Autumn Twilight

Her ears flattened somewhat to her head at his response however, slowly getting up and brushing away the leaves. She did not notice his flustered attitude, most likely she didn't recognize it. However her eyes had softened when she looked at him, expressing gratitude. An odd warmth swelled in her chest, and she didn't recognize that either. It disappeared quickly however, when he asked her what she said before. Ears flattening somewhat, she shook her head, indicating a 'never mind'. 

She signed to him instead, "Who are you?"

Taking that as what she had also asked before, he stood there and contemplated whether or not he should really tell this mobian his name. He figured that after a little talking, she would be okay enough to continue talking to. He was the one who initiated the conversation in the first place, anyway. 

"Twilight." He responded. "My name is Twilight." 

He looked at her as if he expected an answer back, and he did. It wasn't every day that he gave out his name to someone. He expected her to return the favor, at least.

'Twilight... ' She found it ironic that his name was her favorite time of day. Especially in the autumn. Normally she would've just nodded and walked away. But he technically did save her, so she had a debt to him. Hopefully this would cover at least half of said debt.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a silver locket, and extended her hand to him so he could see it. Engraved on the smooth metal was her name. Amber.

Twilight looked down at the locket, then back up at the Wolf. He raised a hand as if he were going to take it, but simply pointed a finger at the locket. "That your name?" He asked, ears perking. He supposed it was a little strange to just carry around a locket with your name on it, but that was him and... everyone had their own history. He quickly shook off the thought of strangeness and became attentive again.

She nodded stiffly, pulling her hand back and stuffing it back in her pocket. She was a bit worried when he raised his hand. Thought he would take it. She pulled back somewhat, blinking and relaxing her posture finally. She raised her scarf more, to hide this odd sensation growing on her cheek. What was this?

Twilight perked his ears up at the sudden change and retreat of the Wolf. He shifted his weight to one leg, nodding back. "Alright." He stated. "... Nice to meet you, then, Amber." 

Part of him wanted to ask more questions, part of him wanted to keep his mouth shut and keep to himself. He knows he's rude most of the time, but probing a person's history crosses the line for him. He simply decided he would not ask about the locket. 

"Nice night, isn't it?"

Her ears twitched, feeling his voice glide through them. Instantly every word, every melody, and intake of breath was recorded in her brain. She noted the deepness of his voice, the coldness. Her eyes fluttered closed, like they usually do when she finds a voice that she liked. Her tail wagged a tiny bit.

During his last question, she opened her amber eyes once again, and moved her gaze to the sky. Dark ebony stretched over the skies, dotted with stars and the moon. Her glowing orbs reflected all of them. Gazing back at Twilight, she gave a small nod in agreement.

Seeing her nod in agreement, Twilight smiled a little. His ears lowered though, almost as if he were upset so he looked away. Terrible screeching, terrible, terrible screeching wracked his mind. A headache took over- he stopped smiling. He almost felt bad, but why? He didn't know- but at the same time he felt like he might know. 

He took a deep breath, continuing to absorb the autumn sights, trying to return to the calmness he once reached before. Though for now, it seemed to be too late. The emotions, the screeching, it was buzzing around in his head uncomfortably. He sighed in frustration, now frowning and looking less that sociable as he crossed his arms. 

"Sorry." He said, before it seemed he kind of retreated into an invisible shell of his own- unable to be broken out.

The sudden retreat was the first thing she ever noticed in someone's body language. It took her aback actually, made her flinch even, especially at his apology. Usually it would be her doing that. Retreating, escaping, shutting the door. And to have that in return, felt like a slap in the face.

Autumn eyes immediately darting to the ground, and it stayed there. Her brows were furrowed, as if deep in thought, and her ears were once again flat to her head. She noticed his uncomfortable shifts and concluded; she'd overstayed her welcome. It was oddly painful and discomforting, like a connection being cut. 'Empathy is bad...' 

Shutting her eyes, she drowned out all the emotion that pooled in it. And once her glowing orbs were opened, they were as dull as they were before. And she nodded to him in response.

