The Plains of Hanford,

A Ravine.

Moriaty Lovecraft loved strolling in the afternoon sunshine in the plains of Hanford. The feel of the sunlight on her skin gave her heart real warmth. She loved the ambience that the greenery gave to her soul. She enjoyed the company of the birds as they twitted gaily as she waltzed about. The feeling of trespassing had to be endured; after all, this was Himura territory first before her and her family came to settle. Spreading her hands as she strolled on in the grass, her fingers caught on a few grass blades as she moved quietly through the verdant fields. Just then, right ahead her, she caught sight of a ravine. She was drawn to it. The water shone in the light, giving off silvery hues. She could tell by the purity of the water that it hadn’t been tainted by any living thing, notably humans. She was overjoyed. Slowly, she squatted by the edge. She dipped her hands into the clear water and scooped up some water with her open palms into her mouth to quench her thirst and sate her parched lungs. Refreshed, she splashed some on her face for coolness.

Hans had already caught up to Moriaty at her arrival at the ravine. He hid behind a patch of trees. She seemed defenceless, since she was alone, all by herself. This made her the perfect victim. However, Hans hesitated, drawn to her seeming innocence. He admired her love for nature as well. Thus, he decided to enjoy watching her for a moment before he would finally end her life.

Moriaty glanced around just to be sure she was alone. Convinced there was no one else in sight, she pulled up her skirt revealing her smooth legs. She reached for a black strap on her knee filled with medicinal herbs and tubes of potions. She picked out an empty tube and slowly scooped water into it. Hans found her in her most vulnerable state – he could easily end her life now and no one would get to know about it. However, something held him back. Something inexplicable. He sighed relaxed his tensed muscles and approached her. She jumped as soon as she heard footsteps behind her immediately tucking the tube away.

She noticed it was Hans. She wasn’t expecting any company. This left her stuttered for a moment, recalling him from the previous evening.

“I didn’t think anyone was here,” she looked around cautiously. She calmed once she saw whom it was, especially since she believed there was an understanding between their families.

“You’re making potions?” asked Hans.

“Yeah, it’s a hobby of mine,” Moriaty answered.

He moved to her side, gazing into the ravine. “You picked some fine water,” Hans said, complimenting her for an apparent lack of what else to say. Besides, he wanted to test her purity.

She sighed without turning toward him. “The water’s perfect, that’s why I chose it.”

Moriaty slowly turned toward him – his gaze was fixated on the ravine. He seemed mesmerised by the sight.

“When you look into the water, what do you see? What is its colour?” asked Hans.

“Water doesn’t have a colour, it can act as an illusion to reflect what you see as it’s transparent” Moriaty started. “You see when people think of water, they think it’s blue at least. Well, that is their perspective. However, it only reflects the colour of the sky at this time.”

Thanks to Moriaty’s artistic use of words, Hans’ face was lit with amazement. Still facing towards the ravine, his eyes look at her lips. Moriaty has noticed this too, there is a strong attraction between them.

“Himura…is that your name? Pardon me…” she asked remembering it from the night before.

“Well, that’s what they call me…” replied Hans.

“My name is Moriaty” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Hans was caught unaware. He had been sent to kill her in cold blood – her and the others – but here he was, unable to complete the mission. In the heat of the moment, she moved closer to him only to detect that a large chunk of his left ear was missing. She put her hand on the left side of his jaw and slowly made her way towards his ear. There was a deafening silence in the air. His heart was beating loudly.

“What happened?” Moriaty asked.

“An injury long forgotten,” replied Hans, starting. “This one could not heal” he further revealed. He couldn’t hide the fact that there was something quite comforting about her touch, something he had not experienced since childhood.

She pulled away, sensing she had touched a nerve on him. “Will you be coming to our ball? We’ve invited all the Noble Families.”

Hans was quiet. If only she knew why he was there in the first place, he thought. There was no way he could go through with the plan now.

“Hey, are you even listening?” she asked. She put her hands behind her back and bent a little bit forward to make sure she had his attention. Hans quickly pulled himself together.

“I don’t really know…” he replied simply.

“Oh…” Moriaty muttered, there was disappointment written all over her face.

“If the family decides to attend then I guess I have to. You seem rather excited.” Hans noticed.

“It’s all new to me, this place. So many people to meet, I like it. The air is fantastic, far less stuffy than the other areas we have lived whilst I was growing up and we’ve lived in many places around Europe but father finally decided we would settle here for at least 20 years before moving on” Moriaty explained.

Since Hans was already in the know about who she was, she didn’t bother dwelling on that. She focused more on all that he didn’t know. She smiled as she talked with him, as if she had known him forever. Asides that fact, she was freer with him because they were both young immortals.

“Might I ask your age?” Hans asked, trying to make some small talk.

“My age?” replies Moriaty. “I’m 20, only just,” she revealed.

“I see…” said Hans. He could see they had a lot in common and could enjoy being around her, even if he didn’t have much to say.

“Isn’t this the part when you return the favour?” replied Moriaty. “You can’t ask someone’s age and not expect to return the favour…” she elaborated.

“I’m 19 and nearly 20” responded Hans, still uncomfortable talking to her.

“That’s better, now we’re getting somewhere,” Moriaty said, with a smile.

Getting closer to the ravine, she moved towards a large rock that was beside her; she sat on it.

“You haven’t really told me much about yourself,” Moriaty reminded him while she was trying to get comfortable.

“There isn’t much to tell…” Hans replied, caustically.

“Is that so?” Moriaty thought. A part of her was repulsed with him. To her, he wasn’t even making much effort to ease the pensive mood.

“I’m sure we’ll have more to talk about this Friday evening,” she noted.

He didn’t respond. He only stared at her.

“Or maybe not…” Moriaty conjectured, afraid Hans might not be listening.

Moriaty generally found it easy to socialize with others. But, this was different. She lost her voice. There was something about this young man that made her uncomfortable, in a pleasant way though. She felt awkward talking. She looked around, trying to enliven the cool atmosphere. She was a bit visibly fidgety – her hands slanted about while she tried to present herself as elegant as possible in his presence. She failed miserably to conduct herself. Moriaty was used to being at the centre of attention because of her beauty. Ironically, her majestic presence often made men discomfited. But, here she was flustered to her bones. She got up after a few moments but she was unable to stand still. Hans was used to being quiet; the rest of his family was used to his queer ways. But, anyone who wasn’t a Himura would not understand this. Although, he now gathers that he should have tried. He tried to speak, especially because he was in the presence of a lady, a lady he liked.

“Well, it was a pleasure Himura,” Moriaty said as she beamed at him. She strolled toward him and curtsied, just to let him know she was taking her leave of him. She raised a hand to her forehead, a bit flustered. Hans noticed her discomfort. He smiled, hoping she would come around, someday.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Hans added.

He looked on as the lady sashayed from his presence. He watched as she turned a sharp corner right before she finally disappeared from his sight. Hans suddenly came to the realisation he had a challenge: what would he tell Thorian once he returned home?

*****