A Shadow Heart's Secret

Fayte's body noticeably tensed when Tatsuma grabbed her hand. She knew it must be part of some ploy, a trick to display in front of their enemy. Even so, she couldn't stop her reaction. Physical touch, especially by a man, would never be natural to her. Even if it was as simple as holding hands. Still, she managed to fend off her initial reaction of pulling away. Silently she listened to his whisper. So it seemed Tatsuma thought of a plan of action, as Fayte suspected. If they were being followed, it was only natural to find out more about their pursuer. A Fairy Tail wizard would likely refuse to walk away.

She pulled her hand away, perhaps a bit too eagerly, when Tatsuma finished explaining. "I'll do my best," Fayte promised, equally as quiet. Fayte waited for Tatsuma to leave her, the faintest of frowns appearing on her face. She rubbed her hand absent-mindedly, thinking of other strategies open to them. Despite what she'd just agreed to... Fayte really wanted to know if their stalker was after her, or Tatsuma. Although Fayte had tried to keep a low-key presence in Shadow Heart, she might have a small amount of fame. If someone recognized her, it could be bad. Mainly because then she might end up in a fight against Tatsuma, if things really took a turn for the worse. Then again... she wasn't completely sure a fight would be a bad thing. True, it would bring unwanted attention to her. But she did wonder where she fit into his 'justice scale', although she had every intention of winning if it came to a fight.

Unfortunately there was little time to plan anything else. Their stalker would certainly follow the other if he lost one of them, so the only real option would have been to force their stalker to follow Fayte or Tatsuma. But that would probably be suspicious, not to mention Fayte had spent some time thinking, so... Fayte waited behind the corner. As soon as the man passed, Fayte grabbed his shirt, pulling him back and roughly slamming him against the wall. This was probably not what Tatsuma had meant when he asked for a 'distraction'. But Fayte was using it as an opportunity to move first, a moment without a Fairy Tail wizard's interference.

The man gasped in shock, clearly alarmed by the violent reaction. As soon as his head hit the wall, the man's arms moved to his belt. Fayte spied a weapon of some kind; she released him and danced away just in time, an electric-charged blade slashing where she had just been standing. Fayte had gotten a vague outline of him earlier, but now the two were face to face. He was considerably shorter than her, with black hair tied back into a thin ponytail, the man clearly of Hosenka descent. "...Can I help you?" Fayte asked flatly. The man seemed to hesitate, not quite pushing his last attack, at least not yet. "Or... where you looking for the man that was with me..." Fayte's eyes narrowed, wondering if that was why the other had stopped. Tatsuma was likely in position, if not now, then would be very soon.

Tatsuma hit the top of the roof just in time to turn around and see Fayte pull the guy into the alley. He simply watched as she dodged an attack. She was quick, he would give her that most assuredly. Still he could stand there all day, and he jumped off of the other side of the building above the spot where he had previously been following the two of them. As he fell he grabbed window sills and use them to break his fall until his hit the bottom, window and then simply fell to the ground, pressing up against the wall so he could hear the conversation. Any expert tracker would know he was there, he didn't conceal his breath or his aura, but he wanted to test both of them. In addition to that if he looked like he didn't know what he was doing the guy she had grabbed might underestimate him. Still, he couldn't wait forever and when she asked if he had been looking for Tatsu, the dragon slayer simply stepped out to the side of him, cutting him off so he couldn't run.
"Speaking of, which." He added at the end of her inquisition about the guy's goals. He wanted to know what the man was planning as well. After all, there was some sort of business if he was carrying around a magic knife.

Fayte kept her attention firmly on their opponent. She could feel watching eyes from nearby, and figured that it must be from Tatsuma. Before she could wonder about his plan, he revealed himself. Briefly if she wondered if that action was wise... If the man was after Tatsuma, their foe would be less willing to talk.

