Emerald eyes gazed with interest at the figure in the distance.
Woe had been wondering. Ever since their encounter with the Dreamaker, Woe had found himself thinking more about, and becoming increasingly curious about Yuing's dream. Woe hadn't noticed at first, but when he actually thought about it, he discovered that he hadn't realized just how much detail Yuing had left out when he'd told Woe that he saw him in his dream. Granted, at that time, Woe had wanted to get out of their awkwardness prompted by this statement, not even wanting or having time to think about whatever dream Yuing might have had with him in it- They were in a middle of a battle, and Woe had been just about ready to bash the Dreamaker's face in for trapping Yuing in a deep sleep with one of his spells.
It wasn't until later that Woe had learnt the properties of the Dreamaker's spells; that the spell was meant to trap its victims in a dream that they would never want to wake up from, causing an eternal slumber for the person cast with such a spell.
The Dreamaker had called this spell "Eternal Bliss".
Needless to say, Woe can't help but be slightly curious of what exactly Yuing's dream had been about; Alright, maybe slightly was the wrong choice of words. Woe was damn near ready to skin a kitten if it meant that he'd learn about what Yuing had been dreaming of. Woe would happily pop the little bugger's head of, grinning from ear to ear while blood and flesh gushed down his giant clawed hands as he peeled the skin off of the feeble feline... Well, he probably would have done so anyways even if he wasn't put in the situation he was in now- Woe never really liked animals, anyways. It also explained his distain for one of the other eight generals- a certain white fox in a top-hat- but that was besides the point.
The point was; 'How the hell did he end up in Yuing's dream of "Eternal Bliss", and fuck if that didn't sound gay as hell.
"Hey, ass-sassin." Woe greeted him as he walked up to Yuing, claws flexing, mimicking a waving motion.
"Fucker." Yuing greeted back, golden eyes narrowed, ears perking up in acknowledgment- he wasn't wearing his hood up at the moment, and so his pointed ears, along with his white, bushy hair, was exposed.
"So, what about that 'fag-dream' you had?"
Woe was silently applauding himself for his great way to start a conversation, and Yuing probably heard the loud roaring going on in his head as well, and scowled.
"You're saying it as if the entirety of the army aren't fags. We all know where Drakan has been sticking his dick ever since he got his hands on the demi-god."
"Ardrick isn't part of the generals; he isn't even part of the army."
"WickedBlade and Biazhan are." There was a short laugh on Yuing's part. "Let's face it, nearly half of the generals are fucking gays."
Woe growled as he realized that the other got him there. "Fuck you. I was just trying to ask you about your gay-ass dream."
"Che. Why would you care? It's my 'gay-ass' dream anyways."
"Because, you little shit, I'm in it. I think I at least have a right to know what I was fucking doing."
Yuing's lifted his chin up, face tilted to the side as his own gaze shifted sideways, meeting Woe's which were a good four inches above his own. For a moment, Yuing had that look in his golden eyes, as brief uncertainty and conflict flashed across them. But Woe saw that something inside Yuing had faltered just before the shorter of the two broke their gaze, looking away.
"Alright, fine." Yuing said, even though he sounded somewhat reluctant, "If you want to know so badly, then I'll tell you."
Woe's own ear's perked up in slight interest, not expecting the other to comply to his wishes so easily, yet he couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable by the other's sudden willingness. "Cool. So did you remember how it started?"
"I don't remember exactly how it started." Yuing admited, "The dream was so real I couldn't really tell I was dreaming until much later."
"But you do remember what happened, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sure, I do." At this, Yuing kicked at a small rock that was lying slightly away from his feet, the tip of his boot sending the small earth flying, soil and dust accompanying it; Yuing was probably agitated, Woe noted.
"I was in some sort of bamboo field, like a makeshift forest, but with a strangely large clearing in the middle of the path- I thought I was in CloudLayer Jungle, but that's really just the only place I know that actually has bamboos and trees and whatnot."
"Huh." CloudLayer Jungle was basically a jungle that grew around a tree which was so huge that it reached the cloudlayer- hence the name that it was given. Woe found it weird that the other should dream of it, though. "You like it there?"
