When he woke up .. he saw the sun setting and the sky darkening in a shade of beautiful dark blue ..
the beautiful unforgettable orange resting after it's duty ..
he didn't know what to think of this moment because he felt like watching these scenes ... made him feel better about being alive ... about being a human ...
but at that moment .. his peace was disturbed by a piercing scream of a child and the deep voices of men .. disappearing just a few steps away from his tree ...
he stood up and followed the voice ..
although the people had long been gone .. he could still see some faint traces of activities left behind ..
he followed them and walked down the hill ...
each step went with a heart wrenching cry ... in a rhythmic pattern ..
he suddenly felt anxious as he picked up his pace and disappearing in the night ..
from a mile away .. just in an alleyway ... he could sense fear .. and resolution and a heart pumping in the need of help to be put out of misery ...
he ran as fast as he could and instantly arrived above three alcoholics ... wearing noble clothes as they ripped apart the girl's clothes ..
their eyes revealing lust and perversion..
this girl was sent to buy beverages in their territory and expected to be left alone ...
they then laughed as they unbuttoned their robes ..
the girl trembled as her eyes closed .. from her face and body .. Tanjō deduced that .. she was at the same age as him ..
but this was no time to think about age ..
he immediately landed on the ground from the roof and kicked one of the men in the guts .. sending him flying away ...
before the other ones could even react ... Tanjō jumped up
.. and disappeared along within their shadows ....
as they looked around for him .. one of the men who already had his privates outside .. felt a stinging pain from his jewels ...
both of them had been crushed into a bloody paste .. mixed in some sort of disgusting sticky liquid ...
the man screamed .. in pain .. as his hands moved towards his underlings ...
but instead of his hands reaching there ... a knife swiftly flew past his fingers and his only remaining dignity as a man ...
with the thin light ... with a swooshing sound ... in the night ....
the man let out yet another cry .. but he didn't last long .. as his eyes turned back into his head ...
his body went limp and fell down onto the ground with a thud ...
when the other man .. saw what happened to his friend .. he began trembling .. as his drunkenness faded away and got sober ...
his forehead was filled with sweat pearls ... and veins bulging out ... because of the fear that had been rooted inside of him ...
his eyes then constricted as he saw a shadow rising from the man's unconscious body ...
his knees and legs got wobbly as he struggled to stand straight ...
his eyes shook ... and his pupils shrunk ...
he then suddenly looked behind him ... and saw his hope gaining conscious ...
he ran with all the speed he could muster ..
and strangely ... he didn't get attacked ... for some reason .. but he didn't let that take over his mind ..
as his hope rose to another level ... he instantly reached out his hand and grabbed the shocked and scared girl by her dress ... lifting her up into his arms .. and tightened his muscles around her little neck ...
"Come out .... !!! or I will liquidate her .. !! come out ...!!" he shouted ... twirling his body around ... trying to look for the scary shadow ...
but his efforts beared no results ... he only got silence .. which further complicated the situation ...
the atmosphere around him got eerie ...
the sounds of critters and crickets were no more ... as silence enveloped his space ..
his muscles tightened even more as he got so desperate .. he started to pull his pants down .. attempting to go ahead with what he was doing ... and behind his actions .. he held a plan ..
after all ... there was no normal person .. in territory .. and there was definitely no one normal in this world ..
and as he pulled his pants down ... there was a wisp of smoke rising from under his foot ..
but it was too unnoticeable and could make up for a sneak attack ...
in the next moment ... a shadow shot out from the ground and dashed at him ...
the man's face then changed from fear to joy ... his scared face showed a smirk and a bit of mockery inside ...
he harumphed ... as he lifted his left foot up and kicked towards the shadow ...
and immediately after making contact .. with it .. the shadow was thrown into the wall .. and fell down to the ground and writhed in pain ..
making eerie sounds .. like the wind howling .. in there silent night ..
the man smiled .. as he grabbed his manhood .. and lifted it up to the girl in his arms .. prepared to do what he wanted to do ...
but suddenly .. the writhing shadow he saw .. disappeared ... and up from behind him .. appeared another shadow .. but unlike the first one .. this one was much more ... black and matched up with every shadow in the night ...
it resembled thick goo .. with a frightening presence ..
the man didn't feel anything .. his instincts and fear didn't even kick in ..
a finger stroke him from the back and attacked the spine ...
and before he knew it ..he felt like his legs got chopped down ..and his arms fell down from his shoulders ...
a beautiful tanned hand appeared .. and chopped at his neck and made him go unconscious ...
a boy ... then appeared before the scared girl and approached her .. with nervous steps ... as he rubbed the back of his head ...
he looked around and got nervous instantly ...
"I'm really sorry ... " he said as he ran up to the girl and covered her eyes with his little hands ..
the warmth above her eyes ... disappeared as she suddenly felt her body lift off from the ground ...
the fresh air ... hit her behind her ears and blew her hair ...
her little fragile hands grabbed tightly on his clothes ...
her ragged and tattered dress fluttered violently in the wind as the speed increased ...
as fast as the speed increased .. it fastly disappeared .. as he descended to the ground with her ...
they both landed on a large branch .. and Tanjō got off of it and jumped down to his favourite spot ... where he gently laid down the girl on the soft grass ...
when his eyes fell on her body .. he instantly covered them .. and took off his robe .. dressing her up in it ...
