A Reaper in Red {Closed}

The first cut was always the most difficult. At that point, the mask of the Hollow would be severed in twain, the beast forever falling from her sight. Of course, if it were for just a single Hollow--or even twenty--they would not have called her out here, especially from somewhere as far away as Artemis. The beasts stood around her, staring at the being that they had decided was their designated feast for the evening. Of course, she had the spiritual concentration that would make these bastards happy. With narrowed eyes, the weapon was held at her side so that it shone beneath the moonlight--the red colors of the scythe were accentuated by the humming glow coming from the blade. A soft smile crossed her lips as she waited for the first move to be made.

And of course, the first move would be made. The beasts started to charge her, but not all at once. Such a pity; if they had made a decision like that, then they could have potentially gotten her onto her knees. "Foolish." The female in red cloak disappeared into a flash of fluttering rose petals, appearing behind the first of the Hollow with a determined expression in those silver eyes. The beast turned, but it was too slow--the sound of a rifle firing exploded into the still and silent air, the female pulling her scythe back and destroying it for good.

At that moment, they decided to jump onto her. As they moved, she started to spin the scythe in both of her hands, moving around with cuts everywhere around her body. Cut after cut reaped through the bodies of the Hollows, each beast falling to the ground and disappearing not even half a second after they had attempted to make an attack upon her person. That said, even though she was thinning the flock, they seemed to be endless for some unknown reason. As more tried to jump her, the youthful Quincy disappeared into rose petals, using Hirenkyaku to appear above the beasts.

Pulling the red scythe back and flicking a small switch, the machine transformed over about a second, becoming a rifle that she held up against her shoulder. She grinned, pulling the trigger and blasting a hole through the mask of the first Hollow to get close. Of course, they would start charging her. She changed to one-handed, firing off each round with gusto. The beasts were gathering, so as Roza used small platforms of Reishi to control herself, she dropped the magazine from the base of the rifle, pulling another off of the belt.

"Ultra High Explosive rounds, active." She started firing once more, grimacing slightly at the recoil. "This could rip my arm off, if I'm not careful." When each shot hit a Hollow, they exploded with a powerful noise, dealing damage to the beast and others near it. Each shot thinned the herd further, and Roza started to see that they were finally disappearing--but not in the way she expected. "Wha...t?" The air around her started to feel heavier, and a split opened up in front of her, with a being standing inside. She grimaced, narrowing her eyes.

"Arrancar."

"Hmph..." The rest of the Hollow had disappeared, leaving behind what was only the being standing within its crack between dimensions. She wondered why it was here. Was it defending its Hollow siblings? Was it merely watching... or was it always going to appear? Was this... a trap? Her grip upon the weapon tightened, as the beast watched her with cruel eyes. If she wasn't mistaken, the Arrancar almost appeared to be bug-like, with large scythes for claws that gleamed underneath the hellish moon. It didn't even see her as a threat... only prey. Those were the eyes of a ruthless predator.

Her heart started racing. She was scared. This female, a young woman used to being in control of her situations with brute force was now worried for her life. Her body was shaking, and for the first time she realized what it felt like to be seen as mere prey. "I..." The being jumped. It went straight for her. She nearly didn't react in time, changing the shape of her Crescent Rose from rifle, to scythe. Her blade clashed with the blades of the beast, feet digging into the soft earth. Roza's eyes hardened and her body tensed up with energy in preparation to fight back--but it was too much. The beast was strong. The beast was fast. It was perfect in every way. She tried to look for openings, but it had covered its bases. All she wanted to do...

Pulling herself away, Roza managed to dive to the side with blade in hand, growling quietly as it stared back at her rolled form. "What are you?" It sneered at her, watching for any escape routes that she might possibly take... before disappearing. "Sonido?!" No, this feeling was different. It would've appeared by now... instead, it had merely disappeared. Stealth? She couldn't feel its presence. She couldn't see it. She couldn't hear it. She merely knew that it was there... and that scared her even more. Her body was shaking so much that the scythe fell to the ground. Roza had never felt so scared in her life.

