𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐔𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 - ★彡[ʙʟᴀᴅᴇ]★彡

- 𝟎𝟑 -

 [Y/N] bit down into the debrirat's tough meat and chewed slowly, allowing her thoughts to wander as she swallowed the tasteless chunk of meat. She sat in the darkness, humming a light and indiscriminate tune as she waited for the man to return again. After five minutes or so passed, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her which signaled the man's return. Even though [Y/N] couldn't see his face, she still turned to the direction in which the sound was coming from as if to prepare herself for any confrontation. Taking a final finishing bite of the debrirat's flesh, she cautiously watched the man approach her.

"In the future, please avoid running off like that," [Y/N] glared at him, irritated at his flippant greater-than-thou attitude. Even though he wasn't saying anything, she was almost positive he was looking down at her with contempt and superiority. "It's a bother." 

"I came back before you finished, didn't I?" he replied irritably as if he were bored by the brief exchange.

"Just barely."

"I don't see a reason to sit around waiting like a dog if I don't have to," the man continued to glare down at her.

"Suit yourself," [Y/N] walked past him and struggled to restrain herself from throwing back a harsh retort. Are all outsiders this impertinent? She had to remind herself that this loathsome man was her only key to salvation and that she was currently in debt to him—whether she liked it or not. If he wanted to take away the Stellaron, perhaps the curse over this planet would be lifted at last. [Y/N] couldn't vividly remember what it was like to have sunlight on her skin. People had often spoken about how it felt like you were being wrapped up in a gentle mother's embrace, a soft and comforting caress gifted by the Aeons. Others said the sunlight was relentless and unforgiving, burning your skin and causing you to sweat and even die. Whichever option was true, she wanted to experience it firsthand for herself.

"Can I ask you a question?" She spoke to the man without thinking, allowing her thoughts to guide her words.

"..."

The man, as expected, didn't respond. The only sign that he had heard what she had been saying was a small change in his breathing pattern; the tiniest of inhales that gave away he had heard her words. [Y/N] figured if he didn't want to answer he would've just said no, so she asked him:

"What are you?" she asked bluntly.

With a cold and calculating certainty, [Y/N] knew the man walking behind her was no mortal. The energy wafting off of him was unlike that of any human she had ever met throughout her lifetime, and the immense power and terror he could inflict from a single look attested to that. Even she, who found her sense of fear had been dulled like a sword over time, had quivered a bit at his gaze when he had pointed his blade at her, the pure and unadulterated animosity being sent into her veins like a bullet piercing through her skin.

The man behind her let out a small breath in amusement, as if her question was completely stupid and pointless in nature. "I'm surprised you would ask such a pointless question." His deep, uncaring voice seemed to echo in the darkness. "But I suppose I will humor it. My existence is that of a human who is not a mortal."

"I see." [Y/N] nodded to herself. I figured as much. Obviously I didn't immediately assume he was immortal, however from what I could decipher he seemed to have a human constitution. In that scenario, him being immortal wouldn't be too much of a reach. Although she had never met someone like him before, she had been aware of immortality existing as a concept. Since she had no experiences in the outside world, she wasn't sure how many people had immortality in the first place.

The man's watchful gaze bore into her back as if trying to gauge her reaction. Does he expect me to be scared? [Y/N] knew that even if he wasn't immortal, the chances of her being able to land a killing blow on him in battle were next to none. His immortality, in the end, didn't change a thing for her right now in their current situation. She was no more or less scared than how she had been in the beginning. Perhaps the man thought of this as somewhat queer behavior, but it was simply her thought process. She did not press the matter further and had no desire to now that her questions had been answered.

The two of them continued to walk on in silence, maintaining the same large distance between them as before. The all-encapsulating silence wreathed around them like a cloud as they continued onwards, the barren landscape seeming to go on forever. What may have seemed like an aimless walk across an incredibly large planet was anything but that, as [Y/N] knew exactly where she was going. Every step she took brought them closer to the Stellaron, and having walked on these grounds for as long as she could remember, she was quite confident in her sense of navigation.

Four hours of walking in silence passed but she didn't allow fatigue to sink its claws into her mind, pressing onwards without giving her brain the opportunity to be apathetic. The man behind her showed no signs of tiredness in the slightest despite not having anything to eat, although [Y/N] figured that was to be expected. If he was starving, he couldn't die anyways.

There were no signs of wildlife. Even on this barren planet, not running into a single sign of wildlife after such a long period of time was rare. Perhaps this is a bad omen. [Y/N] smiled bitterly at the ridiculous and childish sentiment. If omens did exist, they wouldn't be able to be read in a place such as this. It was impossible to observe the sky or a fortune in a glass ball when there was nothing to see. Her viewpoint on objects around her was a mirage, or rather, an educated guess. She had no idea what they looked like, and didn't have a particular interest in knowing either. Seeing the barren wasteland of what used to be a bustling city would be terribly lonely.

"What's your name?" [Y/N] asked the man after thirty more minutes of contemplating the same idea over and over again. She was used to this type of redundant thought pattern that had grown to become a comfort, reverting back to it was almost natural—however without a second thought she asked the hostile man what his name was. If he didn't answer, it wouldn't be the end of the world; it was simply that referring to him constantly as 'the man' in her head was getting quite repetitive and dull. If she had a name to use for him, then it would at the very least provide his identity with a little individuality.

"Blade," he responded. She waited a few seconds to see if he would follow up his singular word with any other clarification, but after a minute passed it was evident that he wasn't planning on saying anything else.

Blade, huh? What a curious name. It wasn't often that she encountered someone named after an inanimate object, in fact she was pretty confident that she had never met anyone like that before. "I see." [Y/N] knew that Blade wasn't his real name, but it was better than referring to him with a common noun all the time, so she figured that she would just accept it and move on. There was no reason for this stranger to share any information with her, after all. Blade was a fitting name for him. The intense bloodlust hidden behind his irises were that of an entity that only existed to exterminate—a soulless creature meant to kill and obey. Perhaps he had named himself that because of the blade he carried around with him that seemed to be his only weapon.

[Y/N] thought about asking him another question but came to the conclusion that she didn't care enough to. There was no point in attempting to host a one-sided conversation with someone who could kill her in a heartbeat if she breathed in a way he didn't like. So far the questions she'd asked had been fairly impersonal and straightforward, which was why he had been willing to provide an answer. She was quite confident that if she asked anything personal he would at best ignore it and at worst slice her in half. Even so she didn't find herself very scared of him. It was somewhat illogical, but his existence almost struck her as sad rather than frightening, a human cursed with immortality and never able to taste the sweetness of death.

He's almost pitiful.

Almost.

If only his attitude wasn't so callous, [Y/N] might have felt bad for him.

hope you guys are well! <33 ty for all the support 3k reads is insane T^T