the tiny bird flies

               a cornered predator is a  ＤＡＮＧＥＲＯＵＳ  one.                   ’ Is the moon not out? ’ a hand waves towards the starless sky, the                    bleached light of the orb bathing the both of them in sterile                    illumination. 

all stars begin within the sea of perpetual night ( don't fear the darkness, it is the beginning of creation ), they are illuminative hopes, guides, granted wishes — & she is the first star of the night ( go on, make your wish ).

             impossibly frigid blue gaze meets an electric one, ice clashes with              lightning. this is a puzzle that sets him on edge, disturbingly so, and              slowly, a cowled head turns towards the puddle nearby, water               trembling with anticipation. but he is smarter than to outright attack.                   ’ Good evening, ’ a rumbling tone rises forth from between the cracks                     of the mask, not hostile… but not hospitable, either. 

stay thy hand, attack not if thou fears thy fragile life — relentless lapis lazuli wildfire rages beneath deceptively delicate pallid flesh, a lethal storm; but did thou know — she is a child who knows naught but warfare. war child, war  [ q u e e n ] ; inexorable desolation feared, destruction wielded at the cost of lonely isolation — but can one miss what one has never known?

   ✗; Ｈｅａｒｔｂｅａｔｓ.             Several, laboring away within  d i s g u s t i n g l y  frail bodies,              alert him to the fact that he is not alone. How easily they can be             put to a stop, seized in invisible, destructive claws and CRUSHED.               But the bloodbender is hospitable—so long as they keep their              distance.                         ❝ I know you’re there. ❞

but she is without a drop of blood within; child with deceptive human appearance concealing monstrous capabilities; inhuman, lethal, resistant — how will you fare when your puissant gift is rendered useless? 

          Lips pressed firmly into an innocent smile. Monsters she says. It was humorous —what a daring young lady vowing to destroy such entities when one is standing right in front of her!  Eyes too clouded to see perhaps? He knows well his form is nothing but normal to the naked eye. 

                    “‘’Monsters’? May my words sound plain however—to where do you plan to find these problems?”

disparate threat, insignificant where fear is inexistent, monstrosity that is hardly as eldritch as he'd prefer to assume — no one here is scared of a shadow, no one, in monochrome wilds, is afraid of the dark; fear means failure & failure is not an option.