She dropped to her knees, heart racing and breathing heavy. She couldn't die here. She was young; she hadn't even fallen in love with anyone yet! "Please... just let me go..." Her ragged whispers fell upon deaf ears, the beast appearing behind her in mid-air, raising its own blade up in preparation to decapitate her in one strike. Was this... it?

The beast's presence appeared in a flash once more. It was there, and it was right behind her. The girl's body tensed up, the fear suddenly disappearing. No longer was there an invisible enemy, but an enemy that she could fight. But was it too late? She didn't know if it was ready to kill her, or what--but she knew that it would make life difficult if it was... mostly because of the difficulty that death had towards life. "GRAB YOUR SCYTHE!" The voice shook her back completely into reality, and Roza's hand whipped out to her side, gripping Crescent Rose with a new vigor.

Energy flashed behind her, and she turned her body to notice the beast's claw exploding into shrapnel. Another flash of energy, and she found herself standing next to a youthful female. She turned her head, nodded and turned back to see the beast. "He's not a weakling, that's for sure." Her grip upon Crescent Rose tightened, and more arrows were flung by the new person to appear--the first one had a heat coming from it. When it collided with the beast, it seemed to disappear once more. It was the same feeling as before, but this time Roza ignored it. She didn't care. She needed to fight it. "Are you alright?" Roza nodded with a smirk. This time, she would actually fight.

The next arrow was fired off, and started to track.... heat. She grinned. "Tag, my turn." The beast had some pretty beastly armor. Therefore, she knew exactly how to deal with it. Pulling a lever, Roza dropped a magazine out from the Scythe and to the ground. Pulling another one from her body, she plugged it into the weapon and prepared to make her next attack. "Scythe Ultra High Explosive, active." Suddenly, she pushed off from where she was standing, disappearing into a flurry of rose petals that would've been blown past Violet's vision.

Roza continued to follow the arrow with her eyes, tracing it as the beast attempted to leap away from it--but it kept up its long vigil. Eventually, it came to a stop on the stealthed creature, causing a small explosion; knocking the beast out of its stealth and bringing it back into vision once more. "Hah." The Scythe was pointed behind her, and she fired--a small explosion propulsing her small figure forwards and towards the creature. Every time she went to change direction, she pulled the trigger and fired another blast that turned her further and faster. Each time she got close, she swung with her scythe--because of the way it worked, it was effective a Seele Schneider that cut through armor like butter. Even if the creature was stronger than her, it didn't seem to have the function to protect itself from the vibrations.

Cuts appeared every half-second now, the creature blown back by the incredible speed and energy of the woman attacking it. The only sounds in the night air were the explosions, and the screams of the beast. "Haaaaaaaah!" The last cut was placed, and the Arrancar fell to the Earth, Roza landed behind it and placing her scythe tip on the ground; resting the weapon on her shoulder with a long breath escaping from her lips. That was...

"Ohmygodthatwassoscaryahhhhhhhhhhhh!" She was now excited. Good luck getting anything intelligible out of her lips.

"Haaah, haaah..." Her breathing was deep and heavy, but she felt the weight on her chest from fatigue reducing as her energy stocks refilled themselves. There were times that she didn't believe that she had such a boundless supply of energy available to her--but it was times like this that she was thankful for it. She had used a lot of her energy in that fight with the Arrancar, so the quick refill was appreciated. The creature had instilled a great deal of fear in her heart; and that feeling was still there, to a certain degree. That worry, eating away at her--what could she do right now, save for calm down? It was dead. Standing up and looking to the side, she flicked Crescent Rose into its Storage Forme, hooking it behind her back with a softened expression.

