The Road

Claire walked down the long cobblestone road. She'd been following it for a while, not sure of where it was taking her. It was early morning, the clouds covering the sky, turning it grey. Some sunlight broke through the blanket of clouds, making the day feel a little less lonely. A slight breeze came every now and then, sending a light chill through Claire. Along the side of the road were small blackberry bushes. Claire still couldn't see the end of the road, which was starting to bother her.

She looked around while walking, trying to see if there was anything new in her surroundings. Sadly everything was still the same. Claire sighed and walked faster, wanting to meet the end of the road soon, if it didn't go on forever. Finally the scenery changed, and a huge manor stood in front of her. She stopped and stared at the building, fascinated by it and the eerie feeling that came from its appearance. Claire knew she should probably leave, since she was on someone’s property. But still she continued to gawk at the stunning home.

(If I may ^^)



A head of silver hair poked up in front of this woman. It was hiding behind a bush nearby and was turned toward the large mansion. The bush moved around, shaking as if wind was blowing through it, and the head of silver hair grew until a face was shown. It looked like a 15 year old with a slightly larger than normal stature.

His silver hair was abous shoulder length, if a bit longer than that, his hands were placed on the top of the bush, as if holding himself up in it, on his face, his eyes were blinking, and until they stopped, one couldn't get a close look at the man's face.

Finally they did, and it showed a deep crimsion with animal like slits where his pupils should be. He brought on of his hands up and scratched his head, with a strange look on his face. He didn't seem to have noticed the woman behind him.

"... Must have taken a wrong turn by that big tree..." A flashback in his head showed a Chibi of the man walking stiffly through the forest, his arms swinging very wide and his body leaned back slightly. He stopped near a big tree and had small question marks floating over his head. He looked left and right, then turned left and vanished.

"...I'm going crazy... Then again, being in the Abyss for about a month will do that to you... or is it 300 years...?" He blinked and sighed. "No idea... wait... Damnit I am crazy!!" He yelled, then covored his mouth, looking panickedly to his right and left, to make sure he didn't alert anyone to his presence. He still failed to notice Claire...

(Sure. ^^)

While Claire stared at the manor, a man with silver hair stood up from behind a bush not far from her. She became alarmed at first, for the man's appearance scared her, especially his eyes. She watched him stand up, thinking that he had noticed her. But the man instead began to look confused and started talking to himself. Claire began to believe he was not as much as a threat as she first thought. He seemed to be thinking and she figured that it would be best to leave him alone. She started to inch away, until she heard him say something about the Abyss.

"He knows about the Abyss?" She thought to herself, "Had he really been trapped there?"Claire heard the man yell, and her heart jumped. She stared at him, and realized he still had not noticed her. Now he looked as startled as her, as he looked around quickly. She took a few steps forward, now curious, unsure if she should bother him.

Narora sighed as he cleared himself of his panic. "That was close..." He said out loud to himself.

He smelt a sent though. A side effect of being a chain, it obviously increased ones senses. It smelt slightly of... perfume?

He blinked and looked around again, this time slower. He eventually looked behind himself and almost yelled in surprise at seeing the woman, Claire, behind him. His eyes got slightly bigger, and began blinking. He made a slight grunt and sighed. He looked up, regret and sadness in his eyes. "Guess I got caught huh?" He asked her, a nervous smile on his face, his eyes closed, and scratching the back of his head.

He really hadn't planed on being caught. He came to train his Jigen Undo in the mansion, dodging whatever came his way, only to be caught by a female guard...

This was a guard right? She didn't look like one...

This thought struck him and he blinked more. Then he pointed at her with a tilt of his head, his eyes slightly bigger than normal. "You... are a guard right?" He asked quietly.

The man turned around and Claire watched as his expression of surprise saddened. She felt bad for upsetting him, and started wondering if she should have left earlier."Guess I got caught huh?" The man smiled at her, though it looked nervous"You...are a guard right?" Claire stared at him, surprised. She had thought he had caught her.

"No...I'm not." She said to the man. Nervously she asked him, "Do you live here?"

