Clarity.

It was something that he yearned for and he needed that familiar taste of divinity that spoke to him within the womb of the earth. Pushing forever onwards and away from the safety of pride lands. He knew of the deep underground cave that housed crystals and water - that would be where he would eventually head. He felt the constant error of years gone by.

Winter was starting to give up her hold on the land and that suited the beast fine. The greenery was starting to peak through the covering of white that gripped the land and the lakes were beginning to shed that layer of skin that protected their surface. With the final wracked breath of winter - it meant a lot of inhospitable places would become visitable once more.

But he would weave his way to a nearby tree, front legs lifting off of the ground as claws worked into the surface of the bark to sharpen them. Paws would touch the ground once more after he was done. Toes would wiggle diligently against the ground before the lion turned and began to slowly walk in the direction of the cave system.

Spring was coming! And oh how her soul delighted. The land was slowly turning green once more, the little buds absolutely adorable in their slow yearly waking.

With this seasonal change brought rain. And lots of it. The air was still chilly but the steady increase of downpours served to chase the snow away. It was such a rain that had initially brought the fae-woman here. She may have been more at home in the lush groves, but she was a decent enough climber. Having hopped her way up the slick rocky surface and lived to tell about it. She'd say she did just fine.

Arianwen relaxed in the entrance of one of the many tunnels. She cooed and hummed into the darkness. Pleased with the way her voice echoed and bounced down into the chambers. Hollows in the earth always made for grand stages for her singing.

@Vladizmir

art by Beleth, background from unsplash, code by dee

Fiend.

The final words from the last life he cut short - spat with venomous resentful rage. Was it true? Was he a fiend? Unquestioning so, but that was what he was to the Savante - The Shadow, the fiend, the executioner, wretched assassin. The male was so steeped in gore that he was positive that others could see it. It was in the subtle way they took steps away from him, gave him tense smiles, or he was met with flashing teeth. No matter, if striking fear was what was required to protect his family then he would strike that match and watch the entire forest burn.

But today the fiend had a guest - her voice reverberating through the cave system and making his head lift and point in the direction of the voice. The voice rose and fell so heavenly in a manner that attracted his attention. Vlad however tried to resist - rooted to his spot as his inner demons voices waged their wars. 'Stay,' one would whisper into his mind - conscious so diligent in it's need to protect outsiders from unwarranted fear.

'Go, she's alone. She could be in danger,' false reasoning from hellish voice that yearned for contact - however misguided; even while his conscious rebuked the notion that anything in this cavern stretch was more dangerous than he. There was no saying no to the voice that lingered in the depths of his mind so heavy paws would set off toward the crooning voice.

It was easy to find @Arianwen at the mouth of the cave - something about the way she stood heightened his awareness. 'Don't be a creep,' Vlad would think to himself. Old habits tended to die rather hard, he attempted to approach her from her right side. He failed to extend the proper cursory greetings, instead his eyes would quickly flicker across her form.

The sound is much better from, he pauses, his tongue dancing lightly against his upper lip, inside. Baritones would finish as his amber gaze flickers towards the inside of the cave.

She rested with eyes closed. Soft songs rising from parted lips. Pointed ears twisting forward to thoroughly enjoy the sounds that bounced back her way.
Her voice began with only hums and various made up melodies. But now she moved onto words.

Echoes linger!
A lingering spell!
In this cave's embrace, where mysteries dwell.
My voice becomes one with the ancient stone,
In this enchanted cavern, I am not alone.

Little did she know how true that statement was. She indeed was not alone.

She misses his approach entirely. Too absorbed in her play to notice the sounds of another. When he speaks however, Arianwen startles in place. Wide eyes snapping his way and her mouth clamping tightly shut. The fae stares at him like this for a moment more. Yet soon her bewilderment is giving way to a fit of laughter. Amused was she by her own ridiculous reaction. My! You gave me quite the fright! A delicate paw rising to hold against her still fluttering heart.

