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Title: Under the Siren's Spell
Author: Nahrali
Fandom: King of Bandit: Jing
Genre: General/Humor
Status: In Progress
Rating: T ~ suggestive dialogue
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own anything in this story other than that which does not appear in the original source.

Summary:Three years chasing after the scum of the earth in the hope of confronting the man who turned her world on end. Will her dream become reality, or will she always remain one step behind?

Teaser:

"Curses! I just missed him... AGAIN!!!"

The speaker viciously kicked at the nearest piece of debris, her words still echoing faintly off the cavernous room's walls. A number of people lifted their eyes from their work to identify the source of this disturbance. She glared back at them. "Quit staring, will ya. Haven't you ever seen a girl get angry before?"

One by one they settled back into their assignments, leaving the girl to fume in peace.

I hate working with the locals... but I don't have much of a choice, do I?

"Well I'll be... Is that you, Lara?" A familiar southern drawl floated to her ears, and a large man with a bulbous nose and bushy brown mustache eagerly crossed the room to greet her. He reached out a large hand and placed it on her shoulder. "So you got my message."

The girl's green eyes flashed threateningly in his direction and the hand withdrew. "A lot of good it did me -- he's already gone!" she snapped.

The man smiled apologetically. "Bad mood, huh?"

She chose to ignore this. "So what'd he take this time, Bourbon?"

He pulled out a small notepad and flipped through the pages till he found the right one. "The Angel's Prayer -- or, to be specific, the coronet that it was wearing." He gestured to a large sculpture of an angel behind him. Lara approached the vandalized cherub and began her inspection.

She doesn't appear to have been damaged...

"Do you have a photo of the sculpture before the theft?"

Bourbon smiled. "Thought you'd want that. I've got one right here." Lara compared the two images thoroughly. Her initial analysis had been correct -- the coronet had been removed with great precision and no harm had come to the original work. Bourbon scratched his chin as he reasoned. "What I don't understand is why the crown? From what I've heard, the staff in the statue's hands is much more valuable..."

Lara considered his comment for a moment then jumped up onto the Angel's pedestal. She gently attempted to slide the staff from within Her grip, but the shaft was too long: it was blocked by Her other arm. "In order to steal the staff, he would have been forced to break the Angel's hand."

Bourbon stared at her questioningly. "Why should that stop him?" Lara glared at him, her annoyance showing clearly. Whenever he said things like that it made her want desperately to smack that balding head of his. Instead, she snatched the notepad out of his hands and poured all her concentration into squinting at the scribbles which were Bourbon's notes on the case.

Bourbon smiled as she mumbled to herself. She often thought out loud while working. He considered it a rare pivilege to watch Lara at work.

Although only sixteen, she was considered to be the best in her field. For the past three years, she had been shaming all those who had once prided themselves as being the best. Now there was no doubt in anyone's mind -- Lara was the greatest bounty hunter.

Her secret? Desire. Most common criminals had low morals and were easily attracted to an innocent and defenseless beauty. Such easy prey... All that she needed to do was turn those emerald green eyes to them or toss her thick, golden hair carelessly over her shoulder, and they were putty in her hands. Lara was quite attractive -- and she had no problem with using this gift to her advantage.

Of course, she wasn't perfect, but close enough to lure in her quarry every time.