The Hunt Begins (Endolf, Kotone, private)

The smell of fresh sea water wafted through the wind as refreshing breezes passed all through Cerulean Town. That part was all fine and dandy but for a certain someone walking into the town. The one thing Endolf found problematic was the bright sun overhead in the otherwise cloudless sky. It was enough to make him want to find an inn and sleep until the twilight of the setting sun was upon them. Unfortunately he didn’t have the luxury of doing that and would need to endure the day’s light until he could find what he was looking for. The rumors that had brought him here in the first place said there was word of another Dragon Slayer in Cerulean right now, but the rumors of Era weren’t enough to make him feel certain that he could just start accusing everyone of being a Dragon Slayer.

No he was far more intelligent than that, as his father taught him to be. His first manner of business was to find someone that knew of the town’s word of mouth and gossip. An information broker would probably be best for such a thing. As he continued walking down the main street looking for some indication of a place like that he took notice of how few people, if any, even bother to give him a first glance let alone a second. This wasn’t something that bothered him in all honesty, his personal views on humans being similar to his father’s in the fact that he believed they should have learned their place and simply allowed the dragons continue to rule over them.

The seventeen year-old girl with the long black jacket, white button-up blouse, loosely fitted red tie, short black skirt, and knee-high boots walked down the street with a bored, aloof expression on her face. Her long brown hair was in its usual ponytail, and in her backpack her black cat's head poked out, interested in the many people walking around them.

For her part, the girl's yellow eyes flicked around to keep an eye on people, but it wasn't all that noticeable. She'd been in town for a few days, and was on the prowl for something to do before she resumed her wandering. She wasn't the biggest fan of people, herself. Mostly because of how bad she was at getting along with them. But it was her job to protect them, so she might as well stick around a bit in case she was needed, right?

The cat, Sid, meowed behind her. "Sid, I just fed you. You're fine." She told him with a shake of her head. His paw swatted at her ponytail as she did. He was in an energetic mood, apparently. It was like he was saying "Fine, Kotone, if I don't get food your ponytail is fair game." Which... she was fine with. At least he would be distracted.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a suspicious-looking character. She didn't immediately show that she was obviously looking at him though, and instead went about her walk in a way that would let her keep spying discreetly. Was he looking for someone? His looks were certainly sinister enough. Finally, she stopped and turned towards him. One hand was on her backpack strap, the other in her jacket pocket. Her expression remained neutral, and her tone uninterested as ever. "Looking for someone?" she called out loud enough to get his attention.

As Endolf continued his search for some source of information about the town his ears twitched, as did his nose. The sounds of one distinct set of footsteps seemed to follow him, as any other Dragon Child would be able to tell if they were raised even half as well as his father had raised him. The scent that he was picking up just proved that it was the same person and made him wonder just how long he should pretend he didn’t notice. Eventually his stalker spoke up, obviously addressing him as they asked if he was looking for someone. He stopped in his tracks, not bothering to turn and face the person because he saw no reason to yet. “An informant. I need someone that knows the ins and outs of this town.” He pondered letting out any more information than that and decided that for the moment he’d keep it to himself. He knew his father would lecture him on being less cautious than he could have been if he had let his entire plan fall onto the ears of a stranger.

“You should practice stalking people if you plan to make a habit out of it. Not everyone will be nice and play along for you.” He finally turned to face his follower, lecturing them on their technique as he did. He was surprised, however, to see a woman when he turned around. There she stood, a hand in her jacket pocket and the other on some kind of bag strap. A cat sat on the bag on her back happily swatting away at her ponytail. “What were you following me for anyways?” He was thankful that he was wearing his mask at the moment cause if not, this girl may have seen the faint blush on his cheeks that simply talking to her had caused.

