She wished she possessed the wilder instincts... A better auditory system, a profound olfactory build, but she didn't. It made tracking the vampyre moderately difficult. She raced on through the trees, ducking under the whip-like branches that extended like claws and jumping over the web of roots that threatened to trip her up with ever leap. Akira chewed on her lip considering her options, assessing her emotions. Her last encounter with a vampyre replayed in her mind and that young girl was just monstrous, this one seemed to be blessed with some sort of a conniving nature too. There was a conflict brewing inside her, she never wanted to be the sort of person who judged the actions of an entire race, based on the work of a single entity among them...

But she could now empathise with all those who did, it was so easy to mistrust another. In retrospect, as she ran through the forest, she realised that everybody did it all the time. A person was most likely to first trust themselves, then perhaps their close family and friends. Following that, every morsel of trust extended is usually limited to need and only stretched temporarily, and it still proceeds familiarity. One is likelier to trust someone they knew growing up... someone from their town... their country and then definitely your own kind as opposed to someone of another race...

She slowed, to catch her breath, her palm resting against the rough bark of a tree while the other sat atop her knee. Large gulps of air were inhaled and she used the pause to try and clear her head and sort her thoughts. Prejudice was not something she ever wanted to give into, but at the same time, that fear shouldn't be the cause of inaction where action is required. She stood up straighter, paying heed to the rustling leaves overhead, trying to pick out any other sounds that may aid her in the discovery of the vampyre.

Besides, weren't some races by default more of a threat than others? They couldn't all deserve the same benefit of doubt after all, most vampyres did consider humans to be nothing but prey after all. Akira shuddered as the bloody memories flitted through her mind again. The question was, why was the guy toying with this girl in this manner? Was he just that cruel or was there more to the story after all. If they really had as much of a blood lust as some people claimed, wasn't being in such close proximity with the girl and not harming her something of a challenge for the boy? Could that warrant her mercy? A crack of a twig tore through the silence, it would seem she had company.  

The sixteen year old made a tactical decision. Instead of instantly turning towards her light magic, which was guaranteed to almost kill the young vampyre instantly, or at the very least harm him in a very serious capacity, she decided to rely on her gun, which could still plausibly incapacitated, but perhaps wouldn't be as quick to take his life, should Akira make the mistake of shooting too impulsively. Perhaps this was her way of offering fate a chance to aid her in making a decision.

Her choice of weapon would perhaps give the creature of darkness a chance to explain as well. Guns were usually intimidating by default, perhaps just the threat would cut it this time. Perhaps this one wasn't as deranged as the girl. She whipped it out of the holster and levelled it towards the sound. While she couldn't see him clearly, he emerged from the darkness slowly and tentatively. 'Please don't shoot.' he said softly, his voice oozing fear. She cleared her throat and attempted to accentuate her position of power. 'On your knees, hands behind your head.' she said curtly.

The girl wasn't quite sure he'd follow through and was pleasantly surprised when he did. She had no intentions of attempting to get closer to him, even just to cuff him or so, since his obedience could just be a ruse. She stood, lowering her gun enough so it was now levelled somewhere at his throat, easy to aim for the head or the chest should need arise.

'So...' she said, accepting her own curiosity, towards the kind of power she felt at having someone actually follow her instructions, or rather, order for once. Perhaps she could use this time to get a better understanding of the situation at hand. 'Why shouldn't I shoot, you were intending to turn that poor girl into you meal weren't you?' she asked, slightly menacingly. 'N-' he started and she interrupted his word by turning the safety on her gun off.

'If you expect mercy, I expect the truth.' she added coldly. He drew in a long breath, she stood rather still and remained rather impassive, but somehow she felt an odd sort of glee at this predicament. 'Just turn her. Not into a prey...' he blurted wincing, expecting Akira to shoot at that. She almost did too, that was technically enough of a crime given that the girl clearly didn't know of his intents. He slowly opened his eyes when there was no shot.

Aki's gun was cocked and so was her head as she stared down at her victim, she found herself drawing this out. It worked out for him and it worked in the favour of a more thorough investigation. 'Oh because you love her so, no doubt?' she spat, sardonically. Contempt reeked in every syllable. She couldn't believe the guy was trying to spurn such a story and attempt tugging at her heart strings, perhaps he'd drawn that conclusion after seeing her with Tsuru earlier today. She was feeling romantic before, but now that there was a possibility that it was being used to manipulate her, the feeling swiftly diffused.

