"Haaaa....Hkk-"
WOOOOOOH!
The gusts pushed violently, stumbling Saphira's steps through the void.
CRUNCH! CRU-CRUNCH!
Uneven steps ran through the air, resounding a track of howls and stress.
Her eyes snapped forward, squinting in the pressure of white.
The boy she'd been trailing was right there, a black silhouette in the frost, seemingly slowing down every so often to wait for her.
"Haaa....."
Was it relief?
'Too cold...'
The thought came slow, as the wind harassed her posture.
Seeing him was enough of a reassurance to keep going....
Crunc-
She almost tripped, arms flailing before the snow caught her weight.
"Hkk-"
Her lungs started to burn further....if they weren't already.
Each breath stabbed sharp and shallow, white mist torn by the storm.
"Saph-"
WOOOOOOOOH!
Was that him?
Her heart jolted, snapping her gaze up.
But the voice; if it even was one, was gone.
The echoes of noise were swallowed by the veil's call as only the storm sounded.
WOOOOOOOOOH!
A thought came slow, heavy.
'Where is he?'
She pressed hers layers closer, clutching to fur he'd gifted as golden strands wafted into the wind.
Crunch!
"Hkk-"
The relief received due to his visage was replaced.....
Replaced with the anxiety of disappearance.
Through squinted eyes she scanned....trying to find any trace of him.
There wasn't any.
"Riven!"
The name came out, clashing with the gales.... but no answer came.
Something seemed different.
'...It's plain'
She forced herself forward, the sound of thumps reaching her ears.
Thump! Thump!
The surroundings were even less breathable now....
"Hkk-"
Where was he?
WOOOOOOOOH!
---------------
It was silent, but he could feel.
He could feel eyes....
Eyes that were stalking.
"Haa...."
The breath came sharp, frost striking his throat.
Grey eyes scanned the area, but nothing revealed inconsistency.
Thump! Thump!
'....Somewhere'
His knuckles whitened as he quickly glanced to his arm.
He was holding Mael's Fang....but the sensory distortion.
The lack of hums which he was used to...
He had to double check it wasn't a phantom feel.
"Haa...."
How long had he been crouched, ready to dart.
'...It's waiting'
He was right.
This was a real predator.
Not a figment of image apparent, but it stalked in the dark, waiting.
Waiting for a lapse.
A trigger.
Impatience.
Riven's chest rose, steady, though every nerve screamed to break into motion.
He knew this rhythm.
He knew because he had stalked prior, although that was to save a life--
and not necessarily take one as the focus...
'It's the same dance...'
His foot shifted.
The sound of crunching expected, but not received.
What was going on?
Was it the veil itself doing this?
...Or was it whatever that's out there?
"Haa...."
"...haaa"
A silence stretched, taut like a wire.
Scccrpppp!
A sound; like steel dragged across ice.
Riven's head snapped right, blade held firm, as his pupils narrowed.
Nothing.
Only white.
His breath misted.
'Sound...'
The cold grinned at him.
Thrum!
Too close. His spine lit up.
Riven pivoted immediately, body lowering as every nerve braced.
For an instance, the veil split--hunched shoulders, pale orbs burning low.
"--!"
Not a trick.
Not a deception.
He didn't wait. His foot dug deep in frost as the world blurred.
Snow spiralled, air cracking as his form reappeared metres away.
"Haa...."
That form....
It was for an instant, but he seen it.
Elongated limbs...hunched shoulders....
The truth had been revealed.
It was driving him, herding his focus wrong...
What else could explain that noise that ripped his attention?
'Fakes....'
Grey eyes spanned through the veil where it had vanished.
He was adapting as quick as he could process everything.
"Haaaa....."
Sccccrppp!
Another scrape split.
His head jerked, but he didn't fully commit.
Eyes dragging from the sound, quickly to other areas.
'Fake again...'
Mael's Fang was postured up, ready for a lunge from another angle.
'Up? Sides?'
He couldn't show weakness in the face of a predator.
SHAAAH!
Fire tore across his thigh.
Cold bit deeper than the slash that had cut deep, revealing flesh to the frost.
Riven's breath hissed between clenched teeth...
"Haakk-"
It made him pay....
Pay for thinking it couldn't adapt.
His stance faltered, snow darkening beneath as he knelt.
"Haa--"
It had been there.
'Fuc-'
The phantom echo wasn't a trick this time....
And it had already tasted his blood.
'It hurts....'
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Was it his mind?
Or was it his crimson blood running down the hash on his thigh, painting the snow with hues of red?
His knuckles whitened around Mael's Fang, every nerve screaming to bolt...to strike....to do something.
But the veil didn't offer any luxury.
The white swallowed all vision, and sound was non-existent.
And to make it worse....
It didn't seem possible but it was colder....
The furs wrapped around his hands didn't seem to protect from the numbing frost.
"Haa...."
The frost pulled at his chest...at his soul.
Only the ache in his thigh reminded him this was real.
Only the weight of steel reminded him....he wasn't prey.
He forced himself to rise, dragging the pain with him in this mute zone.
"Ha...."
"Haa...."
One breath.
Another.
'Watch. Feel'
The stalker circled.
Those pale orbs shining, unseen in the white haze.
Ever circling. Ever waiting.
Breaths came long, frost invading his lungs as cold sweat ran across his skin.
'I can't die here. Not in this frost....'
Saphira's face burned in his mind; fragile, lost....just like him.
His stance firmed, despite the ice gnawing up his bones.
The world shivered, mimicking his appearance.
"Haa...."
"Haa...."
How many seconds? Minutes? Had it been.
Riven's jaw was clenched.
It was then his voice scraped out, simulating the same twisted noise he'd heard in the snow, colder than frost.
"Stop hiding..."
The veil rippled.
THRUM!
The stalker lunged.
A blur of frost and muscle tore through, snow exploding in its path.
Claws pincered like spears of ice, launching inches from his throat....
Riven's blade snapped, Mael's Fang screaming as steel met the storm....
SSHHHHHHRRRKK!
Frozen predator.