Lanius cursed under his breath for being so careless as he fell on the ground. From that small mistake, the fox was able to climb onto the gigantic tree and now looked at him from a branch, about 10 meters above him. Lanius got up and dusted his clothes, then walked towards the tree.
He looked up and saw the fox, that was currently trying to catch her breath. Lanius then faced the sky. He calculated that the sun would rise in about an hour. The young man turned his attention towards the other vastaya once again, who had now recovered and now looked at him. Her amber eyes had something mischievous that caused him to feel unease, tho he shrugged it off and decided to have a little chat with her.
"Nice night, isn't it?" he said with a loud and clear voice.
The fox looked at him with a puzzled expression, before she opened her mouth and replied.
"I....guess?"
Lanius continued. "You know, vastaya are so magnificent, especially when you first meet them...they're so...charming..." he saw her ears flop back, indicating that she knew he had caught her red handed.
"You know...You're pretty and all that stuff but...stalking is a weird habit, isn't it it?" he added.
"Stalking? I don't know what you are talking about." she exclaimed, "clearly" confused. Lanius knew that she tried to play dumb, so he played along.
"Oh, is that so? Oh well, it then seems that I have mistaken you for somebody else..." the Winter said, slightly turning his back at her, while also being able to see her with the corner of his eye. "I'll take my leave then...I got to resume my trip." just as he said he saw her swallow. The Winter took a step forward before he stopped and turned around again.
"But...didn't you also try to charm me as well?" he said.
"C-charm? What is this? I'm just a small young vastaya that felt threatened by your presence and tried to run away. You chased me all the way here..." she said placing her index on her lips and looking like she was thinking.
"I wouldn't call you a normal Vastaya. No normal vastaya tries to snatch your soul." he said as he sat on the ground, placing his kusarigama on his belt again.
The foxes eyes widened, causing a faint smile to form in the young mans face.
"Checkmate!" he thought. Then the fox smiled and said something that caught him off guard.
"So what?" What could a normal traveller like you do?" she said with a seductive tone.
"Not much...just take you to the nearest Azakana hunter." Lanius replied.
"But Im not an Akazana" she said, also sitting on her branch.
"They don't know that, and based on your actions, they can assume...anything."
"Oh...If you'd like to play with me, you'd better be sure you know the game." her tails swept the branch ecstatically now. Lanius had a weird feeling that she wanted him to get up there. So did he, but for a whole different reason.
"Play huh? Very well, I'll consider this as a game." the young man took off his coat and unclipped his weapon, placing both on the ground on top of each other.
The fox's eyes widenened once more once she saw him take it off and the young man heard her swallow again.
"What's wrong with her?" he
wondered with a frown. "Who tries to play the dumb card and then tries to seduce you once you uncover them?" the mixed signals confused the young man further. He then approached the giant trunk of the tree and examined it for a brief moment. Normally, he would have used Akalis kama to help himself climb, but decided not to, just in case it was a sentinel tree. The last thing he wanted was to chase the fox while he was chased by a giant sentinel. He then started to swiftly climb up. He entirely focused on the tree and didn't notice that the fox was holding something in her open palm, when it was too late.
A light blue orb slammed next to his hand and bounced back at her hand. Lanius lost his grip and with a yell, fell on a branch below him. He was able to grab said branch at the last moment with one hand and save himself from the fall.
The fox laughed. "Oh...you're so stubborn, I think I'm starting to like you."
Lanius grit his teeth and resumed his climbing. He occasionally paid attention to the fox's movements,not intending to fall for her trick again. He turned around just in time and jumped on the branch next to him as the fox threw the orb at him again. This was repeated many times. The young man hopped from branch to branch. He was mere inch away from reaching the fox, when he turned around and saw her blow a kiss towards him, charming him again as he was unable to dodge it this time. The young man's eyes locked on her as he fell...
He hit 3 branches before his body slammed on the grass, left side first. A loud and clear thud echoed through the forest. The Winter let out a sound similar to a gasp and a gurgle combined as all of the air in his lungs got out the moment he collided with the hard dirt. The shock and pain caused the charm to instantly wear off and he just lied there, gasping for air as his finger clawed the ground.
Lanius did a quick evaluation and found out that he had most likely cracked, if not broken, at least one rib. His whole left side of the torso had gone numb from the current adrenaline rush.
He then tried to slowly move his legs, and a sigh of relief parted his lips as he found out that he could still move them. To fall from 10 meters and only break a rib or two would be considered a miracle in his case, as he could have fell head first or gotten paralysed from the fall.
"Keep trying you'll get me." he heard the fox shout from her branch. At that moment, something lit a fuze inside the young man's head.
He was going to let her toy with him? Hell nah. The young man let out a growl, not a human one, but one similar to that of a lion. He then got up, utilising the adrenaline rush to get to his goal.
"Enough!" he thought.
"Enough!" he yelled. The young man ripped the bandages from his eye and gripped the trees trunk. A sharp claw made out of ice formed in each of his ten fingers. The young man let out another growl and rushed towards the fox with sheer determination, climbing from branch to branch along with the trunk while he activated the Sovereign's Dominance.
The young fox saw him rush to her, looking like he was maddened by the a demon. The fox threw he orb and charms towards him, but Lanius dodged each and every spell or projectile. He was gaining ground, going up and up again. Just as the sun was about to rise, the young man jumped on the branch in front of her and then leapt towards her.
.
.
.
Ahri watched the young man fling himself towards her. Time slowed as he approached her and she took a good look at him for the first time since she first saw him. His mouth was semi open, showing his gritting white fangs in a snarling expression. His feline firece blue eyes were staring directly into her soul, even piercing her and looking beyond, into the horizon. The claws on his right hand, possibly his dominant one, had melted away, and his finger now reached for her. Ahri then felt as if she was falling. The young man caught her as she almost fell off the branch with his right hand, and stabbed the trunk with his left one, balancing both of them.
Just as the rising sun reflected on the young man's icy patch, Ahri's heart began to beat faster.