Clairvoyance

Sasori isn't much of an expert on crystals and gemstones but, after spending several minutes consulting Google, he eventually identifies the stone as labradorite.

It's about the size of a bottlecap, shaped like a teardrop with a startlingly sharp point, and he's pretty sure it must have been dislodged from some sort of piece of jewelry - rather unlucky for whoever it belonged to.

Sasori reaches up to rub the top of his head, the spot still a little sore from where the stone had hit him.

He'd only been in the park for about fifteen minutes, sitting comfortably on one of the benches with his laptop open and a thermos of coffee at his side, when something fell out of the sky and landed precisely on his head, hard enough to bruise. After a surprised yelp and a quick look around, Sasori had found the stone resting in the grass just behind him and his mind immediately started working to try to make sense of what had happened.

"A bird," He finally decides, examining the stone between sips of his coffee, "Must have been carrying it and accidentally dropped it."

That made sense. Right?

Curiosity getting the better of him, Sasori clicked one of the links in the Google results, skimming the page of labradorite lore and facts as he ran his fingers absent-mindedly over the stone.

"Lore of the Inuit peoples claim Labradorite fell from the frozen fire of the Aurora Borealis, an ordinary stone that transforms to the extraordinary, shimmering in a mystical light that separates the waking world from unseen realms."

Eyebrow quirked, he glances down at the crystal, rolling it in his palm and watching as the mix of blues and greens and yellows caught the sunlight, shimmering and dazzling. Sasori taps a finger to the point of the teardrop, only to flinch when the tip actually punctures his skin, a bead of blood surfacing.

"Shit." He mutters, resisting the urge to just stick his finger in his mouth and, instead, grabs a napkin out of his messenger bag, pressing it to his fingertip as he slips the stone into his pocket.

Suddenly, there's an unearthly screech.

Sasori jumps in his seat, frantically looking around and quickly realizing that none of the other people in the park seem to be panicking.

In fact, they don't seem to have even heard the shriek.

He's concerned and perturbed but just about to pass it off as a figment of his imagination when he sees a shimmer out of the corner of his eye. A quick glance to his right and he watches as something comes racing around a tree, dodging people who don't seem to even notice.

It looks kind of like a hairless dog, but it's skin is pitch black and it's body is too stocky to be any breed he recognizes. It's rather streamlined in shape, a wide head and thick neck that are near impossible to differentiate, with a large upper body that tapers off into a thinner rear. Large, powerful front legs with claws that dug into the dirt for a better grip and longer, lean hind legs are helping it race through the park, twisting around trees almost frantically.

Sasori stares in shock at the beast, unable to make out any eyes on its gruesome face, but definitely aware of the mouth of protruding teeth, non-existent lips pulled back to leave the sharp fangs bared to the air.

It's grunting and giving more of those teeth-rattling screeches, globs of bright blue saliva flying from the corners of its mouth as it winds and races through the trees, easily dodging unaware joggers and a group of college students perched on a picnic blanket.

Sasori's just about to ask aloud what the hell is going on when he sees her.

She's darting from tree to tree, jumping between branches with an inhuman grace, and tailing the beast with a grim frown as her pink braid bounces with each jump. She has eyes only for the creature - bright, determined, green eyes more clear and lovely than any gemstone he's ever seen - and she leaps from a tree branch to the park path with ease, soaring over the head of a jogger just as they bend down to fix their untied shoelace.

Sasori continues to stare, mouth slightly agape and his heart beating loudly in his ears, as the young pink-haired woman chases the shrieking beast as it zigzags through the park, his eyes desperately tracking the pair's movement.

A mother pushing a baby stroller passes by him, sending Sasori an odd look, and he realizes he's indeed the only one witnessing this chase.

He also realizes, only moments later, that the beast is running towards him.

It dodges the mother and baby stroller with unnerving ease before passing him as well, the scent of cinnamon radiating heavily from its skin, and Sasori watches it pass, his thermos dropping from his limp grip.

The pink-haired woman leaps into the air, somersaulting over the mother just as she leans forward to replace her baby's pacifier - as if she knew she was going to duck - before hitting the ground running, kicking up the barest amount of dirt. She runs past Sasori as well and time seems to comically slow to a crawl as he watches from his seat on the bench.

The woman looks toward him and their eyes lock.

For a moment, she seems just as shocked as he does and Sasori continues to stare, finally noticing the small shimmering object in the center of her forehead. It's a perfect diamond in shape and protrudes only slightly from the skin of her forehead, the sunlight catching on the smooth surface of a crystal that he quickly recognizes.

Another labradorite stone.

Their eyes stay connected for mere moments before she turns her attention forward, her hand reaching for her hip as she runs after the creature. He watches, focused entirely on the mysterious woman and blinking in surprise when she pulls a sword - a katana? - from a sheath attached to her belt. Sasori takes this brief moment to actually look over the rest of her appearance, noting her all-black attire (a simple sleeveless top with a turtleneck collar and black pants tucked into boots that came up just below the knee) and the small pack on her hip.

The blade of the sword is definitely not metal - it looks more like stone, smooth and glossy with a swirling pattern of light and dark greens that is almost as lovely as her eyes. It looks much sharper than any stone blade should be and she grips the handle firmly, suddenly picking up speed as she races after the creature still making it's haphazard path through the park.

Later, when Sasori is at home and hunched over his laptop, frantically Googling green stones, he identifies the blade as malachite.

The woman crouches for a split-second before leaping into the air, her legs tucked up close to her body as she raised the sword over her head. Teeth bared, she let's out a determined "SHANNAROOO!" and strikes the beast, lodging her sword in it's back as it screams in a mixture of shock and pain.

Almost instantly, the creature seems to shrink in on itself before a shimmer of blue and green and yellow passes over and it bursts, it's body ripping itself to shreds before the black strips of flesh seem to liquefy in midair. The streams of gooey blackness are quickly absorbed into the malachite blade, sunlight glinting off the stone for a moment.

There's a sparkle in the air where the beasts head had been and something falls to the grass, the smell of cinnamon quickly dissipating from the air.

It all happened in seconds and the woman lands lightly on her feet, looking pleased with herself as she tosses her pink braid back over her shoulder, the tips of her hair reaching just below her shoulder blades. She sheathes her katana once more and crouches down, reaching out into the patch of grass before picking something up.

Sasori is near enough to the scene to see the object - she's holding it between her forefinger and thumb, inspecting her prize - and realizes it's another labradorite crystal, perfectly round and smooth. Smiling to herself, the pink-haired woman tosses the stone into the air before catching it midair and depositing it into the pack on her hip.

She stands and pauses, her smile dropping into a confused frown and suddenly looks his way.

Again, their eyes meet, and Sasori is left dumbstruck.

She seems to be inspecting him, standing almost perfectly still a distance away with her hand resting on the handle of her sword. Neither of them speak and pedestrians continue to pass by, ignoring him and unaware of her.

He's inwardly debating waving at her when his hand suddenly moves of its own accord. The napkin around his formerly bleeding finger drops as his hand darts into the air, easily catching a frisbee disk that had been hurtling towards him. Sasori jerks and looks at the disk in surprise, missing the way the woman's eyes narrow, and tries to make sense of the sudden reflex, a pair of teenagers spewing apologies rushing over towards him.

When he looks back, the woman is gone and the park feels unsettling empty, his mind racing with questions.