She finally turned completely towards Violet, starting to walk towards her with a smirk on her face. Cute girl. Nice horse. She sighed softly, and took in a deep breath when she got close enough: "IreallywanttothankyouforhelpingmeoutinasituationwhereImighthavediedIappreciateitsosososomuch!" Big breath. "YoualsohaveareallynicehorseandlookreallycutetoomynameisRozawhatisyourname?" Biiiig breat--oh, she started speaking. "That was highly impressive... Where do you get a weapon like that?"" Uh-oh. "MyfathermadeitformewhenhefoundoutthatIhaddifficultycontrollingmyenergyitmakesithelpfulformetobeabletoactuallyfi--" Calm down, Roza. She took another breath, and tried to remember to breathe in between words. "Sorry... I have a lot of energy, it doesn't always make speaking with breaths in between easy." She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "My weapon's name is Crescent Rose!" She nodded, looking like a total goof in the process.

Well, suffice to say it--Roza really loved her weapon. If she was ever asked about it, there was the high chance that she would go on a spiel so long that it would take a good month to be able to even try to dispel her excitement. Looks like this girl was already having difficulty dealing with the stupidly-excitable Roza right now. She had an American accent... which really wasn't surprising, considering the fact that at this point Roza was standing somewhere in the middle of the United States. So her name was Violet, huh? "Violet? That's a nice name." She said, deliberately making certain to space out her words while speaking to this woman. Honestly, it was such a difficult thing to do, why couldn't people just learn to understand her while she was talking at such high speeds?! It would make everyone's life so much better! God!

"I'm sorry... I just have a lot of energy... all the time." She smiled weakly, hoping to get a nice response out of her. She seemed nice enough, which was good. Roza didn't like mean people. There were a lot of mean people in the world, and they usually died to Crescent Rose if they were bad enough. "Hey... I live just a bit back over here. Ya wanna come back and rest up a bit? Maybe grab a bite to eat? A drink? I just gotta put Shadow up in his stall and yeah... Don't think it's smart for a young girl to be out here alone, neither of us. And that monster is just a slight bit of proof, doncha think?" Roza blinked. Yeah... that was a lot more worrying than it should've been. She was here to deal with a group of weak Hollow; so an Arrancar appearing was bad news.

"Sure! I'd love to join you!" She smiled, tilting her head to the side and fixing up the hood on her shoulders. "Don't ask me to ride, though--I can pretty much keep up with most animals, and even some vehicles!" She nodded and smiled, placing her hands on her hips and dancing around a little on her feet in order to keep herself busy. Too much energy was a bad thing, some would say--but Roza loved it, so why not use it? Also, cute girl. Just a side-note there. Only a little one.

Well, she wasn't really frightened of horses. At least, not as much as most people could assume. It was just that she could keep up with a beast like that; so it quite often felt unfair to the people that enjoyed riding the beasts when they were made to walk. Smiling kindly at Violet, Roza placed her hands on her hips and looked in a random direction, before hearing Violet ask her about her keeping up with vehicles. Her eyes widened slightly at the question; there were people who couldn't do that here?! Honestly, she expected most people that associated with her to be able to do so; it was almost a prerequisite to being her friend--though Roza was pretty sure she could make an exception for this pretty girl. Her gaze turned from Violet, to the direction that she started moseying in. "Hm, alright. I guess that we can head back," she started, before listening to Violet's question with a quiet smile.

A soft breeze passed by her before she answered, "I can run! I feel completely full of energy again!" She wasn't lying, either. It could be said that, in terms of energy wells, Roza had a lot. That was a lie, of course--she had an almost infinite amount of energy to play with, so no matter how drained she was after the fight with those Hollows, she would've been fine. No matter how drained she felt after that fight with the Arrancar, she would have felt fine had she just sat down for a couple of minutes. There was nothing to it, really. She'd been like this for a good majority of her life, and she never really thought to question the fact. It's just how she was, and she happily accepted it. With a soft smile, she crouched down to make sure that her shoelaces were tied, before preparing to run. With a giggle, she looked in the direction that Violet had started. "As the crow flies? You're on." A soft grin crossed over Roza's lips as she suddenly broke out into a run--she was definitely as fast as any vehicle.