The man told Kotone what she'd asked, though he did it without turning around. He seemed either highly arrogant, or highly unsocial. She wasn't sure which just yet. What she did know was that he was some sort of wizard. His very looks suggested it. "I wasn't aware I was trying to out ninja you, Mr. Inconspicuous," she informed him with a hint of an attitude as he scolded her for bad sneaking. Unlike him, she wasn't intimidated in the least by his gender or his appearance.

"To answer your question though, frankly you're shady. The dark clothes, the way your eyes are watching everyone around you. And until I know why," Kotone stepped up close to the white-haired man with pointy ears so she could talk quieter. "I figure I'll keep an eye on you." There she was, playing hero again. She knew she wasn't much better, save that she looked like a teenage girl rather than a powerful dark wizard. Still, she wasn't here to point out her own antisocial behavior. She was here to point out his. "So, Mr. Shady man, what do you need an informant for? Cerulean's so small and peaceful a traveler like me could answer most of your questions."

The woman stepped up closer to him to the point that she was speaking loud enough for just the two of them to hear. The Shadow Dragon Slayer could swear he felt his heart beating faster than even his own father’s training had caused it to. She had stated that until she knew why he seemed so shady she’d be keeping an eye on him. The comment seemed to calm him back down as a miniscule wave of anger washed through his body. And miniscule it was because as soon as his anger rose it was already gone within seconds. He was thankful for that in truth, it meant he didn’t need to feel like an awkward idiot for just standing near a female. Addressing him as “Mr. Shady Man” she asked him why he needed an informant, stating that Cerulean was such a small and peaceful town that a traveler like herself could answer his questions.

Ignoring the comment about keeping an eye on him Endolf decided to skip right to the “why” of why he was looking for an informant, debating once again how much information he’d be willing to give the woman. “I’m looking for someone, and working off rumors. I want to know what words travel from mouth to mouth in this town.” He just looked down on her due to the foot or so in height difference between them. “So if you want to answer any of my questions, you can start by pointing me to someone who knows the gossip of the town.”

She looked the man over again, deciding that yeah, he still kinda looked like your typical storybook villain whether he meant to or not. But appearances were deceiving. Sometimes very deceiving. Her own appearance was.

"There's plenty of rumors flying around these days," the teenage girl told the mysterious stranger, sounding unimpressed by his words.  Despite being nearly a foot shorter than him, she didn't give off the impression of caring that he was taller and looked more muscular. "So you're going to have to be more specific."

Sid mewed, almost as if agreeing with her words. Kotone ignored Sid's mewing, instead deciding to list off a couple of the bigger rumors she was always hearing about these days. "There's everything going on with those Magic Council jerks. There's always rumors of Dragon Slayers following me around lately." She gave him a wide grin, one that revealed her fangs. "You might say I'm good at rumors. Especially starting them."

The wind picked up a bit, blowing her jacket that nearly went down to the ground and her hair, causing Sid to ruin the whole tough girl image by swatting at it again. Some days he was quiet. Others she just couldn't win with him getting in the way.

Endolf listened when the woman started listing off specific rumors that had been spread around through the town. Mainly something involving some sort of Magic Council, not like he cared about that. What did catch his interest was her mention that the rumors of a Dragon Slayer seemed to follow her and that she was good at starting them. She gave him a smile that showcased fangs similar to those of his own, earning his full attention. The wind seemed to pick up rather ominously, blowing the woman’s hair and jacket in addition to his own scarf and white locks. “It looks like I don’t need to waste time with an informant anymore.”

Shadows pooled around his feet, creating talons of sorts. “Eiryu no Tsume.” In that one, short instant he kicked out at the nameless girl with his magic coated foot. Regardless if he actually hit her or missed he placed his foot back down against the ground. “Dragon Slayers are exactly what I’m looking for.”

Spell name: Eiryu no Tsume (Shadow Dragon's Claw)
Element: Shadow
Rank: 1
MP cost: 10
Effect: The user covers their feet with shadows and proceeds to assault the opponent with a powerful shadow-enhanced kick, with the shadows greatly augmenting the power of said kick.