Around the invisible shell, darkness started to build up- but it wasn't just any darkness. The darkness that collected around him was physical, it was an energy, but it was a dark colored energy. It was kind of gloopy and shadowy- and it nearly consumed him. Sometimes the energy would drip down, and recollect at the bottom of his feet, and rise up again. He kept the energy close, if he were to release it now he might hurt someone. 

He looked back at Amber, his ears flattened slightly. His eyes were glowing brighter than the had ever been in the darkness. He knew he made it awkward again, as if nothing he ever did was awkward. Everything he does is awkward though, but this was the most awkward he had ever felt in a long time. He didn't exactly like it, so it built up in the gloopy energy surrounding him.

The gloop surrounding him made her ears perk up almost in an instant. Eyes widening, she didn't understand why her foot stepped forward, not backwards. So odd that she actually looked down to see her feet. Craning her head back up quickly, too quickly, her scarf slipped down and dangled over her neck, like scarfs were supposed to. The dark made it hard to see, but the whiteness of her muzzle glowed dimly beneath the pale moonlight. Her lips, and a black nose. Finally exposed.

Now of course she did not realize this. How could she feel the crisp breeze blowing by, against her cheek. How could she feel the scarf dangle, move along with the whispering wind. Not long after, her other foot followed suit, making no noise as it shift over fallen leaves. Her head tilted to the side once again, curious.

His ears perked as she came closer. He took a step back. "You might not want to do that." He mentioned. "Unless you want to get hurt- or something." 

It wasn't every day that he warned someone of incoming harm- in fact it was almost never. The only one who he had ever protected ever was- No, that's too personal- but even that was an accident. Either way, he knew that he had to do something with this energy- but what? It would become too much for him soon, his headache got worse. It stayed at it's gloopy consistency for a while- but after a while the energy started to flare up little by little into a fiery looking energy. It looked pretty aggressive, but Twilight himself looked like he had no intentions to do anything bad. He looked rather calm, or as calm as he could be with this influx of energy surrounding him.

The fox's warning did not faze her, though she stopped in mid-step. Watching how the gloop turned to fire, her ears stood erect and her tail swayed in slight excitement. She'd never seen something like that before, and she was not afraid of getting hurt. Because she couldn't.

But stepping backwards, Amber moved her back against a tree. Hearing the distinct 'thump' of hitting something, she slid down the trunk until she came to stop in a sitting position. Then she crossed her legs indian style. The wolf then leaned forward slightly, watching Twilight's building energy and locked gazes with him once again; entranced by his glowing eyes. 

So she sat there faithfully.

Twilight's eyes followed Amber's movements as she backed up against the tree, slid down and watched him intently. He frowned. But, he shouldn't care about this one. They just met, therefore he wouldn't care. That's what he figured to himself right then. 

But he could feel himself getting angry for seemingly no reason. She didn't do as he said, and while it would only annoy him slightly most of the time now he become enraged. He internalized the rage, trying not to lash out at the wolf in front of him. It'd be sudden and unexpected and...

No, he said he wouldn't care about this one! But even still, assaulting an innocent mobian would get him into a lot of trouble. He felt the purple scales climb up his arm as the darkness became stronger, his sclera slowly melted into blackness, slowly he could feel himself losing to the darkness.

This response set off an alarm in her brain, telling her that situations had changed and... He would hurt her. It felt like a needle pricked her chest as if a subconscious trust had been broken. And it showed in her eyes. In a split second, the wolf had gotten to her feet, hand lifting her scarf over her muzzle, and a second later, she took off sprinting.

Gone from sight in just a few moments.

Even as she ran, his glowing eyes were burned into her memory.

Twilight held his head as the purple scales appeared in patches around his body, even some around his wings. "No.." He whispered to himself, holding his head as he tried to hold in the negativity- as he tried to control it. "NO--" He started, but it was too late and his body took over. It was as if it were instinct, almost, but there was something terribly unusual about his actions. 

His sudden aggression didn't seem like him, it was such a sudden change it was almost jarring. Either way, his eyes closely followed his target as she ran- then he took off. Using the darkness to propel himself forward with every step and beginning to drain the excess darkness eating away at him. For the first few steps, the energy surrounding him got noticeably smaller- and then it seemed to come to a stand still. For now, anyway, but he would continue to deplete his energy until he was able to control himself again.

