Of Love and Death.

The Past Chapter 15: Cold's Requiem Pt. 4

There are some cliches that exist for a reason.

Blood was made aware of this fact when his boyfriend grabbed him by the arm as he was walking, pulling him into a side alley so that they could spy on someone. For a moment, he freaked out, wondering who had grabbed him. He was about to punch the aggressor in the face, but then he saw said face was Form's. Opening his mouth, the bloody shadow had a lot of questions. But he was silenced by the shapeshifter's expression.

The shapeshifting shadow's eyes were slightly wide as he pulled Blood through a narrow pathway. There were a lot of little paths and crawl spaces throughout the Orb. Sometimes his home got a bit maze-like. Form seemed to know every nook and cranny. The thief, Blood though affectionately.

This hallway was fairly short. Before long, both Blood and Form were crouched together, watching a scene play out in front of them. In all his time, the bloody shadow had barely ever been to this part of the Orb. It was on the outskirts, fairly unpopulated. Mainly filled with empty rooms. But two people happened to be here. Talent, who looked pretty good. His horns were gleaming golden. And, someone who made Blood's blood boil. Cold.

Clearly, the conversation the two were in had been going on for a little bit. Blood would have asked his partner for an explanation, but Form was looking away. And there was no way he could speak without being found out. "I don't understand," Talent said. Although there was a sharpness to his gaze. Blood would bet that he did know.

Especially with how apathetic Talent normally was. Blood had never seen the messenger this alert. Cold seemed to realize this as well. If the displeasure in her gaze was any measure, at least. "I mean that I am working to overthrow Dark and Light. And I want you to help me.," the Nexus Force growled. "I'm not sure what's so complicated." Well. Um.

That was bad.

Inside of his chest, Blood's heart skipped a beat. The Snakes in the Sun's Orb. Had they been Cold's minions? Or had she been inspired by them? There was a connection between the two, the timing was too close. What was Cold even trying to accomplish with all of this? Dark and Light had been the heads of the Forces for basically all of time. Now Cold wanted to take over, apparently. But everything was working so well.

Especially over here with the Shadows. Dark, sure, could be a little bit detached and callous. But he was also very involved. Aside from the occasional personal dispute, nothing was wrong. There was nothing that Cold could do better. And, annoyingly, the icy Shadow was smart. She had to know Dark was a good leader. So why?

Then Blood was pulled out of his questioning by Talent. "That...seems dumb," the other shadow said simply. Then Blood saw it. The tiniest flicker in Talent's gaze. His black eyes moved towards the ally that the boyfriends were hiding in. He knew. Talent knew that they were here.

Swallowing, Blood held his breath. He was pretty sure that his fellow shadow wasn't about to rat him out. But he wasn't certain. Cold seemed to be taking deep breaths. Something was making her lose her cool, pun intended. "Talent, we're going in circles. Just give me a clear answer," the Nexus Force hissed, clenching her sparkly hands into fists. They were going in circles. Why? Talent wasn't exactly the kind of person who didn't catch on. Even if the messenger was half asleep ninety percent of the time.

Wait, Blood realized. It barely showed. Talent was still standing calmly and coolly. His arms were slightly crossed, he didn't care about what Cold was saying. But his shoulders...there was the tiniest bit of tension there. He was ever so slightly nervous. Cold had said their conversion was going in circles. He was stalling for time so that we could hear, Blood understood.