"No wait! I don't mean you any harm!" The man seemed more alarmed than before. He backed away a bit, the dagger falling to his side, trying to take a less threatening posture. Still Fayte never blinked... if the man wasn't dangerous, he would have reacted in a different way. "You're... you're Fayte, right?" Fayte did pause when the man mentioned her name. How was it possible? It was something she rarely gave out. And assuming that this was one of the dark guild members she was searching for... they wouldn't know who she was. Not without Shadow Heart being seriously compromised. "I'm Bao Shi. I met you in the past, back with Xian Fei," he answered her questions before she could even ask them. "And I'm a student of Master Jing Fei."

Fayte's hands dropped to her side. Her eyes were unusually wide, even her mouth partially open. This man knew Master Xian Fei? She supposed it was possible, that she had met him years ago when she was part of Mayonaka, but they were memories that couldn't come to her. "Anyway," Bao continued. "I heard about what happened with Xian. So when I saw you walking around here - I was a bit surprised, to say the least..."

"Who is... Jing Fei?" Fayte found her voice, asking her most primary concern. The man shared Xian's last name. But Master Xian Fei had never spoken about family before...

"Xian's son," Bao replied as if it were obvious.

Fayte's mouth had closed, managing to collect herself. But inside, she was reeling. Never had she considered that her master had family, still alive, somewhere out there. Furthermore... considering her master's own dark guild history, there was a good chance that this Jing Fei was part of the rival guild Fayte was sent to find. Or... maybe even their leader, since Bao had called him a 'teacher'. That could mean... her goal was to destroy her master's own kin...

"Is this guy a friend of yours?" Bao looked to Tatsuma.

Fayte realized what he was implying. "We've only just met...." She turned to Tatsuma. "It was... nice... meeting you," she struggled for the right words. "But... I'll have to pass on our earlier plans... I must speak with Bao..." She hadn't said it directly, but it was implied clearly enough... this was something she had to do alone. If Tatsuma went any further with her, he would certainly find out that she was a dark mage.

He looked at Fayte, slightly disheartened. She was going to ditch him for this guy and Xian Fei or whatever his name was. He had no plan to counteract this one. He couldn't come up with an excuse to stick around, but he was going to try anyway. He had seen more reaction from her with this guy's words than he had with the entirety of their time together thus far. In addition to that, the guy had taken a swing at her.
"I can help you with whatever this is, I owe you anyway. Plus this guy just took a swing at you with a knife. There's no way I'm leaving you alone with him." He said. The same methods he used to sense people's bio electricity allowed him to sense the guy's knife. He didn't like the "scent" of that electricity. He couldn't quite figure out exactly why, but he didn't like anything about the situation. It wasn't as though she hadn't proven that she could take care of herself, but she didn't have to deal with this by herself.
"Besides that it's not like I have anything better to do." He suggested. She was the first, and thus far only person who knew where he lived and he wasn't quite ready to simply leave. Fairy Tail Wizards were hardly that easily dissuaded anyway.

Fayte stared at Tatsuma helplessly. Apparently she hadn't been direct enough with her response. He had just seen her in action, maybe not full Takeover action, but enough to know she had some skill in fighting. So he had to know she could take care of himself. Was it just an excuse for him to spy on her? He had to suspect something a bit strange about their encounter... "No," she said quietly, but firmly. "You cannot-"

"It's fine," Bao interrupted. Fayte thought that his smile seemed a bit smug, but maybe she was imagining things. It certainly wasn't fine. If it was, Bao wouldn't have asked if the two knew each other. Then again... after Tatsuma's last conversation, Fayte was admittedly curious to see how this would play out. "Follow me. We can talk as we walk," Bao gestured, before leading the way. No hesitation on showing his back to them, Fayte noticed.

"But... where...." Fayte began softly, but Bao interrupted again.

"To see Master Jing, of course," he lead them through the populated areas of Magnolia. "If you don't mind me asking," he turned slightly to Tatsuma. "You're... a Fairy Tail wizard, aren't you? You seem a little familiar somehow...”

Eventually the came to a quieter section of town, stopping at what seemed like a warehouse. Jing pushed the doors open, revealing that the place had mainly been emptied. Abandoned, but perhaps recently, as there was a distinct lack of dust in the rafters. But otherwise, it was completely empty, save a few railings and a pile of boards.