Power: **
Speed: **
Area:
Extra: Engulfing

MP Remaining: 140

“It looks like I don’t need to waste time with an informant anymore.” With those words, Endolf struck almost without warning, swiping out at Kotone with a kick that was sheathed in shadowed claws. She probably shouldn't have been expecting something, but he had been acting pretty weird. So as he kicked, she jumped his leg, getting barely caught on her heel, causing her to tumble over. She flipped, landing on a hand and cartwheeling back to a readied position. "Alright, so you're here for me. If you wanted to dance you could have just said so," she told him with a fangy grin. "You're in luck. I haven't had a partner in awhile, so I'm good and ready."

She would worry about why he cared who she was later. He was after the Spell Breaker, and he would have her. "Let's go!" A sword of ice formed as she closed her hand around the hilt, and she slashed downward at an angle towards his right shoulder, followed immediately by a slash from the left to the right at his midsection.

Kotone had needed a good fight after the past week or so. She hoped he could keep up well enough to give it to her.

MP 190/200:

The woman had avoided his kick by jumping over it, only to tumble back and cartwheel into a combative position. Claiming that she hadn’t had a partner in a while she explained to Endolf that she was more than willing to dance with him before a sword of ice formed in her hand. As she attempted to slice at him the Shadow Dragon Slayer vanished, fading into the shadows at his feet as the blade just simply cut through air. The shadow moved along against the ground, circling around until Endolf was able to rise up behind her. “I didn’t come to test regular old ice, Dragon Slayer.” Pulling his mask off of his mouth the larger man took a quick breath, seeming to suck the shadows in before releasing it in the form of a black tornado aimed directly at the Ice Slayer.

“Endolf Kurokami, son of Athest the Shadow Dragon.” His knuckles cracked as his hand flexed while he waited to see how the smaller girl would handle his roar fired from behind her. Any hesitations about his interacting with a female for the first time had now been completely overshadowed by his original goal. “Prove to me you deserve your parent’s magic.”

Spoiler:

MP Remaining: 110

Kotone slashed quickly, but the shady man only disappeared into shadow. Her sword cut through the shadow, almost seeming to cause some of it to dissipate, though it certainly did no damage to his actual body. From behind her, she heard him speak again, followed by the man's own Shadow Dragon Roar.

Kotone was swept off of her feet, caught by surprise and unable move fast enough. Shadow didn't have a smell and she couldn't track him as easily as other tricks. She hit the ground, tumbling about three feet as she rolled back to her feet. She was a very experienced fighter for her age, and had fought for her life as only a child. She was much stronger and more experienced than she was back then.

She grinned. It was a grin that dripped with confidence. This guy had some tricks, but tricks were cheap. He was Endolf, son of Athest, the dragon her father had named as the dragon to watch out for the most. His agenda was different from the other dragons, and she should be wary of his human child. Now she knew why. "Kotone Hoshino. Spell Breaker." She didn't mention Krendall. He'd abandoned her long ago, even if his training and teachings hadn't. She had only the name she'd made for herself since.

"You want to see what I've got? Alright. Ice Dragon Roar!" The blue beam of cold fired from her mouth, rocketing towards him at close range. Visually, it wasn't as impressive as Endolf's, but it would be just as hard to avoid. Even with his shadow form defense, she'd still break through and do some damage unless he managed a miracle.

MP 160/200 (Sustain Frostborn):

Endolf had to admit that when his roar managed to make contact with the girl his heart actually fluttered ever so slightly. As much as he hated to admit it, this was his first actual fight against another human. But like before she recovered almost immediately, like before when she had been grazed at the heel by his claw. Though Endolf did feel that if she wasn’t able to bounce back from something so simple as his roar then this wouldn’t even be an entertaining fight, much let one worthy of a Dragon Slayer. The girl went on to introduce herself as “Spell Breaker” Kotone Hoshino, a title Endolf cared little about as it didn’t involve the name of her parent dragon.

