The temple collapsed, what would have once been called friends and family, now stood crushed, their once moonlit eyes, now hollow. Diana took a step back, her blood moon mask falling to the floor, bouncing before shattering, blood dripping from her blade. "Why?" Leona whispered clutching her side. The Lunari glanced at her hand, blood smeared on them, but not her own. Her eyes darted back up to her friend, and with a shaky breath she let out a frustrated groan clutching her head, in denial of the destruction she had committed.
It was the first time that she had seen such anger and hatred in Leona's eyes. "I-I'm sorry-" Diana ducked out of the way, Leona's shield barely missing her head. With both hands, the Solari gripped her sword charging at Diana. Hurt, uncertainty, and doubt clouded Diana's eyes, she had no wish to fight her friend, but Leona swung with all her might, her eyes burning with fury. Diana held no regret having taken the lives of those who once claimed to be her family. She felt nothing towards them, but for Leona, her heart clenched panging with deep sorrow that she could not comprehend.
Unable to dodge, Leona's sword pierced through her chest, sending her toppling back against the temple's pillar. The Solari let out a fierce battle cry, her sword thrusting through the air. Diana closed her eyes shielding her face, but when she opened her eyes, Leona stood above her, her sword lightly cutting into Diana's shoulder, the tip dredged within the wall. The Solari looked down, her hair cascading around her face, covering her eyes entirely, but that did not stop the tears from flowing. The temple shook, the impact causing the already damaged pillar to collapse.
Diana gasped, pushing herself off the wall, ignoring as Leona's sword dug deeper in her shoulder, she shoved her friend out of the way, barely managing to grab her sword in time, but it was too late, debris had already piled atop her, and all went silent. Once the Solari's presence had vanished, Diana grunted, pushing the palm of her hand against her blade, her inhuman strength proving its worth as she pushed the large stone off of her. Had she not managed to block the pillar with her sword, she might as well have been dead.
After recovering, Diana sighed wiping the dried blood on her forehead. Climbing down mount Targon, she felt empty, loss hitting her hard. Diana walked slowly and sloppily, her sword noisily trailing behind her, if it had not been for her powers she would have undoubtedly been dead. However, she was weak, the wound Leona had inflicted proved to be slowing her down considerably, the wound on its own had barely managed to heal during her half-hour under the debris. She was losing too much blood, and fell to her knees, emotions washing over her.
She screamed ignoring the pain shooting through her body hitting the ground as hard as she could with the palm of her hand, dirt digging into her nails. It was the first time she could not stop the tears from flowing. Where had she gone wrong? Diana collapsed against the hard surface, staring at the moon in the distance, glowing a bright red, only reminding her of those she had killed. She clutched her chest as hard as she could and got to her feet, she needed to go further, escape, and never come back. She was in no state to do so, but her stubbornness would not allow her to remain.
After descending mount Targon, the Lunari slumped against a tree, her breaths ragged, and her vision blurred. She groaned in agony, feeling her wound throb and collapsed to her knees, her hands digging into the dirt, clenching the grass as hard as she could, fighting to stay awake, and fighting to live. She spotted a light in the distance, and limped towards it, her vision slowly growing dark, through the cover of the trees she came upon a small clearing, a fire lit ablaze in the middle, but it was too late. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, hitting the ground.
When she awoke, she found herself staring at a wooden ceiling, light filtering through the window. She groaned covering her face and sighed recalling the events that had taken place. Diana sat up clutching her chest, her wounds already fully healed, she glanced to the side, her clothes neatly folded with her blade resting against the edge of the bed. A man walked through the door whistling softly, and upon seeing the young Lunari awake, his eyes widened, and then he smiled.
"You're up, thank goodness, you've been out for six days," the man smiled setting a bowl of water on the bedside table. She eyed the man warily, but he smiled in return, his eyes bright and pure, it was almost as if staring into Leona's eyes. Diana shook her head clutching her hair, scoffing at the emotions overwhelming her. She thanked the old man, and once she had her privacy, she changed back into her clothes, which had been expertly stitched back together.
If that man had not rescued her, she would not be alive, and leaving out of the blue would be rude. She grabbed her blade, exiting the room, met with the comforting smell of food. The old man smiled patting for her to come sit down. "You must be starving," he noted handing her a bowl of rabbit stew. Diana gave the man a curt nod, and took a spoonful of the soup, sipping slowly, her thoughts wandering in every direction.
