Skulking Around [FINISHED]

[AMRI DUKHKIN']

Early morning. This was the safest time here, he'd learned that in his time here. Early morning was when the vampires had to skulk back to their lairs and the werewolves were transforming back and therefore vulnerable. It was the only time it felt okay to leave Yuliya by herself and go look for food. She was safe at the edge of the forest, she was in her element in the forest. Of course, the didn't mean he didn't have his gun ready in his hands. He'd lived here long enough to know one should never go anywhere without a gun if you wanted to get what you needed.

He was leaning against a wall outside. He knew it was dangerous to walk alone, but he also knew that he was a little more intimidating than most, at least, he was the most intimidating thing that could walk in the daylight. With his gun cocked, he peeked around the corner to see a battered cardboard box in the little back alley behind the mess hall. A cardboard box could mean anything. It could just be empty, but it could also have food or ammunition in it. And he would be the first to find out, already strutting towards it.

[HANAKO TAMURA]

---------Hanako hated waking up before the sun rose. It always put her in an off mood and today was no different. She felt sleep deprived and in a less than tolerable mood. After crawling out of make-shift bed in the library after an hour of failed attempts to sleep again, she made her way over to the mess, ready to do some poking about for supplies. As she came around to the back she quickly made her way up to the roof. Crates, window sill, gutter, and you're up. She learned the trick to it back when she was new to the camp. With that she made her rounds around the edge of the concrete building's roof, glancing at everything in sight for the signs of useful supplies.
---------As she reached the east side, Hanako noticed a cardboard box, abandoned it appeared, resting against the wall. Just as she saw it she took notice of a man preparing to snatch it up and there was no way on earth she would let a stranger take something she set her eyes on. Hanging down from the gutter she dropped in perfect time to land directly beside the desired goal. However, instead of taking it and hurrying off, she sat down on top of it (after testing its sturdiness of course), and crossed her arms, smugly smiling at the dark man as he approached. It was more her style. She was no coward and quite confident in her strength. Grab and run? Not her style. In any case, a chance for some teasing comments in Japanese raised her moods. She found it so funny when people didn't understand what she was saying. "Watashi wa katsu," she said happily, the tone of her voice going up with the last syllable, knowing very well that he could not understand her.

[AMRI DUKHKIN']

He couldn't believe that someone would just come in out of nowhere to try and steal his prize. Was she a complete ditz or just plain stupid? And then she said something in a different language like she thought it was cute or something. “You gotta be kidding me...” he muttered to himself, rubbing his temples before sighing and just pointing his gun at her. Had she not realized he had one? Probably not, which meant she was extra stupid for not taking the extra moment to see if he was armed or not before trying to get the better of him. Some people just did not learn, and two could play at talking in a different language.

“піти або ваша голова буде бризнула на землю,” he said in his thick Ukrainian accent, moving closer to her as he looked around him to see if she had any backup. She didn't seem to, which meant the only possible outcome of this would be him walking away with the supplies. After all, he had a gun and he was a fighter, not just some little girly girl. His hand moved on the trigger, letting her know he wouldn't hesitate to blow her head to pieces if she didn't get out of the way soon. God, what a newbie. Maybe she'd be smart enough to take off running, but a little blood first thing in the morning was no hardship for him. He'd killed many people since he'd been there and he didn't regret anything. Maybe she'd thought he would just be a toy to play with but he was the dangerous one here.

[HANAKO TAMURA]

----------Hanako furrowed her brows when he held up the gun. Fighting with high speed propulsion weapons was definitely not in her list of favorite activities. Under her breath she muttered, "Tawami no momo no hana." Seemingly out of nothing slowly the petals of peach blossoms began to swirl gracefully around her, a gentle breeze catching her hair and clothes slightly in its dance. Feeling at ease once again she tilted her head and said, returning to English, "Sorry, didn't catch that." She was only half serious in her desire to know what he said. She was sure that just as her little claim to victory was of no consequence, his words were either an insult, which she would ignore so long as it was not about her gang, or a threat, which she would also ignore as she was not one to be shaken to fear by the words of others.
----------"So you know," she said nonchalantly, looking over to some of her flowers, "these petals will deflect any long distance attacks." It was a bit of a stretch to the truth. It only deflected the fast ones. Arrows or rocks would easily get through. "And if you get close enough to me to nullify their effects... well I'm not going to mock modesty. I'm not a helpless little girl. So is this box really worth all the trouble?" So far she was enjoying this so long as he didn't do anything to waken her sleeping temper everything would run smoothly and she could be back at the library within the hour.

A/N: 'Tawami no momo no hana' translates to 'Peach blossoms of deflection.'