"NO....I'm not." After hearing this statement, Narora's face bowed in relef at not being caught, but paused at her question of him living in the large mansion behind him/in front of her.

He shook his head, a small smile on his face. [color=red]"No, I don't live here. Chains don't live in such fancy houses."[color] He proclaimed, pointing at himself at the word chain. "The only home I've ever had are the ones I broke into, were invited into, or was a tree or cave in the wildlife." He said, a grin on his face and his eyes closed.

Hearing the man say he was a chain made her eyes widen slightly. He's a Chain? She hoped he hadn't noticed her surprise. At least I didn't get caught yet. Claire pulled a piece of hair out of her face. Even though he was a chain, she understood the way he lived. They were both alike in that way, she never had a real home. "I understand. I've lived on the streets for five years now."

Claire looked at the man, curious about what he was doing in a place like this, if he didn't live there. Well it's not like I'm supposed to be here anyway. Instead she asked, "If I may ask, what's your name?"

Narora grinned, glad to meet a fellow 'street liver' as he called them. He tilted his head a bit, his silver hair falling into his face. He moved his head back into it's upright position and the hair moved away again.

"If I may ask, what's your name?" Was the question he heard her ask. He smiled warmly, and stuck his hand out to her in a friendly manner. "Sorry about that, I never can seem to remember my manners..." He trailed off, his other hand scratching the back of his head, a nervous smile on his face. "Name's Senoku Narora! At your acquaintance. And if I may ask in return, who are you?" He stated, then asked her back in return for his name.

The man outstretched his hand to Claire. After apologizing for his lack of manners he said to her, "Name's Senoku Narora! At your acquaintance." When he asked for her name in return, she hesitated. She hadn't had a conversation like this in a long time, even longer since she had told anyone her name. But then again, no one had been this open or friendly with her either. Narora was smiling at her, and she decided that she'd tell him.

"Nice to meet you, Narora. My name...is Claire." She reached out and took his hand, feeling a little awkward at first, but then relaxing. There was no reason to make Narora feel awkward, if he didn't already after their unexpected meeting. "Um, was I interupting you earlier?" she asked him, hoping she hadn't kept him away from anything.

Narora grinned wider as he heard her name, though it was quite an unusual name. It had been a while sense he had met someone with the name 'Claire'.

'Then again... My name is more unusual...' With that thought, he tossed the subject to the side.

"Um, was I interrupting you earlier?" he heard her ask, and thought about it for a second. He snapped his fingers, as if he had had a great idea. He pointed one finger to the air and smiled with closed eyes. "No, not really." He began, ""I actually came to train my Jigen Undo, but it looks like the door is shut and locked." Even in broad daylight, it was locked. Kinda strange...

Then he turned around and leaned forward a bit, pushing his face closer to Claire's. "And if I may ask, what are you doing here?" He tilted his head to the left, more silver hair moving into his face.

As Narora explained what he was doing, Claire listened intently. "I actually came to train my Jigen Undo, but it looks like the door is shut and locked." What is Jigen Undo? Claire wondered. Is he trying to sneak in? Narora leaned his face closer to Claire's. "And if I may ask, what are you doing here?" The question should have been expected, but it wasn't. Claire figured that he wouldn't run off and say anything, so she told him. Though she still was a little nervous about this whole conversation.

"I was walking around and saw this road. I wanted to know where it ended so I followed it. It turns out that it led me to here." She tucked a piece of her black hair behind her ear, then looked once again at the manor. "I wonder who lives here. It's an amazing looking building."

Narora nodded at this and turned to look at the mansion as well. "Hmm... well to my knowledge." He suddenly pulled out a book from... somewhere... and began to flip through pages, a pair of glasses finding their way onto his face as he pulled the book out, also out of nowhere...

He stopped on a page and pointed at a name. "The Nightray family. Hmm... never heard of them." He closed the book with a snap, and put it back into his pocket, but it seemed to vanish, as did his glasses when the camera looked away.

