To Capture a Deity

[Moonlight]

Two hours ... Well, Garret usually never called until nightfall or in the early hours of dawn. And it was barely past noon. She nodded, offering a small smile. "It'd be nice. I'll be looking forward to seeing you later, then," Kitty said with a nod to the blonde, reaching down to pet Sagira. Her companion seemed quite at home with Inazuma as company, and was all but shoulder to shoulder with the thunder lion now. It was a bit startling, but also heartwarming coming from her protective lioness. "Heh, you'll see him later, Sagira. Don't worry," the young woman assured her friend as the persian looked up.

Sagira offered a meow to her, before rubbing her jeweled head against Kitty's leg. A loud purr was audible.

Kitty's smile widened, stroking Sagira again before reaching over. Gently running a hand down the small luxray's back, small sparks dancing up on its dark pelt. Was he intimidated? "Its all right, I'm not going to hurt you. But I do appreciate you being Sagira's friend, little one. We all need a helping hand or paw once and a while."

[Sabaku No Akaiame]

The blonde smiled as Inazuma relaxed slightly, enough for Kitty to pet him a little longer before he shivered and ran back behind his master's legs.

"Alright. Seeya then, Kitty." the younger teen smiled and turned, running off as fas as he could.

His smile fell as soon as he was out of sight. Inazuma was keeping up with him, purring slightly, and the assassin's only consolation at the moment was that Inazuma had finally received affection from someone else than him.

The two reached an alley pretty quickly and the blonde grabbed his Pokemon around the chest, carrying him as he started climbing the small building next to him. The rocks were pretty misplaced so it was pretty easy for him to get up, although it was still pretty tiring for him. He put Inazuma down as he crouched low, watching.

His target would be here any moment.

His hand went to his pouch, pulling out a knife as he spotted someone coming through the alley. His target.

He took a deep breath and froze, his Pokemon crouching low next to him, ready to back him up.

The two waited in silence until their target was right below them...

And then, the assassin jumped off, swooping down and landing directly on the woman, pinning her down to the cold stone ground with a knife to her throat.

[Zorayda]

The young woman flipped her crazy purple hair and sighed.

"I think we're lost," she moaned pathetically. Her Pokemon companion looked at her and whined softly. Zorayda, as was this woman's name, sat down next to her eevee. The eevee had been with Zorayda since she was a young pup, and had grown up with her mistress. In recent events, Zorayda had decided to become a trainer and leave her mark on the world. Whatever that was going to be.

"Eeve, d'you think we'll ever figure out where the tournaments are being held?" The short and curvy woman scratched behind her companion's ears, just the way she liked it. "Maybe...maybe that way?" Zorayda queried, looking to her left and under a bridge. "O-or...um..."

Eeve barked sharply at her mistress, looking stern. The woman jumped, her pink high-heeled boots scuffing the pavement.

Zorayda sighed, patting the eevee atop her head. "You're right...I need to make a decision and stick with it. None of this namby-pamby nonsense..."

The violet-tressed girl leapt up with renewed vigor. "All right! We'll go this way!" and she began walking forward steadily. Eeve yapped happily and trotted up along beside her mistress.

Zorayda had barely stepped under the bridge when her eevee suddenly stopped short and looked startled.

"Eeve, whassamatter? What is--" The young woman's words were cut off when a body suddenly landed on her, flattening her to the ground and causing her to scuff and badly bruise her palms.

"What the hell is wrong--" but she didn't get to finish her sentence, because a knife flashed at her throat. Eeve looked startled for a moment and stared at her owner in shock.

"D-don't...please don't kill me..." Zorayda breathed, and her heart felt like it was enveloped in ice.

Then a sharp and terrible snarl filled the air and Eeve leapt at the attacker's head, fangs bared and claws at the ready.

[Sabaku No Akaiame]

"Inazuma." the assassin called gently, staring down at the frightened woman below him.

Even before the Eevee behind him reached him, a bolt of lightning flew through the air and struck the poor thing, making it cry out and drop. The Luxray appeared next to it in the following second, gently poking it with his paw to make sure it had fainted.

"I'm sorry..." the blonde finally sighed sadly. "I really don't wanna do this..." he tightened his grip on his weapon, convicing himself that it wasn't such a bad thing after all. He was eliminating a threat to his boss, right?

Then again, he couldn't see how the innocent-looking woman was a threat at all.

He reluctantly gave in and turned his pained gaze to the woman's eyes. His eyes widened as he saw the glistening tears massed on the corners of her eyes. They made him feel like crying too.

Why? Why was he suddenly feeling this way? He'd killed so easily before... Was it because he had no clue what this woman had done wrong? It was her right to live, what kind of authority did he have over her death?

"I..." his chest felt tight and his grip loosened as the woman took a shuddering, terrified breath. "I... Can't..." his throat felt dry as he raised his knife over the girl's head and brought it down, scratching her cheek and making blood drop.

Like a reflex, his finger went to the blood, and he roughly grabbed her hand, inscribing his name in her blood on her forearm. She simply watched, terrified, as he finished up and left his name dripping all over her arm.