[AMRI DUKHKIN']

Flower petals? Really? She couldn't be less intimidating if she was trying. So he couldn't help but burst into laughter, and not just a chuckle, the bending over and tearing up a little bit laughter. He would have to tell Yuliya about this when he got back with the supplies, god that would keep them laughing for days. But eventually he was able to straighten himself up, “So let me get this straight...you summon a bunch of flowers to come and save you and I'm supposed to think you're not a helpless little girl?” Some people. Now he couldn't care less if she was actually able to fight or not, first impressions just didn't go away. And a ditzy girl expecting to be respected wearing a short skirt with flower petals swirling around her was just ridiculous.

“Sorry sweetie, today ain't going to be your day,” he said as he casually leaped the distance between them, gun still in hand. He hadn't been standing too far away from her to begin, and he didn't have any need to run away, not with his gun still poised in his hand and his muscles still gleaming. It didn't even matter if she was the strongest girl in the world. Borka obabas were as strong as ten of the strongest men in the world without even training, and he had trained, oh how he had trained. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. A weakling trying to mooch, he could deal with, a weakling trying to claim they were at his level was just annoying and insulting.

[HANAKO TAMURA]

----------Insults, she could deal with, threats she could deal with, even the occasional patronizing comment was manageable, but outright laughing at her put Hanako in an irritated position. She abruptly rose to her feet, face completely serious, hair fading slowly more towards red tones. Reaching one hand out to maintain her barrier of defense she extended the other in his direction and muttered, "Sakura sono buraindo." Another set of petals came out of nothingness and whirled more quickly around her. Her hair was now flying and her clothes caught in the rush of air. The light shades of pink followed its current while the first set still gracefully moved at their gentle speed, unaffected by the second. She held her right hand forward to be ready at a moments notice.
----------Her tone of voice did not even attempt to hide her frustration. "You know what, Baka-san? Today hasn't been my day since I came to this wretched place. And don't think for one second that I am helpless. I didn't survive these past two years on luck. I didn't survive the years before coming here on the charity and kindness of others. Say hello is one of the strongest members of the Rebellion, Hanako Tamura." She glared, staring straight into his brilliant blue eyes without wavering.

A/N: 'Sakura sono buraindo' translates to 'Blossoms that blind.'

[AMRI DUKHKIN']

More flowers? Was she joking? This had to be a joke. Did she really think more flowers would convince him she was someone worth his time. He chuckled as he said, “For someone's who supposedly so strong, you sure do need to reassure yourself a lot.” That's how he always knew when someone was weak inside, when they had to keep insisting that they were strong, people whose words spoke louder than their actions...they were annoying. Amri respected strength, he knew to stay away from the vampires and werewolves and fire elementals...but flowers was just too damn silly. It was like something a little kid would think was cool and powerful. He knew power. He had generations of Cossack power running through his veins, the strength of warriors and warriors before him aiding his strength.

He stepped into her little peach petal barricade...got, it felt stupid to even think that, and kicked the box away with his foot. He could examine the contents later to see if it had been worth anything, but now he had to make sure nothing would be coming at his back when he walked away with the goods. He held his gun pointed at her head again. “So does this one also block bullets?” he asked with a laugh, “Or do I just need to punch you in the head and be done with?”

[HANAKO TAMURA]

----------Hanako merely smiled as the stranger stepped into her space. He had fallen right into her trap and she resisted the urge to shout out just that to him. Knowing she had the advantage, in a flash she grabbed the gun, deflecting the aim to the side lest he pull the trigger. In the same fast movement she twisted it out of his grip, turning towards the thumb, the weakest point on anyone's hand. For a moment she looked at the gun with disinterest before throwing it as far away as she possibly could.
----------"Now its a fair fight," she said. And then something hit her. It was not just a passing thought or even just a slight pull, she felt the hormones in her body suddenly acting up and fogging up her brain with thoughts of the man who stood before her, tall and imposing. Try as she might to shake the notion, her attention was being pulled to how broad his shoulders were and those dark soft locks of hair and those brilliant blue eyes. "Dang it, Hanako. He's your enemy. Get your head clear," she muttered quietly, trying to keep her focus on the situation itself rather than the man involved.

[AMRI DUKHKIN']

He was mildly surprised when she pulled the gun from his hand, but he did not agree that it was now a fair fight. Fights with him were inherently not fair, no matter what the situation, armed or unarmed. But of course people still underestimated him, thinking him to just be a dumb heap of muscle, but in reality, that heap of muscle was like the muscles of 100 men combined that he could draw out whenever he wanted and just one well-aimed punch from him would send her a half-mile away, and probably cause permanent damage. So he just smirked at her, knowing he still had the upper hand.

