Where the Shadows Lie

Hangovers and Blood

Rain. I can remember the rain at least. Rain everywhere. And her face, as pale as the moon and just as beautiful. Our words have faded but that pain doesn't end, and it never truly goes away. I'm thankful at least, that in the rain I couldn't see her tears.....and that she couldn't see mine.
~~~~~
Bang! The man lifted his head slowly from the table he was resting on. "Wake the hell up! It's time to close ya damn drunk." An older man said. "What the hell. What time is it?" He said while yawning. The old bar keep sighed, "Time to leave! Dammit V, I tell you every other day." The man, now identified as just V, starts to stretch while raising his head. "How late is it, Kenji?" He asks the older man. "Its dark out. Late enough for ya? Now get the hell out, I'm tired and I wanna go home." Kenji replied, raising a broom threateningly. V raised his hands in surrender before getting out of his chair.

V stood tall, around six foot two or so, with long dark hair tied messily atop his head. His face held a long thin scar across its left side and his eyes were sea green. He was quite handsome and fairly young looking. He wore darkened armor that looked like a hybrid of Eastern and European armors, with a black hooded cloak. His left arm was bare from the elbow down, with chainmail and plate metal on the upper half. The right arm was covered fully with plate metal armor and ended in a clawed gauntlet. Beside him, sat a long slender object covered in black velvet.

Kenji eyed the object before saying "And make sure you don't forget that thing. They've caused enough troubles here in the past." V's face turned to a solemn one as he replied "Yeah. They do, don't they. But its helped me more times than its hurt." He grabbed it and started towards the door. "See ya later Kenji. I'll try not to stay too late next time." He said with a smile. "Yeah, yeah. Just go kid." He said as he started sweeping. "Damn soul reapers." He muttered. Ex soul reaper Kenji, ex. V thought to himself as he opened the door.

To his surprise, it wasn't dark outside like the old man had said, but instead was quite bright. "What the hell." He muttered. "Maybe its that old man's idea of a joke, or he's just tired of me." V turned around to open the doors, he had some words for that old geezer, but the door wouldn't budge. "The fuck. It's locked." He said. "He doesn't close until 3 am. Sigh guess I'm going elsewhere to drink." V turned around and huffed. The market place around the pub was usually busy around this time, but today it was deathly quiet. That's strange. Where the hell is everyone. He thought to himself.

From the corner of his eye, V saw a shining object. Instinctively he moved to his left, as a metal dart sunk itself into the wooden post of the bar. "Shit." He said. Another dart missed his face by an inch as it hit the wall and another hit by his foot. "Well well well. Look what we got here boys. Looks like the real deal to me." A loud and booming voice said from a distance. Not soul reapers. Barely any spiritual pressure from whoever these fools are. About eight fools to be exact. V thought to himself as he took cover behind and empty fruit stand. What the hell have I gotten into now? V pulled himself into a low crouch, that way he could move quickly if they advanced on him.

A dart sunk into the dirt next to the stall. They knew where he was. Where the hell are you hiding, I can't find you with this small amount of spiritual pressure. It was as if they didn't exist, hidden from the senses, mind and sight. "Come out V. We just wanna talk, this doesn't have to get bloody." The voice said. Yeah right, and get an arrow in my face, no thanks. "I think I'm fine where I'm at, but uh, you boys can come out if you'd like." V replied. A booming laugh echoed through the air, "That's funny V. We aren't so dumb as to do that. Now I'm pretty sure you know why we're here don't you." V sighed. "Lemme guess. Bounty hunters? How much has it gone up now, few thousand more? Ten thousand?" The man laughed again. "Try two hundred thousand." V was correct, bounty hunters, and scummy ambushing ones at that.