(Seeing as this is 3rd person, there has to be something to explain what's watching them, thus the 'Camera')

He crossed his arms. "Hmm... well I guess I could try the door... be right back." He said, turning to her. He turned toward the door and closed his eyes in concentration, his mouth in a slight frown.

A strange pressure settled over the area, but it was very light, it was noticeable, but not overbearing, it's source seemed to be Narora.

Claire's eyes widened as Narora pulled out a book from what looked like thin air. He flipped through the pages and a pair of glasses appeared on his face. He harldy seemed to notice these strange events, or perhaps he was too used to them to care. However this was not something Claire saw everyday, and it caused her to stare in astonishment. After flipping through the pages of his book for a few moments, Narora stopped and placed his finger on a page. "The Nightray family. Hmm... never heard of them." He said as he read the name. Then he closed the book and went to put it in his pocket. Claire blinked once and when she saw Narora again, both mysterious items were gone.

Claire thought she should say something, but wasn't sure what. Narora unknowingly saved her from speaking when he said to her, "Hmm... well I guess I could try the door... be right back." He turned away from her and suddenly a light pressure fell onto Claire. It was all around her, though it harmed nothing. She glanced over a Narora, who was still turned away from her and facing the direction of the door. Is he doing this? she wondered, and stood quietly watching Narora.

Narora's eyes remained closed as he concentraited. The path was laid out before him. He could see the path leading to the door. He hated having to wait this long to activate Jigen Undo, but it had to be done. He hadn't quite mastered it yet.

He was mostly doing this so he could get to the door without being seen by any guards that might be around, and partly to show off... He hadn't really had anyone to display his powers to in quite some time...

His eyes snapped open, gone was the playful look, replaced by that of a strong willed young man, and they seemed slightly colder.

The pressure around the area suddenly skyrocketed, only for a moment, and when it vanished, so did he. Gone, like the wind.

He appeared again by the door of the mansion, panting very lightly, his eyes still slightly more cold, he took a deep breath, and they were back to normal. He looked over at Claire, after checking around himself to make sure he wasn't spotted, and waited for her to notice him waving slightly at her, so as not to disturb any unseen eyes.

Narora hadn't moved from his position, and Claire was starting to worry. What could he be up to? She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, trying to stand still and not bother him. She leaned to the side, trying to see his face. Narora's eyes were shut, and he stood completely still. Then suddenly his eyes flew open, and revealed a slightly colder looking man. Claire leaned back, and felt the pressure rise up quickly. For a moment the pressure felt unbearable, but then it was gone, like it had never been there before. There was only one problem; Narora had disappeared too.

Claire looked from side to side, trying to find him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of color, and looked over towards the door. Narora stood there, slightly waving at her. Claire nodded slightly, then slowly started over to the door, incase Narora wanted her to stop. She could have easily walked out of the situation, seeing as it looked like she was about to break into someone's home, but instead chose to follow Narora, for reasons she wasn't sure of.

When Naruto gave a signal that all was clear, He turned from Claire to observe the door. It was large, but not one you would normally see on a mansion. It was a simple wooden door with golden handles. It towered at almost 11 feet, and seemed to have a complicated lock on it.

He scratched his head in thought, trying to think of the best way to do this.

'Damn, if I actually had taken the time to learn seals, I might be able to break this in a snap. But I just had to dedicate it all to Jigen Undo...' He thought, his right eye twitching.

'How am I going to do this...?' He drawled out in thought. He took a glance around, making sure that there was now guard and almost froze up when he saw one walking near the door.

He quickly turned back to Claire, who was walking past one of the larger bushes and signed to her a guard was walking their way, seeing as she was only a few feet from the door. He quickly crouched down and listened to the guard's feet crunching the ground.

'Damn!' He thought, his eyes narrowing again, becoming cold once more, brow furrowed in thought. 'Way I see it, I have two options... First, fight the guard and knock him out, but that could make him wake up earlier, and if we aren't gone by then, we're screwed, 'cause he'll tell the others... Or I could kill him...' The second option made his eyes become slightly warmer, before darkening again.