"Sure, why not? It's nice and quiet and no one gives a shit about what you do as long as you don't screw around with what they're doing. It also has a strange sence of nostalgia; I used to live in some place similar when I was just a hatchling. Of course, at that time I felt differently about forests and jungles, but I thrived in those environments, nontheless."
"Sorry I asked about your lifestory."
An audiable growl emitted from Yuing's throat at Woe's statement. "If you're just going to rip on me for it, then you might as well fuck off right now."
"Right, sorry." Woe grinned, looking at Yuing, "Alright, so you have your jungle in your dream, and you have yourself in it as well- Where did I come in?"
"That's the weird part." Yuing sighed, and Woe leaned towards the other slightly, curious and interested. "Apparently in my dream, you were the one who took me to that place."
"...That doesn't make any sense. Why would I take you to some far away forest like CloudLayer Jungle?"
"Woe, it's a fucking dream. Dreams don't make sense half of the goddamn time, so just shut up and listen, okay?"
"Alright, alright- Geez. What were we doing there?"
"Just walking while we talked-"
"-Get lost."
"Screw you! If you were going to interrupt me every five seconds then why'd you ask in the first place?" Yuing growled, fangs bared and golden eyes flashing dangerously, his feet shifted as he turned back to yell at Woe.
Woe huffed, and rolled his eyes- he realized that he might have been acting way too comfortable even for himself at the moment, with Yuing displaying a full-on act of agressiveness; But Woe knew that he was that much more stronger than Yuing physical-wise, and the other probably was probably bright enough to know not to land the first hit... He still backed down, though, but only due to his interest and growing curiosity of the other's dream, as he knew that he wouldn't be able to force the story out of the other if he became unwilling to share such information.
"Alright, then. By all means, continue."
Yuing, despite his anger and annoyance towards him, grunted, clearly displeased, but continued on with his speech nontheless. "In my dream, we were in the woods I talked about, I believe- we were waslking along the clearing- Anyways, I think we had been talking about the constellations; Aries, to be specific."
"Aries?" Woe had wanted, for a moment, to express his own thoughts on the ridiculousness of the myths of such stars, but chose not to voice his own thoughts, in case the other were to find offence in them.
"Sure- It's my zodiac sign, after all." Woe blinked in surprise. Huh, he never really knew that about the other, or that Yuing was interested in constellations, if at all. Still, Woe allowed the other to continue all the same.
"That wasn't the only thing we talked about- that would be dumb. We talked about other things as well, but that was the most memorable one."
'Could've guessed.' Woe thought, but said, "I see. Anything else?"
Yuing looked a lot calmer now; his canine teeth no longer showing, and his pupils had grown back to their original size. His head tilted, however, and his ears twitched when he heard Woe's question. "- That's... really about it. What do you mean 'anything else'?"
'Shit.' Woe thought- that had been a question he asked ever so absent-mindedly, that even he himself didn't really know what he was asking for or what he had been expecting when he asked it- Guess he'll have to bullshit his way out of this, less Yuing thought that he hadn't been paying attention.
"Well. I don't really know, exactly." Woe began. "But you said that you and I talking about your zodiac sign was one of the more memorable things in your dream- I guess I was just wondering if you had any other moments like that in your dream." Phew- nice save!
Yuing seemed astonished when Woe had finished his question, perhaps not expecting the context of the question, or the honesty that he had mistakenly reconized in Woe. Yuing's lips had slightly parted, eyes wide, but that facial feature quickly changed into that of a slight smile, and his eyes became half-lidded as ears flattened. Still, Woe could see there was a slight moment of doubt and hesitance before Yuing spoke again.
"Well- Now that you've mentioned it- perhaps- maybe." Yuing said as he looked at Woe once again, his smile not flattering.
"Uh- Oh. Can you tell me?" Woe had said, once he realized that the other had paused, waiting for his reaction.
