longer.blue

Twelve years old and without a home. It took a while for the tears to stop. The two remains of the Snow Leopard clan, the twins. When finally their faces were dry and their thoughts had settled, the pair realized what had to be done. No matter his reasoning, their brother had killed their parents, they needed to be stronger than him. So, a pledge was made between the two. One would travel East, where they would seek out a friend of their father's, he was an old dog revolutionary turned mercenary that would take the younger twin and raise her to earn her keep through spilling blood. The older twin would travel west, to the castle keep where the Knights sworn to fight against humanity's banes, monsters, were brutally trained. She had a knack for mage craft, one of the primary weapons the Knights used to combat these foes, a friend of her mother's would help keep secret the girl's origin as a Beast, for none but pure-blooded humans were accepted into the Knight's Order. To conceal their identities from the world, from their brother, they took on new mantles. The older sibling, Solari. The younger sibling, Vesper. Their brother, they now called Ombre: for his shadow had taken over. With time they grew strong, honed their respective skills, sacrificed morality and grew ruthless in their respective ways. Throughout all the hardships endured however, some piece of them retained that innocence. However buried those emotions were, they awaited the day that they might finally be unearthed, when they could reunite with one another and face their past. To perhaps re-establish their Clan and confront that shadow which loomed over them. How patiently they came to await the day. Yet the world would not wait for that reunion calmly. Vesper knew this well enough, as she gathered intel on anything and everything that might allow her greater power. The chance to bring her Clan back to prominence. She saw the opportunity arise with the sudden emergence of a sacred treasure now shattered into pieces, one shard of which she happened upon. Yata no Kagami, a sacred mirror hailing from Japan, holding the power to resonate with the one who holds it and bring about their greatest hopes or deepest fears, depending on which ruled over the individual's heart. Vesper accepted the challenge that came with wielding this mirror shard, and thus her hope proved stronger than her fears, granting her the power to manipulate others and collect the fortunes of the rich and ambitious. Money, capital which she could use to reinstate her family's name. It would have all gone smoothly, a stroke of luck in an otherwise unlucky life, if it had not been for the interference of that Tiger. Their meeting happened upon a vast ocean liner which Vesper had constructed using the Mirror's power. A floating casino which sailed international waters and attracted the rich and powerful from Japan's coast to come and gamble without fear of nasty little laws getting in the way of their fun. Takii Migakaze knew well what the power of even a fraction of the mirror could do, and thus he had taken it upon himself to journey in order to collect every last piece of the mirror. Naturally, Vesper had been opposed to that. She'd learned in her youth of the fabled Tiger Clan, the ones that her parents had both revered and loathed. Vesper found the Tiger as capable as those stories told to her had made his kind out to be. Their battle was heated, the pair contrasted each other in every way. Vesper with her usage of firearms, conjuring from the ether her weapons with the help from the mirror shard. Takii, meanwhile, fought with nothing but his fists. She should have had the advantage, yet that golden Beast did not let up. There was one edge that she possessed at least: Vesper's training did not include how to show mercy to her opponents. Takii's did. His blood spilled more than hers, and yet at the end of the arduous battle the one who stood victorious was him. She had been defeated, shown kindness by the one she had been told was among the most ruthless of all the Beasts. Laying there with fatal wound being rapidly healed by her enemy, the Tiger offered to take her in. "There's better ways to make money. If you want to right the wrongs done to your family, then come work with me. Together we'll rebuild your clan...and mine too." They were no empty words, it was a promise given to the Leopard. In her something stirred, that shred of innocence kept deep inside was stirred by his earnest nature. He had shown it to him in their battle, in giving mercy to the one whose every shot had meant to kill. Much as she felt loathing well up, it began to melt away. She began working for him as she would any other employer, a cold and professional relationship where she always stood guarded against any form of betrayal. Slowly, however, she began to feel that distance close. Vesper would only come to realize it late into the bloody conflict that she had been dragged into: she trusted this man. And finally, when the old world stood against him, she was there at his side. When she told him of her wish to reunite her family, he complied. Solari was waiting, Vesper knew. Now they finally had an opportunity to bring their family together...including their brother.