“Ah, guess they're out right now...” Bao looked around, before turning back to the other two. “Wait here for a few minutes, okay? I know a few places Master Jing could be, but I don't want to drag both of you around everywhere.” Without giving them any time to answer, Bao practically ran away.

Fayte let him without complaint, but did not enter past the entrance of the warehouse. The way this was set up... she had a bad feeling. And the one thing he had asked about Tatsuma... it was a natural assumption, considering they were in Magnolia, but the 'familiar' part had her worried. “I... think this might be more dangerous for you than for me,” Fayte turned to Tatsuma. She would rather not have more people involved than absolutely necessary. “I have a feeling that my Master didn't get along well with her son. Master Xian Fei never once mentioned a family, and I lived with her for many years.” She had spoken highly of a few individuals, and Jing wasn't among them. Or... maybe they were purposely planning to pit her and Tatsuma against each other. If that was the case... honesty might be a better long term answer. “Is there nothing I can say that would convince you to leave?” She wondered directly. If she could avoid the situation entirely, it would be easier on Tatsuma and her.

Tatsuma looked at the guy, Bao, and thought quickly over why it was the guy was asking if he was a Fairy Tail wizard. It was pretty much obvious that he was, what with the guild mark on his hand, and he didn't particularly care for the way Fayte had so casually tried to dismiss him up to this point. He surmised from the (obvious) conversation between the two that she knew him by association at the very least, but either she was trying to protect him, or she was trying to hide something, and Tatsu wanted to know which it was. As such he feigned ignorance, a feat he managed to pull off by simply focusing on the bits that he didn't know and acting the part. His behavior didn't really change much and he answered the guy without fear of reprisal.
"Yes I'm a Fairy Tail wizard." He said, holding up his hand to show him the guild tattoo. With that he quickly dropped his hand and he walked with the group to wherever it was they were being taken.

Once they arrived, Bao immediately left the stage, heading off to find the guy they had been brought there to see. He felt it was suspicious, though the guy could just have been hospitable and singular he added it up with Fayte's earlier attempt to dissuade him from coming. At her mention of the danger level for him being higher than it was for her, he feigned a look of offense, as though he were insulted. Still, given what she was explaining, the danger level for her didn't sound very low either. Then she attempted to convince him to leave, asking if anything could be said to move him toward that purpose.
" If you're in danger I'm not going to leave you to deal with this here by yourself. Besides, he already knows who I am and what guild I'm in so even if I left I could be in the same amount of danger." He explained, using her statement as evidence that she thought this was a trap too. It seemed there was more to her than met the eye... or any other sense for that matter.

"Tatsuma..." Fayte began, looking at the Fairy Tail wizard carefully. If he would not go away... if he was going to stay here and see what played out... she needed a feasible excuse. Having someone else reveal her secrets would be far worse than having told him herself. Besides... if Bao only knew Fayte from Mayonaka, theoretically Bao had no knowledge of Shadow Heart. Revealing her own personal history... in a sense, it would also hide her current guild and activities.

"I have not been fully honest with you," she said, even though she had no intention of being a completely open book, either. "The reason why I was interested in your theory of dark guild earlier... it is because I used to be part of one myself. It was a small guild, in Hosenka, but fell apart two years ago..." Earlier, she had wondered what he might think if she knew of his past... well apparently she would have her wish, although it was a wish better left unknown. "I tell you this because... Master Xian Fei's son... he is likely a dark mage. ...You have likely fought other dark wizards due to nature of your guild's missions... but what happens when you meet one outside a mission?" She wondered. The way the conversation was going, she had implied it to mean Jing and his men... but it was as much about herself as the others. "I would... like to talk to Jing Fei," she added, hoping that he wouldn't immediately attack Jing... or attack her, for that matter. Although she believed in her strength, it would be hard to fight against everyone, and she would need to pick her allies accordingly.

