Give me wings1 - Guardian

The town was pretty much like every other one she's seen. Of course, ask a local and they'd tell her what the differences are, but, for her, seen one town, she's seen them all. She walked down the road, the shadows of the buildings casting darkness around her, though it was still day time. She shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her.

She stopped in the middle of the town, or what she believed to be the middle. There was a large, grassy area where children chased after each other. This had to be some sort of park, without any of the usual trees for climbing, or rundown shacks used for play. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight breeze.

He wasn't there. Of course he wasn't, she hadn't seen him in almost two years. Her fighting had been improving, at least she'd like to think so. Her only Hunter weapon was still her dagger, but that was all she needed - proven many times since she took up the job as a professional Hunter.

She wondered briefly if he knew she did this, and what his reaction would be? Before he sent her away for training, he might have been a little upset, but, wasn't it a vampire Hunter that he sent her to in the first place? Wouldn't he be proud that she chose this lifestyle, taking after her trainer? But he also sent her to her trainer only so she could kill him. Why did he want her to kill him, she still didn't know. It's been seven years since he sent her away, and she still had no idea why he wanted her to kill him.

She didn't want to kill him. She loved him, he was her Master. He saved her as a child and she looked up to him ever since.

Watching the children run after each other a few feet away from her, she almost felt jealous. Had she ever played like that before everything happened? She was sure she did, she was only five when her life changed.

Sighing, she turned away from the kids and walked into the nearest pub. She didn't want to, but work has been slow lately, and pubs were the best places to pick up work or rumors. That was one consistent thing her lord did, start rumors at pubs of his arrivals. Once he was certain she picked up a rumor about him, he'd start leaving signs where to find him. The last time was the sudden change in the weather - when she woke up, there was no sign it had snowed the night before, though she knew it had.

Sitting down at the bar, she orders a drink and concentrates on the talk around her. It didn't take long for her realize that the townspeople only talked of their businesses; nothing to imply that there was a vampire nearby causing havoc.

Her drink was set before her. Smiling up at the bartender, she set down some coins and took a sip. The liquid burned her throat, but she swallowed regardless. It was, after all, his favorite drink. Being a vampire, Master preferred not to drink something made by man - he barely suffered through the blood of a human, but he preferred nonhuman blood - but this drink was the only one that affected him.

She smiled down at her cup. Not a day went by when she didn't think of him. He captivated her since she was a child, first laying eyes on him in the middle of a dangerous situation.

888

It was the day she turned five, her mother had just given her a shimmering, silver dress. She was too young to understand the significance of the silver fabric; it was pretty and she loved it. That morning was the best she could remember.

She had been outside, picking flowers for her birthday cake, when her father walked out of the house. She grabbed a purple flower and placed it behind her ear, asking her father if it made her look pretty.

"Shiina," her father growled. She flinched, never hearing such a sound emit from her father's mouth before. He walked up to her until he stood right in front of her. "Shiina," he growled again. She took a tentative step back.

"Father, you're scaring me," she whimpered.

Without warning, he shoved her back. She cried as she tripped over a rock, falling back, dropping the bouquet she had been grasping tightly.

"Leave, Shiina," he growled again, keeping his voice low. "Leave now, before I kill you."

Her body ran cold, and she was almost too frightened to do anything. He jumped at her. She screamed, thinking he really was going to kill her, and jumped up, running away from him, away from the house. Being only five, she wasn't able to run very fast, but she made it to the treeline bordering her family's land. She stopped for only a moment, hiding behind a tree and peering back to her home. Her father was still standing there, but she was too far away too see his expression.

She was confused. Her father loved her, didn't he? He was her world! He was her favorite. Why would he say such things to her? Where was her mother? Surely she heard the screaming?

She caught her breath and continued running away. Whether or not she believed her father really would kill her, her childish mind told her that he was dangerous.

It was almost dusk and she was still heading away from her house, at least she thought she was. She knew she was lost. Her feet were killing her, her beautiful dress had torn and was now much shorter, falling to just above her knees instead of down to her ankles. Her legs were turning into jelly, and she was thirsty. She wanted to fall down, take a rest, but he might be chasing her. He wasn't when she took a moment to look back, but that didn't mean he wasn't chasing her now.

She tripped over a rock and tumbled down a slight hill, not bothering to stop herself. The hill wasn't very big, but she did procure bruises on her knees and elbows, and her body was so sore that she didn't really mind. When she stopped falling, she rested for a minute. She closed her eyes, wanting nothing more but to rest, if only for a second. She'll get up and continue on her way in a minute, but for the moment she lay still.

Her body became heavy, and she felt herself falling into oblivion. She could finally relax. Besides, this was just all a dream. When she woke up, she would be back in her own bed, her father would be there to welcome her to the day, her mother would be making the most perfect breakfast. Everything would go back to normal, right?

