A Bittersweet Reunion(private)

"I figured your not human since you always talking down on us" She said and smiled. "Dazed for weeks huh...sounds nice" She said with a smile. She watched as he swam up to her, but she didn't shy away. "Humans are curious...its our nature...though now that you ask I do have a question. "Am I appealing? Physically I mean?" She asked tilting her head back slightly so her lips grazed his neck. "Does some one like you... think I'm appealing even for a human?" She asked, her hand brushed against his thigh under the water

"Well for starters, I'm no ordinary master. Also those taboo's apply to humans, which I'm not in case you've yet to notice. I could easily take that innocence of yours any time I wanted. Heh you've got nothing to worry about though, me doing so would leave you dazed for weeks." he chuckled, though his smile soon turned into a very small frown. "All men crave for a woman's touch at some point. I'm not different. What seperates me from most men though is that I can control those...lustful needs. Heh one the worst ways to die is right in the middle of sex." he smiled and then turned to her. He swam up to her till their bodies were inches apart from eachother. "You seem to be curious about my needs. Are there any other questions you like to ask hmm?"

Cierra tilted her head a playful smile on her lips. "Should I be bothered?" She asked. "It's taboo for things to happen between a master a student right? So what do I have to worry about?" She asked. "Then again, men will always be men, does a high ranking assassin like you...also crave the touch of a woman's body against your own?" She said, almost purred

"Yes...well there are times when one must give the body proper rest. Its actually been about five months since I took a vacation so I guess this will do for now." Sephiroth stated as he tossed his black leather jacket to the side. He too clearly had no objections to bathing with a someone he had just met. His eyes closed tight as he stepped into the hot water. It sent small chills down his back. Once the water was up to his chest he had sat back against the shore, his eyes shifting over to Cierra. "You seem to be very comfertable. You're not bothered by the the fact that you're bathing with a man you dont know?"

Cierra laughed, "So you decided to come and relax as well then?" She asked. She kept her eyes closed for the most part. She was allowed her glances if he got to glance as well. "The water is great..." She said, her eyes gazing over his sculpted body, There most likely wasn't a man alive with his muscles. She swam over to where he was, apparently not very shy about bathing with someone she had just met.

Sephiroth was relaxing by the fire thinking over if testing Cierra was a good choice or not. Sure he was board, but...well there had to be some sort of limit regarding how he entertained himself. Training a human in the arts which he alone held would mean that Cierra would rise well above the status of a human if she could survive the training. After a few minutes Sephiroth looked around. "Hmm perhaps I'll go see this hot spring for myself. Even people like me to relax every now and then." he sighed softly and rose to his feet. It didn't take him long to find the hot spring. All he had to do was fallow the steam and heat. He silent stepped through the forest making sure so his movements couldn't be heard until he reached the spring. "hmm not bad." he thought to himself and removed his heavy plated armor from his shoulders. "You look like you're enjoying yourself over there." Sephiroth called out, his voice booming a little to see if had caught her off guard.

Cierra chuckled, "Men enjoy looking upon girls with perfect skin, not scarred" She stated and walked into the woods. She found the hot spring and undressed folding her clothes up and stepped into the hot water. At first her skin did look smooth, until the steam hit it, making the small scars on her body more noticeable. She had one well noticeable scare on her right hip. She eased down and leaned against a rock letting off a soft sigh. The steam covered her body, so there wasn't much to see anyway

"Hmph you make killing sound so simple." Sephiroth sighed. He placed his sheathed blade by his side and leaned back against a rock. The roast would take a while to cook so there was plenty of time to waist. "You may leave if you wish. Though I'd becareful. There are plenty who wouldn't hesitate to peek at such an attravtive girl. I'd keep my guard up. Hmm...maybe I'll have to test you in that area as well." he smiled before tilting his head back. His eyes closed for a moment as a gentle breeze blew through his long silver hair.

Cierra was looking up at the night sky when he had asked. "Hm...to be honest I don't think I'll be happy even if I were to get my revenge...Killing him wont bring my village back... I'll continue to hate him long after he is dead...I'd probably look for other like him....those who kill, for the mere pleasure of it...I'll kill them...after that...I'd probably do what you do...sell my skills for a price" She said and sat up looking at the roast. "If thats it for now...I'm going to go to the hot spring I spotted on the way back from dragging that boar and soak for a bit...if thats alright with you" She said as she stood up, keeping most of her weight off her injured leg

Once the boar had been skinned, Sephiroth took a long sturdy stick which had a sharpend point. He picked the massive beast up by it's hind legs with one hand and used his other to thrust the stick right through the boar so that it came out of its rear end. After setting the beast above the flame he stuffed the herbs into different parts of the boar then sat back to feed the fire. His eyes shifted over to Cierra for a moment. She seemed so determined and focused. "Let me ask you something. Say that you do gain your revenge...what will you do after that? You'll need to live for the day when you can kill the one who wronged you. What will you do once your reason for living is gone?"

