Of Love and Death.

The Past Chapter 19: Of Love and Death Pt. 3

This was a trap. Form knew it was a trap. He looked up, and saw Cold, hovering above it all. He couldn't see her eyes, much less her face. Even without the distance she was wearing that hood of hers. But he could guess she was watching him. And he could guess that she was mad. And he could guess that she'd sent Earth to lure him for something, or maybe just kill him entirely.

There was something locked inside of him. Blood was...Blood was dead. Earth and Cold were going to pay. For as long as Form had been in that room, he'd been fighting something. Right now? He didn't bother to fight it.

They were circling each other now, Form and Earth. Walking around like cats about to strike. This was a trap. But at the same time, this was Earth. Directly in front of him. Living and breathing and with a heart that still was beating all of her blood. And he had a chance for revenge. Revenge that he was letting seep out from inside of him.

Rage was bubbling up inside of the shapeshifter's throat. Making it hard to think in the same way that being tired made it hard to work. A pervasive crawling inside of you. Coiled around like a snake, that reared its fangs along your canines. Scripting your words and speaking for you. Making each motion draining and sluggish, aside from the motions that helped it along.

Inside of Form, the rage sensed power. A power that he'd just now discovered, but was already thinking of all the ways he could use it to twist and bend and warp. And the rage really liked that. He would never kill anyone. Form knew that as well as he knew himself. He couldn't even think about death without thinking about grief. And without thinking about Blood. But Form didn't mind punishing Earth by making it so that she would be physically incapable of ever killing another soul again.

Carefully, Form slipped Light and Dark into his pocket. He wouldn't be able to lose them there, and they wouldn't get hurt in the fighting. They would be terrified, but safe. Then, the shapeshifting shadow ran forward, transforming into a terrifying beast as he did so. He wanted to scare Earth. He wanted her to fear for her life. To think that he would be willing to end it.

Even if Form wouldn't, he knew how to act and he knew how to bluff. And he knew that he could mimic that expression he'd seen on her face. With terrible, sadistic glee did he revel when he saw Earth's eyes widen. She didn't even consider or hesitate. She just turned around on her heels and ran, far away. It was fear. Fear of him. For as much as he hated her, she feared him right now.

The chase was hotblooded and long. Forces didn't really tire, at least not easily. Form could have run Earth around this whole planet seven times, and kept going. And she could have as well. But, obviously, that was unobtainable. And inefficient. Whenever the phantom thief went to steal something, he avoided corners. He avoided short hallways, narrow spaces, the places he could get blocked into, where his game could end.

In this open plane of a planet, there were just rocks and pools of boiling water, almost like soup. There weren't any corners. But there were overhangs and passes and mountains of rock. This was a trap. Form was taking the bait. And he would take the bait far, far away. To a corner she'd never come back from.

So, for a short while, Form ran, always just behind Earth. Always a few steps away. Maybe she slowed him down with vines or ferns or other vegetation. Maybe he caught up by flying above her, but when he tried to pounce down, she went back to her Force and then reappeared, far away. She could have disappeared forever, Form knew. But Earth didn't disappear. And she would live to regret that.

A rhythm started to encompass this chase. Almost robotic and practiced. Form found his mind wandering. To the rest of the battle, to the Orbs back home. As he ran Earth all over her planet, he thought. And he kept mourning. And he never closed his eyes for the sight of a mountain. Or, at the very least, a sheer cliff or wall. Something Earth would have trouble getting away from.