❛ gouge . wield a sharp object at my muse .
𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒 . it is a phantom version of him . as he lunges at her with his sword she jumps back , her own weapon guarding her in a defensive stance . this is a game to him , some sadistic ritual meant to slowly unwind her control . yet , she knows better than to allow herself such reprieve during the retroact rain . jinhsi has grown since she'd last seen him right before the ill fated battle beneath the crescent . she was a young girl then , barely an adult , but she had been forced to grow up and take the path which was laid out for her . her strength , a simmering tempest , had not ebbed to the surface when they last spoke . a shame that the geshu lin she remembers cannot see what she had become in his absence ; the phantom version of him is undeserving of such .
❛ you cannot hurt me , ❜ she says firmly , stormy gaze met with the sunfire gold of his eyes . what life once bloomed within them was now met with lifelessness . they were empty , devoid of that passion which once drove him . he was a husk of the man she once knew , the man whom she regarded as her family after she had lost her own . brows narrow , her teeth gritting as her ire rises . ❛ give him back to me ... ❜ it's a command , a desperate plea she knows cannot come to light . he was lost to the lament , the darkness of it consuming whatever was left of him ... if there even was . she can see the fiendish grin on his lips as the hurls forward again , the sword slashing against her own with more force . ❛ you do not get to have him ! ❜ jinhsi yells as she musters her strength to subdue him . there is something he whispers , some muddled language which she cannot seem to understand . a taunt , a greeting , a goodbye ... she will never know . it's then that she feels the weight of his sword move from hers as he steps back .
the rain falters and as she takes a step toward the ghosted memory of her friend she watches him leave . suddenly she's left feeling empty , the feelings of loss once again taking hold . as she glances down at her weapon she feels the warmth of her tears dampen over her hand , small droplets falling unbeknownst to her . how she misses him , her friend , her family ... fate were a cruel mistress to let them meet like this .
