Eld closed in, closer and closer; the thief was nearly in range to be attacked, but it appeared as if fate would not allow that. He'd be stopped short, halted by a dark mist before the alleyway, and the scarlet eyed girl that stood before the thief, arms open wide as a means to stop Eld from progressing any further.

The scarlet eyes of the shadeling stared wide at Eld's own. She wasn't letting him through, but though her face was perfectly stoic, she didn't have the eyes of a killer. She could control them still; she could blink or shut her eyes briefly, not like it mattered any, or open the wide--and she looked sad. Her eyes were filled with regret. Lelan Jericho wasn't a bad person.

Run . . . She didn't move her lips to speak, but Eld would hear her words clear and defined within his mind.

Kageko . . . sounded like she was crying again. Or--that she was still crying, that she never actually stopped.

Run away . . .

Once again, Eld was forced to stop short, this time as Kageko materialized in front of him. From a distance her face had looked entirely blank; now that she was right in front of him, he could see that wasn't quite true: her eyes still held emotion, and there was undeniable sadness in them.

I'm not going to run...you should know that as well as anyone. If he abandoned her to a fate like this, to just be some madman's weapon and plaything, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

Do you know where the scythe is right now? If I can get you back, he won't have a chance. Eld didn't see what happened, so he had no way of knowing that the scythe was currently in the form of Kageko herself.

The thief continued to cough and sputter, eyes shutting tight again, mouth whispering a cringe of pain so much worse than he had experienced during the entirety of the battle.

The girl's arms shook. Her lower lip quivered. She could barely move on her own volition--but she forced it, for that single moment, she forced herself to move. It was all she could do, and perhaps the last time she'd manage to do it, now when the thief's attention was so far removed that he couldn't control her. Given another moment, his control would return--and she'd be attacking once again.

Kageko, with her arms and shoulders trembling, hesitantly placed both hands over her heart.

". . . h-- . . . here . . ."

Her voice was soft and so silent that her loudest cry may well have been quieter than Etsu Hikane's whispers. It was the first time she had ever used her voice. Everything prior had merely been her mental voice; close to accurate, but not quite. Her voicebox never received the use of forming English dialogue before. A frail, weak voice that would crack if used too much, a haunted whisper that, in truth, made her sound a year or two younger than she actually looked.

". . . i-it is . . . me . . ." she continued as she half shut her eyes, hoping now that Eld would act before the thief would have a chance to use her against him . . .

"I see..."

For a moment, Eld lowered his head and looked at the ground; many thoughts tumbled through his head, invoked by seeing Kageko so desperate. In her current predicament, these thoughts were hidden to her, however...and with his bangs hiding his face, none could know what Eldridge Tsukimono was thinking right now.

It was only a few seconds, but when he looked up, he had a very different expression on his face. Instead of one ready for battle, Kageko would be greeted with his usual kind, sincere look.

"Then I guess I know what I have to do."

And without any further hesitation, he stepped forward, spread his arms wide, and embraced her. It was at best a risky move; he was completely vulnerable to her, and if the thief regained control he could easily have her stab him. But it couldn't be helped...he just couldn't bring himself to fight her.

Her arms still trembled as she stood, though she was starting to regain control over them. The thief was hurt; too hurt to pay her any mind, too hurt to make a conscious effort to control her and keep her acting just as he wished for her to. But even still, she could barely look at Eld's face. Just like him with her, she couldn't imagine fighting him. What if she did to him what she'd done to Lelan? Kageko felt horrible about that alone--but what if it were Eld? She would've wanted to die. If it were possible to end her own life, she would've--if she'd mortally wounded Eld like that, it would've been more than enough justification to take her own life . . .

But then, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Kageko's eyes opened widely at first, surprised, while her entire body trembled. She felt like her knees were going to buckle, maybe even break off at the joints.

She . . . had control . . .