Of course, most vehicles didn't have to traverse find their way like this. Before Roza knew it, she had lost Violet and the horse. Before she knew it, she was in a clearing that she didn't recognize, with little hope of actually finding her direction out. She could try jumping in the air, but she didn't really know if she'd be able to safely see where she needed to go. What did Violet's house look like? What if she'd gone in the opposite direction? Roza was suddenly worried, but she could do nary anything bar run around in circles shouting. What a better way to get someone's attention, riiiight?

Lost. She was lost. This was not good. Not good at all. Roza didn't like being lost. The forest was actually also a lot darker than the rest of the area too, and that alone freaked her out. What good was tons of energy if she couldn't do anything with it?! Almost wanting to scream in frustration, Roza pulled her Crimson Rose off of her back and held it over her shoulder with a sigh. What to do, what to do? Where was Violet? Although this girl wasn't very afraid of Hollow and the like, she still wasn't too good at dealing with wild animals. The bushes started rustling around her, and she stepped back and forth in an attempt to keep the sources of the noise in front of her. The girl's silver eyes narrowed sharply, and she switched the weapon into Rifle Forme in order to be prepared. "Don't come. I'll shoot." Her voice was barely a whisper, the edges of her tones shaking from potential fear. The moon didn't shine into this clearing, so the only thing that kept Roza feeling safe was the weight of the weapon on her shoulder. "D-don't come out! I-I'll shoot!"

"My dear girl, are you afraid of the dark?"

She stopped. That voice wasn't fake. It wasn't a part of her imagination. It was real, and there was truly a beast in the darkness, stalking her. Its voice resounded and echoed throughout her psyche, slowly trying to eat away at her from the inside. She held the weapon down at her side, looking around with what little night vision she had left. Where was it? What was it? Her grip on Crescent Rose tightened, just as the moonlight blasted itself into the clearing and revealed the area around her. "N-nothing... was it really my imagination?" Beads of sweat slid down her cheeks and her entire body shook in fear.

"All alone, with nobody to run to..."

The light disappeared. She couldn't see the moon, she couldn't see the trees--she couldn't see five feet in front of her. All there was was darkness. Before she even had time to react, a body collided with hers and pushed her backwards, sliding her along the ground. She bit her bottom lip and fell to a knee, still unable to see anything but It. Its aura felt foreign, but dark at the same time. She couldn't discern its purpose. She didn't know what it was. But she needed to fight back. Getting to her feet, she released Crescent Rose into its Scythe Forme and stared at the beast. "Come at me," was what she wanted to say, but she was too scared to even open her mouth right now. It floated a foot off of the ground, staring at her with piercing eyes. Although all was dark, it was still visible to her as if it were the light of day.

"Come, little girl, let the dark take you."

It launched itself at her, but this time she was ready. She held up the weapon and attempted to parry his strike... but he went right past it and struck at her. She tried again, but every time she did her hands were lowered and she couldn't do a single thing. Images flashed before her eyes, pictures of her body being ripped limb from limb. Images of her parents strung up by their throats. Sequences involving blood, flesh, guts, death, destruction, kill, kill, kill kill KILLKILLKILLKILLMURDERDEATHKILLDIEDEATHNONONONONOKILLMENO-- Suddenly, the image disappeared in a flash of bright light. The darkness vanished. The fear died down. Roza tightened her grip on the weapon and swung forwards, cutting through the flesh of the beast that was shocked by the appearance of the light. That light vanished back to darkness, but it was different this time.

"No! Fall to me!"

The fear was gone, replaced by only skill. This beast was Hollow-made, she knew that now. She could fight it. She could kill it. The attacks from her scythe were rapid and many, Roza disappearing into fluttering rose petals and reappearing at every side of the beast she could. She continued to cut it, trying to stop her body from waning into darkness once more... and the second light then appeared, lighting up the beast once more. This time, Roza didn't hold back. The magazine was switched within moments, and the extra high-explosive scythe rounds were fired up. She grinned, and pulled the trigger, launching herself forwards and attacking the beast with as many cuts as she could muster. She didn't know if the light was going to come back, therefore it was best that she got this out of the way now. Adding her energy into the blade of the Scythe, she caused it to glow a bright white as the cuts just kept on going. Each cut knocked the creature back slightly, draining its energy and causing it to shrink further and further. Her voice no longer sounded normal, instead she was constantly screaming and shouting at the creature with an unusual ferocity.

