Chapter 36 - Scar

Iris

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The city streets seemed to be, for the most part, empty. Though the moon marked the time to be past midnight, the sky was still dark and empty of light through the sifting gray clouds, proving the dawn to be still far off.
Valkyre's boots thunked on the paved, rough cement ground, dragging with his slow steps. The angel rubbed at grit on his cheek with the back of his hand, frowning. Iris leaned against his other side, only blinking his eyes open every now and then, sleep obvious in his dulled gaze.
Silence, save for their own soft scuffling. Valkyre kept alert, searching for somewhere to stay; an inn perhaps, as the abandoned building along the fringes of the city had been beyond much use, and unsafe with the figures that slouched at the corners, glaring at him through unkempt hair and drawn faces gritted with dirt and dust.
They passed under broken, flickering lamplights, shadows fluttering between darkness and stale neon light and doubling between, each copy fainter than the other. The quiet sounds were enough to lure Valkyre into a half-sleep, numbing his mind and dragging at his already weary limbs.
The footfalls had been silent, muffled and too brief to leave a lasting sound, and Valkyre hadn't noticed them at all. He only caught the shadowy, quick movement out of the corner of his eye, snapping awake and whirling around just fast enough to try and block the blow. "Angel!"
The figure crushed down onto him, the blade biting deep through the angel's forearm, splashing fresh blood along the steel. Valkyre kicked out on reflex, catching the other in the side strongly enough to force him away. The angel darted to the side, dodging another blow thrown back in counter. He already had a shortened blade in his hands, hilt hard and stiff under his bare palm.
"-I'll kill you this time, angel, for sure."
The voice was raspy and out of breath, growled out. Valkyre stared back at the figure, confused. That voice, it'd seemed... familiar, somehow. Just barely...
The other was crouched before him, slicked blade held out in front, ready to be used again.
Bright, pale burning eyes glared back out at the angel, half-hidden by uneven black hair. The rest of his face was hidden by a black length of cloth, barely leaving enough room to see the eyes at all. His clothing was ripped and torn, patched together in places hastily, and ill-done. The palms of the hands as well were bound in dark leather straps, the pale fingers that showed already lightly splattered with the rich, dark crimson blood.
"Who... who are you??"
Valkyre bit back the end of his question with a hiss as the other darted forward, blade splitting the air. The angel crossed the steel, and the sharp ring of metal on metal sounded in the silence. The figure struck at him with his free hand, pale eyes glowering behind, but Valkyre pushed back the blow and the two broke apart.
There was hardly a pause before the other came at him again, snarling. Valkyre dodged the blatant strike, frowning. There was a limp to the other's step, an uneven gait that broke his rhythm and made him unsteady. He was weak too, in other ways, probably from overworking himself without rest.
The angel dodged another heavy but obvious strike that landing on nothing, smashing his own blade at an angle near the hilt so the other lost his grip, and the steel edge struck the paved ground, harmlessly bouncing aside.
The figure snarled, lunging at him again, and Valkyre ducked down, swiping with his blade and feeling it bite the other's calf, scraping on bone. The impact was rough and irregular, and the other screamed in pain, giving the angel the chance to grab him by the arm and twist him around, throwing him onto the ground.
Valkyre's blade hovered milimeters in front of the other's face as he tried to struggle up, stopping the attempt. The angel stared down at the sprawled form, frowning.
He'd predicted the wound correctly, as his blow had only gone over something else that'd already been there; the source of the limp, an older injury that'd not healed well, or had enough time to do so.
His dark violet eyes searched the other's, meeting pale, glowering yellow. Valkyre started, surprised.
The other twisted away at the opportunity, rolling off to a crouch. The blade sang out sharply as it bit at the cement, flat of the steel length pressed to the other's cheek, sharp edge nipping a light, dribbling wound from his ear. The black cloth over the mouth had been torn down, revealing the face.
Valkyre leaned down to it, frowning.
"...Who... ...Asher??"
The vampire glowered up at him, lips twisted back into a snarl. Startled, Valkyre pulled back the blade, stepping away. The other darted back up, still scowling at him.
The angel shook his head, too surprised to know quite what to say. "What... what happened to you??"
The vampire's pale eyes flared, enraged. He was the same person, but it'd only been barely recognizable. A thick, ugly slash line crossed his face from somewhere up in his scalp all the way down across his cheekbone, just missing the other's right eye and leaving a red, angry scar all along its length. The face was also dirty, smaller scratches and cuts already as fading scars marring it, overhung by ragged, unkempt black hair. He was different, so completely different than the person he'd been when Valkyre had last seen him.
"What happened??" The vampire mocked his words, scowling. "Don't play stupid with me, angel. I'm just taking back what you stole from me..." The pale yellow eyes darted to the side, away from Valkyre. Pressed back against a building's wall, Iris stared back calmly, tilting his head slightly to one side.
"What? What're you talking about??"
Asher snapped his gaze back, glaring, as Valkyre pushed himself between the two, protectively. The vampire's lips pulled back in a false smile, sharp teeth glinting. "Do you forget so easily, angel?? Or is your partnership not as well as I thought? Hmm?"
The vampire raised a hand to his pale lips, which were marred with a small cut not yet healed. His thin fingers remained over his face, as if to cover the larger, deeply-drawn scar, but when his yellow eyes met the other's, and he let his hand drop, scowling. Asher spat at the ground, and the spittle was tinged red-pink.
Valkyre stared back at him. Something wasn't right. The hunters... there were three of them, weren't they? ...But the angel hadn't detected either of the other, and Asher didn't act like he had anyone else to fall back on. Where were the other two??
"Enough."
The vampire shifted his footing, still unconsciously favoring his hurt leg, whose leaking blood was sticking to his torn pants. Valkyre drew up his blade again, feeling the splash of blood on it sliding down the hilt over his bare fingers. He shook his head, frowning.
"I don't want to fight you, Asher"-
"Shut up, liar!" The vampire stepped forward shakily, snarling. "If you won't fight me, then you'll die, and die a coward!"
Asher lunged forward, ready to strike with nothing more than bare hands and teeth. Valkyre dodged the obvious blow, snapping out sharply with a kick that struck the vampire in the same hurt leg again, bringing down the flat of the blade in the same movement and heavily striking the other in the back of the head.
Asher slumped forward, caught on Valkyre's arm, unconscious.
The angel sighed to himself, sheathing his blade with his free hand while cautiously looking around, waiting for another attack. None came.
Valkyre frowned, chewing on his lip as he stared down at the ragged form in his arms. He wasn't sure why he he hadn't killed Asher, but what the vampire had said was too confusing, and he needed to know what he'd meant.
Sighing again, in resolution, the angel draped the body over his shoulder, surprised at how light it felt.
Iris appeared at his side again, not showing any opinion to his decision, but pausing to peek at the still face. The boy's fingers made as if to touch the heavy scar on the face, then pulled away again. Iris frowned, lips turning down just slightly, brow creasing.
"...What is it?" Valkyre asked, looking back at the other. Iris shook his head, then stepped ahead.
The angel sighed, then followed.

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AN: Yes, as you've probably noticed by now, I have a tendency to bring back charries. X) I guess I just take too much time describing them; they keep coming back~! But, well, charrie intros are just about over, and we've got lots of stuff to bring back now. XD
Man~! So much work to do, and so much to plan out. I mean, I've got this part down I suppose, but for some more, I'm confused again. I'm working on it, I swear!
But, well, thanks for the wait, guys. Things'll be a bit tight now 'cuz I've got AP tests and a big project and then finals, but hopefully I'll find a breather inbetween! Phew!
Thanks for reading, I luvs you all! XD See ya~!

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