"It's not good is it, my wife always told me I was a terrible cook," he chuckled.
"It's good," Diana murmured. "I just don't eat much."
"What are you?" The man asked plainly, his eyes twinkling with curiosity. Diana glanced down at her hand looking back up at the man. "You were on the verge of death and recovered like it was nothing, it's unheard of around these parts." She nodded, she was not quite human, but more than ever had she felt more human than six days ago.
"I am..." she trailed off unsure what to say. Instead, she asked a question of her own. "It's not often an old man travels the woods alone, who are you?" she asked back. The man chuckled taking the hint not to push the question, but he answered the Lunari.
"I'm a merchant," he smiled patting his chest proudly.
"In that case, allow me to thank you by serving as your escort," she bowed. The man chuckled flattered, but upon realizing that the woman before him was not kidding, he nodded slowly unsure whether she would take no for an answer. Diana nodded and sat back down to finish her soup.
"I-I can pay you," the man insisted. "it's a risky job, especially around these parts."
"I require no money," Diana said frankly, her stoic expression not changing in the least.
"Are you sure?" the man asked once more.
"Yes." He sighed and nodded gulping down the rest of his soup, and then began packing the wagon, bags full of goodies containing wheat, potatoes, and all sorts of strange foods she had never seen before. The Lunari strode up to the horse strapped to the wagon, and approached it cautiously, extending her hand towards the animal, but as it moved, she flinched quickly retreating.
"Don't worry, she doesn't bite," the old man smiled, petting the horse, in response, it neighed cheerfully, and Diana closed the distance between herself and the horse, her hand gently resting on his muzzle. A small smile graced her lips as she caressed the horse. Diana found herself riding a different horse, traveling next to the merchant, she had never ridden a horse before, but she found the creature intriguing. Feeling the wind rush against her face, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
A pistol shot rang through the air, the horse panicking as it retreated throwing its front legs in the air kicking madly. Diana placed a hand on the side of the horse's face instantly calming it down. Bandits emerged from the woods, pistols in hand, and Diana dismounted the horse. "Fork it over, old man." The merchant and the bandits glare at each other, tense history between the two. Diana strode to the front of the wagon, drawing her blade, pointing it at the bandit. She said no words but stared at them dully.
"Getting a woman to protect you?" The bandit leader mocked pointing the finger at Diana, the men snickering after him. Diana stood still, their words not affecting her.
"It's okay, you don't have to get hurt, we can just give them what they want," the old man said. Diana signaled for him to stay put, and the bandit leader drew a gun from his cloak, aiming it at the Lunari, and as his finger pressed the trigger, Diana raised her sword deflecting the bullet. She charged at the bandits dispatching them one by one, their pistols proving useless against the agile Lunari. Within a minute, the bandits all lay in the middle of the road, their blood sinking into the dirt.
She glanced back at the merchant, his eyes trained on her, but she could see the fear in his eyes. She glanced at her hands, wondering why people kept looking at her that way. However, Diana had no time to relax as she blocked a pair of daggers scanning the canopy of the forest. A man dropped from the trees, his purple cloak following closely. "An assassin," she acknowledged. "I did not sense your presence."
"I'm impressed you were able to block my blades," the cloaked figure complimented rushing at her. Talon was fast, his movements a blur to the Lunari as she barely managed to parry his hits. However, if she could not rely on her eyes, she would rely on her ears. She closed her eyes, keeping her blade close, the snap of a twig, the rush of the wind, and the light, but audible footsteps. Out of the dark she reached out grabbing hold of the man's arm and slammed him to the ground, her blade glowing emitting a moon-shaped shockwave knocking the man up into the air. She finally opened her eyes, able to see him clearly.
She swiped her blade through the air missing him entirely, but a crescent-shaped strike caught him off guard, and the assassin threw his head back mid-air the attack grazing his chin. He landed on his feet staring at the woman in awe, he had never seen a woman like her before, her powers so unknown to him. The symbol on her forehead was glowing, and in a flash of light, she flash-stepped towards him, her sword piercing his shoulder. Talon withdrew holding his shoulder and smirked, it had been a long time since anyone had proved challenging. He faded into thin air, and Diana turned in a circle trying to figure out where the man was going.