Kageko's shaking arms wormed out from between her body and Eld's and wrapped around his shoulders. As if she were ready to cry, the girl buried her face into Eld's shoulder, her shoulders twitching rapidly in tandem, a tell-tale sign that she was holding back tears. It truly felt as if Eld had rescued her--as if he was holding her as both a weapon and just like this: literally wrapping his arms around her. It was comforting, vastly comforting; it made her feel as if everything was going to be okay . . .

"Ma-- Master . . . pl-- please don't . . . don't leave . . . don't leave me alone again . . .," she whispered weakly, while Eld would begin to feel droplets soaking into the shoulder of his shirt.

She didn't let go of him. She didn't attack him--but she didn't let go. Kageko couldn't bring herself to break away from Eld's embrace.

Eld was ready to accept that it might not be enough, that Kageko could still be forced to attack him. But he didn't make any attempt to protect himself; he saw that she resisted the thief's control, and decided to put his faith in her, that she could break free, that their bond was stronger than whatever power the thief had.

When he felt her hands on his back, he didn't flinch away, even though she could have been ready to claw into his back. And his trust was rewarded; it was not an attack, but rather she was returning his embrace.

A strong sense of relief washed over him, and the knot that had been present in his stomach for the past day and a half began to loosen. Kageko was back--no longer under the control of a maniac, and by some strange twist of destiny she was in his arms as a real being, not as a complex illusion on his senses.

"I'm sorry...I promise, I'll never let this happen again."

He squeezed her a little tighter, though not enough to cause her discomfort, and while he didn't shake like she did, she'd be able to feel a few droplets hit the back of her neck...

It was a happy moment, genuinely. Her crying lasted only a moment, and she quickly calmed. In Eld's arms, everything seemed all right. Her claws had completely retracted back into their original place, just tough growths over her knuckles, an inch and a half long at max, back to normal. She was so relieved and comforted that she could have kissed Eld right then and there. Kageko never had the urge to in an appreciative sense, but she did now.

Her crying had stopped, but . . . she still had it in her--not out of sadness, though, but out of joy. She was really embracing Eld. He was really here, she was really here; they were truly close and holding each other like they sometimes did when he dreamed--and it felt so much more comforting than before--

"Ma-- Master-- I . . ." she started to pull her head back to look him in the eyes. Maybe . . . she'd try that--to kiss his lips to show her thanks. She leaned in, "I-- tha-- thank you, Master . . ."

A rattle of chains briefly resounded.

"--unf!" Kageko uttered just as a whoomf hit her--and Eld both. Kageko's body lurched forward and her chin hit Eld's shoulder.

She tightened her grip around Eld. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, and she bit her lower lip. She tensed up her muscles and squeezed as tightly as she could. As she was, she shouldn't have felt pain--but she did. Horrendous pain, pain that the thief himself should have felt, too, but . . . he didn't. No further agony was added to his current experiences. She instead would share it with Eld, not because of their bond, but their immediate proximity. Kageko tried to gasp for air, but failed.

A chain would have, at that moment, attached the two of them together at the mid-section, a bolt of an attack that would have run the both of them through in a single instant, to pierce vital organs and possibly force Eld, the physically stronger of the two and obviously the supporting one, to stumble back--and maybe fall . . .

"i'Ll . . . KiLL . . . yoU . . ." the thief growled under his breath.

". . . nhh . . . nhhhg . . ." Kageko breathed in hard, only for a new moisture to stain Eld's shirt as Kageko coughed--and spilled blood from her mouth.

And in a motion just as fast, the chain would be recalled; its hook would tear through the bodies once more on the way back, and fix itself within the gauntlet once again. Then . . . Kageko would be too weak to stand. Then, she'd loosen her grip, and buckle to the ground, with or without Eld . . .

"Kageko..."

Normally, he would have hesitated, worried about what kissing Kageko in reality might mean for his relationship with Etsu. Thus far, his nights with her could be considered little more than pleasant dreams, but that would change now.

But swept up by his emotions, his relief at having her back and the amazement of having her really in front of him, he started lean in, heedless of what the consequences might be later...

And consequences there would be, though rather sooner than one might have thought. Simultaneously with Kageko, Eld grunted in pain, his knees buckling slightly. He looked down, stunned, seeing a bit of chain connecting the two of them.

