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Of Light, Shadow and Love: Volume 2 Chapter 8 Bluffs and
Maneuvers “And you
lose,” said Shadowdancer quietly. Only then did Lightsider feel the
pinfeather of her wing against his throat. She’d thrust forward with them as
she fell, to protect herself. The doctor felt a small trickle of blood run
down his throat, and he recalled that last moment. He’d
spun and struck at Shadow with everything he had, but as the blade whistled
down, he found he couldn’t do it, not even in a simulation. The sword stopped
of its own accord just as it touched her. But, as Shadow fell back, her wing
thrust forward on reflex. Lightsider realized then, that if he’d pressed his
attack, he would have impaled himself on her wing, as he drove the blade into
Shadow’s slim throat. “What
now?” Shadowdancer’s low chuckle cut through Lightsider’s musings. “Are we
going to sit like this for a while?” Lightsider
grinned. “Simulation: matte.” He said. The
grass, wind and trees froze, and Lightsider backed away from Shadowdancer. He
dropped his sword, and it disappeared before hitting the ground. Shadow
stood and dusted herself off a bit. “I didn’t need a rest,” she said. Lightsider’s
grin opened to a genuine smile. “I know,” he said. “Actuality Simulator: End
simulation.” Reality
folded back onto Lightsider and Shadow as they seemed to drift back into the
VR booths, with their VR helmets and control systems. No one came to help
them out of the booths, so they got themselves out. “We stop
now?” Shadow said, obviously disappointed. “I think
that was enough. We can kill each other later,” he tried to joke, but the
joke fell flat, even to his own ears. He shrugged. “It was great, but I felt
it was getting too . . . serious, I guess.” Shadow
thought about it for a moment. “I thought that was why you wanted a realistic
simulation,” she asked. “Well,
it is,” Lightsider said. “I guess I’ve forgotten what it’s like to really try
to kill someone.” Shadowdancer
grinned. “It’s been too long since I’ve fought toe-to-toe and gotten fought
to a standstill!” Lightsider
smiled and opened the door to the VR room courteously for Shadow. Lightsider
gave a sheepish grin, and Shadowdancer marveled. His transformation from
warrior back to meek doctor was so complete, so natural, that she would have
never suspected, or even believed, what he was capable of. Lightsider,
for his part, was quite pleased with his performance. And the performance of
the simulator itself. At least now he had a nice, quiet, private place for
him to practice, and with the simulator, he could have any number of virtual
opponents and no one would ever know. It was great. Lightsider
followed her out of the room. He had to stop suddenly, though, because Shadow
herself had stopped just outside the door. Lightsider looked up, and
blanched. It
seemed to be a mob. “Anou .
. . hi?” Lightsider asked. He
looked over to the VR monitor, and saw the final image of he and Shadow with
the words, “Simultaneous Kill! Draw!” superimposed on the image. “Uh, oh
. . . “ Lightsider muttered. He realized then that he’d forgotten to engage
the privacy screens. He looked over the crowd, and also realized that many of
them seemed to be holding betting tickets. Then he noticed that Shadowdancer
had disappeared. Lightsider
looked behind him. “What are you hiding behind me for?” Shadowdancer
smiled. “Playing the shy woman,” she said softly. “Besides, I needed a
screen.” Lightsider heard a little clink that he recognized as a coin being
tossed. The elfin woman gave a low, little chuckle. “Let’s say I won, just to
get out of here without hurting anyone,” she said enough that the crowd
couldn’t hear. “Besides,” she whispered into his ear, “we know the truth.” Lightsider
blushed a bit at the close contact, but nodded. “Good idea,” he said. Then he
raised his voice. “There’s a bug in the monitoring systems!” he called out to
the crowd. “Shadowdancer managed to get a strike in on me right after the
monitors froze. She won, fair and square!” The
crowd muttered, but seemed to buy the little white lie. All but
