Noctisardor Bypass Balans Nebes i Ada《Balance of Heaven and Hell》

Goodbye Vector. Shadow and I will both miss you. :(

Shadow watched warily as Vector smiled, wondering what the fuck made him smile at such circumstances? Maybe he was smiling at the best ways to kill him, that could be possible. The blood and flesh and ripped guts spilled across pure white snow, the empty eyeballs rolling down the hillside, the redness that dripped out of the body. Surprisingly though, the dying wolf in the mental image in his head was not himself, but the wolf across him. That picture was so vivid and real, the Roman nearly winced by the sheer disgustingness and gore it possessed. He would never torture to such extremes, or kill in such a horrible manner....unless he was in a blood trance. Anyone could fall into a blood trance with enough rage and anger, getting out of it was the problem.

You felt no pain when you were in the trance, your vision was literally blood red and the only thought in your head was to draw blood, to pound the opponent until they were in bloody pieces. To make them feel pain, to make them suffer, to hear their screams. Surprisingly, the screams sounded like music to the wolf who was in the blood trance's ears. Yet when you were not in a trance, they sounded like evil souls trying to get out of the Fields of Punishment and all you wanted was to get away from it.

Shadow would only go into a blood trance on last resort, when all other strategies were gone. The last time he was forced to go into a trance was a fight with his Father, the spirit of Mars and the dead whirling around him, feeding him energy. His thoughts about what happened, at least, it might not be true. It was just too sad he was defeated in the end by Aku, who had also gone into a trance but one of higher level. His father also managed to slip out of the trance just in time before he killed him, something to be thankful for he supposed.

Half of him was on his guard, aware of his surroundings, aware of what was happening with Vector, the other half of him was thinking about this Russian male. He held the same swiftness he had on the snow, the same steadiness and he had the aura of someone who killed many before. He held the same aura the Roman did. And gazing straight into the Russian's emerald green orbs, Shadow found himself realizing what they could've done together. The packs they could have invaded and conquered, Swiftcurrent Creek cowering before them as they tore the land into pieces and got the pups back, the amount of foes they could have slaughtered. They could've been best friends.

They could've been brothers.

Little did he know the same thoughts were going through the Russian's head. Shadow regretted ever putting the man in captivity, they could have done so much if he hadn't, he could've killed Scimitar and Bazi and took over Swiftcurrent Creek, he could've gotten the pups the moment they started eating meat instead of agreeing on Scimitar's motherfucking demands and agreements. But one decision had affected everything. It was his fault. It was the gods teaching him a lesson, a lesson he made sure to keep in mind the next time he encountered the same situation.

It was such a pity, wolves like Vector were hard to come along. And now the Roman knew, not only would the Bypass miss him as a valuable asset, Shadow would miss him as a friend, if they ever were even friends. Comrades, packmates. Pulling himself together as the smile vanished off the Russian's face, he dipped his head ever so briefly, showing his respect to the fellow assassin and warrior and thanking him for his services. Knowing this would be the last time they met as friends.

The autumn furred male launched himself across the snow. The Roman waited until he was closer and side stepped. Thank you, he said silently to the agouti recon as he begun circling, analyzing the moves the Russian made, his brain calculating everything he did and forming strategies to overcome his tactics.

This is was a real battle. And blood would be spilled on snow.