phase

Unanticipated Shadow(ing)

Kaitou was dreaming.

In his dream, he was another person, someone with a slim, strong frame and a very different sense of being about them than he normally had. He and this person were not the same, but may as well have been so with the way that his thoughts seemed to be in complete synchronization with this person—no, this man’s movements. He couldn’t feel the body, but even he could tell from the way it appeared to be built that no woman could have had a figure like that; although small and with unusually small shoulders, it was a well-trained, steady build. Perhaps it was for these reasons that with every step he took, he moved with the incredibly and almost inhuman grace of a trained fighter.

It was only after he noticed the aforementioned details that he began to take in his surroundings. He was on a grassy plain of sorts, something that extended for a good length. Where it ended, concrete and steel began, the city taking over what presumably used to be the rest of the plain. However, all of it seemed deserted, and whether this was because it was the middle of the night or because there may have actually been no population at all.

A single street lamp gave some meager light by which Kaitou saw all of this, and he felt a shiver go up his spine—not the other person’s—and wondered where exactly he was. He knew that he was still on Earth for sure; but where on Earth?

I haven’t been here before, and I hope I’ll never have to be.

The scarf the person wore kept his face warm, as it was covering his nose and mouth and tied behind their head. But somehow, Kaitou knew that this—along with the black body suit under their trench coat—were more likely for disguise than they were for comfort.

This person reached down to their belt, an incredibly heavy contraption, and pulled out from one of the pockets a small piece of technology that wasn’t like anything Kaitou had ever seen before. He could have easily mistaken it for simply a smooth, black pebble if the screen had not lit up and projected a small hologram (that very much resembled a keyboard) right next to it. The person’s fingers showed true dexterity, moving with speed and accuracy as they quickly typed in something before putting it away again. A breeze that felt slightly unnatural picked up, and this time Kaitou knew he wasn’t alone when his skin prickled and his stomach turned from the obviously lurking darkness behind it. And neither Kaitou nor he were wrong in thinking so; a moment later a figure that had not been on the other side of the half-plain seemed to materialize during the time it took Kaitou to blink.

The figure was cloaked with a color that looked darker than black, a grey mask covering all of their face. There was something about them that rendered Kaitou unable to even focus on them for a moment, a certain blurriness to their shape and being that shielded them from memory. The wind that had slowed down rose again, making the cloak swirl around the figure as they stood stock still, simply staring across the plain at the person and Kaitou. It startled Kaitou slightly when the figure began to move towards them with a slow, deliberate sort of pace. The closer they came, the more the rays of brightness appeared to avoid them; however, it could have been a mere illusion on the part of the opposing person, designed with the intent of throwing them off in mind.

Neither spoke after the other came to a stop at a close distance to the first, both of them simply studying one another. There was a growing tension in the air, something almost tangible that made Kaitou feel edgy and uneasy. The two were probably unpredictable in their actions.

What’s going on?

And before he could even think of his second question, the cloaked darted at the suited at a speed faster than light itself, while the suited moved only slightly to the side, making the attack a very narrow miss. Kaitou could feel the sword’s breath as it streaked past his cheek, knowing full well that if the person hadn’t been so quick to think, part of their face would no longer be there.