You're The Predator Or The Prey

( 🎮 )    THE INDIGNATION THE younger hunter expressed was palpable as she couldn't help the upset that his question caused , gloved hands moving to give him a half - hearted shove ,   ❛   BOTH ! I'M ANGRY that you didn't even consult any of us beforehand and that kafka made me go along with you or the cat didn't even give me a heads up !

you're .. you're important to me , blade !    ❜   she refused to get choked up again after everything -- the not dead didn't deserve her tears but did -- at least in the hacker's mind -- deserve her ire.

IGNORING THAT HER actions may make her look like a spoilt brat at the moment the gray - haired computer hacker scoffed to herself , looking away as her arms came to cross in front of her chest.

   ❛   BUT 'M MOST angry that you just .. did all that and didn't tell me about it --- your kin ! that you played dumb and just left me in the dark the whole time .. i thought i was gonna have to go back all alone !   ❜   she may put out an air of nonchalance but she knew that he knew that it was all just an act.

Oh well, she was allowed to be upset with him and he wouldn't fault her for it. If she wished to scream or curse him he wouldn't argue back. Not that it meant he wouldn't answer.

"I didn't tell you because it would have been crueler to let you have false hope." He had honestly not been sure if this gamble would have worked. He hadn't really known he even had a chance until he had brought Shuhu to heel. His threat to Shuhu had been said in earnest, he intended to use this power to kill Shuhu's aeon but it wasn't a guarantee that he would have won. "I intended to come back but there was no guarantees."

If he had known he would win he would have told her went unsaid, he knew Silver Wolf was a smart young woman and he believed that it wouldn't make her feel any better so he didn't waste his breathe because he would spare her excuses.

But she couldn't expect him to stay now. It wasn't right. Maybe he could go find ways to be happier again. Even if it meant losing the only father figure (in a way) she had.

Words are scarce as she made her way out simply to get something to drink and stretch her legs, realizing he's now plopped onto the couch. I'm still not dead yet. As if it wasn't something that had terrified her. Not that he knew that. Or so she assumed. Listening after grabbing a bottled drink, she placed it on the table nearby before sitting beside him.

He stared forward silently before finally saying, "better. My head is clearer."

Which was good, he allowed Kafka's spirit whisper to ground him. But even in allowing it a part of him felt... wrong. Her spirit whisper took, repressed and allowing her to do so always felt wrong. They had an unspoken understanding of boundaries and intents but to not have to rely upon her was a relief.

that was her devotion, her undying and ardent love for him. to her, status meant little . . . even as she ascended against her will, she'd spent any time she could with the man she devoted her life to . . . and if she could, she'd have elevated him, but divinity was not so KIND to lovers. DESPITE ascending as a martial god, she became known for something else . . . she became known as the goddess with a human spouse, a goddess — who in spite of her lifespan and status — chose to remain with the man she ardently loved and passionately devoted herself to. a goddess who spent her time amongst mortals, than amongst her peers.

she of undying and ardent love . . . of dedication and passion, of a love that not even time could break.

she became the goddess many pray to for a love as passionate and as full as her own. one many pray to, not for her martial skill with her blade, SANQIU — a beautiful gift from her husband, one that never left her side — but rather, for romantic love, for their relationship to sustain even as the world crumbles. she became a goddess that many look to for advice and for blessings. her sword became the SYMBOL of a love undying and unchanging.

but as much as she devotes herself to her mortal husband, when the duties of the divine calls, she must answer . . . and this sets into motion of many conflicts and uprisings that tests their love. what she thought was a couple years bleeds into centuries, one problem balloons into another conflict ; one conflict befalls another tragedy . . . she did what she could but she began to tire, her fatigue gnawing at her to a point where she HOPED he understood and HOPED he knew how much she still very much loves him . . . and she used to hear his sweet voice calling to her in prayer until . . .

IT . . . S T O P S . . . the silence is daunting, fear grips at her chest as she direly searches for him in the sea of voices and of people. she doesn't stop searching, she never stops searching ; any time she had of leisure is spent scouring the mortal world — for a shadow, a familiar figure, a gravestone.

centuries bleed by, her hope dwindles but doesn't diminish until . . . it's quiet. in the inane chattering of prayers and of pleas, she hears something that tickles her ear. a voice of near unfamiliar tone, speaking a NAME she has not heard in centuries and she stands from her seat, chair clattering to the ground behind her, drawing the attention of deputies around her.

then again. insistent, angry, desperate. a flurry of clothes, she runs. no one knows her by that name anymore. no one BUT just one. she leans on the railing of her pavilion, eyes staring into the distance as if she can make out someone in the horizon, head tilted as if she can hear just where they were calling from. then AGAIN, angrier and sadder . . . a DEMAND spoken in prayer.

in a flutter of flower and fabric, her image flickers from the heavens to descend. her heart pounding. can it be? it has to be. only one man know her by that name, and she hasn't found him ever since . . . it has to be.

