Interlude
01:00, Shinjuku
The young woman pants as she pushes herself harder and harder, her legs burning from exhaustion and her breath labored. Yet she endures, holding tight the bundle in her arms.
"RAAAAAGH!!!"
For if she stops, only death will await her.
Howling like a tortured beast a being who was once a man chases after her, restless in its pursuit. It has the appearance of a middle-aged man dressed in poor clothes, the front stained with blood and the holes left from an automatic firearm. Its skin is pale and sunken, and its eyes are glowing with an eerie gray light, fixed on the fleeing woman with hate...and hunger.
The woman keeps running, but it is night and the streets are littered with rubble from the recent skirmish. Inevitably she steps on one small rock, causing her to stumble and fall down with an yelp. The bundle comes undone, and its contents of clocks and other house amenities scatter around.
The thing slows down, gazing with nostalgia at the items before focusing back on the woman, hands stiffened into claws and jaws open, panting.
"No please! Please forgive me!" The woman pleads, crying and crawling back. "I didn't want to disturb you...but I had no choice! Without things to sell I will not be able to feed my sons!"
The thing's answer is to howl and jumps at the woman, teeth bare and hungry for life.
A flash of silver, and a knife buries itself into the thing's tongue, skewering through the lower jaw.
"Not so fast!"
Someone kicks the thing from the side, pushing it down on the ground. Still reeling from the pain it is powerless to stop the assailant from reaching to the knife, ripping it out and pushing it down again, slashing the thing's jugular open.
The woman stares widen-eyed at the one who saved her: a beautiful young woman with long, straight, platinum blond hair, wearing skimpy clothing consisting of high-heeled sandals, denim shorts, a tube top that exposes her abdomen and a blue jacket.
She swings the knife to get rid of the blood before putting it back in its sheath. "You shouldn't steal from the dead." She says without turning to face the other woman.
The thief winces in shame. But before she can defend her actions a stack of bills lands in front of her feet. "Use that instead. Now go, this place is dangerous."
"T-Thank you! Thank you so much!" The woman picks up the money and bows before running away.
"Weelll." The blonde woman scratches her and look down at the items and the corpse. "Should I give him a proper burial?"
"Just pour salt on the body and bury the items near it." A new voice says. Following it a black cat walks to the side of the woman and sits down. Tail twitching lazily it looks up at her with soulful green eyes. Then it speaks. "We don't have time to waste."
"Yes, yes. Whatever you say teacher." She replies with a roll of her eyes before she kneels down and begins collecting the items. "What we are ever doing here in Japan?"
"Scouting of course." The cat simply says.
She stops and turns around. "For what? This Shadowland is recent and the others are too small to be of any real threat. While the ones in Argentina are-"
"I know that very well." The cat interrupts sternly. It seems to ponder for a few seconds before continuing. "However, many of the New Moon Elders seem to think something will soon happen here, in Japan."
"Something what?"
"Something important."
"Yeah? How very helpful." She snorts.
The cat glares at her, a silver-white disk glittering above its brows.
"Relax teacher. You know me, I will do my part. Or my name-" She winks and points at herself. "Is not Anja Silverclaws!"
Interlude - End
