Grace was listening to a couple arguing at a nearby table as she tried to eat her meal which had caused the waiter to wander off coughing and his eyes to water from the excessive spices. The girl at the table was crying as the guy treated her as if she were a dog in need of chastising.

She tried to not stare at the young man who was speaking rudely to his girl friend but she could clearly she he now was sheathed by a dark shroud. He was already marked by death but it was the tendrils of his shroud which tried to attach to the girl that concerned Grace.

It could mean anything but it did signal that his death might try and touch another. This concerned Grace because she didn't believe death was due any extra victims simply because they stood nearby. She had to come up with some way to deflect this death from the other girl even though she didn't know her.

She saw her opportunity when the girl left for the ladies and followed her. Grace had no real plan for what she was going to do but thought she could just wing it.. She quietly entered the bathroom and heard the girl talking to herself. Peeking around the corner she saw the girl as the sink wiping her face as she talked to herself in the mirror.

"No body treats me like that anymore, I'm sick of it. I'm sick of his cheating, I'm sick of his treatment and I'm sick of him threatening to show everybody that dam video." She sniffles.

Then as Grace spies on her she sees the girl examine a pistol hidden in her purse which she then shoves back inside. Grace slips back out of the bathroom before the other girl catches her looking and as she resumes her seat shrugs as she thinks "Well you can't fix everything"

She resumes her meal savoring every bite and even manages to no longer be distracted by the arguing couple.

Shiro stared at the wall of her room, she could feel herself slowly dying from boredom by sitting in her room. Standing up she stretched her arms to the celling, than in one smooth motion turned around and punched a hole through her wall. “Why?! Why?! Why?!” She repeated this several time each time striking the wall again. Panting slightly she looked at the damage to the wall smiling. Her parent burst the door open the faces full of concern.

“Shiro what’s the matter are you okay?!” Her mother said to her looking at the holes in the wall.

Shiro looked at her parents sweetly. “I just punched a hole in my wall the size of a dinner plate, and you ask me if I am okay? *sigh* No I am not okay. You know how much I detest being locked in my room” Shiro clenched her fist her knuckles bloody from the wall. “Is there any chance I will be able to leave any time soon? I am 18 I should have the right to dictate my own future not sit in this room and be controlled by you!”

Shiro’s mother sighed “Child we will continue to take this approach until you learn to control you emotions. However you have a point, we have here a letter addressed for you.” Shiro’s mother handed a letter to her it had already been opened.

Shiro screamed in fury. “What the- how dare you open a letter addressed to me! Do I get no privacy in this house?!” Shiro ripped the envelop off letting it drop to the floor as she looked over the content of the letter. Her anger suddenly disappeared a grin appearing on her face. “This. This. This is really good. I’m guessing you already decided to send me here?” Her parents nodded.

Shiro’s father now spoke “Yes we have had your bags packed and you will be leaving for tomorrow.” Shiro’s father was prepared for the onslaught of Shiro’s anger but it never came instead she just sat on her bed reading over the letter. “Is everything okay Shiro?” Shiro just nodded her parents looked at each other confused but accepted this lapse in silence and walked out.

A bit like this, minus the goggles and the leather belt thing and the face tattoo.

A simple Halberd made of hardend wood and steel. Its a basic weapon, and some might say hard to use, but he's decent with it. Its not meant to be fancy. It was built to hurt things. And its good at doing it. However, he has been trained in basic use of most other meele weapons.

It was a cold clear evening, not a cloud in the sky was seen and a few stars began to show themselves as day gave way to night. It was all in all, peaceful, for most people either coming home for the day or those who were preparing dinner or tucking children into bed. The only sounds that could be heard was the nocturnal animals waking from their day time slumber, and the loud crack of wood being hit by wood which sent whatever animals that were near it, running away from the source. The source in question was coming from the large estate of the Fried family of Germany. Not many people still actively practiced weapons training with swords, knives, or close quarters weapons. Most people these days wanted a gun. Gabriel would be lying if he said having a gun wouldn't be fun, but it was tradition in his family that every child be trained in the martial arts, and how to handle a weapon of their choice after master the basics of Swordsmanship. In Gabriels' case, he chose the Halberd.

