87... 88... 89...

The training hall was a smelly place. Gloomy as the rest of hell, but with many special rooms. It was here that one could simply weight train with everyday equipment, or battle illusions in specialized rooms . In the case of the one on everyone's lips- simply pull ups. The shirtless man's muscles bulged as he struggled to continue in his injured state.

90... 91... 92...

In the weight training room, one man relentlessly pursued recovery. A giant scar on his chest marked his encounter with the White Wing Order. An encounter that few have ever survived- overcoming the attack was unheard of. Whispers on everyone's lips... Rumors passed among demons... And legends being forged.

93... 94... 95...

In the early years of the Orders' development Ganon employed every tactic possible to keep word about the Order from spreading; but people talk. Many years later, the White Wing Order is well known in hell. It wasn't often that the Order singled someone out. However it was well understood that when they came for you, you were finished. A reaper by the name of Dogura Shadowclaw however, had disproved this as of recent. The rumors of his survival spread fast, and he was quickly becoming a celebrity in the underworld.

96... 97... 98...

A group of trainees had gathered around the samurai. Mostly humans, a couple of Hylians, four Gerudo women, a pair of Zora, and a Goron. They watched the new legend train, whispering things about him as he worked. Sweat rolled down the bridge of his nose, and determination glowed in his eyes. Recovery was a must- Ganon wouldn't let him leave until he was certain that the reaper could withstand another attack from the Order.

99... 100.

The samurai stopped, and let go of the bar. Dropping to the floor, he turned around and eyed the many spectators. They all seemed expectant of something. None of them said a word, simply watched him. His fists tightened.

"Well? What is it? What do you want?" He asked agitated.

All was silent until one of the humans spoke up. A brown haired man, with considerable muscle, and average height. "We just... I guess... I mean I..." He stammered. "I was wondering what kind of training you do to withstand an attack from the White Wing Order." He bit his lip, hoping he hadn't somehow struck a wrong cord within Dogura. The samurai's eyes narrowed. "How many know..." It sounded more like a command than a question. The man next to him spoke up in his defense. "Well, I reckon' just 'bout everyone knows by now! Haven'tcha heard yer name around? Everyone's on about it."

Dogura sat down on the bench under the bar. He leaned forward on his knees, and brought his hands together. "Is that so... Well, I suppose it can't be helped." He was barely thinking about what he was saying. So many thoughts ran through his head as he trained. He kept falling back on how Ganon had scolded him. The beast was quite upset that Dogura had brought them to his throne room. Ganon made the case that a number of things could have gone wrong, had he not been holding a meeting. His mind also fell back on... ...

"Hey..." The Goron spoke up.

"I heard we lost a brrrotherrr up therrre... What happened?"

Dogura looked up at the Goron, and glared hard. "There was nothing I could do. I exhausted my power. If I had pushed any harder, it would have been too easy for the demon to overtake me after the fight. I even made on one of the three Sin-Trades... It was necessary at the time. Everything I did, was all that I could. The 'brother' we lost up there... He saved my life. He was a good man."

Dogura looked up at the crowd. They stared back at him blankly.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT?!" The samurai screamed in anger. Most of them jumped in surprise. "WELL?? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! GET THE HELL OUT!!" All of them immediately dispersed out the door, clambering for the exit. Dogura put his face in his hands. What the hell am I doing here... Now the angels are after me too... I've likely not seen the last of them.

"That was quite a show."

Dogura looked up to see a silhouette in the shadows. A female voice still echoed through the halls. The woman pushed off of the wall, and walked into the light. Dogura took notice of her features. She was pale, with heavy black eyeliner. Her hair ran past her shoulders, and she wore very provocative apparel. Dogura felt like he'd seen her before, but shrugged the feeling. "I don't know you. Leave me." Dogura stated angrily. She smiled slyly. "Oh, but sweetie... We're closer than you think..." Dogura had heard enough.

"Don't call me sweetie. You've got ten seconds to leave." He stated.