"WHY!" The first arm was severed.

"ARE!" The second.

"YOU! NOT! DEAD!" Three more cuts, and the beast disappeared into a dark mist. She growled quietly, holding the scythe up on her shoulder as she caught her breath and her energy once more. Suddenly, the clearing was lit up--but this time, she could look up and see the source of the light. Deciding to go immediately in that direction, Roza launched herself from the ground and made a run through the forest that most creatures would be jealous. The Scythe had been put back into its Storage Forme, and she jumped between trees with an unusual finesse. Bursting out of the brush, Roza landed on the ground in front of Violet with petals blowing back from her feet. Her clothing was ripped, her exposed body parts were covered in cuts and scrapes, and the fear was still deep in her eyes... but she was back. "Hi Violet! Um... I got lost," She laughed nervously, shrugging off the fact that she was obviously hurt. "Can we get back...? I'm suddenly worried about the darkness for some sudden reason." She laughed again, scratching the back of her head and trying to keep the light of the moon in one eye at all times.

An offer to ride on the horse? Although her energy was coming back, after that situation Roza felt like being pampered. Nodding, she accepted the offer and clambered onto the rear of the beast, leaning on Violet's back and closing her eyes. The warmth of the girl in front of her comforted Roza, and she relaxed without fear for the entire ride back to the ranch. It was nice, being able to relax like this for once. She almost fell asleep, though the shaking of the horse and the stoppage of the motion woke her back up once more, causing her to drowsily look around. She'd seen pictures of ranches like this, but she'd never actually seen one in real life! Her expression was that of wonder and excitement, but she let it hide away as she clambered off of the horse and let Violet do her thing with it. She wanted to see more, but she didn't want to intrude. She wanted to hear more about ranch life, but she didn't want to seem pushy. Instead, she simply walked behind Violet with a quiet expression.

As they entered the main building, she felt at ease. There was light here, and that creature wasn't going to get her this time. It was dead. It was gone. There was nothing to fear. She smiled softly to herself, hearing excited voices and then someone mentioning her name. Almost on cue, Roza looked up at the source of the newfound voice and saw a rather pretty woman, one who looked a lot like Violet only older. It was definitely her mother. Smiling brightly at the woman, Roza bowed slightly. "Sorry for the intrusion! Violet wanted to introduce me to her mother, and I couldn't really say no..." At times like this, she was happy that she passed off as a teenager, especially when the woman mentioned a school. Smiling softly, she followed Violet up the stairs in order to wash up for dinner.

Entering the bathroom, her eye was immediately drawn to her reflection. She was a mess. Cuts and scrapes covered her body, and even her favorite hood/dress combo was ripped quite badly. It was definitely going to require some work, but Roza had time. She didn't do anything bar fight and polish/tweak/cuddle/kiss Crescent Rose, so she could get this fixed in her spare time. She had other clothes. She could live without them. Instead, she simply washed her hands and got the gunk off of her face, so she at least looked presentable. At the very least, she was happy that she didn't get anything stuck in her hair. As much as she enjoyed fighting, good hair was a necessity! She sighed, drying off and turning towards Violet. "I'm guessing that you don't have anything that fits me?" She asked, with a nervous laugh.

Woah... she'd never seen such a girly bedroom before! It was definitely different to where she lived; Roza's room was kinda dark, and had a lot of weapons posters on the walls. Even her bed was black and red--she just really liked those colors! Humming to herself as she walked further into the room, she did note the height difference between herself and Violet--Violet was much shorter than her, so it may be difficult for her to find fitting clothes. That said, their body shapes were similar to a degree, so if a skirt could be found, then the only difficulty with be a top... and a bra. Roza looked down at the bare skin that showed from her chest--there was nothing bad showing, but it could be bad. Roza didn't wear a bra because they bothered her, and most of her battle clothing had underwire built in.