❝ YINGXING !! ❞ her voice warbles, her robes flying in the wind as she lands into the temple she thinks she hears his prayer from. ❝ beloved ?? are you here ?? ❞ she asks, voice in a rushed hush, was she hallucinating? has she gone senile in yearning?

For if anyone dared laughing him, he would tear them apart. He would drag them away from such a pure sacred place then listen to their screams of terror and pain as he ripped them apart. They would be shredded like his broken heart. Entrails, blood and gore far from the beautiful shrine he had built for her. Even if it was no longer the simple thing he had developed all those years ago. Even if nothing he had created to honor her withstood the test of time and had all been replaced.

But no one would come, he knew no one would come. Or at least he thought until he heard a voice. He couldn't tell what the voice was saying just that it was a distinctly feminine voice. He didn't dare hope even as he heard the soft sound of footsteps. Only when those steps stop does he sit up. He didn't look back to see who could possibly be judging him or finding him in a position of such reverence.

He simply stood up, then only then did he turn back around to find her there. First glee came over him, then he felt... something. He didn't know what it was but he knew it hurt. All this time longing for her, missing her, finding nothing but silence when he visited the shrine he built for her until his death... and here she just is.

He didn't know how to feel. Didn't even believe who he was seeing was even real. He felt like the dog that caught his own tail, pursuing his passion with such zeal but now he got what he wanted he didn't know what to feel.

Then hurt kicked him in the chest. Because it's been so long, there was no way a being as beautiful as she was would simply abandon him in his living years if he still held her heart and ignored his calling to her until death took him.

So he understood. She really did intend to come down here and kill him.

He probably should have fought then. But he meant what he said, if she really did not want him anymore then he would not force himself upon her. He wouldn't curse such a beautiful strong woman for finding happiness in someone that was good enough to ascend. But he could not exist knowing there she might feel another man's touch.

So he sank back down to his knees. His head bowed because ghost king or not... she was lost to him and his heart simply could not take not seeing her strike him down if that was what she chose for him.

I vow in sickness and health, dear To adore you till d e a t h do us part

          Selective & Mutuals Only HSR OC - as devoured by rat

                Please read rules & about before interacting     Heavy trigger warnings regarding themes of: cannibalism as a metaphor for love, gore, and violence. c.

She smiles sweetly. No giggles, just understanding. "Baby, how about you make it easier on yourself and just use the tape measure I keep in my desk? That way Ms. Nihilux doesn't come back with a tape measure herself? If you have the idea first, she can't say she's smarter."

“I’m aware… but I’m not here to stop you or anything. I’m just here to observe the finale.” 

Yanfei could see the silver of hope that remained in the man’s eyes begin to vanish at her claim. It seemed neither of them knew the way of equilibrium– but then again, how could they? There were forces at play bigger than all of them, and she was no guardian angel. If this man was meant to die in some alleyway in a grim corner of the city, then who was she to interfere with fate?

Still, this was an interesting side of him to see, far different from the meek demeanor he wore in the daytime. Even though she was clearly intrigued, she knew better than to get into the crossfire of that kind of rage lest she become a target herself. Instead, she picked up his fallen hat, tracing the brim of the material before speaking again. 

“I doubt my presence will change anything so let’s just pretend I’m not here, hm?”

So he didn't bother telling her WHY he was doing this, she didn't need to be told how this man beat the weak, extorted families for protection then robbed them blind and beat them when they had nothing left. She didn't need to know when he took the case of hunting down this thug he told the poor woman that he would do it for free. Because he may have hung up a title but a wolf doesn't just get domesticated. There would always been that bestial nature there. No amount of silk, satin or plush would make a wolf something it isn't.

His shadows came out, tracking up the wall in front of Ashveil twisting and turning around the man at Ashveil's mercy like a pack of hungry cats toying with their food because it was a good bit of fun. He didn't force the shadow to hurry up because this man deserved to suffer. He deserved to know death so close at hand.

But when the shadows took too long he flung the man down the alleyway. He knew this game, for the cruel thing it was more fun to wait. Watch a fool squirm at the knowledge that a supposed savior genuinely did not intend to come to the aid of a worthless thug.

But Ashveil was a man of principles, and he didn't know if Yanfei was simply here by chance or if she wanted something from him so he snapped his fingers and those shadows lashed out like a rabid animal. They started with consuming a whole leg before retracting and dragging the thug with it.

Ashveil watched it fling the man like a ragdoll before another shadow ensnared the arm on the opposing side to drag this prick back down to the ground. Ashveil watched as this man was utterly consumed. Screaming for a savior that would not come.

Once the shadows retreated back to his hand he sighed, and only then turned back to Yanfei.