Edit: Crap...I *once again* forgot to put who I'm fighting. Mods, if you would so kindly? This is a battle with meh and insaney.

He breathed deeply, as if he had never breathed in his life before. The smell of the fresh dew on the morning grass filled his nostrils and overwhelmed his senses. For those few moments, the man had entered an eternal bliss that nothing could ruin. As he opened his eyes, light flooded his senses, combining with the smell of the morning to calm him to an almost unbearable state of relaxation. The white adjusted to form shapes, and finally vibrant color. Never had he seen color so vibrant, so many hues and shades. His life truly had changed…

But for the better?

Unable to ponder the depths of his past, like so many times before, a slight falter, a snapping of a twig, brought him out of his state of lucidity and back into the world of reality. Quickly, he spun around at the sound, eyes darting, grasping every angle, every detail of his surroundings. His hands slowly rested upon the hilt of his sword, grasping it softly.

Nothing but the wind…

Content, but wary, he slowly turned back to his original position, eyes still darting about, though not as frantic. Then, slowly, he closed his eyes, listening. Seconds passed like minutes. The wind blew, leaves scuttled, trees swayed. Then, he opened his eyes with a sharp intake of breath. Immediately, he calmed himself, thinking.

But there was nothing to think about…

… … … …

Nights like this were when he felt the loneliest. Nothing to accompany him, save a spider, wrapped up in its web, suckling on its dinner, or an owl, hooting in the silence of the night. The clouds that blotted out the stars of the night sky that not only gave him, but the world light amidst the immense, endless darkness. The moon, new, recovering from its monthly cycle. A new entity that was building, unable to present itself to the world yet, slowly rebuilding itself like the regenerating tail of a lizard.

A faint wind had blown all day, and now that the darkness overcame the light, the wind grew sharper, colder, cutting deep into the body, refusing to relinquish its grip. But the coldness of the wind did not affect the body of this man. The body of this man had turned cold long ago, unable to feel any love or compassion any more. Or so he thought… Many a time he had tested this theory. And many a time, his consciousness, his morality, had failed him. Perhaps he truly had died, a soulless body trapped amongst the world of the living, void of any feeling, pleasure nor pain. All those he had loved had been killed. And the one whom he considered his equivalent, his rival, had surpassed him, defeated him, destroyed him. It was his fault. HIS, that the man had become so lifeless, so void of feeling. How the man longed to feel compassion, to feel happiness, hell, to even feel pain. But HE had taken it away. All away.

His thoughts drifted to earlier that day. The one that had stalked him in the forest, it was him. The man was sure of this. Perhaps, along with his humanity, the man had also lost his sanity.

Perhaps he had gone insane…Or maybe he hadn’t…

And his thoughts drifted to the battle that changed his life.

No, not changed…ended.

… … … …

The man was participating in his favorite pastime as of late: sitting amidst a great, tall tree, staring at the stars glimmering through the atmosphere, his sword across his lap. He stroked the silk of the hilt. Soft, but cold. His mind drifted in every direction but one: His past. And even when it did, he shook the memories out, like a dog shaking out the water in its fur.

The summer breeze brought with it a smell of smoke. The man turned to the origin of the smell to see a glimmer of red in the distance of the immense forest, slowly growing, accompanied by black smoke. Alarmed, the man quickly jumped off the tree, landing with a falter. He widened his legs, granting him balance, and saving him from a fall on his face. He sprinted off towards the wildfire. If one were to look just a few seconds later, they would have seen a wolf disappearing out of sight. A shimmering magnificent blue wolf.

He was close now, only about two hundred yards away. On he galloped, not stopping to gain a gulp of air. Fluidly, he dodged trees, avoided roots that stuck out of the ground, smelling his surroundings. At first, nothing but the smoke, and then, a faint sense of human. Wary grew inside him. Had a human started the fire? Or was it trapped? As the smell grew larger, more evident, he realized it wasn’t human. The stench triggered a thought. The man stopped in the middle of his tracks, skidding a few feet to a stop. He changed, standing up on two legs, gripping his sword like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Little did he know, it would be the only thing that kept him alive.

The smell of the monster was coming closer, fast. He had experienced it before. But now, he was prepared for it. The monster appeared.

“Valkyhn, what a pleasant surprise.”

Valkyhn stared at the figure, cloaked in the shadows. “Rain…” He drew his sword. “Did you do this, vampire?”

“No…not a vampire…”

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