When she has caught her breath enough to calm down, her amusement shifts into excitement. Really? She inquires as she steps forward. Unfazed by his appearance. Or the fact that he was a total stranger. Oh I know! Her body moves closer to him, her front paws attempting to rise up and press into his side. As if ushering him into her previous placement. You sing from here and I'll go inside and listen! And when you're done, I'll sing back! Autumnal eyes beaming up at him with near childish delight. Oh it'll be a duet! She continued in girlish squealing.

@Vladizmir

art by Beleth, background from unsplash, code by dee

Echoes linger!
A lingering spell!
In this cave's embrace, where mysteries dwell.
My voice becomes one with the ancient stone,
In this enchanted cavern, I am not alone.

Large ears would pivot around his skull as her serenade hit the cave walls and bounced along the walls - cavorting along the surfaces and traversing the distance back to greedy ears. A mistake is caught and captured, she didn't know he was here and the way she startled sent familiar pinpricks along his stomach, the flesh tightening eagerly. How he wanted more, that feeling was akin to a routine lover that never left him want. The beast - about to step forward to encroach into her space, but the idea is stalled as her laughter greeted him.

This was unusual. The creature was used to being greeted with fear, and aggression, and sometimes the few odd ones would faint, the latter were boring and the former sparked his need to break them - but this, left an unsettling feeling flirting against the pit of his stomach that chased away the waves of satisfaction he earlier felt.

This woman was already giving him whiplash.

'My! You gave me quite the fright!' The woman was upbeat, jovial even - that paw of hers rising to her chest but the sound of her quickened heart made the slavering shadow linger between bliss and discontent. Why was she so rosy? Why was she catching her breath? The creature preferred her in her breathless state, heart racing, and fright so close to the surface. This wouldn't do or maybe it would.

@Arianwen moved closer to him and he in turn took a step closer still to her. How trusting she was - she a lamb, perhaps that was what he would call her - little lamb. But the creature says nothing just yet, instead he seeks to meet her gaze with those liquid flame eyes - they swirl precariously as he listens, absorbs, and allows her free reign of the conversation.

But then she is closer still and her paw - reached out and touched his side. Stomach would churn in discomfort at the touch, the creature was not used to a willing participant who interacted so freely without him having to intimidate them first. It was his turn to finally be uncomfortable - she was not family, opponent, or temporary lover but engaged in the art of touch.

Jaws slowly unhinge - the words so close to the surface but he is left in both a state of confusion and need, a slow shiver traveling the length of his spine and settling at the tip of his tail. His gaze would flicker to her paw and slowly crawl its way along her forepaw, tracing the curve of her chest, and finally raising back to her face.

Mmm, the hellion would rumble before turning his gaze behind her, the depths of the caverns called. Sure, you go in and call when you're ready. Vlad would intone agreeably. But there was the subtle way his ears shifted back and focused upon her - the set of muscles and lingering gaze that cut from the darkness, back to her, and then back to the darkness. Of course, the male had zero intention of singing anything for her.

It was abundantly clear that this woman had zero idea of the potential danger. Or perhaps she just had little cares to give in ways of her own safety. Living on the edge mayhaps?

The way in which his eyes traverse her from paw to arm to chest to face goes wholly noticed. Earning him a mirthful grin. She shoved against him still, suppressing her excited giggles. Try as she might, they leak out regardless. Go go. Ari coaxes toward the cave entrance where she had been upon his arrival.

Pale paw lowers back to the ground but not before she prances in place. Clearly overjoyed with the prospect of this little game. Sing me whatever you want! Truly anything would do. Music was music. The sounds of the soul itself. One could reveal so much about themselves in the way they sang. Even if it were off tune, that mattered not.

What kind of soul did this stranger have, she wondered.

The autumn fairy pivots to practically skip her way into the darkness of the caverns. Up a rock she leaps, spins and seats herself. I'm reaaddyy~~~ Voice pitched and echoed lightly.