She looked hurt by the comment- not genuinely, but more exaggerated. "Ohh, don't be like that... You wouldn't hurt a woman would you?" She batted her eye-lashes at him.

"You're in hell." Dogura stated. "You don't deserve mercy, you're here for a reason. I've no qualms about cutting you down where you stand. You've five seconds left." He punctuated his sentence with her remaining time, which seemed to upset her more. "Oh, baby, you were serious. Don't bite me, now..." She put her hands on her hips, and wiggled her midsection. "You've got a problem with me being here? It's a public facility big-boy." The samurai finally grabbed his sword, and pointed it at her. "I'M THROUGH PLAYING. IF YOU'RE TRYING TO SEDUCE ME, I'M A MARRIED MAN. GET OUT BEFORE I END YOU, AND DAMN THE PENALTY."

Her eyes suddenly turned angry. "Shut up, and sit down." She stated. "I'm not here for play either." Dogura didn't take the command lightly. He suddenly lunged at the woman, and within the blink of an eye, found himself a couple of inches from the wall a couple of feet behind her. He stopped, shocked at the sudden change. He turned around to see her staring back at him. He looked down at himself, and then back to her. What in the hell...

"What's the matter, Dogura. Don't remember how you got there?" She asked antagonistically. Furious, he went to swing his sword at her, and found himself sitting back on the bench. He looked around, astonished, and found his blade in her hand. He stared at her shocked, not understanding what was happening. "Time magic?!" He asked, shocked to find two users within such little time. She shook her head, and tossed his sword to him. She walked across the room, and got uncomfortably close to his face. She ran her gloved hand along his face, and smiled, "I think you're just forgetting what you were doing..." She leaned in to kiss him, and before he could move, he found himself a couple of feet away from bench. He was on the ground this time, and she was sitting on his hips. Before he could move again, he was standing in the corner of the room. He turned around, angry, and found himself face to face with her.

"STOP IT!!" He cried out in desperation. She, again in position of his sword, dropped his blade, and took a couple of steps back. "I just needed to display my power to you... Just so you don't talk back to me again..." The man suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his head. It became quickly apparent that she was playing with mental magic. Dogura closed his eyes, now in full understanding of the game she was playing.

"Now maybe you'll listen to me." She stated. She raised her hand, and a wispy fog came to form a ghostly looking dagger in her hand. "This is my special weapon. It's called Lobotomy, and it seals the memories of whomever I cut with it. Its intensity varies with however much magic I put into it. For you just now? I made you forget the last five seconds- including the memories you have of me cutting into your mind..." She licked her lips, and sneered at the man. "How powerful can it get you ask? I could turn a man's mind to jelly if I wanted... But lucky for you... I like you." She let the blade dissipate in her hand. The samurai couldn't help but smile.

"That's a neat trick... I'll give you that. But don't expect me to fall for it again." She turned around, and walked to the bench, where she sat down sensually. "Oh, you won't have a choice, honey." Dogura sheathed his weapon, and allowed her to believe that. His mental defenses were of the highest caliber. Now that he knew what weakness she exposed, he could stop her blade from ever reaching his mind- she didn't need to know that though. "You're good." Dogura stated. "But I'm better. Don't try it again." She nodded. "There's a reason I'm Ganny's calls me his favorite little temptress." Now the samurai knew what he was dealing with. But Ganon's favorite... He felt like he'd have heard of her somehow.

She smiled. "The name's Hera. Pleased to meet you, partner."

Dogura's eyes widened. The fourth reaper: Hera.

"Hera!" Dogura called out in a half-angry half surprised tone of voice.

She smiled, "So you have heard of me..."

Dogura regained his cool, and proceeded to explain. "Hera... The fourth..." He stopped, and looked towards the floor. "The third reaper..." He grew quiet.

"Yeah, I heard about Doku," she sympathized. "It's a pity. He was a fine reaper." Dogura nodded slowly. "He too wanted to meet you, Hera. Probably moreso than Shiro and I." He looked up at her. "Why have you remained hidden? Why not join us when we gather?"