Amber ran as fast and far as her feet could carry her, extending her legs to its full possible length. Yet her ears caught his take off, and she instinctively skidded to a halt. Craning her head behind her, she could see the glowing eyes moving quickly, very quickly on her trail. Alarm sparked even more inside of her. 

Pupils dilating, she kicked into a run, a full time sprint once again. The trust severed even more, the hope. All gone. It sent her back to the spiraling darkness of solitude and hollowness. The only thing she knew, the only thing she had. There really was no hope for a better life for her was there?

Brows furrowing, she turned back around sharply, swinging her arm to send a heat blade, but not to him, no. This was self-defense. The heat hit the dried leaves, sparked an ember which grew to a fire. It spread, and spread... Devouring everything in its path.

But she kept running.

The light, the light. Twilight's body skidded to a halt. He stopped a midst the fire and tried to stomp down on it, but the power of his darkness quickly drained as the light of the fire hit the energy. The emblem around his neck glowed, but it wasn't enough to save his excess energy- the fire was probably what he needed most. A short episode of uncontrollable darkness, a short burst, but it seemed to be coming to a close. The purple scaled patches on his body seemed to disperse into nothing- but he still didn't seem completely in control of his body. 

He closed his eyes, almost seeming to be in pain at the light the fire emitted. It was strange. He blinked, he blinked a lot, as if his conscience was trying to come back to him. Steadily, it seemed to be, for as long as he stayed in the light of the fire. It wasn't enough to drain all of the darkness from his body, so in the middle of his blinking he shot off a blast of darkness into the sky- which exploded into nothingness probably not to be seen by anyone who wasn't really looking due to the fact that it was already dark out. 

He was almost there, he was almost back to himself, but he was also in the middle of a spreading fire...

The sound of fire took center stage that night. Yet the wolf kept running on, not even looking back. She didn't care, she would let the whole park burn. There were many other parks she could visit. Many other people left in the world. Why should she care?

But an odd sensation, as if something was missing, nagged at her. And as she ran the feeling only grew stronger until she gave in. Patting herself down for any lack of items, she was about ready to conclude it was just her imagination when she reached her pockets. A buldge was missing. 

Her locket.

The blood drained from her face as the world seemed to have stopped moving. She did a quick, silent, sharp turn back, watching the fire consume dried trees and leaves. It must be in there. It must be in there somewhere. But where?

'Doesn't matter. I'll find it.' She thought in determination to herself. Strengthening her resolve, she charged back into the inferno, dodging flames and falling branches with great agility and light steps. All the while wondering where... 'Had to have been a sharp move...' And then it just snapped.

A flashback consisting her turning sharply to send a heat blade popped in her mind, and she knew that must have been where it fell. But then, that would also mean she would re-encounter Twilight. The thought made her halt in her step. Which was more important? Avoiding him for the rest of her life or finding her locket?

Clearly it was no competition.

A sudden blare of sirens replaced the sound of crackling wood. A spotlight shot from the sky along with the whirr of helicopter blades. The city officials must've noticed the light and smoke. She needed to hurry.

Weaving back to the spot the fire started, her eyes immediately caught a glimpse of a shimmering item. She recognized it right away. With one fell swoop she snatched it up, gave it a gentle kiss, and returned it to her pocket. It was the only thing that kept her alive. The proof that maybe, she was wanted in this world. And that she should live on another day. But then a glimpse of darkness shuffling about the flames caught the wolf's attention. A small growl left her throat as she registered what it was.

Twilight stood there right before her, completely still and blinking furiously as if something had gotten in his eyes. The thought of finishing him off right then and there entered her mind, made her consider. Or better yet, leave him there to suffocate and burn. He did try to attack her. For no apparent reason at that.

Now Amber was not a creature of compassion. But the look in his eyes indicated something she did not expect; innocence. And boy was she a sucker for that. 'One good deed to last the rest of the year...' She thought bitterly, and lowered the temperature of the fire around him, ultimately putting them out, and created a path out right before him. He'd find it. In the meanwhile, she turned around and left in the opposite direction avoiding the sirens. And vanished among the flames.

