Vaan laughed at Merle's comment and imagined the elders freaking out shouting things like: "it's a bad omen!" and "the end of the world!". The thought made him laugh again. "Well I don't think they'd take it as a good sign," he said. Vaan followed Merle's lead and traveled discretely through the shadows, his anticipation building as she let on how close they were.<br/><br/>When the voices became audible Vaan gave a cruel excited grin to match Merle's own. The girl stopped walking and he took the lead, following the sound to lead them through the shadows right toward the hideout. Only when the little Hunters were all perfectly visible before them did he step out of the shadows and into the middle of the street. Vaan smirked evilly and simply stood there for a moment, before continuing toward the group of Hunters.<br/><br/>-------------------<br/><br/>Anaka took a breath and opened her mouth, ready to say 'I guess so' or something along those lines, when Hiei, of all people, spoke up first. "No, I don't think so," he said. Anaka looked over at the small man. His face was as passive as ever, but his eyes looked a little more attentive than they normally did. He was looking at something across the street. Anaka turned to see what had caught his attention.<br/><br/>"Erm... who's that?" she asked.<br/><br/>Hiei looked at her briefly before turning back to the man before them. "That's Vaan," Hiei said matter-of-factly.<br/><br/>"What?" Anaka asked, thinking Hiei had forgotten the picture she showed him. "Vaan has brown hair and eyes, remember? Honestly Hiei."<br/><br/>"No, it's Vaan," Hiei said. He sounded so serious and so sure, that she started to consider it. "His hair and eyes are different colors, but he has the same face as the picture. I never forget a face."<br/><br/>Anaka swallowed hard. She knew that was true: Hiei's memory for faces was uncanny. Then the man Hiei said was her brother began to come closer.<br/><br/>"Um..." Hatsu threw in, "Yami says Hiei is right."<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Ah Jeez,</span>Anaka thought.<span style="font-style: italic">What's he doing here?</span><span style="font-style: italic">"Don't lose focus, Anaka,"</span>Azrael threw in.<br/><br/>-------------------<br/><br/>Vaan stepped forward and turned to face a small group of rookies. "Excuse me," he said, "I'm here to kill Ayl Taveirn. Could any of you tell me where he is?" He gave a smile, but his eyes screamed danger.<br/><br/>The rookies shook their heads, looks of terror on their faces as they backed up slowly. Vaan tutted. "Oh that won't do. I'll have to occupy myself until he shows up." The lead Silencer held up his hand, an orb of blue flame hovering above his palm. He pulled back his arm and threw it at the group of rookies who'd refused to answer him. It landed on one of them, igniting his arm, the appendage already beginning to disintegrate from the sheer destructive heat of his hellfire. Some of the Hunter's friends tried to put out the fire, only succeeding in catching fire themselves. Vaan laughed at their suffering, at the blood curdling screams that rang out as their bodies quickly burned to ashes.<br/><br/>Vaan turned to face the surviving Hunters. "Does anyone else know where I can find Ayl Taveirn? No?" he gave a dark smile, "Maybe he would show up if make a big enough...<span style="font-style: italic">smoke signal</span>."<br/><br/>A ball of electricity hit the Silencer in the stomach, causing a bit of pain and the motion of sliding backwards slightly, but no real damage. He looked up to see a dark-haired boy facing him.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Are you sure about this, Yami?</span>Hatsu asked.<span style="font-style: italic">I think he may be a bit above my level.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Yes, he certainly is,"</span>Yami replied,<span style="font-style: italic">"But Anaka and Hiei both have close range powers. You just have to hold him off until Ayl arrives."</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">But why Ayl?</span>Hatsu asked.<span style="font-style: italic">Isn't Vaan here to kill Ayl?</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Yes, but..."</span>Yami said,<span style="font-style: italic">"That blue hellfire... Vaan has acquired a very powerful, and very chaotic demon. The only Hunter around here who could match his level is probably Ayl. Stall, don't get killed, and DO NOT touch those flames. I'll lend you some of my power for now, but don't do anything reckless."</span><br/><br/>"Ah, I see..." Vaan said, straightening up. "Some fodder has volunteered to be the first set of firewood. Well... come on then." The lead Silencer charged, Hatsu tried to avoid him for a while by jumping on his "hover board". All it served to do was show that Vaan could fly. Jeez. They went at it for several minutes, loud sounds reverberating now and again at the clashing of fire and lightning. Several buildings caught fire and burned to ashes. Those blue flames didn't spare anything.<br/><br/>While Hatsu was still alive, he was only barely avoiding Vaan's attacks, and it was probably only because the Silencer was still just playing with him. Of course, he probably wanted Ayl to show up too, so why not stall? Hatsu was currently glad of the man's whimsical nature.<br/><br/>Anaka fell to her knees watching the sky battle, causing Hiei to look down at her. Tears streaked down her face as she watched her brother. He was trying to kill Hatsu, and he'd already killed several others-- burned them and laughed! Why? Why was he so<span style="font-style: italic">different</span>from before? "Vaan..." She muttered, her mask dropped and her voice sounding completely broken.<br/><br/>Hiei turned from the sight of the broken girl back to the one-sided battle at hand. This thought passed through his mind:<span style="font-style: italic">We've found Vaan. Whatever happens from here on out, my obligation to Anaka is ended.</span>Alastor laughed inside of him,<span style="font-style: italic">"Now that's the host I chose."</span><br/><br/>***<br/><br/>After a while, it seemed Vaan's patience was finally ended. He and Hatsu brought things back to the ground. The early morning light cast Hatsu's shadow in front of him: long and dark, while Vaan's was cast equally black and extensive behind him. Hatsu was breathing heavily and sweating from the strain of moving so fast in mid air. Vaan on the other hand, didn't seem to have broken a sweat.<br/><br/>"Well... I think you're about burnt out anyway, so I'll just finish this," Vaan held up his palm, summoning flames into it. He pulled back, and threw. Hatsu was too exhausted now to even duck.