She folded her arms and turned her head. "I've been watching your little group. I've decided that I don't want to be a part of it. That's all." Dogura sighed, and thought carefully over his next words. "Hera, we're on the same team. If I need to contact Shiro, I know where to find him. What if I need to get in contact with you? Is there anywhere I can find you?" Hera shook her head. "It must not have occurred to you that I don't want to be within arm's reach. Did you ever once consider that maybe I don't like company?"

The samurai was getting irritated at this point. "Then why even introduce yourself to me?"

She turned her head and stared at him. Her stare grew longer than what was comfortable, and her eyes seemed to flash silver. Her face was expressionless, and her lips were unmoving. Dogura stared back- he wouldn't be stared down by a woman. She finally spoke, "Out of every reaper that has ever joined the ranks of Ganon... I like you the most." Dogura took the opportunity to pry for information. "How many have there been?"

Hera turned her back on the man, and let her hands fall to her chest. "Too many... Just too many."

Dogura knew body language. Something was wrong.

"Hera, how old are you?" Dogura finally voiced that question.

She remained still. "Dogura..." She laughed, and it soon turned maniacal. Finally, she turned and looked at him. Lines ran across her face, her eyes glowing white, as if she were some sort of ancient statue that had just been activated after many long years of inactivity. "Dogura, Dogura, Dogura... You're a clever one, you know that?" Her voice was somewhat different. Her hair seemed to wave as if it had a mind of its very own. The samurai was visibly panicked by her transformation. The man's eyes were wide with wonder at the aura that leaked out of her. It was changing- constantly shifting. No solid aura.

Suddenly, she stopped. Her entire transformation came to a halt. Her hair dropped back to her shoulders, and her eyes returned to normal. The lines from her face sank back into her clothing, and her aura returned to normal. "I'm very, very old, samurai. I said it once: you're clever. I'll reward your perception with a little story..."

Dogura listened carefully as she told her tale.

"There was a time when Ganon didn't need a division of reapers. Hyrule wasn't very big, and he didn't need such a vast network of different teams and divisions. He had a group of people that served as his 'Assassins'."

Dogura's ears perked at the statement. Alpha had told him of the assassins.

"Ganon's Assassins served all the purpose of themselves, and the reapers. However as Hyrule grew, so too did Ganon's forces. It came down to his Assassins being overworked, and so he appointed a new team separate from the Assassins. They were called the Reapers. Their soul purpose was to take the souls of dying men and women. Very seldom did they have to carry out assassinations- it was mostly left to the Assassins. However, cases did arise when the assassination was necessary. This is done when someone was supposed to die, but didn't. For whatever reason, they avoided fate, and escaped Ganon's hand. That is the primary reason why Reapers have assassination missions."

The samurai nodded. It made sense.

"The first Reapers included myself, a man named Vinnie, and his sister Vickii. We made a great team. We all became friends- I need not tell you, samurai, why it is dangerous to make friends in such a hazardous field of work... We were the best of friends. We tackled all of our missions together. We all saved each others' lives countless times... I loved them both, Dogura..."

The samurai raised his hand. "There's no need to explain further. I understand where this story is going..."

She nodded somberly. "I mourn Doku's death. But I have had countless allies fall in battle before my eyes. Many I could have saved, had I been stronger, or quicker... But time slows for no one. We simply forge ahead, and cut down the White Wing Order wherever they strike next."

The room grew heavy, suddenly. Dogura could feel the auras of many spirits. Probably past reapers and assassins listening in on the conversation. The samurai simply bowed his head in their honor. "I'm sorry, Hera. The White Wing Order is strong. I found myself struggling to keep up with just one of them."

The girl began to walk towards the door. She opened the door, and stopped.

"You're the first to survive at all, Dogura... You give me..." She paused.

"Hope." She finally stated, as she exited the room.

Dogura stood in silence. There was nothing left to say. He turned and stared at the pull up bar, and then ran a hand along his scar. There was work to be done if he were to encounter the Order again. He suddenly shook his head at the thought.

Not if... But when.