He really didn't like the prospect of killing for no good reason. He had actually made an effort to kill as little as possible. But he didn't want to endanger Claire with his acts.

''Then again... I might not have a choice...' He gave an apologetic glance to Claire, and his hand flew into his jacket, grabbing hold of Sorrow, his gun.

Claire saw Narora give her an 'all clear' signal, and began to walk at a normal pace. As she came closer, she took notice of the unusual door. It wasn't fancy at all, like she'd expected it to be. The door was wooden with golden handles, and very simple. Narora looked like he was examining a lock on it. He looked up from it and his face changed quickly. He turned back to Claire and made a motion with his hands, and she knew their was a guard close by. She saw a large bush on her right, and dove behind it. She crouched down and peeked out from the side.

Narora looked deep in though, most likely weighing his options. Then he looked at her in an apoligizing way and reached into his jacket. Claire caught a glimpse of a gun, and knew what he was going to do. She never had killed anyone, but what choice did they have? If they knocked out the guard he'd wake up and tell the other ones. Claire reached into her pocket and grasped her knife, Rose Thorn. If Narora needed help, she'd have to jump in. She looked at Narora and gave him a sad nod, telling him she understood. I hope this ends quickly.

Narora saw Claire's nod, and turned back to the guard. He counted down with his fingers to her. The guard inched ever closer

'3' He counted with his fingers, three of them held up. The guard's foot steps came into hearing distance. He had to be close.

'2' One of his fingers fell, the middle of the count. The guard was now close enough to distinguish his distance, which was roughly about 10 feet away from them. Narora pulled out Sorrow, the gun began to gather the energy into it's chamber, both Narora's and what was around itself.

'1' Another finger fell, the last one was up. The gun stopped gathering energy, and calmed down. Narora glanced at it to find a normal bullet, with a slight poisoning effect in it from the nature around them.

'0' All fingers fell and Narora took aim. He fired, but cursed when the guard seemed to know they were their, or just from dumb luck, and dodged it. Maybe his gun reflected light in the guards eyes? Narora looked at the sky before looking back at the guard. It was possible, the sky was clear...

His gun once again gathered energy, the same shot was there. Just for safe measure, his hand fell on Harvester's hilt, ready to draw should the guard have one as well, or a weapon like it.

Narora held up three fingers, starting a countdown. Claire couldn't see the guard from her position, or see the path he was coming from. She'd have to rely on Narora's signal and her own ears. Claire could now hear the guard's footsteps. Narora dropped a finger, now holding up the number two. He reached into his jacket with his free hand and pulled out a gun. Claire didn't need to listen hard to hear the guard coming now. She gripped her knife as Narora dropped another finger, leaving one remaining. She saw Narora glance down at his gun, and then look back up. She looked out a little farther, and could surprisingly see the guard. Narora dropped the last remaining finger, and Claire watched him take aim and fire. The guard, however, dodged the bullet and Claire knew they had been noticed.


Damn, this isn't good. Claire glanced at Narora who was now gripping the hilt of a weapon, though she couldn't make out what it was. There was no use sitting there and doing nothing. She glanced at Narora, and then crawled to the other side of the bush. She positioned herself so she could easily get behind the guard. Then when he looked to the side she jumped out, aiming for the guard's back. But the guard spun around, sword in hand. He blocked her attack and Claire's green eyes flashed. She jumped back a few feet, silently cursing at the guard's level of skill.

Narora watched as Claire jumped out of her hiding place and faced the guard. He was about to charge in, but thought again, and grinned.

'That's a great idea!' He began to charge the guard from behind, being as silent as possible. His left hand pulled out his Daito, Harvester, from its sheath, it's black blade glinting in the light, it had no guard, and had a black chain hanging from it's hilt. But he wasn't done.

He suddenly slammed Sorrow and Harvester together, at the hilts. They began to glow a bright white, then changed shape. Narora's cold eyes had now changed to a white color, but it was dark enough to distinguish them from the sceldra of his eye, as they were still white.