With one more blink, Twilight was back to his old self, just in time to see Amber disappear out of the fire and into the trees. He stood up straight, then the sound of the sirens hit him. They were loud and grating, and he always hated them. After a second of covering his ears he turned to see the path waiting for him. He turned back in the direction that he saw Amber run away in. He nodded to himself, paying no attention to the sirens anymore.

He had to apologize. 

He used the shadows around him, sinking into them and traversing his way into one of the trees and out of the fire. He jumped out of the tree before the fire engulfed it and hurried away from the scene before anyone could have seen him. He stared at the way ahead of him and sunk back into the shadows, moving as fast as he could between them to try and catch up to her while still staying hidden.

'It's over. It's over.' She told herself again and again. Never should she see the kitsune again. Never again would she feel the dreaded empathy. However, she developed a bad feeling in her gut. The way she usually does when something suspicious was occurring. And she didn't need to guess.

Skidding to a halt and turning herself around, she fired a warning shot to the shadows, a heat bullet, close enough to almost graze Twi. This shot didn't spark an ember though. Ears flat to her head and her fangs bared, she crouched low to the ground, readying herself for an attack.

Thoughts of anger and distrust rushed through her head, raising the heat incredibly high to establish the maximum distance he could go. Why did he follow her? Was he sent to follow her? Kill her? Why else was he doing this? Why else? 'Of course it was an act...' A new thought rushed by. 'Who would want to stick around me?" 

And just like that her emotions melted away like wet paint in rain. Her glowing eyes fell to the ground for a moment, before it rose back up once again to observe the shadow. The temperature remained high. "What do you want?" Her voice was forced and choked. Like it was rarely used. Because it was.

He rose up out of a nearby shadow and looked down. He was about to turn around and walk away. It wasn't like it was entirely his fault to begin with- he just couldn't... 

No, it was his fault. A voice echoing in the back of his head screeched and screamed, screamed until his head hurt again. He let a dark aura surround him as he observed that she was pretty ready to attack him at any moment- but he didn't expect her to until he made the first move. He knew he wouldn't, and that he shouldn't. 

He looked away again. He didn't want to apologize, but he knew he had to. He didn't want to talk, but he had to apologize. He felt it was more than necessary- but it also felt weird. It felt like it was the first time he ever felt any need to apologize about anything- then again that was the first time that ever happened in a while.. Overloading on power and not being able to control his actions. It was something that could happen to any Shadow. He knew that. 

"I wanted... to... apolog...ize." He said slowly and awkwardly as if he didn't know what else to say at this point.

Almost instantly the temperature dropped back to normal. Her eyelids raising, revealing her entire autumn orbs. Orbs that showed surprise. 

An apology?

The assassin slowly raised herself from her low stance, dropping her guard as she gazed at this stranger in awe. He just never ceases to amaze her. From her appearance now, one would think he'd told her that her parents wanted her and were looking for her, not to say sorry. But she could make no difference. That was truly the first time anyone ever apologized for trying to hurt her. Suspicion and worry itched in her chest, but her mind felt paralyzed. "A-... Apo...logize...?"

She tilted her head to the side, and then straightened it again, as if making sense of the word he just uttered. "I-..." She furrowed her brows, as if forgetting how to make her tongue move to form words. It's been so long since she's spoken... "...Forgive you."

Her eyes showed confusion at this stage. Accompanied with a look of sincerity and a stiff nod. Despite being a cold-blooded killer, Amber was not one to hold a grudge. Besides, she's seen worse attempts at her life.

Well that was awkward. 

And things continued to be awkward. Twilight kind of stood there, nodded at the forgiveness and looked around. He looked around as if he was looking for something else to say. He was confused. What now? He didn't know. It was hard enough to even apologize. He looked at Amber and shrugged. "Okay."

Then he crossed his arms. "... Thanks...? For the forgiveness. I guess." Good. Perfect. Nailed it.

The wolf drew back somewhat  in curiosity, watching him as he looked around. She took note of the dark aura surrounding him, and kept her distance. Yet Amber was once again surprised when he said thanks. 

What an eventful day...

"Y-... Your welcome." She choked out, cringing at the sound of her hoarse voice. Ears flat to her head, she looked to see his reaction, and locked eyes with him once again. But what she didn't realize, was the piece of charred bark, lodged in her arm, where lines of blood slowly trickled down.