Snippet #1910979

"Why am I still alive? I mean--err...I mean, is there something that you need from me?" She asked.

Shadow could understand her apprehension, as it was not every day that bounty hunters were face to face with someone like him. For the most part they stuck to their contracts and lived life day to day without doing too much thinking about things that did not immediately concern them. Choosing such a life was easy, but sticking to it was hard. The first life is always the hardest to bear, no matter your chosen profession so long as it involves the possibility of taking life.

Shadow looked over at her again and hopped off the vent, walking towards her slowly with his hands hanging loosely at his sides. She was currently unarmed but he would not drop his guard around anyone who had the capability to lose him in a crowd, something he was trained to see through and counter.

"I find you interesting." He said rather flatly at first, but as he continued his tone lightened a bit.

"You walked right by me when you came to investigate the ruins of the building a few hours ago. When you laughed at the pattern I left with the weapons on the ground I was sitting on a bench not more than ten feet behind you. I saw your reaction when you realized what it meant, and I can guess you believed that I was hunting you which was in fact not the case. I didn't know you existed until that moment, but your reaction sparked a desire for a closer look so I followed you for a while. When you provoked that crowd, you managed to evade my detection further which is something only two people have done in the past, both of whom were Assassins."

He took a moment to walk next to her and took a seat cross legged about four feet to her right side with his hands resting on his knees, elbows tucked at his sides forming an 'L' with his arms. This position, while not immediately apparent, was very defensive. Shadow's hands were in a position to move at a moment's notice should things go wrong.

"About your question as to why you're alive: I may be an Assassin but I'm hardly the cold blooded killer my reputation makes me out to be. I might not go out of my way to save the lives of most people, but in your case I was compelled to make an exception."

He leaned forward a bit, taking in all of her features and committing them to memory in case he had to remember them for any reason at all later on.

"I must confess that while most of my reputation is based on truth, it is highly exaggerated. In fact, the reputation of most Assassins are exaggerated as a means to invoke fear and make it that much easier for them to gain a psychological edge over anyone who takes a stance against them. We may be highly trained killers, but we're all still human. It's a standard tactic of those who dwell in and stalk from the darkness to use both it and the primal fear of the unknown as their primary weapon. When people don't know what you can really do, that's when you're at your most dangerous."

He took a moment to relax himself, feeling no further need to be so defensive.

"Hopefully that has helped you relax a little bit. Assassins are really nothing to fear when you are in the right frame of mind. Though we know more ways to kill than most, we're still human beings in the end and we bleed just the same as everyone else does. I'll show you."

With that he removed one of his daggers from behind his back and set his left index finger out as if to point at her with his palm facing up. He let the dagger sit gently on his finger, and using nothing but the blade's own weight, he dragged it across his finger for about an inch before taking it away and revealing a very clean cut with a small amount of blood oozing from the wound. He replaced the blade back in its sheath behind his jacket on his lower back and licked the wound before looking back to her.

"See? I may be the Red-Eyed Demon, but I'm still human." He said, rather cheerfully.