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Captain Crocoite was not in his usual foul mood. This was a new kind of irritated, one he did not feel as often as others might. He was listless, frustrated. Maybe he was just bored. Whatever it was, it had him out on the prowl. Now that he had a youma under his control, he felt much more confident in his ability to face off with the strong knights and senshi out in the city.

After all, the youma was expendable, and could always return. That was much easier to risk in a fight than his own being. He had a lot of important things to do, and could not be bogged down in injuries or that whole dying thing.

Feeling an aura not too far from where he was prowling, Crocoite headed toward it and was not all that surprised to find that the source seemed to have spotted him, as well, and was waiting. Curious, but not unheard of: lots of senshi and knights tended to want to talk. Which was fine by Crocoite, most of the time.

Except on nights like this, when he was feeling a little blood thirsty.

"I see you were looking for me, as I was looking for you. And here we are, in a fittingly dark and gloomy alley."

"No, I suppose it doesn't have to be, but that is one of the delights of being who we are. The choices we make can determine such things for us. I've already made a few decisions tonight, and am curious how they will effect our current situation."

Crocoite grinned at her without any humor or kindness reaching his eyes. They glimmered in the dark anyway, as he leaned on his cane in an impression of being relaxed. In reality, his every muscle was coiled and ready, his body all but burning to spring into action.

She seemed innocent enough. She engaged in a conversation with an obvious enemy, perhaps for the sake of avoiding a fight herself. Was she scared, or was she peaceful? Perhaps the two walked hand in hand. He often found that to be the case, and liked to pry them apart: see where the lines lay. How far could someone be pushed before their fear turned from peace, or they simply broke apart.

"Are you scared of the dark, then? That's fair. You never know what might be lurking, just below the surface of those shadows."

The crocodile watched his prey thoughtfully, keeping his calm as he quietly spoke to her in the gloomy evening. He had a soft smirk on his face, though his eyes were cold as he listened to her patiently. Even curiously, as if he were taking notes for later. Of course, if there was a later or not was entirely up to the chance of the evening, and the choices they made.

The illusion of choice was one of his favorite hunting tactics.

He watched as she backed up, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I have no reason to fear the light," he said, picking up his cane and walking briskly toward her. His steps were confident and quick, though he did not immediately attack. He stopped short of her, just at the edge of the pool of light the lamp was casting. Grin broadening, he did his best to seem intimidating. "See? No harm done. At least, not to me."

His grip tightened on the staff of his cane, the big metal head of the crocodile handle catching the light.

"Hit you? My dear, no, why would I use such brutish tactics to fight a lady?" Crocoite laughed at his own playfully mocking response, shaking his head at how ridiculous it sounded. He shook his head, holding up one finger on his hand before showing her his cane. The hand not holding the cane then moved down to join the other in holding it. One hand on the cane itself, the other on the metal neck of the crocodile head, Crocoite took a moment before pulling the two apart.

In one hand he now held the hollow wooden cane that acted as a sheath, and the other held the sword attached to the crocodilian pommel.

"Stabbing, I think, will be much more direct. More civilized, in a duel, don't you think?"

Crocoite was so very pleased that his weapon upgraded to something a little less brute force, though swinging a cane at people had worked rather effectively so far. Now he had the choice between that raw kind of aggression, or using the pointy, sharp blade now hidden inside the cane. It was not the best for slashing with its round shape, but it would certainly help him drive his point home.

Clicking his tongue behind his teeth, he would have to write that one down as a mental note to use later. At least he was starting to feel better, the promise of scaring, or scarring, this new opponent perking him up. He charged forward, drawing his sword back in an attempt to ready a stab.

Magic. The White Moon had a very annoying habit of using magic when it was up against a wall. He was immediately grumpy, seeing the ocarina and knowing something was about to happen.

He did not fear senshi or knight magic: so far, he had no reason to. He did know, though, that it would be annoying. He was not wrong.

Stopping, he felt something very unfamiliar to him, and for a moment he was not even sure what it was. He felt peaceful. Actually calm, as opposed to the calm he portrayed when he was trying to be intimidating. For a moment, he was not sure why he was even trying to attack her, but he was not going to let himself be tricked so easily.

"Cute song," he said, almost genuinely, forcing himself to hold his weapon up despite the urge to just banish it and let bygones be bygones. "But it won't be enough to save you." Still, he did not seem too inclined to attack again, though he was sure it was because of the magic.

Crocoite did not like this feeling. This... peace. It was not something he was used to, and certainly not something he asked for. He rather liked to think himself happy with who he was and what he was doing, so to be shown something could feel different, maybe even better, than what he was used to really rattled him in a way he was far too proud to admit.

So he stood there stiffly, doing his best to pretend he was not effected at all.

He looked almost like he was wincing.

When she turned to high tail it away from him he thought about chasing her, but the magic stayed his hand. The poor thing, she was probably scared and he had no business making her feel worse. That thought alone was enough to make him shudder, his soul rejecting the very idea of such niceties innately.

Shaking his head, he realized the magic had released him by the time she was good distance away from him. yes, he could catch up, but he was actually rather embarrassed about this whole thing. Still, if he ever saw her again, he was absolutely not going to hold back. He would not give her a chance to mess with his head.

He would show her just what his true nature really was.