The Tall Stranger at the Town . . .

It was a dark night filled with lightning and thunder. The rain was pouring very hard, drumming like mad hammers on the roof tiles of the town and on the streets, people were hurrying back towards their homes as peddlers tried to cover their fruits and wares as they pushed their wooden carts along.

In a small alleyway, the splash of running footsteps were heard as a bald man cried for help, stumbling in the dark of the shadows, followed by a loud crash of broken empty crates. The bald man, now laying dizzy on his back while clutching a nasty welt on his right temple with his gnarled, hairy hands, continued to helplessly shout for help to anyone, anyone at all, who can hear him in the moaning rainy wind.

Suddenly, a leather boot appeared from the darkness beside and kicked him to his side, producing a loud grunt and a stifled yelp of pain. Another boot came in hard just as fast, this time placing a well-aimed jabbing kick below his chin and two yellow teeth hastily flew out of the bald man's mouth and made a clinking sound at the ground. Another boot came in. Another. And another. And it was as if the bald man was being kicked by ten men, producing more grunts and shouts of terror from the bald man. It seemed a lifetime has passed after the torrent of merciless kicks, and to the bald man's credit, he was still conscious and alive, much to his great dismay. A toothy smile slowly crept in the face of the tall stranger. A smile that told great pleasure in causing pain to this man above all.

Black gloves gripped the side of the man's tattered shirt and with a practiced effort, threw the bald man up in the air, to the baldie's great surprise. And just as sudden was the throw, just as slow was the time for the tall stranger, for everything was now moving slow, much too slow to the stranger's eyes. It was as if time itself slowed its pace for the stranger's great perception.

Sweeping the floor with it's long feet, the stranger prepared the stance of "Tower of Morning" - A quick, vertical slash of its long feet, starting low and ending high, right in the middle of the bald man's chest. Yet another kick was coming in as the tall stranger perfectly went with the flow of its lithe body, now literally head over heels and floating in the air, as its left boot now timed for "Thistledown Floats on the Whirlwind" - A short-range jumping spin-swipe, used for beheading, the stranger using the spin of its body as the main force behind the finishing kick.

The sickening sound of boot-to-skull was heard ten feet away as the bald man's neck cracked, and gave way, dropping mangled to the ground, lifeless and miserable. And for a short time there was only silence. Silence and the sound of heavy raindrops, now mixing in with the splattered blood on the ground. How the stranger smiled a toothy vampiric smile as it looked at the man's eyes. And how great was the feeling of exhilaration now rushing through its blood. The feeling of dominance and control over the life of this wretched creature before the tall stranger. Yet it was short-lived. Already, the rush was dissipating and along with it the memory of seeing the life of the bald man slowly fade away from its eyes. And so was the smile.

The tall stranger narrowed its eyes as if hungry for more. After emptying the bald man of his pockets for gold, the stranger only found fifty Yuans. Spitting at the face of the bald man with utter disgust and contempt, the tall stranger slowly stood and simply began to turn its head as if hearing something at a distance. The dead man's face looked at the tall stranger as if begging for forgiveness. A very high price to pay for stealing the stranger's horse. A price the bald man paid for with his very own life. The tall stranger walked away ever so casually in a lazy swaggering way back into the darkness of the alleyway as if nothing of note happened. A letter came in just this day and the matter of wasting precious time burned the stranger. Oh how it burned the stranger above all. But at the very least, the stranger can have a warm bowl of ramen this night . . .

jiangbao wrote:
((The ever so scary Vampire!))
Jing rolled his eyes followed the man, his people behind him, and said, "Are you gonna answer me, or just sit there." Why did he always meet troublemakers or weirdos, it was not often he met normal people. Jing then said in a louder tone, "What gave you the right to kill him? Are you just a deranged sociopath? Or did he cross you?"

The tall stranger suddenly stopped in its tracks. Perhaps ticked at something that the noisy man had blabbered perhaps? It looked up at the sky as if waiting for something, or was it just recalling some old memories ? Yet the tall stranger's halt lasted only but for a short moment, and it was as if time, yet again, slowed for just an instant to the tall stranger's perception, as it now quickly turned around its body, only to nimbly jump backwards as soon as its long clawed hands worked in a crazy blur, meticulously flipping each and every single coin from the stolen purse in the air before the group of men.

The coins, end over end, so marvelously revolving in mid-air as if dancing with the fall of raindrops, singing their way to the pleasant tune of an unheard song. So slow, so wonderful. Yet time righteously aligned itself back to its normal pace, creaking with great anger at the tall stranger as everything now moved with normal speed. Thunder and lightning stroked the rainy sky, bathing them all with both sound and great light, The coins caught the lightning's glimmer and multiplied it tenfold, producing a flash bang that would blind the eyes of those who dared to watch its beauty.

And just as sudden was the flash of light, just as quick was the sound of running footsteps in the rain, as the tall stranger took the moment to escape, its cackling laughter both mocking and inviting . . .