@Vladizmir

art by Beleth, background from unsplash, code by dee

This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers. Trigger Warning for mentions of vampirism, unhinged thoughts, It's Vlad, etc.

The beast couldn't help but watch her enraptured with her lack of self-preservation or maybe the way she just trusted that everyone had her best interest at heart. Lucky for her, the creature was a monster of a different type, one that fed on fear but tended not to act upon it unless allowed to fully revel in the madness of his own creation. But here within this cave, the two of them — alone, and yet no taste of fear graced his senses. No, only a jovial woman that wanted him to sing to her.

She grins and giggles at him, tainted with happiness and the notion that he wouldn't hurt her. Did she always touch strangers? He wanted to know. He had to know. She would push against him, urging him onwards and he could only stare at her; curious predator with this girl that reeked of sunshine. He wanted to pin her to the floor — sink his teeth into her flesh to see if he could taste what happiness felt like; as if her blood held within it the answers that he was looking for.

The beast did not move; the shadows beckoned for him to step within their safety but he allowed her to make the distance she didn't go far enough, she didn't run, and she didn't know what untamed thoughts ran through his mind. Perhaps that made it even more tantalizing than fear — it gave him the urge to break her, to see if he could ruin that sun-kissed glow that seemed to circle her.

Vladizmir waits a moment before flowing; head low as he sniffs at the ground to follow her trail inside only to peer up at her sitting up on the rock. Ears would rotate upon his skull favoring focusing upon her. What song should he sing her? Something to soothe? Something to terrify?

The trees whisper the names of those forgotten.
Forgotten by war,
Forgotten by life,
Forgotten by my love.

His voice would rumble the melody as muscles coiled and bunched under flesh as he aimed to launch himself upon the rock that she was sitting on. Front right paw would attempt to land somewhere near her right shoulder as his left paw hovers in the air.

The air never speaks her name,
never speaks my love,
never speaks my grief.
So I leave to find a new love,
a new name,
a new grief.

She was ready — but so was he.


@Arianwen

Way deep inside herself, Arianwen was well aware of the potential danger. Everyone had the capacity to hurt. To kill. It wasn't that she couldn't see it, but more that she refused to. Preferring instead to see a brighter world. If she tried hard enough then maybe others would see it too.

She lays upon her perch, watching him calmly as he trails after her. When he looks up, autumnal eyes would soften. Looking upon the man as if he were something precious despite having never met him before now.
He leaps up, nearly on top of her and she can't help but giggle, the back of her wrist coming to stifle the noise from her lips. Gradually it dies, paw returning back beneath her as his voice rumbled up all around them. Eyes closed while ears twisted to hear his song radiate around them. Echoing down the cavern, the baritone like a distant earthquake.

Her eyes open once more to examine the man so close. Head tilting back, her expression one of sadness. He finishes and a small paw rises again, this time reaching up to touch his chest, seeking to gently stroke the long tresses there.

I hear your sorrow in each word. She begins. True to her word that if he sang to her then she would sing back in turn.
A love forgotten, memories blurred.
The world moves on, yet grief remains,
In whispered trees and silent plains.

How much had this poor soul lost? Arianwen was not blind. And though she may come off as willfully naive, she was no fool either. This stranger had approached her with an aura of intimidation. Of darkness. Was it a front, she couldn't help but wonder now. A facade to protect him from more pain?

Your pain, a burden hard to bear,
A heart once full, now laid bare.
But love, though lost, still lingers near,
In every breath, in every tear.

What a terrible way to live. To forever run from the sun in fear of continued loss. If she could, if she had the power, Arianwen would wipe such terribleness from the world entirely.

May peace and solace grace your way,
And light the dark of yesterday.
Your heart deserves a happiness pure,
A love enduring, strong, and sure.

No one should ever be without friendship. Without home. Without love. If his song were true and he was seeking all things anew, then she would help him will it into existence. Nothing in this life was quite as powerful like Intention.

@Vladizmir

art by Beleth, background from unsplash, code by dee