The thief recovered quicker than any of them would have thought, and attacked with a strength thus far unseen. Eld opened his mouth to respond, but wound up coughing up blood instead.

Far more painful, though, was when it was torn back out; so much that he could no longer maintain his balance, and tumbled to the ground with Kageko, where they both lay bleeding.

Shit. This is bad...this wound could kill me quickly if I move too much...if I don't move, he'll kill me anyway. And Kageko...can she...die...like this?

It was that thought, more than any, that motivated him to try and move. He was going to save her...he wouldn't let her die now. With a large amount of difficulty, he rose to his feet.

He remained hunched over, but he stood firm, standing just in front of Kageko, intent on making sure the thief didn't touch her again.

Eld and Kageko weakened like Lelan, the thief felt he could take the effort of standing back up and collecting himself. He coughed again, truly not having recovered just yet, but given another couple of seconds, he was going to be fine; good as new. Recovering from punches and blows to his chest could all be recovered in due time, like any normal person, with very little remaining pain; just a numbness.

Kageko lay upon her side on the ground, the side of her chest hurting bad just by touching it. There weren't enough nerve sensors in her stomach and back to cover it all; pressure anywhere caused pain. Her eyes were half shut, stray tears slowly drawing down her cheek--or down to the tip of her nose, where a single collective droplet threatened to fall to the ground.

She tried to look up to him, but all she found was a blurry image; a frayed and fading dark image of her master standing between her and the thief. He was bleeding, too--he was just as bad as she was-- no . . . no, he was lucky. Kageko was a little shorter than he was. Eld's vitals, while punctured, weren't going to stop working for him anytime in the very near future. Eldridge's stomach had been punctured, but Kageko's chest had.

"Ma . . . ster . . ." she whispered; so weak now that it was unlikely Eld would even hear her--

Though, he would feel her; he'd feel her shakily reaching up to grab his pant-leg. This . . . feeling . . . was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. The thief had beaten and abused her horribly, but there, she couldn't die. She never knew the feeling of death. Even if her life truly could not be ended here, the feeling that remained could very well become the same . . . and it was. She felt weak and light, the frailty of her own body catching up with her, the weakness in her arm calling it to fall to the ground, gravity calling for that tear drop to fall from the tip of her nose and soak into the earth.

For a moment, all Eld did was watch the thief, but as he stood up he made no more attacks and showed no sign of preparing for more yet, either. Eld wanted to take the fight to him, but he was afraid that he might try and snatch Kageko if he moved away from her.

And then, he felt the tug on his leg. "Kageko?" He looked down, only to see her arm drop lifelessly to the ground.

His eyes widened.

His breath caught.

And everything...

...seemed to...

...stop.

"KAGEKO!" As if to make up for the momentary stillness, frantic action broke out. Eld dropped to his knees beside her, quickly checking her vitals--did she even have the same vitals?--but finding nothing. Inside, he knew that with that injury, there was nothing he can do, but all sense left him. He'd revived somebody once, and he tried so again--to get the heart beating, to get the lungs breathing, to get oxygen to the brain...

But it was fruitless. No matter what he did, she still lay there, unmoving. None of this should have been possible but it was happening. He couldn't deny it.

Kageko is dead.

The words shot through his head as though breaking the sound barrier, leaving nothing but a roaring in their wake, echoing through his head. He couldn't think. He couldn't feel. He was only dimly aware that he was even wounded. He stood up, and turned, taking his first few steps as though he were a marionette with a few of its strings cut, awkward, jerky, off-balance.

It didn't last, though. He soon regained his footing, his posture straightened, and his eyes focused again, squarely on the thief. His face was blank and pale...the only things that gave it any color, any life, were his violet eyes, which boiled with hatred...

By the time Eld had regained his composure, the thief had, too. He stood tall, still within the alleyway, with his arms down by his sides. He didn't need to hold his right arm up anymore for the gauntlet to pose a threat. He didn't have Kageko anymore, but his opponents were just terribly injured kids, now.