Once done, he quickly got up and jumped back to Inazuma's side.

"I can't do it, Inazuma." he whispered. "I can't."

And as if on accord, the assassin and his Pokemon disappeared, leaving the shocked woman lying alone on the cold stone alley.

[Zorayda]

Zorayda squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the blade of her soon-to-be killer's knife bite into the soft flesh of her throat. She felt as two hot tears escaped from her eyes, but suddenly her mind cleared and her breathing evened out. This was it. This was her last moment...

She heard her eevee yelp suddenly in pain and her eyes snapped open to see her Pokemon fall to the ground, barely conscious. The acrid smell of burning fur filled the air and Zorayda suddenly felt terrified that her precious companion would be left to die alone. No, don't kill Eeve, she prayed frantically.

And then her attacker turned her so that she was looking at his face. Her first thought was that this person was extremely young. Her second thought was of confusion...why hadn't he killed her yet? In fact, what had she done to warrant such behavior...?

There was a strange, indecisive look in his eyes, and as they stared at each other, she could see his resolve wavering. Her eyes followed his hand as he raised the knife, but she somehow knew that he wouldn't kill her. She barely blinked when the blade cut her face...a scar that would remind her of her mortality from now on.

She would also remember the innocent, confused look on the boy's face as long as she lived. She watched, flinching slightly at the touch, as he drew his mark upon her arm with her own blood. Red Rain. Red Rain...a name she'd heard somewhere before. A name associated with terror and horrible deeds...

And he left her lying there with her fainted eevee. He had failed to kill her, which was obviously what he was going to do in the first place...

Zorayda crawled to her Pokemon weakly, her purple hair spilling into her face and eyes.

"Eeve, Eeve..." she moaned faintly. She couldn't get up to walk because her knees trembled far too much. Zorayda felt like she could lie there and cry forever...

Her fingers fumbled in her bag and pulled out the item she needed. "Oh, wake up, wake up..." the young woman opened her companion's mouth and shoved a revive pill down Eeve's throat and waited.

"E...eev..." The eevee's eyes fluttered open and she turned her head straight to her master. Eeve's tail thumped feebly upon the cold stone in relief--her mistress was still alive...

Zorayda's face crumpled into a sob as she gathered the little fox Pokemon into her arms, sobbing into her beautiful gray fur. Eeve whimpered and licked the suddenly flowing tears away from her owner's crystal blue eyes.

"I was so scared...so scared..."

[Moonlight]

Ian and Sagira padded alongside their mistress at a casual pace, easily keeping up with her leisurely stroll. While the much smaller fennec pokemon was trotting, the Classy Cat beside him seemed to take on a lazy yet graceful stride that all but say 'Yes, I'm small, but don't mess with me'. Kitty chuckled slightly, glancing up at the sky as they walked through the city again. Her companions were obviously hungry after battling so hard, three matches in a row. So it was only fair to treat them. Having an hour to get back to the Battle Grid, they'd have plenty of time.

She paused as they started to pass an alleyway, noticing the unmistakable sounds of raw sobs. Ian's ears immediately pricked forward, the normally shy eevee's reaction to immediately run towards the sounds. Only to have Sagira lift him off the ground by his fluffy nape, wary of a trap. And in their line of work - International thieves - she had every reason to be. Sagira's claws slowly extended as she set Ian down again, making sure that the tom didn't run past her while she investigated.

The young woman gently set her hand on the persian's head to calm her, before also moving forward. The heels of her boots clicked slightly on the dirty cement, shadows creeping across the cool alley from the midday sun. Sheltering those inside it from sight. But it only took Kitty's eyes moments to adjust, long accustomed to traveling in the dark. But the small pool of blood caused her to stop short. A feminine figure was curled up on the filth-ridden stone, trembling harshly.

Kitty hesitated, before slowly moving forward. "Hey ... Are you all right?" she asked gently, kneeling beside the young woman. Placing a hand over the gash on her arm, applying pressure to slow the bleeding. Warm blood continued to stain her palm as she waited for an answer, nodding to Sagira and Ian. Both the Classy Cat and the Mutant Pokemon knew what it meant, that she was allowing them to come closer.

Sagira circled around to the woman's side, where she was facing, and laid down next to her. A soft, rumbling purr was audible from the small persian as she gently nuzzled the battered pair - Ian crawling between Sagira and the other battered eevee. The smell of singed fur was apparent enough, filling the air around them. But Ian simply snuggled down between the three of them, grooming the charred bits from the female eevee that the woman was holding. The motion appeared to be soothing, as the eevee itself soon slowed in its trembling.

"... What happened?"

[Sabaku No Akaiame]

A leaf dropped from the tree above, swaying down gently until it hit the water in the pond below it. The slight movement made a ripple in the water, slightly deforming the face of the blonde who was staring at his reflection.

He pulled his knees closer to his chest as a breeze flew by, making shivers run across his exposed skin. His very small Luxray was lying next to him, looking up at his master worriedly.

