ｋｎｏｗｎ

          ❛   something         or someone         is on his mind  ,  i think  ,  ❜   speaks the soft  ,  haunting whisper in the other  .  ❛   he would do well to watch his footing instead  ,  lest he find himself at the end of my arrow  .  ❜

                 ❛   OR IN MY BELLY  !!  ❜  and then there is laughter  ,  echoing through the cavern of this mortal’s chest as though it is being borrowed for the purpose  .

     the two hunters loom over him  .  one          the lamb  ,  elegant and poised         stands upon a single foot  ,  bow held unnotched at the side  .  the other          the wolf  ,  heaving in restless motion          hovers in less definitive form  ,  like billowing smoke that just happens to shape into that of a fierce maw filled with pointed teeth .  both of them meet his opening sky eyes with marble-like shine through their masks  ,  lifeless and still undoubtedly seeing  .

                ❛   .  .  .  but not yet  ,  perhaps  .  unless  ,  of course  ,  ❜  the lamb continues  ,  tilting their head  .   ❛  you do not wish to return  .  ❜

hey viego unblock us  .

               progress  ,  he’s too young to die like this  .

         “ —  what  .  exactly can i help you with  ?  ”

     please don’t say my life  ,  is all that echoes in the back of his mind as he stares at this very large spectral puppy  .

     ❛   HOW CAN HE HELP  ?  HOW CAN HE HELP  ?  ❜  

                  the wolf dances through the air to the echo he creates  ,  joyful  &&  wild  .  the city lights do not reach through his blanketing presence  ;;  the commotion of its populace are muffled afterthoughts of a dream fading from memory just as one wakes  .  by the disjointing of freefall time there is no sanctimonious progress to tie ones principles to  .                the touch of lamb is a flash-freeze compared to wolf’s playfully asphyxiating chill  .  she is a point of which to fixate in the ambiguity of her other half’s uninitiated chase  ,  at the side of piltover’s hero in the briefest moment between a racing pulse  .

    ❛   WHAT CAN YOU GIVE THAT IS NOT ALREADY OURS TO TAKE  ?  ❜   croons the wolf  ,  so taken by mirth at the very idea  .     ❛   HOW CAN YOU MAKE YOURSELF  U S E F U L  TO US  ,  JAYCE  ?!   ❜

               ❛   but it is only fitting  ,  ❜   says the lamb  ,  level  &&  toneless in how she lays him bare  , ❛   that you would look to define your death the way that you defined your life  .  ❜

❛  beautiful or brutal ?  ❜   a cold that chills,  a cold that comforts.   ❛   i do not desire a clean end,  so,  my dear lamb,  your arrows will be far too docile.  ❜  

shoulders roll back against the click of hextech,  he speaks again,  an octave higher this time.   ❛  nor do i desire a … messy end,  as much damage as your fangs are poised to do wolf,  i need something more …  something all - encompassing.  ❜

      ❛  shall i string my bow more brutally then  &&  loose my arrows to torment  ?  to shred rather than pierce  &&  maim instead of sever  ?  ❜       

      ❛   THEN I WILL BE THE DOCILE ONE  !!  I WILL TAKE KHADA JHIN IN MY JAWS  &&  CUT MY TEETH INTO HIS HEART IN A SINGLE BITE  !!  ❜  

      in the end all choose  &&  they do not        the soul finds the answer even when the mind cannot comprehend  .  &&  just as well  ,  the lamb cannot be the wolf anymore than they can exist apart  ,  too perfect a harmony that they create in filling what the other isn’t  .       but curiosity makes for such wicked games  &&  he does humor them so very passionately in all that death invites him to play  . 

       ❛   shall it be both at once then  ,  dear wolf  ?  ❜   the lamb asks in her ever-haunting nocturne  .  ❛    tooth  &&  arrow piercing the flesh in unison  ?  a beautiful brutality befit of closing the curtain  ?  ❜      

      &&  the wolf bristles  ,  unending evidence of just how  docile  &&  clean  an end he is ready to usher forth  .

    whether or not the kindred comes in peace, their voice creates a shudder along his spine. too many unwanted memories beg to be uncovered but sarin keeps them where they belong: in the back of his mind, buried with a hundred other corpses.