Tatsuma considered Fayte's words. So she had been in a dark guild? That made his earlier suspicions that he had dismissed as paranoia suddenly much more valid. Still, her statement hadn't exactly gone over his head and it wasn't shocking enough to keep him from thinking clearly. She had referenced that she was part of a dark guild in the past, but she hadn't referenced what she was doing now.
"If I met someone from a dark guild outside of a mission it would depend on what it was they were doing. If they are hurting people, or creating victims then I'll deal with them. Otherwise a dark guild is just a guild that doesn't conform to the magic council and there's nothing wrong with that." He said simply. It was quite simple because that was what he expected her to answer from his next question to be equivalent.
"So with that answer, you should know I'm an enemy of injustice, not affiliation. You said you had been in a dark guild, but it crumbled. So did you then join another dark guild? Are you a dark guild mage now?" He asked, curious to see how she would answer. He wasn't a human lie detector and while his ability to sense bio electricity was a helpful component in determining people's honesty, it wasn't that much better than simply watching and listening, and it was a far cry from being able to tell when people were lying based on logic and story holes. If someone could lie to a magic council seeker they would probably be able to lie to him too. These thoughts flew through his head quickly as he awaited her response.

He wasn't sure how she would react, nor if his answer for her question was satisfactory enough to garner her own honesty, but she had confessed to being a former dark mage at least, if she wasn't going to trust him at this point it wasn't going to happen at all. What was more, he wasn't sure what this Jing character was about, or if he had meant this to be some sort of trap. What was more, was that he didn't even know Hosenka actually had any dark guilds, though he was glad his town that he considered his home away from home was free of whatever they had done, though the reason for their collapse could have been because they weren't actually doing anything wrong and had decided to split up. Too many variables, too much to consider, and there was still whatever was going on to take into account. He couldn't just get lost in thought, and he hoped her answer would be a little less simple because of it.

Fayte smiled faintly. It was not that she was happy to hear Tatsuma's verdict - he had basically said he would accept her. But it was his naiveness again, ' a dark guild is just a guild that doesn't conform to the magic council and there's nothing wrong with that.' By the literal definition, she supposed that was true. Yet the world didn't work that way. Being a dark guild with 'morals' inevitably limited oneself, creating enemies of both the magic council and those on the furthest dark guild spectrum. It was the most dangerous position, an almost kind of vigilante response, where allies were few and the enemies were many. So it was only natural that dark guilds lived up to their reputation, being a family of murderers and thieves.

Naive in terms of wisdom, perhaps, but not lacking in intelligence. Tatsuma had caught her play on words again. Fayte didn't like to lie. Lying was admitting that there was something to hide, somehow made the position less 'true' or validated. To her, Tatsuma's words were him trying to convince her that he wouldn't attack, even if she was a dark mage... not unless they were directly opposed. She believed his words. And maybe even part of her wanted him to know her true identity.

"Yes," Fayte admitted, no longer trying to hide it. "I am a dark guild wizard." She watched for his response, not knowing his reaction. She trusted he wouldn't attack, but this could end in multiple ways. "I am pursuing a certain man, and I will do whatever it takes to reach him." Her words were similar to earlier, but much clearer on the revenge side instead of the romantic version she'd accidentally created.. Her reason for joining Shadow Heart was for vengeance, or more the notion of it; she liked to believe it was a clear ideal like that.

Tatsuma would have face palmed, but he wondered if there was more to the story. Why would someone join a dark guild so they could track someone down? Because she wanted to kill the guy? Because that guy was in a different dark guild? because that guy used shady channels to get in touch with people etc.? Any of those reasons could have been accommodated by simply remaining outside of a guild. He considered asking, but he thought it might be better to simply open himself up and allow her to tell him more. There wasn't any point in hiding it now, there was no point in being indirect.
"So why join a dark guild to track someone. That seems counter productive in comparison to being guildless, your resources will be more limited because you have to hide that you're in a dark guild, you can't tell anyone the name of your guild unless you're planning on making sure they aren't going to go around talking about it, and... well I was going to say that you can't get the magic council to help but they don't seem to be in a helpful mood these days. Point being, depending on what the guy did I would even help you track him down, that happens to be something I'm fairly decent at anyway, hell I'd even help you kill him on that same criterion. Still, i'm curious as to why you wanted dark guild above all else." He said, magically turning what was meant to be a short offer of help into a somewhat critical pseudo lecture. He honestly didn't mean anything by it other than to help alleviate his confusion.

