[i]Alyssa raised her face to stare upwards at the man who towered eleven inches above her, almost a full foot. She pulled the HardLight blade away, hitting the button as the golden-yellow blade disappeared. She gulped, speechless as she stowed the lightsaber-like grip. She moved her lips, trying to speak, however she simply couldn't; the black armor, three blades, demon mask, and him being so much taller than here, it all added up to make for a frightened, amused, and weirded out Alyssa. She pulled her gaze away from the demonic mask towards the slightly damaged gauntlet, finding that doing that made it easier to focus.[/i] "S-sorry," [i]Alyssa murmured, not daring to meet his gaze. She silently cursed herself for being such a coward, yet the woman knew that there was only so many things that she could stand up to. Alyssa unconsciously stumbled back a couple, shaky steps, unsure whether to trust the intimidating man, or to run; her first instinct was to trust, to give everybody a fair chance, regardless of appearance, however her countless hours in the library gave her a fair amount of knowledge, and a bit of that knowledge is that no matter what she could do, a human would always judge first based off appearance. Shaking this thought out of her head, her emotions were easily read on her face, showing that Alyssa was a rather easily influenced woman, her heart worn on her sleeve proudly. Forcing her gaze back to the man's, she took a deep breath, promising herself that she wouldn't look away like the wimp she was. And she didn't look away, staring into the abysses that were the man's eyes with all the intensity she could muster. Exhaling, she finally opened her mouth, and her voice was clear and stable, showing no traces of her previous cowardice.[/i] "Who... and what... are you?" [i]She asked, her lips pursing in concentration as sweat beaded on her forehead. She heard the rudeness in her voice, and inwardly cringed; she wondered if the man was the kind to beat the ones disrespectful to him, and decided that it would be wise to act more respectful afterwards. Worried that she was already on his bad side, she stopped all movement, breathing shallowly.[/i]

"I'm the Ronin." [i] The shadowy man said simply. He said it like a title, and he said it in a way where that one word carried immense weight. A word that was only whispered among normal people. His head tilted down, and back up to look her over. Even though his eyes were covered, Alyssa felt like she was being dissected from the inside out. Like that predatory gaze put her whole being under a microscope, and made her feel like nothing. Like the man that was looking her owner thought extremely little at what he was seeing. She could feel the amusement. [/i] "As for what.. a lot of people ask that question, and none get an answer. You aren't any different." [i] His words crawled over her skin, sending an icy wave over her body. His presence didn't necessarily scream evil.. but he definitely wasn't someone you wanted to screw with. [/i]

[i]Alyssa thought on this for a moment. She'd met plenty of non-humans at mage school, however none like the shadowy man in front of her; none who kept their race classified. She decided that it would be best not to pry, which her natural curiosity disagreed with passionately. She noticed how the man could so easily make her cautious around him, and respected him for that; Alyssa wondered how she could do that, as well. As usual, her emotions were clear on face, her heart worn on her sleeve.[/i] "Okay, what's 'The Ronin'?" [i]She asked, mentally telling herself to pry no more.[/i]

"Me." [i] He said with a smirk in his tone, hand brushing over the hilt's of his katanas unconsciously. It wasn't a threatening gesture, more of a habit.[/i] "It's what I go by. A wandering swordsman, without a master? Familiar with the term?" [i] He had a way of talking that made anyone listening feel a lot more stupid than they actually were..[/i] "And what about you, little one? What's your name?" [i] He questioned. The way he said "little one" made it sound like he was either a lot older than her, or had seen and done a lot more. [/i]

[i]Alyssa frowned, mentally beating herself up for not knowing the term; she must've learned of it in her years at John West Academy, however she forgot it. She made another mental note to review every single textbook she got from JWA, many sleepless nights.[/i] "No, I'm not familiar with the term," [i]She said briskly, trying her best not to show her embarrassment.[/i] "And my name's Alyssa; friends might call me Ao, Lys, or Lisa." [i]She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at the swordsman, and her tone evidently said that he should not call her by a nickname; although if he decided to, she would not tell him otherwise.[/i]