"I can't face him now... Even less than before..." he whispered wearily. The blood from his earlier attempt was still on his hands, dried under his fingernails, and he was too lost in though to even bother washing it out.

Inazuma cried out softly and swished his tail across his master's exposed leg, trying to comfort him.

"I ran away... And now failed to complete what he asked me to do..." he stared at his reflection in the water once more as the ripples disappeared. "I don't wanna go back to being confined, Inazuma..." he suddenly choked on his words, tears forming around his eyes. "I... I don't know how much longer I can live under this pressure." his words were forced as he fought to keep his tears at bay.

Inazuma simply looked down sadly before getting up and sliding next to him, rubbing himself against the assassin's body. The small noise he made afterwards was just his way of saying "it'll be alright."

The young teen squeezed his eyes shut, his heart clenching in worry, fear, but most of all, guilt. And not just guilt for doubly disobeying his employer... but also guilt for attacking that innocent woman just a while ago. He didn't even know why his boss asked that of him. He just knew he hated it.

"Inazuma..." he called, getting up. "Let's go back to the base." he decided, blinking to clear the tears. It'd been years since he'd cried out of raw emotion like this. He didn't intend to start now either.

Inazuma quickly showed his displeasure by jumping to his feet and growling.

"I don't wanna go either!" the assassin exclaimed. "But we have to..." his eyes darkened. "We'll just apologize... Maybe he'll let us off the hook this time..."

"Lies..."

"And we can just ignore his following lecture."

"Lies...

"And he won't even dare to touch us."

"Lies..."

"Let's leave. We can do this... We're strong."

"Lies..."

[Zorayda]

Zorayda jumped slightly at the sound of voices approaching. A younger girl approached her, seeming wary. Zorayda thought about how she must have looked--blood-stained, sobbing, crumpled to the ground and holding a half-burnt and worn eevee...

"I...I..." Her voice cracked as more tears leaked from her eyes, the dark haired girl touched her arm gently. Small movements caught her attention and she could see the girl's pokemon comforting both herself and Eeve. The other brown fox-pokemon was grooming Eeve's gray and singed fur gently, and Zorayda's hand automatically stroked the strange pokemon's head out of gratitude.

"I was..." The young woman took a deep breath. "I was attacked...I was attacked by a stranger and his pokemon...I don't know why, he didn't even want money or anything...but I don't think he wanted to do it--his eyes, they were..." Here, Zorayda's lip trembled and her violet locks fell into her eyes.

"I'm sorry ahead of time," she muttered quietly, before throwing herself into the younger girl's arms and crying her eyes out. After a few moments, she broke away. "I-I was so frightened...and that boy...his luxray almost killed Eeve," here she gestured at her shiny fennec pokemon. "I didn't know what to do..."

[Moonlight]

Kitty listened quietly to the woman's words, although her expression barely remained level. The description was uncannily familiar. Why were she and the assassin continually connected after their meeting in the woods? It was just flat out insane. There was no other way to put it. But she pushed the train of thought away, turning back to the situation at hand. She had no clue who this woman was, but it was obvious she had no underhanded dealings judging from her reaction.

Starting to tilt her head at the apology, but it immediately became clear why. But to someone that wasn't used to life and death situations, it would be jarring. The dark tressed thief couldn't blame her, really. Gently rubbing her hand on the woman's back in soothing circles, before she eventually pulled back. Ian continued to groom the gray eevee, but Sagira sat up when the stranger seemed to pull herself together again. Gently placing her paw on the woman's lap, offering a faint meow. Much like a kitten, rather than a lioness.

"... I'm not sure what I can do to help ... But I can try," Kitty said after a moment, nodding to her. Inwardly hoping that she could actually do it. If it came out that she was Shadowcat, fur would fly - And so would blood, when Elliot was done. More than likely from more than one person, unfortunately. Heaving a sigh, she gestured to herself in introduction. "I'm Kathrine, but I prefer Kitty. Can I ask your name?" she asked gently, watching her. As the moments ticked by, it seemed that she was getting over part of the shock, enough to be coherent.

[Sabaku No Akaiame]

Inazuma growled in disappointment as his master scribbled something down on a small piece of paper. The latter's face was clear, calm, devoid of the emotion that threatened to spill out of him only a few minutes ago.

Trying to keep him from doing what he was about to do, Inazuma bumped into his master's leg, making the human stumble before catching himself. Not even a hint of a smile appeared on his face as he put his pencil away and stared at his work.

"Inazuma..." he looked up, his eyes going over the colourful colours of the Battle Grid's exterior. This is where he had his rendezvous in about 45 minutes. "We should go before things get complicated." he pulled out a knife from his pocket and stuck his little piece of paper on the wall.

Stepping back, he stopped to look at it once, and suddenly walked off.

The Luxray, worried, simply looked at his master's little note for a moment before running off. They had quite a journey ahead of them since they were travelling by foot, and the teen probably wanted to get there as soon as possible.

A gust of wind blew, the firmly stuck piece of paper flapping with the wind. Five simple letters traced crudely with a large black marker blended in with the advancing shadows of the evening as rain clouds gathered above: S O R R Y.