"Ow ow ow ow! Jesus old man, do you have to hit me so hard?! I think you broke my skull!" Gabriel said as he stumbled backwards, rubbing a brand new bruise on his head.

"Judging from the crack in the wood, I think your hard head did more damage here." His father said, somewhat smugly.

"What was that you pea-brained old man?!" Gabriel growled. "I'll show you how hard this head is!" He shouted as he stood up in attempted to headbutt his father. Unfortunately for him, that was an utterly predictable move and he dodged it easily with a side step, and tripping Gabriel in the process, sending him stumbling to the ground.

"Tsk Tsk tsk." His father said, twirling the wooden sword he was holding in his hand. "That temper of yours is going to be the death of you one of these days Gabe. Now get up and lets try this again." He said as Gabriel grabbed his dropped weapon. It was a wooden replica of a Halberd, weighted and balanced just like a real one. Getting hit by it hurt like hell even if it didn't have a blade. He found that out the hard way, multiple times.

"Remember. Relax. Be calm. The rest should come naturally." His father said as he readied his weapon. That was easier said than done for Gabriel. He wasn't known to be calm or relaxed. Often the opposite in most cases. Still, he wasn't going to go down without a fight here. He took a fighting stance with his weapon. It should be easy enough to disarm an opponent with a Halberd, but it was easier in theory than in practice. Despite the Halberds many strengths, it had many disadvantages as well. Now wasn't the time to think about those though. His only concern now was the man in front of him and not losing. His father took a step towards him, then another, and quickened his pace with each one. Gabriel prepared himself to counter his fathers attack.

"Sorry to interrupt sir," A voice from the other side of the room called. "But the Lady of the house would like me to inform you that dinner is ready."
"Oh thank god this is-" Gabriel was interrupted by a painful blow to his side that sent him almost flying into the wall. "OW! What the hell old man!" He shouted as he stood up.

"Oh? Did I say you could stop simply because food was ready?" His father said with a chuckle as he walked off. "Now we're through. Next time, don't be distracted by something so small. In a real fight, you would have been killed." Gabriel simply glared and cursed silently under his breath.

---

A warm shower and a few more bruises later, Gabriel was seated in his parents dinner hall. Being part of an old, wealthy family had its perks, like money, and its downsides. This was probably a little of both. The food was of the highest quality and prepared by the best chef he knew. His mother. Usually dinner was a light affair for them, filled with his father poking fun at him and he proceeding to poke fun at his father while his mother tried to refrain from laughing at the both of them. Today however, something seemed a bit off.

"So....nice weather we're having, huh?" Gabriel commented to try and break the awkward silence. Seeing that it was unsuccessful, he frowned a bit. "Okay, what the hell's going on. Not going to tell me how bad I did in sparring practice today old man?"

"No, actually I'm not Gabriel." His father said with a somewhat heavy sigh. Uh oh. This sounded serious. Did he loose a quarter of a million dollars gambling or something again? Last time that happened his father almost had a heart attack. "A letter arrived for you today." He said as he passed the letter to his son.

"a letter huh?" He said and took it. He immediately recognized where it was from. Hell, it'd be almost impossible to recognize since his father talked about it constantly to him. "OH HELL NO." He said as he didn't even open the letter. "I am Not going to this preppy high class college! I'd have to actually do homework! Not to mention the women there are all totally prudes probably! I mean come on, I've been a good kid, I don't deserve this!"

"Sorry son, I and your mother have decided to already send you." And with that, Gabriels fate was sealed. He packed his things - His collection of swords, clothes, his other things, and set off for what he considered to be the end of his life.