a few, though. “How can
we take your word for it?” an ugly brute insisted. “I wanna see the whole
recording!” A few others behind him shouted their agreement. Lightsider
sighed. He needed to get out of here, and he didn’t want this kind of
trouble. He narrowed his eyes, and raised his palm into the troublemaker’s
face. “I
suggest,” the doctor said, in a chilling voice, “That you settle your bets,
gentlemen.” The group watched in horror as Lightsider’s hand started to glow
with Light. Behind
him, Shadowdancer caught the cue and emerged herself, lightning crackling on
her fingertips. Suddenly,
there was a clear path from Lightsider and Shadow straight to the door. Loser
or not, they all saw what Lightsider had done to that oak tree. Shadow and
Lightsider quickly exited, followed by every pair of eyes in the room. After they
were safely away, Shadow smirked. “Were you going to blast him?” she teased. Lightsider
gave a sheepish grin. He was once again the geeky doctor. “It was a bluff,”
Lightsider admitted. “I’m not sure what would have happened if they called
it. Likely I would have been in trouble.” She and
Lightsider stopped about a block away from the arcade, and looked at each
other. For some reason, the kind that’s never really understood, they burst
into giggles. Finally,
Lightsider gasped out the laughter, and removed is glasses to rub at his
eyes. “All right… what did I owe you for the Style Step win?” he asked as he
slid his glasses back on his nose. “Cheesecake,”
Shadowdancer giggled. “I’d like to try their strawberry one and the
blueberry…,” she straightened, and coughed. “But I want to treat you too.” “Ah…
that’s not necessary…,” Lightsider stammered. “Yes it
is.” The diminutive woman said solemnly. “You’re the only person I’ve fought
for that long in over a hundred and seventy years.” she declared. “And you’re the only person who has
ever fought me to a standstill. Therefore,
that deserves a reward. I believe you said you liked apple pie…?” Lightsider
smiled, finding the smile came easily to him. “Since you put it that way… I’d
be honored.” She grinned,
eyes still dancing with mirth. “You also can’t pass up a free piece of pie,
right?” “Who
can?” --- “Lightsider-san,
may I ask you a question?” Lightsider
looked up from the highly unhealthy Boston Cream pie he was destroying. “Uh,
yes! Sure!” he licked a bit of cream from his lip, surprised. They’d been
eating in silence, absorbed by the good food they had in front of them. Shadowdancer
popped a bite of her blueberry cheesecake into her mouth before she
continued. “You know… I didn’t know you were cursed.” she saw his eyes widen
at her words. “I only found out from Tohru. Forgive me, but it is a very
unusual curse.” She nodded at him in slight apology. “I have encountered many
curses over the decades, but nothing like yours.” Lightsider’s
expression went carefully neutral. “Curse? You mean my kawaii sensitivity? It’s a medical condition . . . .” “‘Medical
condition’? Ha!” Shadowdancer wagged her fork at him. “I’m a sorceress,
Lightsider-san, and I was a priestess at one time. I know curses.” Lightsider
kept the long-practiced neutral look on his face, but his eyes narrowed
slightly. “And what would a priestess assassin of Tsuki-Yomi-No-Kami do with
a person who carried such a curse?” Shadowdancer
gazed at him with some surprise. “How did you….” Lightsider
shrugged, and put another forkful of pie in his mouth. “You pick up things
when you wander around.” Shadowdancer
stared at him, shock written plainly upon her beautiful features. Then she
began to chuckle. “I didn’t think anyone would know any more, in this day and
age. What gave it away?” Lightsider
pointed to the blue gem in Shadow’s forehead with his fork. “That’s not a
decoration. It’s a conduit for your power and a connection with the gods. The
color indicates Tsuki-Yomi.” He pointed at her clothing. “The robes you wore
in the VR simulator were that of a priestess. But, the weapons you carried
screamed assassin.” Lightsider stuck his fork into the remainder of his pie.