"Yes sir" She said and pushed the beast over to the rock. using a dagger she cut around the boars neck and then pealed back its skin. Once that was done she sat down tearing some cloth and bit onto it before she pulled the broken tusk out of her leg, biting down hard onto the cloth and gave a muffled cry. She went through her small bag and pulled out some alcohol and poured it on her wound. It was deep, it would close easily or quickly. Cierra took a stick from the fire blowing at the ember of it before pressing it to her leg, burning the wound shut. She whinced before finally tying the cloth around her leg and laid back

By the time she returned, Sephiroth already had a strong fire going. He looked over her wounds surprised that all shen't been injured to badly. She still had both her hands and feet after all. "Not bad. There's a flat rock to your right. Skin the animal and then I'll roast him over the fire. After you're done wrap your leg. I wont heal you this time. You need to learn to deal with pain so that it becomes second nature. Though do make sure that you carefully remove that bit of tusk from your leg." he stated and rose to his feet. He already had a few herbs which he would use to help spice the boar's meat up a little.

Cierra didnt mention her own magic skills and stuck close to Sephiroth. She stopped when he did and listened. "Right" She said and jumped up and into the trees. She had returned back with about 36 second to spare. She pulled the boar, using some magic to have the earth push the giant thing as she pulled. Injured again, a tusk was lodged in her leg, the same one that had been wounded before, blood soaked her leg. "Heres your dinner, where do you want me to prepare it" She said panting lightly, ignoring the sharp pains in her leg

"Whats wrong? Dont tell me a warrior like yourself cant take a little teasing." he smiled. Soon enough nightfall came. The moon was covered by thick clouds making it hard to see. "Stay close. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness, but there's only so much you'll be able to see unless you can do magic." he stated and snapped his fingers. a bright dark flame burned around his index finger lighting the way for them. Sephiroth suddenly came to a quick stop. The sounds of grunts could be heard in the distence. "Your target is about 15 yards to the north east. You have exactly 10 minutes to bring me the boar."

"I'd appreciate it if you would stop testing me. Surely if I went through with taking innocent lives, I would not back down from hunting a wild bore" She said. She did not know what she was going up against, but she had gone up against rather vicious animals before. Usually this is when she would use her sorcery. Earth to crush it, but using water to drown it would be less messy. "Fine then, what ever you wish" She said closing her eyes

"I think I'm in the mood for a Bakus Boar...a male Bakus Boar. It's meat is nice and tender and cooks well over a fire. They come out to eat as soon as the sun sets. If you can bring one of those down I might consider taking you on as a student...maybe." he smiled. What Sephiroth had neglected to tell Cierra was the Bakus Boar was a deadily blood thirsty beast. The males carried razor sharp 13 inch tusks on both sides of their jaws. Not only that, but the males were about the size of a half grown horse...a deadly horse with plenty of muscel. "Come and I'll show you where they can be found. To make it interesting though I think I'll give you a time limit. I'll understand though if you wish to backdown. You are only human after all." he smirked.

Cierra jumped off and stood watching him look over the cart. She looked at him and nodded. "I wont forget" She said. She would never forget...what she had done...the first step she had taken to get her revenge. She blinked when he cut the horse free watching as the cart rolled back crashing into the village. She didnt seem to miss it as it went, the gold and the things she had taken had no value to her personally. She looked at his blade, anyone would be impressed, someone having such a weapon. She looked back to him as he mentioned her next task of finding dinner. Was it going to be a hard thing to get a hold of? He seemed to be enjoying this. "What would you like me to find?" She asked without hesitation

Sephiroth had been watching closly. He thought for sure she'd try to weasel her way out of killing any innocents. Now she was no better then the one who had killed her own people, though that would work to her advantage. As she came forward with the carriage he stood up straight and looked it over. It wasn't much, bit could last them for a little while. "You now have innocent blood on your hands. Never forget the look in those villagers eyes. Understand their pain and understand how it feels to be the one who weilds the sword." he stated before cutting the horse free from the carriage causing it to roll right back down the hill back towards the village. "Lesson number two: greed will kill you. Take only what you need to survive. If you take more, make sure that your new wealth does not corrupt you. I've killed thousands simply due to the fact that they're to absorbed with their wealth." he replied softly then sheathed his blade. Its length was about equal to his own height. How could anyone use such a long blade anyway? "Now we'll walk a little ways and then make camp. Your next task will be to find dinner for the two of us. Hmm...I think I know what I'm in the mood for too." he smirked and turned back to look at her. The fact that he was actually smiling had to mean that something bad was going to happen.

