Dead leaves slowly forming into auburn colored haystack, scattered aimlessly around the almost-draught-season ground, all the while producing these rustling sounds as Mercury continued to step on the path and follow a certain trail right in front of him.
It was like suicide. The numbness he was feeling inside, crippling his entire system, devouring all the human emotions left in him was still ever present - screaming his name as if it was poison.
Somehow, walking on this road again felt like the old times. The bad old times. A bitter smile made its way on the edge of his lips, as he remembered how his father made him feel like more of an abomination, a killing machine, training in a similar looking woods and definitely less like his own son - of his own fresh and blood.
He was as dead as these leaves trying to remind him how cold and horrible the world can be. The breezy air touched his skin like the ghost of his undying fears, and the bad memories he so desperately tried to bury along the damned, unmoving body of his old man.
These tangible objects that make up the bitter world around his self-conscious capacity, often times share one thing in common with him: the rather intuitive side of being aware and broken, that in the end - he will still feel lonely and more or less isolated.
Mercury wanted to feel at least a little gentle, or maybe soft, at one point he tried to be someone he's not. To be plain and normal. But in reality, he was made of steel and anger - a cold-blooded assassin in the guise of an eighteen year old teenager, along with a former thief and her long lost cause, both of them used to serve a now fallen maiden who gave them false hopes, temporary reasons to continue fighting...but now it has come to his realization that they were always bound to lose.
The thought of Cinder being a failure wasn't necessarily the thing that makes him mad. It was the tiniest bit thought of Cinder, although far from her vocabulary, leaving them like little pups on the street, with nowhere to go. Purely unintentional, but that was the consequence; and that was the truth, they have nowhere to go now. He wasn't even sure how long will that big guy called Hazel keep them under his refuge over such predicament, but at least there was the slightest given benefit of sticking with his side for now. Yet, none of these will guarantee his survival in the long run, or if he's already about to reach his finish line and get necked down, ending up the same way as his father's - and that, he never wished to be alike in any form, even over his dead body.
A part of him telling the right side of his brain to do whatever he wants, whatever he pleases. But all he wanted to do right now, especially with how Emerald remained unconscious for several days already with no signs of waking up sooner, was to shout. To shout at the world and all these gods conspiring to make his already horrendous life even more appaling than it could get.
Walking alone, and wandering off his own might give him the unwanted satisfaction of finding for his cause again. The state of the mind where it gives you this transient, relaxing feeling, of thinking how there's not a burden in your chest in these trying times. It's not much of a help, but then again, even too much is never enough.
At the same time, it gives off the superficial negativity and thus, the widely acceptable way to attract Grimms. This whole, imprudent idea felt like digging his own grave, and Mercury's completely aware of that, but he's nowhere near sane at the moment to even think about his well-being, of his own vulnerability.
Sure enough, if this was his last breath then it's an absolute dumb way to die. Marcus didn't raise him up and train him head to head only for Mercury to be eaten by a lousy Grimm. But with his inability to even launch a bullet from his boots felt too heavy for him, to land it even because of how his mind was too pre-occupied with thoughts that didn't do him any good, in fact baited him in danger.
Alas, if this stupid Grimm will be the key to end his inner suffering without self-inflicting, then it did him a favor to be honest. That should have been his very unpleasant last thoughts before the continuous, blastering sound of gauntlets came his way immediately, knocking said creature down.
"Are you seriously trying to get yourself killed?!"
Of all damn people, of all the people who would be saving his sorry ass, it was the least person he could think of and should have been saying thanks to.
It was the same girl. Blondie. There was nothing new, nothing exciting - except for her cybernetic arm which he got a hold of from last time. Even so, he never wished to see her again, after that scene she made while holding the relic when it was supposed to be Cinder? Bullshit. Instead of even thanking her, just for the sole reason of faking it, the annoyance was far more debatable so he can't possibly do that.
Letting out a sigh, Mercury decided to ignore her by giving her only a blatant look with no anymore meaning to it, and then quickly turning his back against her as if she was some kind of dirty person with no worth of acknowledgement.
And it's not like she's gonna follow him, would she?
He was wrong, though.
"Hey, you can't just turn your back from me like that! Who do you think you are?"
For lack of a better word, to contemplate was the goal of the day, all on his own. Not even Emerald, if she were awake, would actually want to stay by his side in a rare chance like this one. So to have a very unlikely company in the shape of Yang, if he could recall her name accurately, was totally uncalled for. Not even one he'd like to have, if he should be honest.
He stopped on his tracks upon the belittling remark, turning to face her again but this time, disdain was clouding both of his weary irises, "And who do you think you are for me to lend my attention on you, blondie? Should I be saying thank you now?"
She hissed, her brows almost knitting as if she can't believe this person. But Yang could absolutely feel the scorn with the way he glared at her, "I don't care about what you think of me, but you could have died from that Grimm! What's in your head all of a sudden?"
"You're not supposed to be here in the first place, so you shouldn't be asking me that."
