Tao ends his life with a quick snap of his wrist, cleanly breaking his neck and slacking his hold on Tao. Tao releases his grip on him; his last desperate moves leaving a deep impression on Tao's arms; marking him even as he crumples onto the floor, lifeless. 

The crazed eyes of the desperate man are still the last thing that imprints himself on Tao, like a badge he wears as he clears up the evidence quickly before melting into the shadows, leaving no trace behind. 

Tao feels no remorse even as the memory lingers. He has done it too many times to bother with the filth of guilt conscience. 

The plane crash lands bumpily; and Tao curses freely; glaring at the controls bitterly. He cuts the engine in a hurry- there isn't enough fuel to waste idling here. He notes that the one of the engines was smoking slightly-  that could be a reason for the warning beeping earlier- and resolves to look at it in the morning. . The desert was a pretty safe place to spend the night, he thinks, he has been in worse.

Tao keeps his blade on his body as he falls into a light, drowzy sleep. He has been trained to pick up the slightest movements in a few seconds,  so it comes to a surprise when an unmistakable sting in the left arm bites him awake. He stiffens, knowing that it was no doubt a blade that had sliced through his arm. "You need to work on the reflexes," a deep voice comments. It is tinged with a slight laughter; and Tao flicks his eyes towards the source. A man was playing with his knives, running his fingers along the blades fearlessly; and Tao frowned, anger, shock and annoyance building up to a crescendo of frustration.  He would love to kill that man with his own bare hands, but he knows that the chances that he impales himself on that knife were higher. 

"Who the heck are you?" Tao hissed, staring down at the clean cut through his skin, blood oozing silently through the precise scratch- just deep enough to bleed but not enough to really hurt. This man knew how to slice. 

"I'm Kris- and I'm a killer, just like you." The man stands up, flinging the knife suddenly at Tao that would have easily cut right through his heart if he had not caught it millimeters near his heart. Tao flips the knife around so that the blade faces the mysterious man; and tightens his grip, staring the man down, debating his choices. 

"I can see what you're thinking, you know. You won't be able to kill me. I can block your every strike; and then you'd be dead, faster than you think." Tao hates the nonchalant way he replies, like Tao isn't worth his time. Tao grits his teeth at his condescending remarks, wrapping his fingers tighter around his knife like his shield. 

"Then why are you here? We're in the middle of a ing desert, if you haven't noticed." Tao spits back, his knife at the ready. He did not believe that a quick strike would prove useless against Kris- and he did not believe that Kris could overpower him that easily. He smirks. A challenge is always welcome. 

"I'm here," Kris says, pausing for a split second- and his movement so quick that Tao missed it and failed to prepare himself- "to teach you how to kill." Kris had produced a knife out of someone- Tao couldn't believe he failed to catch him- and in that sentence- crossed the distance between him and Tao to point the knife right to Tao's heart. With every harsh breath that Tao took, he felt the sharp edge of the knife Kris held and swallowed slightly. Tao knew that a single wrong move would cause his downfall to no doubt a very painful death.

Here, Kris taught Tao his first lesson as he stared into Tao's soul- 

Everyone is afraid to die. 

a/n: Just a very short prelude before the actual chapter(s). Thanks for subbing. Hope you enjoy and comment! :3