can you tell me how to get to Melrose? I have to go and meet up with some friends there...and they're probably worrying about me right about now?" She started to walk away already, urgent to leave, when she found herself stumbling, her legs weak and her body trembling.

Mohan smiled again. "Its best to get y'self cleaned up a bit. Take a shower, its in the room out in the hall to y' left. I'll make y' some breakfast, jus' be sure y' make the shower no longer than fifteen minutes, dunwanna waste all that hot water," he then opened the door, allowing Ravine to leave first, and she did.

The cabin was nicely made up, the floor wooden yet paved with soft, fur carpet here and there in more then necessary places. To her right there was an opening to a living room and the exiting doorway, leaving off to the side another opening which was probably the kitchen, and to her own left there was the bathroom next to another bedroom, probably Mohan's. When she glanced inside of it, she saw a violin off in the corner of the room, a large, queen size bed that would be fitting for two people, yet only one side was in use....

Ravine turned and started to take her shower, leaving the cold water running and waited for it to run warm soon. In the meantime, she took a look around the bathroom, a toilet next to the shower, a sink...cabinet.... There wasn't really anything special about the bathroom, other than a rather excessively old-looking picture hung up against the wall.

A black and white photo of a younger man standing in the side with his arm wrapped around a woman who looked like she was within her mid twenties, they both shared the same age range. In between, there was a little girl, probably between her early to mid teenage years, standing in the middle with a smile of her face. She shared her parents same darkened hair, yet she was the only one who was smiling. They all stood before a theatre with the words written on it: Marionettentheater.

Ravine turned over the photo and saw that there was something written on the back.

Lübeck, Germany; 1935.

She wondered if it had been rebuilt, since the town of Lübeck was immensely bombed in the second world war, and she'd heard of the Marionettentheater, before, as well. She stared at it for a while, until she realized that there was steam seeping out of the bathtub. Ravine set down the photo on the counter again, and striped herself down, taking her shower.

The hot water burned against her skin, red fluids mixed within the waters and washed itself through the tub and into the drain, emitting from her back where the pain originated. She felt like two knives stabbed themselves into her back, screaming in pain, though Ravine had been too tired to care, she just allowed the pain to flow into her body. She looked up, watching the water pour down onto herself, thinking too much to even use the soap and hair conditioner that was displayed on the sides of the sides of the tub, wondering how she'd gotten here if she was on her way to Melrose.

Ravine sighed heavily, standing there for a while, allowing the warmth to take her into deeper thoughts, and was leaving a sense of hopefulness that Vincent and Eyrie would be in Melrose, waiting for her. Either that or they thought that she was dead. Ravine hoped not, that could cause some complications.

After a while, she turned off the water, stepping out and dried herself off, often glancing over at the photo album. There was a set of clothes on the floor that Ravine had failed to notice. A pair of jeans that was slightly oversize for her, and a black turtleneck that matched the jeans, boots were set on top. It took Ravine a while to figure out that they were her own clothes that she wore yesterday, only the holes were sewed together, and the blood had to have been washed off. Ravine picked them up and started to put them on, taking a whiff of the musty smell the house emitted from them.

The air was filled with a nice, welcoming aroma as she left the bathroom, walking over to the kitchen and saw that Mohan was making meat over a pan, tossing it into the air and making it land back down onto the metal once more. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a nod to the table.

"Breakfast will be ready. Just set y'self down right there and I'll have things served," he said, setting down the pot, and walking over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle. "Care for some Scottish Wine?"

Ravine shook her head. "Sorry. I...I don't drink," she told him.

He shrugged. "Hm, your loss," he said, getting out a shot glass from the cabinets, poured in the alcohol to the top, and instantaneously downed it. His face screwed and he turned back to her. "I don't suppose y' would like to have some wine on the venison either, would ye, lass?"

Again, she shook her head with a smile, finding his accent rather amusing. "Maybe just a little."

Mohan grinned, pleased, as he poured some more wine in his shot glass and dripped some lightly here and there on the venison that cooked over the pan. "Like y' meat medium, rare, or well done?"

"I prefer it rare, thanks."

"That's a lass," he said optimistically. "In that case, it'll be done in a sec."

And with that, he shifted the venison on a plate that was laid over the counter, handing it over to her and a fork and a knife. Ravine looked up at him, since she was rather thirsty, she wondered if he had anything else to drink.

"Only wine and whiskey here, lass," he told her.

"Ack," she said, murmuring. "Fine, I'll have some wine."

***

Ravine did as he said, she ate breakfast, and by now she wanted to head to Melrose as soon as possible, but there was something holding her back, a question that she felt like asking Mohan before she decided to leave.

"Where did you find me?" she asked after a while.

Mohan turned to her, standing behind the counter. "Eh?"

"Where did you find me?" she repeated in the same tone.

"Y' were layin' on the side of the rail road tracks, all bloodied and trampled. I managed to cover the wounds on your back, but jus' that," he sighed. "I didn' want to jus' leave a child on the side of the road, one that's near death and all."

"Oh," she looked away. "I...I see. Thanks," she then stood up. "I better be going now...."

"To where?"

"Melrose. Like I said before, I have some friends I need to see."

Mohan blinked, then walked over to his coat hanger that was displayed next to the door, and grabbed a thick, fur jacket, tossing it around him. "Then I'll drive y' there. Jus' a couple miles to the southwest, so I shouldn't worry about the drive bein' too long," he said, opening the door and walked out, and Ravine had walked out by his leave, then found herself halting when she saw something moving in the distance. Obviously Mohan had been oblivious to this and failed to realize that someone was watching them, until she heard the cling of a blade and the shimmering of metal within the rising sun.

Ravine gasped and turned to Mohan, "Get down!" she roared to the bemused old man, but he just picked up his pace as he walked into the driver's seat. May have been a better idea, as she turned and saw that a Gingitsune, apparent from the type of sword he carried, and faced the tip of its blade towards her. Their eyes met, Ravine watched as the assassin made a charge.

She jumped, literally into the air. The Gingitsune failed to penetrate her flesh even with his flashing speed rushing at her. He had failed to kill her, and will pay the decisive price, for Ravine turned, and he had done so as well, and he knew.

For a while they stood there, Mohan's voice trying to get Ravine to get in the car became inaudible, as her attention was more on the Gingitsune. He charged again, but Ravine dodged, foreseeing the blade's destination by the direction the assassin held the blade, Ravine grabbed his wrist, wrenched out the sword, and with a single slash within the air, the Gingitsune fell.

Blood was spilt, and another sin committed.