“As I said, you pick things up when you’ve wandered around.” He ate the last
bit of the pie, ending his speech. She
clapped appreciatively. “Well done! I’d bow, but I’m sitting.” Lightsider
inclined his head at Shadow. “Thank you,” he said. “You’re
right on all accounts.” she smiled, leaning back. “But even as a priestess-assassin,
your curse, good doctor, is a kind I’ve never seen….” the mirth of her voice
vanished. “It’s the kind the Kami themselves visit as retribution when death
is a kindness.” “Rarely,
eh?” Lightsider rubbed his chin. “One might think an immortal such as
yourself would have seen more than a few, eh? Oh don’t look so surprised. Of
course you’re immortal. The Kami don’t let their servants off so easily. I
would think . . . Warring States era by your fighting style.” “Not all
servants of the Kami get immortality, good doctor.” “All the
really good ones do,” he countered. “Only
their most loyal.” she smiled “But at the same time I am a Mihoist, yes?” Lightsider
shrugged. “Your affiliation with the Church means little to me, other than
that it suggests either Tsuki-Yomi has some designs on it, or that you’re out
on your own in the world to see it for a while.” “The
latter. They do not contradict each other, and my loyalty is unquestionable.”
Shadowdancer shrugged. “But it is through those allegiances that I am able to
see the nature of your affliction.” “Of
course.” Lightsider accepted a cup of Chamomile tea from a waitress with a
grateful nod, and stirred some crystallized honey into it. “You aren’t easily
distracted from a point when you latch onto it, are you?” the doctor smiled.
“Heaven knows I’ve tried, and over the years, I’ve become quite good at it.” “I used
to...” she paused, a strange expression shuttered her eyes, “Hunt oni. They are known to be evasive and…
deceptive.” Lightsider
frowned slightly. The way she said that . . . . The doctor thought for a
minute, and then abandoned the line of thought. Not enough information.
Hunting oni was nasty business. Her
look could have derived from that. You
can’t analyze everything. “Oni, eh?” he said instead. “Are you
hunting another then, now?” She gave
him a look that pierced him through. She moved on suddenly. “I also, at one
point, rid places… and people… of curses.” She let him absorb the meaning of
her words. He leaned back into his seat as he did, a thoughtful expression on
his face. “The
curse, as you rightly guessed, was placed upon me by the Kami themselves,”
said Lightsider. He took another sip of tea. “Breaking it would be going
against he whom you serve.” Lightsider’s cup trembled only slightly when he
said this. The memories flooded through him, and he remembered who it was
that spoke that night…. “Perhaps.
As it is though…,” Shadowdancer tapped her fork against her lower lip. “If it
were Lord Moon who placed the curse… I would be defying. Nobody said however,
that I cannot investigate it.” Lightsider
considered this. “Of course,” he said. In this setting, in front of this
woman, Lightsider felt strangely at ease. He looked around at the busy
restaurant, though, and decided it wasn’t the place for a history lesson.
“But if I’m to tell you of the circumstances, I think we should be somewhere…
quieter.” Shadowdancer
wagged her fork at him chidingly. “Food first, then we talk. We must have our
priorities straight, my good doctor.” Lightsider
smiled. “Don’t you want something a little more substantial than pie? This
place has some great oyakodon1.
Just buying you pie after the Jade Chrysanthemum seems somehow inadequate.” Shadowdancer
looked at him. “I always came here for the sweet stuff. I never really tried
the main dishes.” Lightsider
chuckled. “Allow me the pleasure.” He raised his hand and motioned one of the
waitresses over. “Two oyakodon,
please,” he said. “Arigatou.” Shadowdancer grinned. “I
figure that we’ll probably forget about eating later anyway.” Lightsider
blinked a bit as Shadow took her first bite of the oyakodon. For an instant, he saw someone else there, about the same
height, but definitely younger. She was smiling at him. The
sudden memory was gone, but Lightsider felt the mental afterimage linger. What was that? “Mmmm.”
she purred. “You’re right. This is quite good.” Lightsider
tried to cover his sudden discomfiture with a smile and a joke. “One of the
best in town!” he said. Why does she
seem so . . . familiar? “I’ve
been missing out then.” She slurped the hot broth appreciatively. Lightsider
dove into his own bowl, and into his own thoughts. The strength of the
connection he had felt was immense. He’d
felt it before, in the Jade Chrysanthemum, and now here. He’d
never felt this strong a connection with anyone for a long time. Well, except
for…. Clink Shadowdancer
put down her soup spoon, looking quite sated. “Aaah.” she sighed, thoroughly
satisfied. “Good
food. Must remember it.” She looked at him, a relaxed expression on her face.