But then something hit him...right in his stomach, this exploding, knife-stabbing pain. His eyes widened as he realized what must be happening and he tried to control it but he couldn't help but wince and curl over slightly...no, he could do this. He had a high threshold for pain...just not this kind of pain. A slight, deep wimper came from his throat and he collapsed on the ground, curling around his stomach and squeezing his eyes shut, trying to control the spasms shaking his body. His whole life it had been his sister who went to the doctor, but he had been also, and he had been diagnosed with something called “stomach migraines,” chronic stomachaches that were so bad people often broke their backs from the intensity of curling up. God, why now?

[HANAKO TAMURA]

----------Hanako thought she was prepared for anything. No matter what attack he laid on her she was prepared to dodge and return. If he ran she was ready to stop him. If he said some witty remark she was ready to send one right back. But this was unexpected. As he collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain her eyes widened for a moment. "Okay, that wasn't me," she said to herself, confused.
----------For a moment she considered leaning over to help him but quickly pulled back. For all she knew it was an act and she was falling right into his trap, then again he did not exactly seem to be the particularly bright type who would think of such a thing. Instead she just stared blankly at him, not sure what to do or say. Attacking would be under-handed at this time and anything she said was sure to be useless. She couldn't very well just walk away and leave him there, especially since they had a score to settle.

[AMRI DUKHKIN']

He couldn't think at all. All he was thinking was pain and nausea. He didn't cry, but if he'd been the type of person to cry in the first place, he would've been bawling. There were millions of little knives floating around in his stomach, stabbing him over and over again where he was most weak. And his stomachaches were always paired with a horrible feeling of guilt since he'd gotten his first one on the day that Yuliya had been officially proclaimed crazy, and if he'd gone to the doctor with them, he could've stopped it...but no, he was curled up in his bed.

But he had to fight through it. The girl was probably just coming up with the best way to attack him and he could still defend himself. He had to do it for his sister and maybe this time he could save her and he could get them the food or whatever was in that box. With a grunt, he was able to shove himself into at least a sitting position, not able to get the force to stand up quite yet. “You better...get back,” he seethed, still clenching his stomach with one hand and barely being able to keep his eyes open.

[HANAKO TAMURA]

----------Hanako raised an eyebrow as he sat up, obviously pained, and weakly forced out a threat. Taking a few steps back, she leaned over and set the box upright. "Look," she said as she began to cut the duct-tape holding it closed with a knife. "You're obviously in no condition to fight and if I were to attack you now, I'd likely win with ease. That wouldn't be a fair fight and as such I couldn't consider our score settled by it. So how about-" she opened up the lid and stopped short.
----------"What..." she muttered and then suddenly stood up straight, pointing down at it. "What the heck is this?! Wareware wa, kono Ueno-sen tte ita? Sono yona baka!" Her language slipped away from English until she calmed down a bit and kicked the box over towards her enemy. Books came sliding out. They were nothing more than out-dated encyclopedias. Putting her hands on her hips she looked down at him in all seriousness. "Still going to kill me over it?"

[AMRI DUKHKIN']

He rolled his eyes at her talking even in his pain. If he was able to reach her he'd still pack a punch enough to break her bones. He just couldn't get to her at the moment. It just felt like a bowling ball was being dropped on his stomach at the moment...god, at least at home he'd had meds. He'd only gotten a stomach migraine once before since he'd been here, and it had been in the middle of the night and it was one of those few situations where it had been Yuliya taking care of him and she had soothed him and sung him songs until it was over. He had to get back.

Then he saw the encyclopedias. It was probably expected of him that he would raise his nose at them and just go back, but he...he could use though. Yuliya had been asking him about finding something to read. She loved books. It wouldn't matter if they were old encyclopedias, she would appreciate them a hundred times more than if he brought back food. It would bring a smile to her face, and it made it less likely that she would sneak out of camp, she'd be reading. His eyes lit up even though he struggled to speak, “I, I can use those.”

[HANAKO TAMURA]

----------Hanako's gaze softened slightly. His attitude was still hostile towards her but his state was not something to be laughed at. "We have a score to settle still, Baka-san," she reminded. "I want to fight you fairly one-on-one some day." She was determined not to let this be his win but considering his state, she gave it a rain check. There was something that didn't feel right about kicking a man while he's down.
----------"I live in a library. They're all yours," she said before turning to walk away, the steady footsteps of her boot-clad feet neither rushing nor lingering. A slight breeze caught her now lighter pink pony tails in the wind. Raising her hand in farewell she did not look back. "Ja-ne," she said lightly before turning around the corner of the mess hall, out of sight.