You Can’t Take Me

For the first time in two years, Ashetta actually spoke to him. Of course she didn't know to whom she spoke, but that hardly mattered to Kalt. 'Stupid, insane fucking prick!' Ah, pet names.

Well, she wasn't wrong. It probably wasn't exactly often that someone would run through her lightning, but he prided himself on calculated insanity somehow working out for him. Why would he let another world stop him from keeping up that ability?

Kalt couldn't keep the laugh at her frustration from erupting in him. Pissing her off had always brought him joy, and for the first time in two years, she vocalized that anger and disbelief. He loved it. He was an arrogant bastard, and the frustration she let slip through her lips fed his ever expanding ego like nothing else.

Lightning cracked and stone exploded in every direction, as she tried - and continuously failed - to strike him. His heart was racing, and he cursed himself for allowing the laugh to erupt before, as it threw off his breathing. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to maintain it for much longer.

He whipped around a corner, smirking inwardly at the sight of his scratched message to her. Kalt leaped onto a crumbling wall, pulling himself onto the roof of the building just as she rounded the corner. Righting himself, he putting two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle to draw her attention, then pointed down at the words he was standing above.

YOU ARE RUSTY
AiB

Kalt smirked, taking the advantage of her distraction to make a quick and silent escape. By the time she would look up, he would have disappeared. A ghost in the wind, just like the assassinations in Northwind. There was no way they'd be giving this up anytime soon, though.

Did he just laugh? The sound of it echoed through the ruins, and she swore that was suddenly seeing red. Fuck him, and fuck his stupid insanity! She was racing so quickly after him, she thought her heart might burst from her chest - but gods damnit, she wanted to catch him. Ashe shifted at seemingly random times as she ran after him, strategically using the wolf’s body to maneuver through obstacles she might have struggled with, and vice versa. She was gaining on him quickly, and she grit her teeth as he rounded a corner sharply. Ashe shifted just in time to dig her claws in and dart after him, shifting back to two legs in time to leap up and shove herself off of a wall, over a pillar. Hells, she was gaining on him, but he was fast. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps now, hindered by shouting at him, but fuck it that was worth it. The wolf made it easier, but she began to realize how disorienting it was to shift back and forth with such frequency. She wasn’t sure when she stopped smelling that temping scent that had her wanting to chase and chase and chase and she wasn’t sure when night vision belonged to the wolf or the original. She swore she could smell and taste and hear everything in the moments between her claws, when it was her feet that pounded the stone and her fingers that gripped ledges. It had been so damn long since she’d felt exhilaration like this. When she whirled a corner again, and a sharp whistle snapped her gaze up to where the cloaked man was on the roof just above her. She flashed him a savage grin, her eyes shining. She was about to make a leap , but then he pointed downwards, and she narrowed her eyes - a trick, it had to be… but she couldn’t help herself. She flicked her eyes down and stepped forward as her chest rose and fell deeply, and… Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in the same moment her brows dropped, and she stepped forward to the message scratched into the stone. What. The. Fuck. With a suddenly wildly beating heart, Ashe snapped her eyes back up to that man but.. He was gone. ”Shit,” she snarled, and she made a running leap for the nearest wall, hauling herself up before she sprang from her toes and onto the roof he’d been on. She shifted as she landed, bouncing a few steps as she lifted her nose to the wind - his scent was strong, and she could have easily tracked him... Ashe shifted again, and the raven haired girl sat back on her rear end and huffed a heavy breath, cheeks puffing as she did. The game had ended…. And whoever this was knew who she was. Something about that was as deeply unsettling as it was exciting, and infuriating. They’d known she was a wolf, had known to look for the wolf at the beginning of their chase. Who was it? How was that even possible? This was going to take thought, investigation, vigilance… There was more to do. He didn’t seem to be threatening.. Yet. Could he be from the Guild? A rival from another faction? He had to have been in Northaven to know her.. Right? And he had to have known her in Northwind. Rusty. She glared at nothing and rolled her eyes. Insufferable prick. She’d find him again, figure out who he was and what he wanted with her.. Gods, and the idea of more work to do was something she mentally lunged for, her mind already working. She hated herself just a little bit for the relief that mingled with dread. She shook her head and drew her knees up, looping her arms around them as she started catching her breath. The air was chilled on her sweat-slick skin, but her body felt super charged with energy. The muscles in her legs quivered, her shoulders ached deeply, her hands burned from where they’d gripped stone… the assassin flopped back to lie flat on the roof, fire-blue eyes staring up an unfamiliar sky full of unfamiliar stars, breathing as though she could inhale the starlight itself. And she smiled. [ END THREAD ] ashetta it's live or die my way.