“Thanks.” Lightsider
looked up with a smile. He didn’t even realize that his glasses had slipped a
bit, and he was looking at Shadow over them. “My pleasure. Always good to eat
with your adversary, you know,” he tried to joke. She
wrinkled her nose at him. “Foo. Adversaries only on the sparring field. I
don’t carry my prejudices out of it. That’s the kind of thinking that fills
graveyards.” Lightsider
nodded. He realized that his comment could have been misinterpreted, and he
was grateful for Shadows tact. “I didn’t mean for us to be enemies,” he said
quietly. “In fact, I’d very much like for us to be friends.” She met
his eyes and smiled warmly, and he felt his insides go warm with a heat that
had nothing to do with the oyakodon.
“So would I,” she said, her voice soft and oddly sensual. “So would I.” Lightsider
walked out of Anna Miller’s, fuzzy with the warm glow of good food and better
companionship. He felt Shadowdancer exit the restaurant, too, and started a
bit when she linked her arm with his. “Ah . .
. ,” Lightsider said. “So, where to? We can probably find somewhere quiet in
a park nearby….” “Actually,
I was thinking of my apartment, at the Church. All my research materials are
there.” Shadowdancer’s lips were pursed in a thoughtful moue. “At least there
I won’t have to improvise.” Lightsider
stumbled a bit at this. “Uh… apartment? Well….” Lightsider tried to remember
when he’d been asked by a woman back to her dwelling place. He came
up blank. “I
suppose…. But the Church? They won’t exactly be happy to see me.” She
laughed. “I can bring whomever I want to my place. It’s not as if I’ll be
disturbed by anyone....” The look she gave him was arch and coy at the same
time, her smile suggestive. Lightsider
felt heat rise to his face. Centuries of isolation certainly didn’t help one
figure out women. Surely she didn’t
mean…. Lightsider shook off the notion before it even took hold.
Shadowdancer had never been anything but honest with him. If she said they
were going for research, then that is what it must be. Unbidden,
Tohru’s face appeared before him, almost real enough to touch. Lightsider
froze in mid-step, and nearly dropped to his knees. His chest felt tight. He
couldn’t breathe. Shadow looked at him in bemusement. “Oh
Kami-sama, you’re really red...” she chuckled. “Are you all right?” Lightsider
nearly gasped for breath, as the little comment freed him from his own
over-reaction. “Uh, yeah…,” he said weakly. “Maybe I ate too much.” “Don’t
mind my teasing. I won’t bite,” she laughed. Lightsider
smiled at the comment. “I hope not,” he said, relieved that he was master of
himself again. “If you bit into me as well as you did that oyakodon, I’d be in trouble!” He
laughed and dodged as Shadow tried to smack him. “I’ll
have you know men like it when I bite.” she hmfed poutingly Lightsider
turned a little redder. “Uh, I, um . . . I’m sure they do,” was all he could
manage. He frantically changed the subject. “How are you planning to get me
into the Church? I can’t exactly walk through the front door.” “Front
door?” she smiled. She wagged her finger slowly at him. “We of the Church
permit entry only to a very select few.” Her chuckle was wicked. “I don’t
think a doctor of the UFL is going to be high on your list.” Lightsider
remarked dryly. “And the
chances of a former hostage wanting to go back to his place of capture? Just
as high,” she jibed back. “Trust me.” Lightsider
shrugged. At worst, he’d get thrown out. He’d taken much worse in his time.
Some of it from Shadow herself. Maybe the fact he’d treated so many Mihoist
fangirls would work in their favor. “I’m all
yours,” he said. Shadowdancer
gave an almost predatory grin. “Oh, goody.” Lightsider
grimaced, realizing what he’d just said. “Oh, great.” 1 A popular Japanese dish,
consisting of scrambled eggs and chicken poached in broth, usually with
onions, and served on top of rice. Mmmm. Tasty and easy to make. Recipe
available if you want it. ^_^
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