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Miles smiled and began walking. "This way," He told her. Hey looked over at her as they walked, falling into step next to her. "How have you been? Besides busy I mean," he asked. "You must be under quite a bit of pressure with the Blackwings and doing so much to help people."

Miles nodded as he listened to Noira. Well that's good then," he told her. He cocked his head to the side slightly when he heard Noira talk about the Nightmare Witch. "Ah, I see. She's another ally of Death City I believe." His smile returned when she mentioned that she had gotten better at moving her blood through liquid. "Well done!" He complimented. "Soon you sh-" he cut off suddenly, a concerned expression on his face. He stopped and looked around slightly before grabbing Noira's hand and quickly pulling her down a back alley. He pressed against the wall with her next to him, looking back out the way they came in before looking back at her. "Sorry," he whispered. "I think...this may sound mad, but I think someone is following us," he told her.







Scratch sat on a telephone wire surrounded by other, normal ravens. He watched as the silver-haired by walked down the street with Noira. It was coincidence that he came when he did; he was doing his daily rounds scouting on various points of interest to report back to Noira any suspicious activity and this boy, Miles, was one of his last stops. He wasn't sure why Noira wanted him watched but it didn't really matter. If his Lady gave a command he would follow it. He hadn't been specifically ordered to follow up on Miles today, but he sensed his presence on the way back to The World Dyed in black and decided to make a slight detour just to check. The boy seemed to stop and look around and Scratch realized Miles was looking for him again. The boy had good instincts for someone who clearly wasn't trained in stealth. But that's all it was: instinct. And that was far from enough to find Scratch. Noira would be able to tell his exact location of course: they were linked after all. He was sitting on the telephone wire on the opposite side of the street from where Miles and Noira were walking and he watched as Miles quickly grabbed Noira by the hand and pulled her into a back alley. The boy then poked his head out, looking up and down the street at eye level, obviously for another human or humanoid who was perhaps following on them on the street. Scratch would have sighed if he could and he took several hops down the wire of the telephone pole until he had a clear view straight down the back alley where Miles was "hiding" with Noira and continued to watch.

Scratch watched Noira wave her hand at him while Miles was busy looking down the road. He didn't need to be told twice. Miles looked back at Noira. "Yeah, sorry about that," he told her sheepishly. "You're probably right.....I didn't mean to scare you," he told her, referring to her spike in wavelength. Scratch quickly spread his wings and was about to fly off when the bird next to him suddenly exploded into nothing but blood and feathers. Scratch squawked in surprise before he felt pain rip through his left wing. He fell from his perch, landing hard on the ground. This was it....he was going to die. Someone had somehow found him out. He was waiting for the finishing blow to come when he saw another bird on the telephone wire explode in a ball of feathers and gore. What...? Was someone just randomly shooting at birds?? Damage-wise Scratch was just fine. The only problem was that he couldn't use any of his abilities (including ones to heal) without giving away to Miles that he was not a normal bird and by extension probably the one who was following them. For the time being he lay still.

Miles looked over sharply when he heard the sound of gunshots and saw a bird fall to the ground shortly before another one exploded. "What the-!?" He easily back-traced the shot. The shooter was a familiar face.



James was standing in the middle of the road, idly shooting at the birds on the telephone wires. He didn't seem to have any particular reason for doing so judging by the look of boredom on his face. Miles quickly scrambled out from the alley and over to James as James blew away another bird. "James! What do you think you're doing!?" Miles asked angrily, grabbing James by the arm when he had transformed into his Gunsword. James slowly looked back at him, the bored look never leaving his face. "Practicing," he replied nonchalantly. Miles glared at him. "Stop. You're scaring people. Besides, there's targets you can practice with in the school." "The targets don't explode like these birds do." James pulled his arm free from Miles's grip and turned fully to face him. "That's enough James," Miles replied as the two seemed to square off against each other.

Scratch looked up at Noira and nodded quietly though he still pretended like he was injured for the sake of the two witnesses. James and Miles were still squaring off in each other's faces. "Stop this James. I don't understand why you enjoy hurting things so much, but this is unacceptable." James gave a small smile. "Do you plan to do something about it? Or will you perhaps have your girlfriend do it for you?" Miles glanced back at Noira who was holding the bird. He assumed she was being compassionate towards the surviving animal which he found admirable. He looked back at James. "Go away. Perhaps I will make you." Both their resonance forces began to rise. James kept his eyes on Miles as he spoke to Noira. "I suggest you hold back your boyfriend or he may get hurt. I have to say I imagine standing over your boyfriend crying is not the way you would like to end your date." Miles didn't back down. "There will be no tears. Not for you."

Scratch turned to look towards James, focusing on James's soul. He seemed to be concentrating harder and harder. Finally he stopped. There's....nothing, he told Noira telepathically, sounding amazed and confused. His ability to see into the souls of others had never failed him before. Never. Why was he unable to read this one?

Meanwhile, Miles and James stared at each other for a moment before a sudden, loud beeping cut through the silence. It was coming from James's watch. He looked down at the expensive looking device before looking back up at Miles. "It seems I have other matters to attend to at the moment. Good day." He said as he shut off the alarm. He abruptly turned and walked away as if nothing had happened, leaving Miles a little confused. "What was that about?" He asked no one in particular as he relaxed, watching James walk away. He turned back towards Noira and Scratch, walking over. "Oh wow, the poor thing looks to have been shot in the wing. I don't think it will be flying anytime soon. Let's take it with us. Maybe patch it up and give it something to eat," he told Noira, his smile returning.

No, I believe it was me, Scratch thought telepathically to Noira. His intuition is impressive when it comes to sensing hidden followers. Perhaps not so much with those in plain sight. Miles looked first at Scratch and then at Noira. "Alright then," he replied. "Let's go."

[[Exit to Death Diner]]