Cierra walked behind him not paying much attention to where they were going. He had yet to say a word and she was in no position to say anything at the moment. When they came to a village she looked out among it, it was smaller then what hers used to be. She looked at him as he leaned against a tree, her eyes widened as he gave her, her first order. She closed her eyes and bowed her head to him before turning and walked towards the village. She knew he was right, he had a very good point, and she had swore vengeance. She would do whatever she had to...even if it made her the bad guy. It wasn't hard to find the village leader, she walked through like an ordinary traveler and up o the leader bowing her head paying her respects as any would and then swift moved behind him gripping his arms behind his head, her sword at his throat. The town went silent. She did as she was told, she order them to give her all they had, gold food and anything else of value. A guard charged her and she quickly struck him down then let her blade pierce the leaders hand. Once the village heard his pained cry they started gathering their valuables and getting a carriage for her to take them in. She was amazed how weak they really were. Was there no one even willing to try and fight? No one to try and save their village from being robbed of everything? Time passed and someone stood up to her, having given a first warning by killing the guard who had attacked her she stabbed her blade through their leader and lifted the sword pointing to the woman who had spoken up. "Do you still wish to challenge me?" She asked. She woman quickly backed down. She ordered the villagers back to their homes and took off in the carriage after making sure she wasn't followed she returned to her new master

After hours of walking, Sephiroth led Cierra away from the main road. They came to a small village which in the middle of the woods. The villagers were poor, yet seemed perfectly content with their life style. "If you intend to seek revenge you must first understand the mind set of the person you're trying to kill. This man who you're after...if he spared only you and killed everyone else it means that he has so much blood lust that it matters not who he kills. Against an opponent like that you must be willing to do whatever it takes...that includes becoming heartless." he stated and leaned his back against the trunk of an old tree. "Those people up ahead have very little food. They'll fight to the death to keep what they have. Go down into the village and demand they give you everything they have. If they refuse...kill their leader. If they continue to resist...kill every villager without mercy. This might sound cruel and pointless, however...there's not point in training you if you're not willing to do what it takes to survive. They are the weak and you are the strong. Now go!"

Cierra didn't blush when her name was complimented like most women would have. She looked up at him as she remained knelt on the ground. When he started walking after agreeing to be his master she got up and returned her sword to its sheath on her back. She blinked hearing his name. She had just asked the great assassin for hire Sephiroth to become her master? She would have to work really hard to not fall behind with him as a master, this man was no joke. "Yes, Sephiroth-sama" She said and walked behind him. She would do whatever it took, this was the greatest warrior of the time, his skills could teach her to become strong, and hopefully kill the twisted monster that ruined her life!

"Cierra...thats a fine name for a woman..." Sephiroth muttered as he turned his back to her. He figured that if fate was on his side he'd be able to get some sort of entertainment out this little trial. "Very well...I will test both your mind and your body. If you pass...your life will belong to me. I will be your master and you'll follow my orders without hesitation. Heh in a way you're making a deal with the devil." he smiled and started walking forward. "Come, your first test will come at night fall. I'm going to see if your mind can handle the burden of being my student. Oh, by the way, you may call me Master...or just Sephiroth. The choice is yours...Cierra."

Cierra didn't break eye contact with him like many would and most likely have. "My name is Cierra" She said and nodded. "Yes, I understand" She said and knelt down bowing her head. "If I begin to bore you, you may do as you wish to me, if you agree to become my master, then it is you who is in control of my life" she said. She showed loyalty, she was, she was stubborn but strong as well. She lacked in stamina but made up with short bursts of surprising power as well/

Sephiroth crossed his arms and stood back. He really had no reason to even bother testing her. What was the point of giving a human strength? In the end, it would just lead to death. Also there was the fact that she wouldn't be able to pay him...though the money really wasn't a issue. It was just something to keep him busy so he wouldn't get board. "Whats your name girl? Do you really understand what path you're about to walk? Do you understand that you stand before death its self? If you fail I wont walk away...I'll kill you for waisting my time human."

Cierra blinked shocked at first then grew flustered. "Try me then, If I break you can throw me aside, but I know I can do it!" She said. "I wont back down just because something is hard, I'll keep fighting, that's what will make me stronger is it not? Please sir, I beg of you, at least try me as a student, if your not satisfied then walk away" She said. Her voice wasn't so much as an annoying plead, it was more like she was convincing herself of what she was saying as well as him