Her own roar was what she retaliated with, causing a beam of ice to escape her open mouth that started to spread out. His legs pressed hard against the ground as he used his agile movements to slide around the edge and out of the way before it could spread out any wider. Then he rushed Kotone, his entire body becoming shadow once again as he moved to create a sort of vortex around her with himself. His body became a tangible, solid object once more once he had moved past her with a trail of shadows leading towards each of his hands. The trails were the deadliest part of this technique as a torrents of blows would rain down on Kotone from them.

“Eiryu no Renjakusen.”

Spoiler:

MP Remaining: 100

Kotone showed him her dragon roar, but it was slightly too slow. The man was fast. Almost as fast as Roejaster. Speed wasn't everything though, and Kotone knew that. As Endolf rushed at her, he shouted a phrase as he turned into a shadow projectile, plummeting towards her at high speeds. The air darkened around him, but even with the intimidating sight, Kotone was ready.

Holding her arms out, a dome of ice appeared around her, causing the shadow form to impact it instead of her It was strong enough to crack, but not budge. Kotone, however, had no intention of hiding in the dome as long as her magic would allow it. As he impacted, she waited just long enough for him to have lost his momentum, and then shattered the dome, coming at him again with her sword of ice. An upward slash, followed by a knee towards his stomach.

By now, the area had mostly cleared out save for those that were interested enough in the outcome to stick around. "What do you want with me?" She demanded, still sounding calm and confident. He had yet to make her mad, and she was treating this as a game so far. That much was obvious. "Are you that jealous of me? I know I'm good-looking but it's really no reason to pick a fight."

MP 140/200 Sustain Frostborn:

Endolf had to admit, Krendall trained his daughter well. A dome of ice formed around her moments before Endolf’s Waxwing Flash impacted it, an ice that was tough enough to simply crack under the attack’s force rather than shatter completely. The dome came crashing down around Kotone once Endolf’s attack had ended it seemed, allowing the girl to slice up along the Black God’s torso. Or rather it would have if he hadn’t slid out of the way so that his body was parallel to the girl’s sword. The knee to his side however was unexpected to say the least. Taking a couple of steps back he refused to put his hand against his side, his pride not allowing her to see she had managed to damage him.

Kotone demanded that Endolf tell her what he wanted from her before making a joke about him being jealous of her and her good looks. His face blushed red again, this time his mask couldn’t hide it from her since he had pulled it down to his throat. “I came here to test you, just like I plan to test every other Dragon Slayer.” He tried to keep focused with what was going on still and simply pulled his mask back over his face and nose. “If a human is going to have a dragon’s magic, they better be deserving of it.” He gave her a look his own father often gave him. Like his father he thought quick and used the moment that his explanation produced to assault the Ice Dragon’s Daughter. His magic may still be recovering but he was plenty strong on his own.

His first target would be the girl’s sword, attempting to kick it out of her hand by closing the gap between them and delivering a spinning heel-kick aimed for either her hand or the sword’s guard. Slamming his foot back to the ground Endolf didn’t waste a minute and instead launched into a knee aimed for Kotone’s stomach.

“I came here to test you, just like I plan to test every other Dragon Slayer. If a human is going to have a dragon’s magic, they better be deserving of it.” Kotone lost her playful grin at the same moment Endolf renewed his attack. The quick dragon slayer kicked at her hand with surprising speed, and managed to dislodge the sword, which spun in the air and landed in the ground a few feet away. Almost immediately, the sword dissolved into what appeared to be something akin to snowflakes that slowly floated away in the air.

She managed to evade his returned knee kick, however, jumping back as her sword was lost. In response, she fired one of her weaker spells straight at Endolf's face from near point-blank range. It wouldn't do much damage, but it would sting like hell, and probably chill him. "You've got no right to decide how well my father trained me, or any other dragon slayer." she told him in a now dead-serious voice, punching at him with a one, two, three punch. It was obvious he'd struck a nerve by suggesting her father would ever do a bad job, and now she was pissed at him.