    “ i had not expected to see your faces for a long while yet. ”

     out of habit, he reaches for the hilt of his sword but just as his hand lifts, it falls back to his side. what good is a blade against the inevitable call of death?

    “ should i be worried that the kindred remembers me? ”

             ❛    LOOK MORE CLOSELY  &&  YOU WILL SEE OUR FACES EVERYWHERE  !!  ❜   the darkness swirls with him  ,  manifesting the shape of a wolf as one would imagine from fables rather than see prowling the wild  .  &&  it snaps its jaws close to the warrior’s fingers  ,  in tandem to his decision not to raise his weapon against them  ,  akin to following along his very thoughts  .    ❛   ESPECIALLY IN THE BLADE YOU TAKE SO MUCH COMFORT IN  !!   ❜

     the lamb  ,  ever contrasting  ,  is still  ;;  balanced calmly on one foot with the hold on her bow lax  .

       ❛   i remember all those who will come to meet us true in time  ,  but especially those who have crossed our paths so often  .  ❜  

            ❛    &&  WE ARE ONE  ,  SO I REMEMBER  ,  TOO  !!  ❜

      BREAKER OF MINDS, TAKER OF THOUGHTS! Such cruel titles, reminders of what weight his abilities had. The lives he had torn apart, and altered– perhaps now was not the best time to be wallowing in regrets.

            “ Kindred. ” as if testing their ominous name.

Wolf caught his attention second, it’s maw dripping with the void of death. How many times had he fled from it’s teeth? Too many to dare count. “ I’ve been walking for as long as I can remember, which…of course you know. ” his answer is laced with particularly dry humor, trying to lighten the mood to no avail.  One of many ways he tried to cope with situations he had little to no control over.

     Jace considers every possible option and outcome…

“ I feel I can safely assume you’re not here to collect. ” jace sighs, reaching to pull back the blue hood that shaded his face. “ Just coming by to see that I’m staying fit? Or does death have a keen interest in my appearance here… ”

              familiarity breeds no contempt from the wolf  ;;  on the contrary  ,  it garners such comfort that he  smothers  in his prowling  &&  proximity like some animalistic affection  .  the planeswalker’s wit even earns a guttural laugh from the bellows of his incorporeal belly  ,  although the distance of the sound  &&  all the empty space left to fill that it implies hardly does anything but weigh down on the air  .       &&  it is only fitting  ,  for the heavy air that so often follows in the wake of planeswalkers  .                        ❛    I ENJOY NIPPING AT YOUR HEELS  !!  BUT THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES I SNAP MY JAW AT  !!    ❜

      for how rarely the worlds which host them are left unscathed  .

                         ❛  death has a keen interest in your appearance  .  .  .  ❜   lamb echoes back   . ❛    &&  we are here to collect  .  ‘though perhaps not here to collect you  . ❜ 

𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬  𝑰𝑺  𝑨  𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑴𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺  𝑻𝑶  𝑯𝑰𝑺  𝑫𝑬𝑴𝑬𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑹 ,          shoulders    dipping    upon    the    sight    of    the    one    which    he    oft    finds    himself    humbled    before    .        Familiarity    of    his    weapons    set    aside    while    s h a r i n g    in    their    presence    .        Phantom    smile    curls    the    corners    of    his    lips    ,        glancing    towards    the    WOLF    ,        then    to    the    lamb    .

                               ❛      &      I    have    waited    for    what    feels    like    CENTURIES    ,        or    perhaps    I     merely    have    lost    track    of    the    passage    of    time    itself    .       It    feels    to    have    been    TOO    LONG    since    we    last    crossed    paths    .        Have    you    finally    come    to    shepherd     this    wayfaring    soul    ?     ❜

         ❛    were you way’ward’  ,  perhaps  .  way’faring’ souls  ,  however  .  .  .   ❜  

                       ❛            ARE NOT THE ONES I GET TO CHASE  .   ❜ 

        the colossal beast sounds distraught to the point of absolute despair  ,  because in this very moment he is  &&  the wolf exists in moments  .  &&  true to that  ,  at the gentle caress of lamb does his inky form shimmer again with delight  (  as though  ,  perhaps  ,  it was the desired outcome all along  )  .       in comparison lamb is impassive as is most typical  .   but through what rare familiarity yone is granted privilege to  ,  there is also the faintest chime of impishness to be recognized when she looks back  &&  asks  :