To this day, he still thought that people's reasons for joining dark guilds were often flimsy and wrought with misconceptions about their options and what could be done for with what resource instead of learning to do more with less, or make their standing and freedom more useful. He would even have a higher regard for people if they simply said "I joined because I felt it was the right thing for me to do." Yet they instead often had goals which were typically neither helped nor otherwise affected by their status of guildlessness or dark guild membership. Still most of them clung to their guns and refused to believe that there was another, less intrusive or less lonely way of achieving their goals, and he doubted Fayte would be any different. With a sigh he looked at her.
"Whatever you want to do, this is about you right now not me. I'll follow your lead." He said.

Fayte completely doubted Tatsuma's words, both with logic and truth. "Really?" She said softly. 'Track him down'... sure, there was a much bigger problem than that. He was far stronger than her, and she wasn't too proud to admit it. If she just asked around, she was pretty sure she could find Mordekai's location within a day or two. "So you're against dark guilds which do illegal things, and think it's better to murder someone as long as it's not associated with an organization?" She hadn't said what she was chasing Mordekai down for, but Tatsuma was at least keen enough to realize her intent was probably to kill. Yet Tatsuma was okay with that, with 'certain conditions'. "The person I'm after is part of the Magic Council. I'll need an entire organization to continue going after him. That's... all I'm going to say on the matter.”

Before they could continue their conversation, footsteps interrupted. Bao had returned, and with him was an unknown man, presumably Jing Fei. Like Tatsuma, he was dressed in traditional Hosenka attire. “Thank you for waiting. My name is Jing,” he introduced himself properly, hands casually resting in his pockets. “I know this sounds sudden, but I'd like to save the talking for later. I'd like to jump straight into a fight against one of you,” his eyes narrowed coyly. “Or both of you, if you're not confident.”

“Jing...” Fayte repeated softly. This was her master's son? They were both clearly from Hosenka, but something about him didn't feel right. There was some kind of magical power, perhaps an aura, which radiated strength around him. “Why, do we have a reason to be enemies?” If he wanted to ambush them, he would have come in through some other sneaky means.

“Think of it as a type of greeting,” he shrugged. “You can refuse, but I'll just head back if you won't at least fight. Now which one of you... or both?”

Tatsuma was fully up for this. While Fayte was insistent he was prepared. Well, technically he was prepared for an ambush, this was even better.
"Color me interested. I would be happy to fight you. And here I was thinking this was going to be a boring meeting, I'll take you on by myself if Fayte isn't interested in the fight." He said cheerfully as he took a stance. He stood on his left leg with his right foot balanced against the knee, meanwhile his right knee was pointed toward his prospective opponent. His hands came up in front of his face, right arm forward in a closed fist with his left arm drawn back in an open hand. He planned to hold off on using magic as much as possible. If he could outmaneuver the guy he would rely on that instead and keep him guessing as to exactly what all he could do. Still, if that didn't work out just as it hadn't any of the times he had tried it before, he was not going to remain honor bound to give the other guy all the edges.
"Fayte, are you joining in? The water is warm." He said with a smirk, though he kept his eyes on Jing. He was more than happy to fight his way into someone's good graces.

Fayte didn't answer Jing's question immediately, instead waiting for Tatsuma to make the call. Fighting was something she preferred to avoid, especially when it wasn't necessary. She failed to understand what Jing would gain from this... unless he wanted to assess her abilities. If that was the case... she'd rather keep them secret. "Pass... It wouldn't be fair, two on one." That wasn't the real reason. She took a few steps back, giving the two of them more room. Behind Jing, Bao also had a similar reaction. If Tatsuma wanted to take the challenge in her stead, Fayte would gladly let him. Jing hadn't said they needed to win; just that they fight. So she was perfectly content to let the two do so.