He had that benefit over Eld and Lelan: he was otherwise uninjured; he had gotten over his pains and all that remained were a few numb spots on his face and stomach. Lelan was quick to dance around someone, and though he had landed a few blows, it didn't slow the man down too much. At the time, it rattled him, and he probably had a concussion, but it didn't change too much. Lelan would've had to land twice the amount of blows to manage an effect to last the entirety of the battle.

Without hesitation, he let out the same chain as before. It was clearly the same one, as its departure from the gauntlet was prompted by a spray of blood that had accumulated upon it. He didn't aim this one, but then again--why would he have? So long as he was aiming for somewhere in Eld's mid-section, at the speed of the chains' ejection anymore, it'd be nigh impossible for him to dodge this close and go unscathed.

The chain shot out, and Eld stumbled back, one step, two steps; he hadn't even tried to dodge. Blood dripped to the ground...

...from the wound on his hand, where he held the hook. Thus far his uses of it had likely gone on unnoticed by the thief, but here it could only have been the application of superhuman strength that let him stop the hook with only a gash on his hand to show for it.

And then his slow stalking ceased as he lunged forward, swinging the hook, intending to tear into the thief with his own weapon.

The madman expected Eld to be skewered in an instant. That's how it worked last time. That's how it would've worked with Lelan if he wasn't able to anticipate attacks that quick. That's how it should have worked now. But that's not how it worked. Eld had . . . caught it? That should have been impossible!

Panic struck before Eld could. The thief instantly raised his arms to cover his face, eyes shutting tightly, his entire body tensing up--but only got his left arm up. His right forearm was feeling a little heavy. Not too terribly heavy, but heavier than usual. Heavier than it should have been. This placed the gauntlet around stomach level to Eld . . .

The hook embedded itself within the thief's shoulder, instantly spawning a cry of agony from the homeless madman. Instinct kicked in, though--there'd be no further opening for attack . . .

In an instant, three hooked chains burst from the gauntlet, scattered every which way, a couple actually capable of hitting Eld outright, and the third off in another direction--doing nothing more than limiting his capabilities of dodging. He may have caught one, but this close, while still holding one of the hooks, he'd only be able to catch one more at most, while another may very well impale him--which, if it didn't kill him, wouldn't leave him in a great position. He'd be under the thief's control, then, and there was no chance of him withdrawing the chain this time.

Eld let go of the hook, leaving it embedded in the thief's shoulder, but before he could continue his assault he saw his arm move and jumped back just in time. He wasn't quite quick enough, though, as one of the hooks cut across his side.

With a wave of his hand he fired a Qi blast practically point blank; regardless of whether it stunned him or barely fazed him, Eld would jump back in, raining furious but poorly aimed blows on the man.

He didn't care for his own condition, or even getting the gauntlet back for Lelan; all he wanted was to see the man in front him suffer.

Eld, in his state of rage, wasn't aiming; a force of Qi struck the thief in the stomach, knocking him back by two feet. He stumbled before he came to a stop, at which time, Eld was already upon him. There was nothing he could have done about that.

A rain of blows did enough, but the thief had himself covered. As soon as he saw Eld close, he lifted his arms, this time conscious of the weight his right arm was bearing, to cover his face and chest. He was hit in the stomach, the arms; anywhere Eld could hit him without reaching lower. The gauntlet actually held armor properties for this, too, as Eld would feel as if he were punching a steel wall whenever his fist flew for the thief's chest.

And then, he retaliated, not allowing Eld to simply wail on him without repayment. Without warning, the thief would lean forward, a motion that, if continued with, would be an attempt to tackle Eld, but was, in actuality, a motion to bridge the gap between them, for when he threw his right knee up at Eld's gut . . .

. . . right in the already open wound from Eld's previous impalement. It wouldn't be enough to knock him back, but enough to send a wave of pain throughout his body and force a pause, potentially long enough for the thief to wind back a left hook and plant his knuckles into his enemy's face--and amazingly enough, the thief on his own was not in any way a weak man, in spite of appearances.