He flung his hand to the side as he was half way there, and the light over the weapon vanished, revealing a scythe about twice as long as he was. It was pure white, the complete opposite color of his gun and sword, and it seemed to have the chain that hung at the end of Harvester, but it also was white.

He grinned as he neared the guard and swung his scythe, making sure that it wouldn't hit Claire, all he needed was a few seconds, and the guard's head would be rolling on the ground.

He always had gone slightly insane using this... maybe it was Chain instincts making him more bloodthirsty...? Or he was insane... that was defiantly a possibility.

One moment Claire was glaring at the guard and the next his head had been sliced clean off. His body fell to the ground, revealing Narora with a huge white scythe in hand. His eyes had changed; this time they were white and cold. He looked a little crazy, and Claire took a step back just to be sure. Her eyes found their way to the guard's decapitated body lying on the ground.

Suddenly Claire's head began to hurt, almost like a migrane. It became worse, and she put her left hand on her head. Everything became a blur and she heard voices that weren't there in reality. The voices changed to a terrifying sound. They were...screams? For a moment, everything slipped away. All Claire could hear were those screams. It was terrifying and painful for her to hear.

What's happening to me? Where are these screams coming from? Claire thought she might lose it, but then everything stopped, and the voices were gone. The silence sounded strange to her for a minute, and she continued to hold her head until the pain faded away.

Narora's breath was slightly labored, and had a slight hiss to it, his eyes were still white and lifeless, he put the scythe down from it's position in the air, and took a step back, placing his free, left, hand onto his face and staring at the ground.

'...Focus... Focus...' His eyes slowly turned red again, gaining warmth and life. The scythe in his hands bled black slowly, and broke in half, the two halves becoming Sorrow and Harvester on the ground.

Narora's breath was still labored, but didn't have the low hiss to it anymore, he didn't have an aura of death either, his bloodlust gone. He lifted his head in the air, his eyes half closed and glazed over. After a few seconds, he let out a light cough, then threw hid head down, his hand over his mouth and coughed much harder.

He closed his eyes and coughed less hard, and took his hand away to look. His hand was covered in blood, and his mouth had a slight blood trail coming from it's right side.

'What's....this...?' He thought, eyes slightly wide, 'This... never happened before...' his eyes followed a drop of blood hit the ground, turning a few blades of grass crimson.

Once the pain she had felt in her head was gone, Claire looked away from the ground. She removed her hand from her head, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She'd seen people die before, it was more common on the streets than you might think. Why had this event caused those screams? What exactly were they, anyway? For the first time she realized she was shaking. Claire couldn't deny it; she was more frightened then ever.

She heard A violent cough, and looked just in time to see blood fall from Narora's mouth. He was leaning over, his hand pressed to his mouth, watching the blood stain the green grass. Claire rushed over, surprising herself. Usually she wasn't like this with strangers. She reached out and gentely placed a hand in his shoulder. "Narora?" she questioned, knowing he wasn't all right.

Narora glanced over, seeing her okay, now that what ever had happened to her had passed. He put on a smile, a forced smile, but a smile, and patted her shoulder.

"I'm fine. What about you? You okay?" He asked her, his other, bloody hand wiping the blood on his pants. It also came up to wipe away the blood on his mouth.

Whatever had happened, had never happened before. It couldn't possibly be old age, he was still at least 700 years too young to experience the end of his extended, chain life. But during his coughing fit, he had seen Claire gripping her head in pain, though he could see nor hear nothing, something else might have been happening.

Narora smiled, though it wasn't the same as before, and patted her shoulder. "I'm fine. What about you? You okay?" Claire considered telling him, but decided against it. Why worry him with something she couldn't even explain? She nodded her head. "It's nothing, I'm fine."

Realizing she had been clutching her knife this whole time, she placed it back in her pocket, sheathing it. She turned in the direction of the dead guard, but made sure not to look at his body.There was no telling what would happen if she saw it again, and Claire wasn't taking any chances,at least not yet.  Instead she looked at a tree in the distance. "We should get rid of the body." she suggested. "If someone sees it we're done for."