Path of the Hunters [PART 2]

Crescent turned to the panther. "No, but I believe I can lend some assistance."

"Thank god," started the panther as he grabbed her hand, and like a brick with jets attached to hit, her powers and strength dropped in an instant, "I was afraid that you had someone that could help you, Baudoin..." A dark grin formed on his muzzle.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she pulled away from him. She felt strangely lightheaded, and tried to draw a blade, but it did not go to her hand. "W-what did you do to me?" she asked somewhat weakly.

"Just reduced your threat level to that of a child." He stated with a chuckle. "I wonder how the underworld will react when they see one of your kind taken down so easily..." He said with a chuckle as he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and advanced, "You got another ten minutes before you powers and strength return, plenty of time to have some fun..."

Gritting her teeth, she manually pulled a blade out from her dress. "You can try."

Damien watched, So that's Vidage. Interesting. He reached back and found one of his pistols and attached a silencer. Just in case...

Vidage smirked, "So you still have some fight in you. Looks like I should've put a bit more effort into draining you." He gripped the blade and started with a feint jab at her chest, testing her.

Despite her weakness, she easily deflected the blade, moving back to distance herself from him. "Good luck if you can't get close."

He kept pressing her, a slash here, a feint there. No matter how skilled, in her weakened state, she was bound to slip up. For someone unknown, he was pretty good with the blade.

Soon enough, her weakness caught up to her as she stumbled on a retreat, toppling backward. She kept her blade up in a defensive position, attempting to get back on her feet, but it proved a lot tougher than it should...

It didn't help when he got cheap and slammed his foot into her stomach, effectively winding her.

Ok, this has gone far enough. Damien checked his ammo count before cutting the engine to his hog and made his way to the two as quietly and quickly as he could.

"So much for the mighty Baudoin assasin." Vidage said with a chuckle. "All too easy..."

"Easy this!" She chucked the blade at him, hoping to catch him in the chest.

He side-stepped, causing the blae to miss by a mile, his grin just grew. "Should've kept a hold of it." He said with chuckle, which then turned into a pained cry as he dropped to the ground, a two bullets impacting his side, one at his shoulder, the other at the ankle.

"You're right, it was too easy. Now you get to come with me. R&D will love you." Stated Damien, all business as he walked over to Vidage and cuffed his hands and feet. Lifting the panther over his shoulder with ease. "Need a ride, ma'am?"

She growled, furious with the panther. He was too arrogant to know that she could have gutted him with several more knives, or beaten him to a bloody pulp, even in her weakened condition. She easily got to her feet, brushed herself off. "You must be 'Mr. Sparton.'" she said, not looking at either of them.

"Damien," He corrected, "Commander of Shadow Squad." He looked over at the groaning panther, then walked over to a street light and slammed his head into, effectively knocking him out. "I am going to assume that your anger is due to your pride taking a hit, correct? No matter," he didn't even let her answer him, "I'm taking him with me. He could prove usefull. Goodnight Crescent." He walked off towards his 'hog hidden a ways down the street.

This only served to further feed her anger. Her pride really did take a hit, and she hated it. After all this, she still prided herself as a Baudoin!

With a frustrated yell, she went back to trudging down the street, back to the hotel. Why was it so hard to adjust?!

Pride, something that is necessary, but too much and it makes one foolish. Careful girl, because I've seen people use this against the prideful... He tossed the panther into the back seat and drove off.

Across the city, time went on and, before dawn, while Nova still slept, Aurélie had her bags packed and waiting on the porch. She had been around too long. She'd known that she should have left the moment she felt something, but... She hadn't been able to. She'd wanted more. For one brief day, she'd wanted more.

Aurélie looked at the bronze blade, sighing. Well, she'd certainly gotten more. More than she'd wanted. They'd made it through four rooms and had finished off the bottle of Chardonnay before collapsing on the bed in his room together. With the desire to cling to him, came the knowledge that she had most certainly overstayed her welcome.

When the taxi pulled up, she set a small note beneath his keys and walked out. She didn't look back until they'd rounded the corner and she could no longer see the house. "Au revoir," she murmured.

"...So, how'd you sleep?" Nova asked, assuming Aurélie was still curled up beside him. When there was no response, he opened his eyes: she wasn't there...

"Aurélie?" Nova called through the house as he searched for her. There wasn't even a trace of her being there, as far as her possessions go.

When he got downstairs, he noticed what looked like a small envelope underneath his keys. Grabbing it and looking inside, there was a simple note: "Ta."

She was gone. Nova smiled. "About time she got her act together." He casually tossed the note back on the desk, and headed back upstairs to prepare for the day, but stopped mid-walk, turning towards the front door where she left through. "See ya later, Aurélie. Until the next time..." With that, he disappeared up the stairs.

When the small private jet landed in France, the dog was frowning. She was thankful that no one else in her family would be able to sense the blade's power. They couldn't feel metal as she could.

Just the same, she was not looking forward to seeing her grandparents...

Much faster than she would have liked, she was before them. Her grandmother came over, took her hands, kissed the air over her cheeks. "Bienvenue!" she greeted.

"Bonjour, Grand-mère." Her slight smile faded when she looked at the dark-furred terrier, gazing at her with narrowed eyes. "Grand-père."

"Petite-fille," he greeted, forcing himself to acknowledge her with a nod.

[From this point on, we'll assume they're speaking to each other in French. So I'll drop the use of an accent, lol.]

"Come. We will go home." Aurélie's grandmother smiled sweetly, looking over her granddaughter thoroughly. "I've missed you."

"Yes..."

[Sounds good to me. ^^]

"It is... nice to have you home." Her grandfather turned his head away, grumbling softly. He wasn't buying it!

"I will not be here long," Aurélie said, looking at her grandmother, but speaking more towards her grandfather. "A week. Perhaps two."

"Oh, and where shall you go next? All the way back to America?"

"No." And she left it at that.

Her grandfather snorted. "Do not stay on our account. Would not want to rob you of your freedom."

She lifted a brow. "I stay because I wish to."