MP 130/200:

The other dragon slayer avoided Endolf’s knee by hopping a foot or so back. It didn’t concern him that his attack landed, the real reward was knowing he had disarmed his opponent. It seemed like she knew how to use the weapon and that was more dangerous than her without it. A small ball of frozen cold smacked Endolf square in the face right after, causing the confused shadow to blink in surprise at the unexpected attack. A wave of cold washed over his body but he didn’t pay it much mind, having grown up in a dark cave that got exceptionally cold during the nights and even worse in the winters. Kotone’s voice took a serious turn as she told him that he had no right to her father, nor any of the other dragons, trained their children.

“My father believed that humans are creatures destined to destroy themselves without the guidance of dragons. He may have disappeared but I share those ideas.” He looked at her. Maybe right now he was getting a little too into detail for his father’s taste but what was done was already done. He lowered his arms, stepping down from his combatant stance only to place his hands on his shoulders. His fellow dragon slayer’s last attack seemed to chill him deeper than he first thought. “Give me a reason why you, as a human, are fit to carry your father’s magic.”

MP remaining: 100

Score! Kotone had smacked Endolf right in the face. She knew it wouldn't hurt a dragon slayer that much, but it did managed to both cause him some pain and amuse her. It was a win/win, really. However, her mood wasn't in the right place to gloat about it. Instead, she looked at Endolf seriously, insulted by the way he presumed to be able to judge her father. He claimed to want one good reason she was fit to learn her father's magic.

"Simple," She glared, giving only a hint of a cocky grin as an act of defiance more than anything. "If I were intimidated enough to feel the need to give excuses to a thug like you, I might think twice about such a stupid question. But I don't. My father trained me well, and I've proven it time and again."

Kotone could list off a great many accomplishments she'd personally had. It didn't matter. He was nowhere near good enough to tell her what she was worthy of as far as she was concerned. "If you've managed to figure out what I am without knowing who I am, you've got a great deal to learn before you're ready to play judge, pal."

Kotone’s answer to Endolf’s request was to call him a thug and claim that she wasn’t at all intimidated by him or felt that she needed to give him any excuses. Her answer was that her father trained her well and that she had proven it time and time again. Endolf didn’t know about her history since leaving her parent but he wasn’t going to argue the fact that Krendall taught his daughter in a manner that the white haired man acknowledged. She went on to lecture him about how the fact that he was able to figure out what she was without knowing who she was and how it didn’t give him the right to judge her. “Choose your words carefully ice girl. Judging requires finding out all the facts first.” His turquoise eyes looked her up and down from toe to head.

“Figuring out what you are was easy, figuring out who you are was why I gave you chance to explain yourself to me.” He decided that, for the moment, Kotone wasn’t the worst choice her father could have made as the successor to his magic. He turned around and looked down towards the other end of the street.

Of course, Endolf lectured the seventeen year old dragon slayer in return, telling her that all of the facts must be learned to pass judgement. Of course, despite her protests in her own defense, she passed judgement on others pretty easily. Including Endolf. She had no idea what the other dragon slayers were supposed to be doing with their time, but picking fights with her as a test was something she considered a waste of time. Still, she was surprised when he turned around like he was finished.

"What, done already then?" she asked in an obviously annoyed tone. She partially dropped her readied stance, but not her glare. "I was just getting warmed up, you know." It was more of a taunt than anything else. Sure, she could have easily kept fighting for awhile. But maybe it was smarter this way. The local guards were probably on their way to break up a wizard fight and she didn't really want to deal with them.

"Look, tell me this," She began, finally dropping her stance completely. "What does it matter to you or anyone how powerful I am, huh? Is there something you know that I don't?" Kotone couldn't help but fish a bit. If he knew something that could lead to her father...

