Into The Fire

[Nox]

The day was shitty. The afternoon wasn't any better, but Nox was actually looking forward to going hunting. It wasn't a typical hunt. And it wasn't with his typical partner. It hurt that Aria had just left with all the shit that had just happened. Nox tried not to dwell on it. But she had been right not to ask him to come. She was going to assassinate a man because of an order. And then she was going to hunt down Giordano. He should stop her. He knew that. But neither of these kills were about him. You did what your bosses tell you to do. And Atharim law already had Giordano marked for death. Why not his own daughter to kill him. But it still hurt. He was a pile of sorrow and pain.

HQ had been easy enough to find a place to bunk down with. He hadn't' explained what had happened and as soon as he got things situated in his head, he'd find a new place to stay. Or maybe he'd go back to the States for a while. Home sounded real good about now. Not that he had a place to go home to there either. But it was what he was used to.

8PM rolled around and Nox walked his way back to the Red Light District and waited outside what had been his former home. It was still cordoned off and the keep out signs were now plastered everywhere. Eventually they could sift through things.

Nox waited for Ivan to show up. He wasn't exactly friend, but he wasn't exactly foe either. Nox wasn't sure how he was going to do as a so-called teacher, but he could help where he he thought he could. He was hardly an expert on anything.

In the darkness Nox heard a scratching and then soft footstep coming his direction. Nox embraced the power and the world grew clear. The dim light gave way to clarity and he saw the mangy little puppy padding his way towards him. Nox grinned helplessly. The little guy was only slightly worse for wear, his tail was singed and his coat was a dusty grey from all the dirt that had been scattered in the area. "Well look at you. Aren't you a survivor."
The pup yipped at him and jumped up against his leg. Nox knelt down and scratched the little guy's neck. "You need a name if I'm going to keep you."


Nox thought about it. The little guy popped into his live in the middle of a shit storm and survived it with him. He was tough little puppy. "You like Nova."
A nuclear explosion in the sky could only out do the shit storm he'd bee living through. The little guy yipped and licked at Nox and he grinned. He doubted the dog understood what he said but it at least gave him some sense of hope.

Nox stood up and Nova danced around his feet. "I don't have anything to eat right now and we got things to do. You might as well come along and learn what it is we do."