"You're wrong, little one."

Her eyes flew open. Looking around, she was alone. She was alone, yet she was sure she heard someone speaking to her. It was her father, he had found her! At least, that was what she thought.

She pushed herself off the ground and continued walking.

"You're almost there," she heard again. Looking around her again, she found she was still alone. Someone was talking to her, but she was terrified because she couldn't see them.

Suddenly, she fell. This was a different fall from before, she fell straight down, and splashed into a small pool. The hot water scalded her. She kicked and flailed her arms, too frightened to remember her swimming training. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She could feel her lungs filling with water. Looking up, she could barely make out the surface of the pool, where a blurred figure stood over her.

It was the last thing she saw before her world turned dark and she lost consciousness.

888

The moment she walked into the room he felt it, a tingling on his arm. Glancing down, he studied his sleeve where, just underneath, lay his mark. The oddly shaped mark throbbed, though it remained still. He never felt it do that before...did that mean that the girl who just walked in was who he was searching for?

Ever since the mark first appeared, Tenshi had been searching for someone. He was only ten when his mother sent him away, claiming she would have nothing more to do with him since he was going to be leaving her for someone else instead. At first, he didn't understand - just because he had been branded a Guardian didn't mean he'd love his mother less - but as he grew, he learned why, being a Guardian, he was shunned from the angelic community.

Guardians only ever protected humans, and, in most cases, ended up falling in love with their charges. Humans and angels alike hated each other, wanted nothing to do with each other, so when a human and angel fall in love, it's almost like a cat falling in love with a fish; angels and humans were two different species, therefore relationships were forbidden.

He vowed, no matter who his charge would be, he would not fall in love. But, as he sat and watched her stare blankly into her glass, he could already feel himself betraying both his mother, and himself. She was the one he had been searching for, he knew it.

Without thinking, Tenshi stood and slowly made his way over to her. He wasn't sure why he was walking up to her, he had nothing to say to her, not to mention the closer he came the more his stomach started hurting. He mindlessly rubbed his forearm, trying to soothe the ever growing throb, it had started hurting, and he became afraid that it would continue hurting until their contract was completed.

Just as he finally approached his destination, he was pushed aside. Normally he wouldn't have been so easily pushed over, but his mind was somewhere else. He fell against the table just behind the woman, the impact bringing him back to his senses. His arm stopped throbbing and he was able to think clearly again. He looked at her side profile as she blinked at the man who pushed him aside.

Nothing. He felt nothing. So it was just a false alarm? He had never felt that before.

"Are you waiting for someone?" he heard. The man beside her was annoyingly close, even Tenshi felt the woman's fury. "Are you deaf? Can you not talk?" The man started laughing. "I guess I get a free pass then." He reached out to grab her arm, but stopped short.

Tenshi twisted the man's arm behind him, pushing the arm up, causing the man to grunt in pain.

"She's not a prostitute, Mac," Tenshi said.

Mac turned his head as far as he could so he could get a glimpse of his attacker. "Tenshi! You bastard! Let go of me!"

"Not every woman who comes in here is willing to have a night with you," Tenshi continued, pushing the man's arm higher still.

"And not every woman who comes in here is trying to protect her virtue, either." Mac clenched his teeth.

Tenshi swept his foot under Mac's legs, causing the large man to fall to the ground. With his arm finally free, Mac scrambled up, charging at Tenshi with such fury and strength as a bull. Tenshi smirked and sidestepped the attack, grabbing a stool as he did so. Mac stopped himself before he hit the bar, giving Tenshi enough time to take the stool above his head to bring it down on Mac...

The stool disappeared from his hands. Tenshi turned to see the woman holding the stool. She glared at him, and he was suddenly rendered motionless. Her ice blue eyes, rare in humans, had frozen him to the spot. He heard Mac clamoring behind him, but he couldn't make himself move; the oaf could tackle him to the ground, breaking a few ribs, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Those eyes, not human eyes. Humans were only known to have brown or green, and if there was a person in the bunch who had blue eyes, they were darker, not as clear as the daytime sky; those reminded him of a different creature. She couldn't be, though. She was clearly human. He had only seen those eyes once before on a creature of the dark.

She raised her arm, placing the stool above her head. He cringed, thinking she was going to bring that wooden stool upon his head. He closed his eyes as she stepped and brought her arm down, the stool shattering against the force of what it hit. He heard Mac fall behind him as she grabbed Tenshi's shirt, clenching tightly, bringing Tenshi an inch away from her nose. She was smaller than him, making her act of toughness seem amusing.

"I didn't ask for your help," she told him through clenched teeth. "I'm not a prostitute, but that doesn't mean I need help in refusing a big, dumb bull like that man."

Despite his situation, he couldn't help smiling. She used the same description of Mac as he had.