( Complete ) the meeting of two strange strangers

[seeyouinpieces]

WHO: Tira and Youji Kudou.
WHAT: Tira discovers other freaks like her, and decides to meet up with one named Youji.
WHERE: Near the jungle, then to the docks.
WHEN: Just after the sun sets.

Comments

[smokeandwires]

Youji may have been a self-admitted ladies' man, but above all else, he was a trained assassin. He wasn't going to walk blindly into a trap just for the sake of a pretty woman (never mind the fact that he had done just that not too long ago). It was always the pretty ones that proved the most deadly, after all.

She had mentioned a cafe just before the jungle, and he managed to find it without too much difficulty. He scanned the area from over the top of his shades, almost slipping into 'cautious mission mode' when he couldn't locate her.

Then, he saw a foot waving from the tree just above his head. That must have been her, sitting way up there like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Waiting to pounce, dear?"

[seeyouinpieces]

Tira was indeed a dangerous being, trained from childhood to kill and work as an assassin, but unlike Youji she didn't seem to put up defensive, cautious fronts. Instead her unstable and intense emotions just ran the show according to how it was playing out. Tira could turn absolutely vicious and cold in a matter of seconds.

The blue-haired woman laughed at that comment. "Maybe. I am a predator, you know." Tira let the ring blade slip off her ankle and she caught it in her hand as she pushed herself off the branch, landing perfectly on her feet. The raven resettled itself on her shoulder.

"Good evening, Youji." She greeted, smiling at the man. Her eyes set to work looking him over, sizing him up, thinking about all the ways in which she could kill him, or kill with him. Tira couldn't look at someone without picturing what they'd look like in death.

[smokeandwires]

Youji felt a little like he was under a magnifying glass, with the way she was inspecting him. He couldn't read her, other than that her smile could be entirely an act.

That outfit wasn't exactly practical for a killer, but it served as a handy distraction. He took a few more steps towards her and smiled back, taking off his sunglasses.

"Good evening, Tira." Her name rolled off his tongue quite nicely, he thought. "Have any fun plans for us tonight?"

[seeyouinpieces]

Perhaps it was rather quick to make such judgements, but Tira was finding that Youji was making a lovely first impression. She would enjoy the time she spent with him, no matter how it ended.

Giggling, she gently nudged the raven on her shoulder with her cheek. "Why don't you go see what else you can find, my love?" She asked the bird, who cawed loudly and spread its wings in response. With a flurry of black feathers, it took off and disappeared into the night.

"Oh, I'm sure between the two of us we can think of plenty of fun things to do! Besides, this pretty little prison of an island must have so many fantastic forms of entertainment." And if there wasn't, she was sure to create them. She smiled that little smile of hers; full of malice and glee.

[smokeandwires]

Youji watched the bird take off and raised an eyebrow. "Interesting friend you have there. You guys come from the same world, or did you meet up here?"

Shrugging off the comment he'd just made, he put one hand in his trenchcoat pocket and offered her his other arm. "I'm more than happy to follow your lead tonight, pretty girl."

[seeyouinpieces]

"Oh, the little devil came with me. Most likely on his own accord because it isn't easy to catch a raven, especially without getting your eyes pecked out!" She giggled at the mental image. "But, someone did hurt his left leg." And suddenly her giggles ceased, her eyes shone with hatred and malice, and her following words were dipped in poison, "And as soon as I find the dirty bastard who did it, I'll rip him apart piece by piece until he stops screaming."

Tira watched as Youji offered her his arm, considering slicing it off for a second, before her dark expression vanished and her smile reappeared. Putting the ring blade on her shoulder opposite to Youji, Tira latched on to the man's arm. "Waiii, how adorable~!" She exclaimed excitedly. "I'm curious about this jungle we have here. I wonder how many cute, malicious beasts it has~"

[smokeandwires]

Youji tried to make the best of it. "Well, he's lucky to have an owner who cares about him so much."