She followed Violet into the wardrobe, and mouthed a 'woah'. "Here... Choose anything you like." Anything? She blinked a few times, and looked around at all the clothing. She didn't have this much variety and color in her wardrobe... Roza giggled softly and pulled Crescent Rose from her back, looking down at the weapon and quickly sitting it on one of Violet's dressers. She would give it some TLC later tonight. For now, she needed to change her clothing. While she was still in Violet's room, she shamelessly dropped her clothing, starting with her knee-high boots. Her waist-high stockings didn't seem too torn, so she'd keep them and her white-with-a-bow-on-the-front panties on, but removed the rest of her clothing; revealing her totally bare, battle-worn chest and flat stomach. She stretched now that her clothing was of, and looked over at Violet with a smile, "I don't mind what you see; I like girls anyway." She laughed, even flaunting her figure a little before walking into the closet before someone else came into her room.

Her long finger trailed along, until she came across a rather nice-looking white flowery dress. It fell to her knees, and didn't show off the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. It also looked really nice with her black stockings, and fit rather well. She smiled and twirled a little bit, tilting her head at Violet--"Does it look alright? I don't want to look bad for your family..."

Roza smiled at the confirmation--quite brightly, in fact. To be complimented on something that you'd never worn before was a nice feeling, especially when it was a compliment from such a pretty girl. She curtsey'd towards Violet slightly, stretching and feeling the fabric rustle over her body. Such a dress still managed to show off how powerful Roza's body was, and she wondered if that could be problematic in the future. But for now, she let off a small sigh and placed her hands on her hips. She'd deal with that--if she had to--at a later time. Right now, she was keen to simply enjoy herself, as if this were a normal evening with a normal family. Well, normal enough--especially considering what appeared right before her.

"How old are you?" Roza stopped short. She was small enough to pass off as an older teenager, but if someone worked out that she was almost in her mid-20's, she could be done in for molestation! She blinked a few times, stepping backwards and smiling awkwardly, "Ninetee--" "I don't think you're from my daughters school! You're some sort of super warrior with the intent on ridding the world of evil monsters, aren't you?" Again, Roza was completely taken aback. The man's eyes stared at her, and she stared back into them for a few seconds. He was scary--not just in general presence, but in that margin of power that she felt emanating from him. There was something off about him--and yet Violet seemed completely undisturbed by his presence. His eyes felt like they dug into her brain, searching for all of the information that she was hiding. Their staring contest continued for a couple of seconds until he relented, winked at her and returned to hyper. "Nah! I'm just joking! Come here!"

"E-Eep!" She squeaked as she was picked up and spun around, not sure quiiite how to react to this. Instead, she let it happen and when she was let go, he continued to speak in strange tones. "Someone as cute as you can't be out there fighting crazies! And don't you just look adooorable in that dress!! Haha! Now you two decide what you're gonna do for dinner! Byes!" Well, wasn't that strange? Roza, of all people, felt exhausted from that meeting.

"Strange man, your father. Strange man indeed..." She nodded to herself before hooking Crescent Rose onto a brace on her right leg. She didn't feel safe without it. "Lead the way," Roza began, holding her hand out for Violet to take with a soft smile.

The food was delicious, but Roza couldn't help feeling awkward pretty much the entire time. She was basically here, deceiving this poor girl's family, and she didn't know what else to do about it. She couldn't exactly tell the truth--you know, about her being a stray in the middle of the woods--but she couldn't quite keep up this lie either. She'd have to admit something, sometime. She also couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. Not just from the table, but from outside. The darkness wanted her. It wanted to eat her, to consume her, to take her in and destroy her completely. It scared her, and not much scared this young woman. She smiled to herself as she continued to eat, trying to raise up her mood and get rid of her worries. The family talked over the table, and she replied happily.

Once the meal was over, Roza was prepared to assist in the clean-up--but she was quickly told to simply wait for Violet. But... but.. oh, Violet was told to just hang with her, huh? While Violet's mother went back into the kitchen to clean the dishes, her father simply smiled like a doofus, going up the stairs and saying something about a weird thing called 'Toonami' on television. She blinked a couple of times, shaking her head and following Violet, who had recommended that they go outside. Although she was still iffy on the darkness thing, Roza accepted--pretty sure that that thing wouldn't go after her while she had company.

