Big Cat, Big Dog

The sun was always a pleasant sight to the oni, a ball that resembled ultimate fiery destruction. It certainly appealed to his nature and it was only a shame that it would remain in the sky, out of his reach and hopes for visitations. Tearing his gaze away from that image, his crimson orbs came to glance down the block that he tredded upon, his hands in each respective pocket. The fyre demon would huff out a sigh, as his thoughts wandered, wondering whether the city's lower commons would suit his mood today. Usually this part was more prone to demon attacks, yet they'd progressively died down over the days as he had continued to kill each that made its appearance. Perhaps to take his hunt to the forest would be a wiser course, as he sought a little excitement.

Nagi hadn't been the only one to catch wind of that scream. It was an odd thing to hear during the Lower Commons' day time, yet he didn't put anything beneath the scum that littered the streets with their presence. Another possibility was that there was in fact a demon lurking about, and that thought was enough to bring about a grin onto his face before he kicked off where he stood. Fire erupted beneath his feet, spreading outwards into a disc, large enough of a platform for his feet to come and rest comfortably on. Upon it, he took flight, passing overhead the buildings as alleyways began to fly pass below him, his gaze focused on each as he moved.
One stood out in particular, catching sight of the lady who had issued the scream, as well as two males. The oni blinked, wondering what it was exactly Nagi was doing here.. he was a little relieved to see that there was some sort of conflict between the two guys, ruling out Nagi as a target. The other male must have been the attacker then. Shou would direct his index and middle finger in the direction of the man, not uttering a single word of a chant as fire suddenly whirled about at the target's feet before shooting up to contain him in a small cyclone of flame. (Flamewhirl). The fyre demon would then drop down next to that display of fire, a smirk in place as he glanced over to the woylf in his human form. "Heh, I trust this wasn't your friend?" The oni asked, strangely speaking of the target in a past tense, even as he held a palm over the side of his abdomen, flames suddenly rushing from his form as Mabushiiken was pulled from his very flesh (Weapon Bond). He thrusted the katana through the fire, bringing about that desired grunt before slashing it upwards and out and allowing it to come back to his side. The fire would die away and the man would drop to the ground, an easy enough kill.
The oni glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the woman, before waving his hand through the air as if shooing her off. "You can run now." He simply remarked, before glancing back in Nagi's direction. "You know, I figured your kind came out only at night." He continued, beginning to step forward as he stabbed the katana into himself, not flinching as flames seemed to consume it and it returned as a tattoo etched into his skin. "Aren't you more vulnerable this way?"

"Is that right?" Shou would ask, coming to a halt now that he was a comfortable distance from the man. Placing a hand on his hip, he could only snicker. "So the human has some fight to him, then does he?" Raising his other hand up into the air before him, a flame seemed to wisp from his fingertip, an unneccessary display of his own magic ability. "You're not just making that up, though, right?" A grin began to spread across the expressions of the demon, one that normally came when he was about to engage in a fight, "I think I'd like to see it." The oni wouldn't be so quick to use the fullest of his abilities here in the alleyway, but he was certain woylfs were first and foremost strongest in their transformed states. As the human was now, he didn't see any need to be overly concerned or troubled.

His eyes went wide at the feel of a wound suddenly gashing open across his back, stumbling forward before he whirled around ninety degrees to catch sight of the shadow familiar, while not allowing himself to lose sight of Nagi either. Though blood spilled outwards from the injury, the grin on his face wouldn't relent. "Magic, eh? Not bad, either.. heh!" The oni's arm swiped forward, the ruby of the brimstone ring coming to shimmer briefly before blasting outwards a projectile of fire towards the summon composed of shadows that Nagi had brought out, seeking to put it back into its place.

That summon had seemed easy enough to defeat, but the oni found his arm trapped in the air then, his only sight of the human from the corner of his eye. "Tch.. you should know that I really hate you bastards who pull this kind of stunt." It was an annoyance that had began with Grunty, again pulled by a demoness, and now again by this man. Fire flared into life just before him, five seperate entities that began to form and sharpen in the form of blades. They then shot out towards the man, looking to break the connection or concentration, or whatever it was he had holding him in place. Of course, if they didn't work, he'd decided to continue bombarding the man with fyre spells until his mobility returned once more.

Once mobility had returned to him, the oni was able to lower his arm back down to his side before he noted the man had vanished from his spot, sinking low into his own shadow. "Interesting magic." Shou speculated, before his crimson orbs darted in the direction where he heard the human's voice next. "Heheh.. you have more of those little tricks then, do you?" The oni asked aloud, before he fully turned towards the lycan, allowing him time so that he might continue to note the man's techniques, taking a measure of them. "Go for it."