He tensed as the shorter of the two reached out with his hand, touching Woe's large, clawed one. Woe could have spoke out, protested, or moved his hand out of the other's reach, but curiosity and slight suprise stopped him, and he grew confused as the other held his hand, by holding Woe's pointer-claw; contrary to Woe, Yuing's hand was more human-like, with five fingers instead of Woe's four which were gifted with thick, sharp claws at the end of each tip; claws of a predator that were created specifically to inflict as much damage and pain on its chosen victim as possible. Yuing had no such claws. Instead, his nails rounded out at the edge of each finger, and the size and palm of his hands was dwarfish when compared to Woe's; Maybe, if Yuing tried, he could wrap one of his hands around two of Woe's talon-like fingers- maybe.
"You were holding my hand." Yuing said as he tore his gaze from their intertwined hands, looking up at Woe. "Like this."
How freaky.
"And-"
And? There's more?
"-You gave me something." Yuing spoke, Woe once again seeing the uncertainty and inner conflict of the assassin for the third time during their short conversation, becoming increasingly restless yet completely absorbed by the other's display of unease and insecurity.
"I did?"
"Yeah. You did."
"What was it?"
Woe observed the smaller of the two. This time, it seems, it took much longer for Yuing to begin talking- perhaps he had trouble remembering what had happened. Woe doubted that theory, though, and so he waited- surprisingly patient- for the other to tell him what had happened, watching as Yuing ear's flatten, eyes looking at the ground and the skyline- basically anything but him- blinking as his face wore a light frown. When Yuing gave his voice life again, it sounded forced and somewhat strained.
"-Neck bracelet."
"...Come again?"
"It was a neck bracelet." Yuing sighed. Woe noticed, a bit belatedly, that Yuing was now looking at him dead in the eye. "It was made of silver, and a ruby with a round golden casing in the center which spreaded both sides to form a pair of bat wings- like your own. The surface of the sides on it had pattern like waves imprinted on it to replicate wind. It was beautiful, and it fit perfectly."
"It... fit perfectly? You wore it?"
"Idiot- of course, I did- What else was I suppose to do with it?"
"-But- Why-"
"I thought you knew the traditions better than this." Yuing sighed, and rolled his eyes in annoyance. But his gaze quickly shot upwards again, meeting Woe's perfectly. "The neck-braclete was a courting gift- Isn't it obvious? You wanted my hand in marrage!"
...Oh...?
...Oooooooh!
-Oh.
Woe stared, astonished, maybe mildly frightened by what the other had just admitted. Yuing stared back at him with bright, honest eyes, and silence hung in the air, the tension between the two growing with every passing moment. When it became so thick that it was almost unbearable, it suddenly snapped, like a dam breaking open, and both of the two tossed their heads back as they laughed their hearts out.
"Haha-haha! You little shit!" Woe laughed, shaking his head. "You almost had me- you ass!"
Yuing was snickering. "Haha! Serves you right for being such a dumb fuck!"
Both continued to laugh for a while longer, and as their laugher died down, Woe sighed, content, as if a weight had been lifted off of his chest, he looked at the dimming skyline of orange, blue and royal, and Woe instictively knew that if he looked furture upwards, he would be abot to see the stars and the constellations aline in a sea of deep blue and coal. He was about to lift his head, when he heard an uneasy silence coming from the smaller of the two, and so he looked back down, and began watching Yuing, who had silently began to slide his hood back onto his head, looking downwards, his expression this time unreadable, but Woe blamed this on the lack of daylight and the now obstructing shadow that was cast onto the other's face by the hood.
"So, uh-" Woe began, trying to get a response from the other. "What was you dream actually about?"
"Fuck off, asshole- I'm not telling you." Yuing growled, and Woe saw that he now wore a slight frown on his face. "Last time I told you something mildly personal, you made sure all of the other generals were reminded of it every day of every week- I'm not telling you anything, so you might as well leave."
"Oh, screw you."
"Yeah, see you, too."
Realizing that Yuing wasn't going to utter another word to him, Woe grummbled as he turned around and began walking back from where he had come from, feeling sour about how he would never really learn what Yuing's dream had been about- And yet, if Woe had walked slightly slower, then maybe- Just maybe- he would have heard Yuing mutter under his breath;
"Idiot. That's why I woke up- It was too good to be true."