Kotone seemed somewhat disappointed when Endolf decided he’d finished fighting the woman. At least for the moment anyway. She claimed she was just getting warmed up but the taunt wasn’t one the Shadow Dragon would buy into. “My father was a smart dragon, and so am I. Two dragon slayers fighting openly in a public place like this is sure to draw the attention of unwanted authorities. I’ll keep fighting if you want, but it’d be best if we relocated first.” He turned back to the Ice Dragon Slayer to stare her down with his turquoise eyes.

He watched as she lowered out of her fighting stance and requested that he answer one question for her. She asked him why it was important for him to know how strong she was and if he knew something she didn’t. “I don’t care if you’re strong, I care if you’re someone deserving of a dragon’s power. I don’t know anything, my father never said anything before he vanished, but I did say he didn’t think humans could survive without dragons watching him. I plan to uphold that ideal in his absence starting with the other humans that have been given the powers of dragons.”

"Yeah, but you're the one that started it," Kotone said with a roll of her eyes and a crossing of her arms as Endolf told her it was stupid to keep fighting in the streets. In all honesty, she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep fighting with this man. She loved a fight, but she had a strong urge not to justify herself to him. Somehow fighting felt like that, so she didn't press it.

"And what, pray tell, makes you deserving if not strength, huh?" She demanded. "If not strength then why challenge me to a fight at all?" Kotone was strong. Quite strong for her age. There were a lot of people stronger, but few who weren't years older than her. But she wasn't a fool either, and his explanation made little sense to her. "You could have quizzed me on history. I could answer that. Or an eating contest maybe?" She was starting to get a little condescending at that point... but she didn't rightly care.

Kotone decided if he walked off she would follow for a bit, and demand more answers. He was the first other dragon slayer she'd met, even if she did kind of hate him at the moment. Not that that was anything special from the spiteful antihero with the black cat.

Kotone asked him what made someone deserving if it wasn’t strength and why he had challenged her to a fight at all if that was the case. She continued on, rambling off a list of things he could instead have used as tools to challenge her but as one suggestion left her mouth the next was even stupider. Not just answering yet he started walking off, knowing full-well she’d be following him. “Let’s go. I’ll talk more when we’re not surrounded by random strangers.” He paused only to look over his shoulder at her. “You did say you’d follow me until you proved I wasn’t a bad guy didn’t you?” Resuming his walk he continued to push himself through the remaining crowd of people that had gathered during their minor bout, growling as he exited the shadows of the buildings around them and into a ray of sunlight.

Luckily for him there was a tavern just a few buildings down, a sign hanging out above the walkway that drew him towards it like a beacon. He could only hope it was one of those dimly lit taverns that he could simply unwind in without the light bathing him. When he was clear of most of the people he spoke to Kotone once more, expecting her to still be behind him like he figured she would be. “We’ll talk in there.”

Kotone had a big mouth, but strangely, she wasn't as inclined to use it with Endolf. Something about him bugged her in a different way than other people. It wasn't his odd looks. She couldn't care less about that. She needed to know about him. He was a Dragon Slayer, even if he was a bad guy as far as she could tell. He seemed to think he knew something she was interested in, and used her own line against her to try and get her to follow. “Tch” was her only answer to that.


Soon, they stopped at a place Endolf seemed to find suitable for their talk. Kotone stopped a few feet from Endolf, her hands jammed into her pockets. The dragon slayer looked determinedly casual, almost too ‘cool’ to actually be as calm as she wanted to act. She was curious. Very curious. Entirely because he was the first Dragon Slayer she was sure existed other than her, though she knew the others were around.

“Geeze, pick a seedier place next time, would ya?” She asked him, looking at the building. No wonder she’d pegged him as a trouble maker with tastes like this. He probably got his candy from babies who weren’t being watched too. Well, okay that wasn’t true, but she wanted to think so at the moment. It made it easier to be standoffish with this man, despite what they obviously had in common. With a sigh, she shrugged her shoulders and entered.

I'm exiting this thread due to Endolf needing time off from RP for real life things.