Jing smirked, before bowing halfway to Tatsuma. "Don't hold back." He crouched lightly, one palm forward, the other back, spreading his legs in a traditional martial arts stance. His fingertips flexed... a strange crackling noise filled the air. Green scales encased his body, including his face, giving him a snake-like skin and appearance. Fayte's eyes narrowed at the change. There were no other noticeable physical features that had changed, and even his clothes remained in tact. Was it a takeover form? Or something that just resembled it?

Jing began to sidestep slowly, watching Tatsuma the entire time for any stray movement or mistakes. Abruptly he lunged forward, raising one hand, and striking with his fingertips...

Tatsuma quickly reacted, dodging slightly by leaning while the knee that was up extended into a kick, his shin aimed to make contact with the guy's chest while he used his right hand to grab the the wrist of the hand that had just passed him. Surely there had to be some sort of trick to this? A straight forward attack from someone well versed in martial arts should have been a little more difficult to counter, but he continued with his chosen method of assault. The set up was fairly simple, and was meant mostly to take the opponent off balance and then force them into a joint lock, but it was going to be troublesome if there was some sort of as yet unexplained effect from his new skin. There had to be something to this, something he wasn't seeing. The thoughts flashed through his head in a split second and as his leg aborted the kick it was originally aiming, instead he drew his knee into his own chest and then slipped it up and over the shoulder of the arm he was now holding as he simultaneously pulled up on the arm, attempting to force the guy into the ground where he would then begin his next set of tactics to put him into a hold and keep him there. Most of this he had learned from a book and practiced with various sparing partners from Fairy Tails' members, the rest was self designed based on laws of body movement and momentum.
"Down we go." He said cheerfully as he pulled harder on the arm and put most of his body weight on the leg that was meant to help add force.

Jing's stance was neither open nor completely flawless. He prepared to take the kick, only to realize Tatsuma was doing something different completely. He started to fall from the impact, but at the same time Tatsuma had fallen for the ploy. Jing's skin emitted some kind of magic, reacting as soon as Tatsuma physically made contact. There was a faint glow of magic, a transfer of energy as the two connected. The strange magic softened Tatsuma's blow. Jing grunted from the hit but still managed to break free before completely slamming to the ground, although he was forced to twist awkwardly.

"My takeover form not only provides excellent defense, but also has the effect of softening my opponent's blows," Jing explained. "Combined, the two effects can practically nullify just about any damage!" He charged in, this time faster and a bit more recklessly, seeming to have found his footing in the fight. Or perhaps he intended to press his advantage while his spell remained in place...

Fayte continued to watch on the sidelines. But that skin that Jing used... now more than ever, Fayte was certain. That wasn't a takeover magic. It hadn't altered his body in any way, and required Tatsuma to make full contact. She would have thought a snake, or whatever it was he was, would have required some different tactics. Or maybe it was just some kind of sixth sense; something that told her that her form was different than his...

So that was the trick behind it. If the scales were going to soften attacks, then did that also mean that it would stop his bones from breaking if he simply twisted them. Technically that wasn't a hard attack for it to soften. He took a hit, using the momentum from Jing's attack and using it to force a kick of his own that was meant to make Jing step out, lose balance, and crack his ankle, still if that didn't work he managed to create a bit of distance between himself and his opponent so that if he had to prepare another strategy he would be able to think for a second before the fight actually started, thus allowing himself to line up something to counter it. If his power softened magic blows too then he didn't want to waste the mana fighting him with something that wouldn't have the effect he was looking for.
"So it would be a waste to use magic on you in that state wouldn't it?" He taunted, fully intending, win or lose, to get out of this without using any of his spells to give him the edge, it was something he wanted to do since he lost to Kotone, there was much left for him to work on. It wasn't overpowering magical ability, it was precision and basics that he needed to work on.

