The fact that the vampiress dodged didn’t surprise her much, though she silently marveled at the picture of grace as she watched her spin and even swoop down to cut the bottle. [i]‘Okay…’[/i] she quickly told herself, pursing her lips together, her brows knitting in thought. The crackle of thunder in the distance did little to distract her from the winged creature, nor did it cause even the slightest flicker of worry on her features — Lyselle was more focused than she had ever been before. As she heard the words reverberate beneath the coming storm, her lips parted just enough to idly wet them, readjusting where her free hand rested — fingers brushing something else on the belt across her waist. [i]‘So she’s holding back, even,’[/i] she thought silently, taking in a slow breath of the biting cold air.

She bit her tongue gently as she stared at the other woman, letting a couple more thunderclaps roll across the sky before finally replying,
[color=#9BA7C3][b]“I only need to stay here all night…”[/b][/color]
Her eyes narrowed slightly. Would the vampiress be able to call her bluff? Besides the obvious — the silver dust being blown away by the storm — Lys couldn’t deny what she felt. On some level, there was a flicker of pride from almost hitting her opponent, but beneath that, deeper and older, words and images echoed in the back of her mind, replaying themselves like a montage.

[i]‘Ha, have you been studying again, Lys? Those are advanced sigils — we haven’t even covered the basics!’[/i]
Moments when she would stay in the library long past midnight, soaking up knowledge, pulling book after book after book.
[i]‘Oh, haven’t seen that in a while — that’s amazing.’[/i]
Drawing circles and symbols like it was a science experiment, like a prodigy who understood code without ever learning it, like math problems solving themselves in her head.
[i]‘Whoa, almost got me! Damn, she’s quick…’[/i]
The spinning of her favorite blade from one finger to the next, like a coin roll.
[i]‘This young lady has a promising future — she has the potential to be one of the best.’[/i]
The slow, crushing pressure of always outdoing herself, of proving she could live up to a promise she never stopped to question if she [i]wanted [/i]to keep.

Her gaze refocused moments later as she snapped back to the present, watching this terrifyingly beautiful creature drift closer to the ground. Her right hand tightened around her blade; her free hand slipped another tool free with caution, like a cat waiting to spring.

[i]‘She’s going to call my bluff,’[/i] she realized just before Ren gave her reply. She wasn’t far from hallowed ground — the church was nearby — but could she distract her long enough to reach safety? Did she even [i]want[/i] to? The smart thing to do was run — a hunter should never fight alone unless they must. If reaching the chapel was possible, then she had been taught that was the goal: survive and fight another day.

And yet… she never could shake off that pressure — to be the best, to not disappoint her mentors, to prove everyone wrong, and ultimately… be left alone.

She didn’t want to be alone.