"So... I don't usually talk very much... Not exactly sure how to do this... I guess... Tell me about yourself? Or something... Eh..."" Roza turned to look at Violet for a moment, before simply taking her hand in hers. She gave her an expression that almost shouted 'c'mon', and lead her along so that they were wandering underneath the night sky. Roza placed her free hand onto her hip, turning to look at Violet and smiling brightly.

"What do you mean, tell you about myself? Is there a need to? You said you don't talk, so we don't need to talk." She nodded, as if everything she'd just said made perfect sense outside of her own brain. She'd tell Violet more about herself when the time came. Right now, she was just happy spending time with someone that wasn't wanting to kill her, or take advantage of her skills.

---

And from behind the pair, a beast stood up on hind legs. The pale white mask stared carefully at the backs of the girls, watching and waiting--as if readying its senses to chase this prey. Two large hooked hands were at its sides, raised up into the air in preparation to strike down upon its unsuspecting feast--if not for the white flash that blinded it for the last time in its life.

If either Roza or Violet cared to look hard enough, they'd see a grey-haired man standing on the roof of the building. Beside him was a simple wooden chair, a glass of whiskey on the rocks resting on one of its flat arms. And in the hands of his man was a strangely-ornate bow, unintelligible languages glowing brightly, as if etched into the surface by the gods themselves. His hand was still resting on the string, preparing to ready another arrow of energy if anything were to threaten his little girl. He'd do this whenever she went out at night, especially now that the presences were growing more and more prevalent. Soon, he'd have to investigate it. But for now?

"S'good to see my lil' girl, all grown up," He reached down and picked up the whiskey, emptying the glass in a single draught. "Y'er old man ain't gonna need to look after y'all much longer, huh?" He chuckled and rested his back on the chair, simply staring out into the darkness. He was on watch tonight.

She noticed nothing. Well, at least Violet didn't. Roza had recognized the presence that had risen up behind them, preparing to react if need be--but then it simply disappeared as if it weren't there in the first place. She thought she'd felt a spike of energy rising up from the house, but she thought nothing of it. Instead, she simply continued smiling at Violet as they walked along the pathways. Simply meandering was something that Roza rarely did, but at this point she felt it to be a good idea--it was getting late at night, and as long as they remained within view of the house, nothing should come for them right? Right. She reaffirmed her own courage inside her heart, before hearing Violet ask if she was staying for the night. She stopped walking, staring out across the moonlit fields with a thoughtful gaze.

"I don't know. I don't think I could intrude." She took a step forwards, basking in the cool air of the night. She didn't want to intrude at all, but there was still that thing out there. She hadn't been able to defeat it, so it was still there, stalking her. She knew, somewhere in her gut, that she wouldn't be able to simply let it be. It would come after that young Quincy. She needed to keep safe, which meant moving around in the light. Turning to Violet, she smiled softly and nodded. "I'll come back to the house with you. I could use the rest, especially after such an exciting night!" She laughed, turning completely towards the house and ambling back in that direction.

---

She came back through the front door and walked past him, having returned the kitchen to grab himself some more  whiskey. He turned his gaze to meet with hers, and their eyes locked for a moment. For that moment in time, Logan Amarante questioned her with his eyes. Does Violet know? She simply turned away from his expression and walked up the stairs with his daughter. Placing his hands on his hips, Logan quietly sighed to himself. He knew his daughter well enough to know that his revelation would shake her to the core. He feared the consequences, frankly. A cold glass was slipped into his hand, and he gave his usual grin. "Thank you, my love! To the bedroom I'll go, an' meet you there for some fun~!" He laughed heartily, slowly clambering up towards the master bedroom--and the storage place of Gandiva, the bow of Arjuna. You'll inherit her someday, Violet. I just know it.

[END THREAD]