Out of nowhere a barrage of blades came raining down on her, and she grunted deflecting as many of the blades as she could, but there were too many for her to handle. "Allow me to repay the favor!" The man shouted appearing behind her, he took hold of her arm, pulling her into him, his knee connecting with her stomach. Diana yelped, but grabbed his arm, headbutting him hard, sending the two recoiling back in pain. "You are a good fighter, why waste your time on him?" the assassin asked vaguely motioning to the merchant.
"He saved my life, and it is the least I could do for him." Talon sheathed his blades under his cloak and walked around the wagon. Sensing the hostility now gone, the Lunari lowered her sword staring as the assassin pulled supplies from the wagon, discarding the bags onto the ground. He then began pulling out crates.
"No!" The old man yelled pulling out a pistol, aiming it at the assassin. Voices pleading for help echoed within the crates, a hand emerging from one of the holes to the side of the container. Diana stared at the man unsure what to think or feel, but deep down, she knew this was wrong.
"He's a human trafficker," Talon noted, he pulled out a single blade from the inner pockets of his cloak and threw it at the merchant, he dropped dead in a split second and Diana stared unfazed. "Weren't you supposed to protect him?" The assassin asked.
"I wasn't supposed to do anything," she said plainly. "Him being a human trafficker doesn't stop the fact that you're a killer, you're no better than him."
"And you're supposed to be a saint?" Talon chuckled. "What makes you better than me? Based on the way you fight, you aren't innocent, and you have the eyes of a killer," he whispered tauntingly. Leona's face appeared in her mind, and she groaned clutching her head. Eyes full of anger and hatred, their swords clashing, and Diana cried out in pain wishing to rid herself of these memories. Talon stared unsure what to make of the girl before him, an inner conflict consuming her. He drew his blade preparing to finish her off in her moment of weakness, but her sword lit up, a white light blinding him
Diana screamed in pain, her own sword rejecting her. She dropped the blade, her hand fuming from the burn. The Lunari collapsed to her knees, breaking down. Everything she had ever known, everything she had ever loved, all gone. What was she supposed to live for now? What was her purpose? The world felt cold, with nowhere to go. "You should learn to live for yourself," the assassin noted, holding his hand out for her to grab. He saw a part of him inside of her, a strange need to help the girl.
"Life is meaningless if I have no purpose," The Lunari whispered, staring at his hand dully.
"One doesn't need to have a purpose to live and enjoy life. We discover ourselves and in turn, figure out our purpose in life by simply living. I live for the things I am grateful for, and you will find what your purpose is in time. Live for what you are grateful for."
"For what I'm grateful for..." she trailed off staring at his hand. A picture of Leona flashed in her mind, but she wasn't ready to confront her friend just yet.
"There is no good or bad, just actions and consequences, now stand," he ordered. His words resonated with her and Diana nodded taking hold of his hand as he helped her up with ease.
"Is that why you do what you do?" Diana asked. He nodded, and she tilted her head intrigued. "Is it fun?"
"Not necessarily, but if a man has a bounty on his head, usually no one good," the assassin scoffed applying pressure to his shoulder.
"Does it hurt?" The Lunari asked glancing at his shoulder.
"Takes more than that to kill me," he defended. "See those girls," he motioned to the trio sitting by the side of the wagon holding each other. "To them, we are heroes, ones they will never forget. Taking a life is not something to be ashamed of, we all have our reasons," he whispered placing a hand on her shoulder.
"For an assassin, you sure talk a lot," she frowned earning a glare from the man.
"Name's talon," he sneered. "You seem to be able to hold your own rather well, so as long as you do your part, we can find our purpose together." Diana nodded staring down at their linked hands.
"What I'm grateful for...I'm grateful I met you, Talon," she said bluntly. Talon groaned, trying to shake the woman's hold, but she only squeezed tighter, trapping his hands in hers. He blushed and nodded reciprocating the motion.
Sorry, this isn't that romantic, but I can't see them throwing themselves at each other like teenagers on prom night lmao. And aren't you guys proud of me? An update that didn't take a whole month! :D