Jing twisted as Tatsuma's kick came out. He took the hit on the side of his leg, but managed to avoid being completely swept. He stumbled a bit but didn't lose balance. It was a strong kick to even make him step slightly out of line, though. Jing chuckled darkly. He was starting to enjoy this fight - a dragonslayer and takeover mage were not ones he would encounter on a normal basis. "Who knows? Would you like to try and find out?" Jing grinned and taunted back. There was no way he would confirm or deny Tatsuma's assumption.

He moved in again, unwilling to let Tatsuma retreat. Now that they were in close range combat, Jing wanted them to stay there. His twin hands moved again, striking with his fingertips. This was the serpent style of fighting, one meant to strike Tatsuma's natural magical channels. Magic ran throughout a wizard's entire body, but certain techniques could disrupt that flow. More than just that, electrical currents ran from the brain to one's limbs. If this current was disrupted, it would inhibit a person from moving normally, restricting partially or even completely paralyzing them. The serpent style was all about targeting specific points in the body to disrupt that flow...

The guy was fast, annoyingly fast. There weren't a ton of people that necessarily managed to trump his speed during combat, but this guy was making most of his maneuvers pointless. Both hands went for him again, part of him wanted to grab them, the guy wasn't immune to grapples after all, but he was also fiercely efficient at getting around taking the damage. He was well balanced, but he was still only attacking with his hands which gave him an idea. As the fingertips closed in Tatsu crossed his arms in front of his body, blocking the hands with his arms, and immediately hit the ground, going into a full body roll to try to force the guy to trip, past that his plan was to use his magic to strike once the guy was down and then strike with a few attacks before he had a proper chance to react. Ideally it would work, though he still wasn't too sure exactly what effect the strikes were going to have since he still didn't know the magic the guy was using, but he put everything on the plan that he had for the time being. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

Tatsuma's strange trick caught Jing off guard. Jing tripped heavily on Tatsuma's body. The armor might have mitigated the damage, but he still had the physics of a normal person. He hit the ground unceremoniously, sprawling out completely. Abruptly he burst out laughing, even going so far as rolling on the ground. So much so that even Fayte rose an eyebrow at the odd behavior. "A-Alright, I think that's good enough for me," he managed to sputter between his laughs. "That wasn't a traditional bout, but I suppose whatever works." He rose to his feet. The strange green skin covering him vanished. He offered his hand to Tatsuma, as if to prove there were no ill intentions.

Abruptly Fayte turned on her heel. She was fairly certain she had figured out what was going on. That wasn't a takeover form. Something close to it in appearance, but not quite. If Master Xiang Fei had never mentioned a son before, it was because her son was not worth mentioning. He was a fake. So was Tatsuma - contradicting himself, saying one thing and doing another. They both had different ways, but she was surprisingly frustrated with both of them.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jing said, a bit alarmed. She had come all this way just to leave so suddenly, when they were about to have their promised talk.

"I don't need to understand anything else," she paused, waiting only for a second, before continuing her stride. She still had a task for Shadow Heart after all, and couldn't perform it with Tatsuma around.

He didn't bother following Fayte, she had been trying to distance herself from him for a bit now, but he wasn't going to cling. If she wanted to go this was her deal, and Jing was now an important contact for Tatsu in his dark guild hunting. He would probably have information that others wouldn't and that was good enough for him.
"No, you stay, I'll go. You were the one they originally wanted to talk to. You're free to push people away all you want, but if you're any representation of your guild then you live very lonely existences." He said to her, just as frustrated as she was, but managing to keep it in check. With that he turned to Jing, finishing his exit.
"Thank you for the fight, maybe next time I'll use my magic too. In the interim I'll leave you to talk to Fayte." He said with a slight chuckle as he turned to walk away leaving the group there to talk out whatever she had originally been summoned to speak with them about. He was still a little concerned about her, but after fighting Jing he wasn't completely sure she was in any real danger. He had managed to more or less get the drop on the guy without using any magic, he imagined she would handle whatever happened to come up with her magic. "Good luck" He thought to himself in regard to her.

[Exit]