"You're okay now ... please forgive me for invading your privacy .. young miss ..." he then bowed his head slightly ...
the girl sat up on the grass and looked at her old tattered dress lying down before her ...
her eyes then turned to look up at the figure who rescued her ..
she could recall everything that happened in the alley .. and the one infront of her ...
the shadow that came at the right time ... before she got taken advantage of ..
her lost hope .. appeared ... alongside the mysterious person ...
her current feelings were complex and mixed .. she didn't know how to react in this situation ..
she suddenly felt safe .. when he stood infront of her with a bow ... he was like an angel despite being a shadow ... when he saved her ...
her heart fluttered and beat ... faster than it ever had ..
she didn't even notice that Tanjō had already stood up on his legs ... and looked at her awkwardly ..
his expression of seriousness turned into one of weirdness ..
"My lady ... is there something wrong .." the young miss then snapped out of it and hastily stood up on her legs .. and held her dress tightly before bowing down ... deeply ...
"Thank you .. very much ..!!" Tanjō's face then turned red from embarassment ..and he immediately waved his hands around ... and pulled her up by her shoulders ...
"I'm Tanjō .. please no need for honorifics ... " the girl looked at him with a red blushing face and looked away ...
she then looked back at him .. "Thank you very much .. Tanjō-san ..." ...
"No need for you to say thank you ... I wouldn't let something so horrible happen to you ... I mean .. I could've helped anyone who was in the same situation as you ... now now .. enough about the matters of the past ... may I know my lady's name .." he clasped his hands together ...
the girl .. smiled and curtseyed towards him with a bashful smile ... "Marianna Van Aur ... " the little girl .. called Marianna suddenly stood up ... as she heard a muffled laugh coming from Tanjō .. as he covered his mouth with his hand ...
his face was flushed with redness ... his green eyes ... had tears ... as he struggled to hold it in ..
when he couldn't any more .. he laughed .. out loud .. and fell on his back against the tree ...
little Marianna felt the need to laugh as well .. but she found everything awkward .. and very weird ... who would laugh at an introduction ..
" Sorry .. but your name .. sounds really funny ... and I'm sorry but I have to ask ... why does your last name sound so ... weird ..." he asked wiping the tears off his eyes ..
"Oh ... it means .. gold ... how is it weird ...??" Tanjō stood up and walked up to her ...
he whispered something in her ear .. and in the next moment .. he laughed again ...
"So ... because you're used to the Japanese .. way of naming .. you think my surname and my name are funny ... " she then tilted her head and giggled ...
"You see ... our names ... are different ... but that does not matter ... anyways ... in full .. it's Lin Tanjō ..."
"Meaning ...?" Tanjō was now caught in between laughter and surprise ...
he didn't expect her to ask him such a question ...
indeed .. he was used to being a citizen of this continent ..
even though there were many fugitives from many nations ... they still spoke the language of this side of continent ..
it was still a mystery to why .. did they not change their names ..
"Ahem ... it means .. the beginning of nature ... "
"Oh .. that's a nice name ... oh !! my father is going to be very angry ..!!" she suddenly panicked as she looked around anxiously ..
Tanjō .. went to her side and held her shoulders .. from trembling ..
"What is it ..??" he asked ..
"My father sent me to buy beverages from the inn ... and now I lost all of the money .. he gave me .. and if I don't come back on time .. he will ... he will ... hurt me ..." she blurted out ... as she trembled even more ...
Tanjō shook her but .. she still wasn't calm ... so he took out 7 silver coins and shoved them inside her small hand ..
"Don't worry ... I will send you to the inn to go purchase your beverages .. and I will get you back home in time .. I promise you ..." he said in a stern tone ... as he placed his arm around her neck and a hand on her waist ...
he then lifted her up ... "Are you afraid of heights ...??" she nodded ...
Tanjō tightened his arms around her and smiled ... "Then close your eyes and hold on tight ..." without even hesitating .. Marianna ... tightly grabbed his clothes and dug her face into his chest ...
the wind picked up instantly .. as Tanjō flew up into the air and ran through shadows ... closing in on their destination in a much faster time than when she could've reached it ...
in the blink of an eye ... Tanjō rose from the shadow of a column .. supporting the big inn ... that stayed open till now ...
the lanterns that lit up the inside .. brightened ... through the open space between the door and the wall ...
Tanjō woke her up from her stiffened state ... and confirmed their destination ...
Marianna instantly dashed inside the inn ... and purchased .. high quality booze ...
in case her father got upset ... that way .. even if he got upset .. he would still be grateful for such quality
after she stocked the beverages .. Tanjō picked her up and asked her to close her eyes as he lifted off and hopped past ... the 8 mile radius ... in an unfathomable speed ...
mainly because of the shadows which were dense around the buildings .. he was able to shift to the furthest shadow .. and brought her exactly to the alleyway of that side of town ...
he brought her down to her feet and looked at her as she walked away ...
he then turned his back and prepared to fly away ... when suddenly ... "Are we going to meet again ...??" Marianna inquired ... with a bashful expression ...
Tanjō didn't know what to say ... and just rubbed the back of his head awkwardly ...
"I don't know .. but if you happen to pass by the tree ... I'll find you ..." with a smile he disappeared into the shadows and went straight home ..
Marianna looked into the sky .. not even realising that she was carrying .. something that belonged to her father ...