It was certainly an impressive technique, one that he wouldn't have enjoyed being on the biting end of. A wall of flame blasted forward just before the oni as the needles came on, eating away at the shadows that shot into the fire before they would allow them to penetrate and strike against the caster. The power of that shadow magic wasn't disappointing, though, as when the last needle struck the flame was extinguished from its place, its own magical ability cancelled out. Deciding to keep the human on his toes, though, the fyre demon lifted his fist up and allowed another blast of fyre to shoot forth from the brimstone ring.

"Hmm..?" The oni questioned the change in surroundings for a moment, before his eyes went wide at the sound of slicing in the air. It was upon him then, drawing his arms up before him as he grunted, feeling gashes cut open along his forearms and shoulders as the shadows had seemed to materialize into a force capable enough to draw wound and blood. "Nngh!" He was pushed back from the attack, though his grin remained in place as he couldn't help but recognize that this human did indeed possess a degree of respectable magic. "Not bad.." Shou would say once the slicing had ceased, lowering his arms back down as they dripped blood against the pavement of the alley floor. "You can use these shadows for a lot of different tricks, then, eh..? Your specialty, no doubt, like mine is fire?" The oni chuckled lightly.

The oni might have pressed the man further if he hadn't mentioned that the techniques took a toll on him. Shou nodded, not finding himself drained as he had mastered most of his uses of the flame and could have continued to produce them forth. "Well, if you're out at night anyways, you should practice those techniques, yeah?" The fyre demon crossed his bloody arms over his chest, his brow furrowing in thought. "So can you use those abilities in your woylf form, or you just haven't cause of the whole.. bloodlust thing you dogs end up going through?"

"Heh.. kind of a gamble with me." The oni would chuckle, recalling how he had sentenced Lance to his death and not the other woylf. This one was clearly more sane in the head though, even while he had been in his transformed state. "Try it out sometime, though, if you can. A woylf with that kind of shadow magic.. that's something of a deadly combination, wouldn't ya say?" He felt he didn't need to say anything other than that to surely inspire the man to ascend to new and greater strengths. After all, this was an associate of Grunty's, and he supposed he could indirectly help the woman in such a way. Which reminded him.. "So tell me.." Shou began, a sly smirk beginning to form at the edge of his lips. "How'd Grunty react to what you said about her?"

The oni noted the man as he took a seat on the box, and dropped down into a crouch, his arms resting on his knees. "Heh. Yeah, that sounds like Grunty all right.." He mumbled lightly, "It ain't too often that a human's gonna go and have some feelings for a demon, thats for sure. But I will tell you one thing.. she's a monster of a woman, the strongest spirit I've ever encountered. However.." The grin remained on his face as he looked the man in the eye, holding up his extended index finger before him as if revealing some grand secret. "The trick is to become stronger than that, yeah? You've gotta become more than just a piece of meat to her. If you can beat her in a fight, she's bound to have some admiration for you." It was a strange thing to give advice on something like relationships, but again the oni was only looking to inspire this man to become stronger.

"Of course." The fyre demon replied without any hesitation. "You can't stay under her in strength and expect any response, right? You have to at least equal her to be beside her. Makes sense, don't it?" At least it did to the oni, as he thought he obviously held a better understanding than the human did. They were alike in many ways, him and Grunty, and even as he spoke those words to Nagi he felt they might have held true to himself as well. Not that he was seeking the woman's companionship, rather he felt it neccessary to overcome and surpass her so that she would no longer pose any trouble to himself. With the route that he had taken against his own kind, were Grunty to ever come and be his enemy he would make sure not to fall in the face of her abilities.
Snickering, Shou patted his knees briefly before he stood back up to his feet. "Tell you what. I'll help."

"You wanna get stronger, don't you?" The oni asked, though it was very rhetorical as the man's response was unlikely to be a 'no'. "I might not be as powerful as she is, but I'm a pretty strong guy myself, you know." Shou snickered, never having been one for modesty. Swiping his arm up, he indicated towards himself with a thumb and a grin. "I'll help ya get stronger. It'll help you practice more on your magic. You can even transform into that dog mode if you want, work out those wolf muscles of yours."

The oni glanced around at the change of surroundings rather interestingly, though it had obviously been another technique from the human before him. "Heh.. a transformation of your kind at will, eh?" Shou remarked, looking to the woylf that had emerged from the man and howled outwards. "That's a pretty convenient ability."

"Is that right? Heh, excited all ready." The oni surveyed his surroundings once more, deciding that the alleyway was at least suitable enough for some training. Although, were he to get carried away with his flames, he doubted the darkness of the area could conceal the lack of subtlety his showy fire displayed. "We can start whenever, yeah?" Shou stated, throwing his arms up into the ai as he stretched the limbs out. "Ah.. I suppose try and use your magic while in that form, yeah? See what kind of combinations you can pull off using your brute force and shadow abilities."