Snippet #1909684

Shadow smirked at the comment, but offered nothing in return as he looked away from her towards the ground.

"I am afraid that I don't drink, so in short the answer is 'no'".

He leaned back and laid down on the top of the vent again, satisfied that she was not going to attack him and finally getting some peace of mind about the fact that she was calm and in a cheerful mood despite everything that had happened to her. It was then that a thought occurred to him, one that likely held a simple answer but his mind ached to ask anyway.

"Forgive me for prying, but I must ask you something: Are you a mercenary or a bounty hunter?" He asked with a hint of enjoyment at the question.

"Judging by your choice of weaponry, clothing, and your mannerisms I'm inclined to guess that you are a bounty hunter."

He looked sideways at her without moving his body, his red eyes glowing in the darkness thanks to their bio-luminescence. The story of Shadow's eyes was a strange one indeed, and no one but Shadow knew the truth behind them.

When Shadow was born his eyes were already damaged due to a defect during development in the womb. Because of the damage, the doctors in Te'i Sai were constantly trying to save his sight, lest he become blind and have to be thrown to the wolves in Roda Valley as a useless infant. An assistant to the head doctor accidentally provided the doctor working on Shadow's eyes a chemical compound that was comprised of the naturally occurring chemicals within the bodies of fireflies that gave them their luminescent glow. The other combination was that of dark red chemical designed to mimic the appearance of blood.

This chemical combination was in the testing phase since Te'i Sai's favored way of invoking fear in others was to leave a trail of blood in their wake, and blood is hard to see at night. So through constant and feverish testing they found a way to combine the blood red chemical with the chemicals in the bodies of fireflies to give it a luminescent quality. This compound was to be used as "eye drops" for Shadow when the nozzle broke and spilled the chemical across his face and into his eyes. In their frantic and panicked state, the doctors accidentally knocked another liquid into Shadow's eyes. This time, however, it was a real eye drop liquid which helped to sooth the pain the infant was in. When he next opened his eyes two days later, they were blood red and glowed in dim light.

Thus the Red-Eyed Demon was officially born, and Takai had great plans for the boy from that day on. Had this mishap not occurred, Shadow would have been just another Assassin, nothing special and no serious reputation. Looking back he almost wished that he had been a normal Assassin. Life certainly would have been easier then. Either way, Shadow was who he was and he looked the way he looked thanks to that accident.

Shadow continued to watch her as she prepared to answer him.