#armoredcore

Machine Cult

Geordie Third - Freelance Concept Designer

artstation instagram

The Dance

For a lifetime, the voices of my brothers and sisters among the Coral tides were all I knew, all I heard. Cinders left to silently cry out across the Rubiconian skies. A network of souls intertwined, aching to breathe life with vigor once more, slow pulsing until I made contact with you. Through you, I learned the warmth another could provide. The excitement. The anguish. The love. How I ached to soothe the pains of your wounds, to comfort you in an embrace I knew you'd never yet felt, to feel your touch.

...

To stand before you is something I only brushed away as a dream before. To see the glint of the twinkling digital void reflect off your visor, knowing your eyes remain locked with mine, made my breath hitch and chest tighten in a brewing storm. At last, we could dance together. Would it be so selfish to hope you feel the same? I witnessed your might and prowess long enough; I read your moves as you think them. Those brief moments of hesitation, asking yourself if you should hold back, if you should go easy on me because I've never piloted against you before. And yet, between us, a violent pulsing through the digital ether; you feel the rhythm, don't you? Give me your all so I may do the same, Raven. I'll lay the entirety of myself unto you. A brief respite. A solace in the night.

I understand now why you continue to fight so eagerly, so alive. This dance of ours, it fuels a latent power. A burning desire. Only through the intimate, explosive clash of steel can I know your touch. Only through shocking hellfire can I encase you with my love. With the trade of each blow, the mask of the Raven shatters further, revealing more for me to indulge in. More of you to consume. Is it so selfish of me to feel this way? To want your admiration and approval, to make you hesitate the next pull of the trigger, to crave your wanton passion?

Moving in sync as lovers do, reading each other's every move, well aware of the desperate yearning behind each attack. We stand on the precipice of our final dance. Your pulse is high, your mind aflame, and your spirit unbound. Our cages melt beneath our fury, speed, and desire as our dance meets its climax. At last, take flight, Raven. Allow me to dream a better dream and carry it far across the stars beyond Rubicon on your wings. In this moment, before the cores shut down and the digital void collapses, there is only us. Exerted breaths heavy through static as our metal flesh melds and comforts one another, the shared fire in the pits of our cores the only physical warmth we feel. Yet our embers burn as one, and through the silence, we've both won as we emerge two voices further intertwined, no longer ever alone. I'll be at your side evermore.