He cast a look towards the jungle. "You sayin' you want to go exploring? I don't know if the jungle kitty's ready for us yet." He winked at her, trying to hint her towards a restaurant. "Or we could hang out on the beach. Maybe catch a sea monster or two."

[seeyouinpieces]

"Owner?" She echoed. Tira had never really worded it that way before. Back home she was always accompanied by a flock of ravens -- that one was just one of many. "He just follows me, like the others."

She pouted at first, but upon hearing the word 'sea monster', was right back to being excited again. "There are sea monsters here~?" She asked, eyes almost sparkling with delight.

There was just something about big, deadly and dangerous that attracted Tira.

[smokeandwires]

"Sure," he said, although he had been doubtful of such a thing himself. "I've heard it from a number of people. Snake-kinda things."

They had stopped walking for a second and he looked down at her. She was a tiny thing compared to him, but he knew that she had to be packing some kind of power, especially with that blade. "Come to think of it, if we find any, I could use some exercise.

Do you want to go?"

[seeyouinpieces]

Tira still held onto his arm almost endearingly, seeming to find another's company quite an interesting thing. And these sea monsters Youji was talking about? Even moreso. The woman simply loved monsters.

"I would love to, Youji~!" Now she was also excited at the prospect of seeing what Youji was capable of. It was fun to have friends with common interests!

[smokeandwires]

It was something of a walk to the beach from here, so Youji tried to make small talk as they walked. "What's your world like, Tira?" he asked. "The place you come from? Anything like here?"

He didn't know if she would care about him, but he offered nonetheless. "My world's a lot more... modern, I guess, than this. Big city, none of this quaint seaside village stuff. It's a little hard to get used to."

[seeyouinpieces]

Hearing Rivelata be called another world as opposed to another country was still something Tira was wrapping her head around. "It sort of looks like the near future." She replied, thinking of her 15th century homeland.

It was true that Tira didn't always care about other people's histories and skills, but she made exceptions for people she liked. And seeing as Youji was still alive and unharmed at this point? Yeah, she definitely liked him. "Hmm, don't really know what you mean. Does it have monsters, or people like me and my master in it~?"

[smokeandwires]

Hmm, so it seemed that this girl was from some time in the past. Youji wondered how many other people that applied to here.

She was still clinging to his arm and didn't look like she wanted to kill him, so he kept on smiling at her. "Well, I guess I'm just used to having more technology. And we've fought monsters before, but they were more... victims of science." Man, that had been a long time ago. "Remember how I told you I know a guy who's into the same things as you? He's from my world, too."

[seeyouinpieces]

"Victims of science." She echoed, more of an out loud thought than a question. "Sounds nasty." Somehow, the way her voice sounded when she said that matched delight more than it matched disgust.

"Is he now?" Tira asked, interested. "Your homeland sounds like it has many wonderful people." It was most definitely a delightful idea -- but in the back of her mind there was a voice whispering of her jealousy. She had only found one person back home... "Is that general from your world as well? Cross Marian, the man who started that pretty little bloodbath at the ball." Tira had taken a bit of a liking to that man when he spoke to her over the journal.

[smokeandwires]

Youji shook his head, feeling a flare of irritation at bringing another man into the discussion, especially one as seemingly flirtatious as Cross. "No, never met the guy before I got here. Why, you like him?" '...More than me?' was the implied question.

They were nearing the sea; Youji could smell the tang of salt in the air. "Almost there. Hope there's still some monsters left, I hate disappointing a lady."

[seeyouinpieces]

Tira hadn't thought about the fact that she might cause some irritation at mentioning another man, but now that she picked up on the implied question that hung in the air, a wicked grin spread across her face. "Why should that matter? Are you jealous, Youji?" The blue-haired woman giggled. How cute! "He started a bloodbath, but he didn't come meet little lost me and promise to show me the sea monsters, now did he?"

In other words, Youji was looking more promising to her than Cross. Tira giggled again. "I hope they're still there too. It would be ever so interesting to see how dark their blood is!"