'No... so that he couldn't use her.' She raised her eyebrows, mildly intrigued at the turn his story was taking. Before she had the chance to counter question he went on. 'The priest... He isn't a priest at all... Please... I need to save her.' he tried, shuffling slowly. Akira chewed on her lip again, contemplating. 'Get up.' she ordered. 'Keep your hands where they are I won't hesitate to pull the trigger if you don't do exactly as I say.' she added. He wasted no time in getting to his feet, but didn't try anything yet. 'So, you want to save her?' she asked softly and without waiting for an answer, continued and laid out the options.

'Take me to them and fill me in on the way and if this turns out to be you trying to buy some time, you're in for a world of trouble...' she finished with her warning. On the way he explained a very shady deal, she was only inclined to believe him since he did incriminate himself in the process. As the neared the ruined church, they were ambushed by Tsuru, who somehow had managed to reach the same conclusion. 'I will if I need to.' she said widening her eyes. The vampyre was facing away from the duo, so she shook her head to reassure her partner, relaying her true intent only to him while not giving the boy a chance to ease up. 'We seem to have reached the same conclusion though, perhaps that buys him some credibility' she adds, softly.

The Shimada had gleaned a few more details from the Vampyre on their way here, than her partner had gathered from the family of the boy. Although they were both agreed that the priest was not to be trusted. She wasn't too keen on trusting the creature of the night either, which is why she still held him at gun point. Now, he betrayed earnest having sensed blood and specifically hers at that. Aki had no way of verifying this, but if his intent was to create a moment of panic and distraction, he succeeded. 'Wai-' she tried to delay the healer, just to steal a moment to organise, but to no avail, Tsuru jumped right into the thick of things, racing towards the church.

Like she'd deduced the Vampyre was no push over, he immediately dashed towards her partner and raced alongside him towards the decrepit church. Aki could no longer reliably shoot without the chance of her bullet hitting Tsuru. 'God damn it!' she hissed and streaked through the thicket right after them. She was in half a mind to tackle the healer, but he was as fast as her and has a leg up into the chase, surprisingly the Vampyre managed to keep up too weaving his path in a way that he criss-crossed after Tsuru unpredictably.

She paused to smack her forehead after witnessing Tsuru's antics. He just barged right in, while the healer too paused to relay his warning, the Vampyre went on. Aki groaned softly and went on in after the blood hungry creature, tugging the healer's attire as she crossed him, racing deeper into the dark, old church.

The bluish light shined in her eyes. But the gentle glow was perfect to light the way and not blind the duo considering the stark contrast against the dark forest. It emanated light in a manner that if felt like a warm protective halo guiding them towards their destination. Of course, Aki had no time to ponder and squander the time they had on admiring the beauty of the weapon. She was extremely frustrated with the way things had gone, she didn't intend to duke it out with the healer, but she really wished he stopped barging into moments like these without a plan. It had caused her to lose her mental grip over the vampyre. It did make her admire his alleged affection though, he'd streaked right in despite the threat that the Shimada.

The winding staircase down to the dungeons of the derelict structure, to the point that Aki's breath condensed in a small plume of white. She wanted to rub her hands but given that she was still wielding her gun, she merely gripped it tighter. The only lights that followed the red hue as it left was that of the sabre and the flashes and bangs of her gun as she aimlessly shot her gun in the of the portal that the man had use to vanish. She did so only after ensuring both the Vampyre and the girl were out of harm's way, luckily Tsuru had the sense to duck in time.

A frustrated grunt escaped her grit teeth as she shoved the gun back into holster and snapped the flap shut over it rather aggressively. She barely managed to stop herself from lashing out at Tsuru who was now also in the way of her shot and could've burdened them by getting seriously injured. she merely stalked towards the vampyre who was apparently in dire need of medical attention, the kind that Tsuru couldn't offer. She was silent on the way to the hospital, but she asked Tsuru to wait outside in no uncertain terms while she went and dealt with the vampyre. Luckily, he knew better than to test in that moment.

She opened her mouth the give the guy a earful, but before she could even start, he already blurted all the information that she needed to know. Lucky for them, for the ritual to be performed other conditions needed to be met, which bought the duo sometime. She warned him that he'd be arrested after he has fully recovered, before making her way out.