He can clearly hear how Yang let out an irritated groan, closing her eyes briefly before they once again turned into fiery orbs, shooting daggers at his direction. If anything, Mercury's definitely not in the right state of mind to fight, but Yang's so close to beating him up and make him pay back for all the shit he had caused her from Beacon days until Haven.
It didn't even come to his knowledge not until at this point that he was her perfect enemy, designed to fight each other until this whole ordeal finally comes into an end...which is for sure, not happening anytime soon.
For a moment, Yang certainly looked like she was about to charge at him, given the build up ranging from her red eyes to clenched fists. But then again, they suddenly returned into lilac colored ones, looking away from him while an exasperated sigh escaped from her mouth.
That alone says a lot. Mercury likes reading people, and he didn't have to try figuring out that much but maybe, he wasn't the first and foremost reason why was she so enraged like that. It was questionable why Yang went on her own as well when she already had her team - complete team, all four of them.
"What makes you here, then?" he asked, almost as if nonchalantly. He sounded a bit too uninterested, almost for the sake of just having to comply with so-called socializing.
Mercury wasn't looking for a stupid conversation, not at this time, especially not with her. But at that point he knew this is where it's all gonna head to, whether he liked it or not.
Yang tried to hide the fact that she was a little surprised when he spoke again. She thought that she was just probably wasting her time on him, and this is just another pure chance encounter she'll forget the next day. He'll bail out again probably, but he didn't. "Same as you, I guess." was all she managed to reply. Somehow the new breath of air was kind of...awkward.
He hummed in response, giving her a prior feel before saying his next line, "To unwind? I figured. Well, I thought you're gonna attack me next."
"You see, maybe I do. But I have more self-control now than what you'd like to give me credit for."
"Self-control? Big word. So if I challenge you to a fight right now ㅡ"
A quick dodge, followed by another. A familiar pair of flying fists almost landed a good blow on his face, but thankfully, he was still as swift as lightning when it comes to evading such ambushed attacks. This was a perfect opportunity to give her his signature smirk, just to annoy the hell out of her, but didn't come out naturally than it should be.
He might want to let her get a taste of his slick moves again, apparently Mercury's aware of his own condition - both physically and mentally, even emotionally to make it worse. There was always this sudden rush of thrill whenever he gets the chance to fight someone, especially if it's his favorite blonde brawler, but today was different. He was just too numb to even feel anything at all. Too drained.
Knowing Yang, she didn't stop. He noticed how calculated her actions have become, unlike before. Obviously, there's more thought to it now than just plain, brute force. She still tried to give him hits that he deserved, slowly, but all of them, he managed to either block or swerve without breaking a sweat.
Yet this only fueled up Yang, as Mercury's aura begins to falter when it wasn't in the best condition to begin with. His remaining strength pent up on evading her attacks resulted in him growing slower, even weaker. Compared to Yang, in this exact moment, he's no match. She just continued throwing punches, determined in giving him even just one blow until that satisfaction commences.
All of a sudden, his debarking ego dropped big time when he got down on his knees, catching his breath. Mercury wanted to give her a goddamn good fight if only he wasn't feeling this way right now. He could've toyed with her again, but then Yang's no more the bimbo he once used to know. She fucking won the Battle at Haven, and he couldn't just underestimate her again for crying out loud.
"Get the hell up!" she almost shouted, seeming unabashed with her agile actions but at the same time, confounded by her enemy's lack of disposition in fighting her back - Yang was sure that he knew what he was doing, and to technically just give up like that was unacceptable. Mercury's not one to lose, he wasn't raised to lose. "Why aren't you fighting?"
He didn't answer until he could feel his senses once again, but he heard her. Burnt out and stupefied - for a moment, it almost felt like dying. Until his mind finally came up with apologetic words about to be articulated, were no longer caught in his throat, "I don't wanna fight you anymore."
And that was enough reason for Yang to stop. As those words spilled like an untouchable milk, the tinge of exhaustion evident in his tonality, and the lack of vitality in his dark, gray orbs - all of those inkling, they were enough to make Yang stop.
She just stood there, silent. Her curled up palms slowly relaxing, and even though they were lined up along her chest, the fighting spirit wasn't there anymore.
Mercury tried to search for the soul in her eyes, but all he could decipher now was a girl. Not as his opponent this time, but a girl willing to listen. Not the annoying, overrated blondie - but a girl who was willing to let her guards down in hopes of entering his.
He could be wrong about all those assumptions, but in that moment it felt very disheartening, and the look on her face gave it all away. There was no other intention when he admitted it; but just the truth, and to leave and pretend she wasn't even there.
Little did he know that was going to be the start of an inevitable companionship. It was through Yang, initially thinking it was impossible, that he understood the relevancy of having someone there for you despite the indifferences.
And for the most part, someone whose life he sort of made miserable - but now, she was willing to forgive and forget, as long as he does the same thing for himself.
I'm in such a mood to read Canon Divergent AUs lately, but since it's lacking for this ship, I wrote one last month. Most of the time they're just headcanons and probably won't happen, so this was basically self-indulgent xD It'd be cool to see how they'll work out in the canon show one day!