"Ok Alyssa.. what brings you here?" [i] He used her full name, but not because she said only friends called her by a nickname. Ronin always called people by their proper name, if he knew it. On top of that, the way he said her name was unnerving.. like he was trying it out on his lips and didn't know how he felt about it..or her. [/i]

[i]She frowned at the way the Ronin said her name, telling herself to speak more carefully. She looked up at the swordsman, thinking long and hard of s good answer that may or may not better his opinion of her.[/i] "Why I'm at the dojo? To get better in combat; physically and magically. Isn't that why everybody's here?" [i]She looked at the man, and instantly knew that he wasn't here to better himself; rather, for some other, unknown reason, that Alyssa did not dare to ask.[/i]

"No.. definitely not." [i] He eyed her up and down, the abysses where his eyes would be seeming to dissect her once again. [/i] "If you're gonna get better at combat, I'd start with holding your sword like you aren't at a Kendo class." [i] He said it condescendingly, but Alyssa quickly realized he was giving her a tip.[/i] "Hold it like you actually plan to kill someone. Because if you aren't, don't carry a sword." [i] He said to her. And that's when Alyssa realized this man had probably killed more people than she'd ever met. [/i]

[i]The thought of her actually killing something was something that had legitimately never crossed her mind before; she spent a lot of her free time saving kittens and healing puppies. But she thought, thought of people she hated, and thought of two things; when she killed Chuck, who had tried to kill both her and her ex, Charlie, and Jackson Crystal, the serial killer and rapist that had nearly kidnapped her. With these two people in mind, she thought of what she would do to them, and gripped her HardLight sword tightly, much more aggressively than she had before, her eyes filling up with anger.[/i]

[i] A smirk crossed Ronin's face under his mask as he nodded in appreciation.[/i] "There you go. Swords are harbingers of death, they aren't carried because they look cool." [i] He said with a chuckle. His outfit definitely looked cool, but most people didn't Get much chance to appreciate the aesthetic appeal.[/i] "Second, when you attack someone, have every [i]intention[/i] to kill." [i] He stressed the word, because there was a difference between carrying a sword in case you had to kill someone, and actually doing it.[/i] "If it's a precarious enough situation where you actually have to fight, have every intention of ending it and not giving your opponent a chance to end you." [i] Ronin spoke with such knowledge and experience, with a thorough understanding of what he was saying. This was a man who knew everything it meant to bring death to someone, and what it meant to a person. [/i]

[i]Alyssa thought on the man's words for a long moment; attacking with the intention to kill. Silently, she wondered to herself id she was cold enough, heartless enough, to have the intention to kill, however she knew that it didn't matter. Her photographic memory pictured Jackson Crystal, the serial killer, pedophile, and rapist. She turned away from the Ronin, pretending that Crystal was standing in front of her. Gritting her teeth in anger, she swung madly at the phantom image, with, as the man suggested, the intent to kill. The HardLight blade went right through the invisible imagine in Alyssa's mind, yet it was clear that the slash was meant to kill somebody, and got that point across well.[/i]

[i] Ronin laughed aloud, a condescending laugh that made Alyssa feel like she did something wrong and she was being laughed at.[/i] "Striking air, and striking a human being are two far different things. You hit nothing there, but then when that hardlight eviscerates flesh? Burns the blood inside of their body as your blade rips through skin and organs, and the light fades from their eyes?" [i] He described in detail. Something only someone who'd ended lives could explain.[/i] "Yeah, two different things."

[i]A sudden, unexpected anger flared up inside Alyssa at the Ronin's unnecessarily condescending tone, and Alyssa struggled to calm herself down.[/i] "Well, what else am I going to do? Attack [i]you[/i]?" [i]She asked sarcastically, feeling herself reach the end of her patience; even though it should have been the other way around. She contemplated simply walking away, but the writer was bored, so the plot forced her not to.[/i]

"You could, but I think you're a bit smarter than that." [i] He says with a smirk in his tone. Indeed, to attack him would most likely be suicide. [/i] "If you aren't, then I probably overestimated you. Just like I've done so often."