[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Aquarius

All the molly did was merely turn her head, and suddenly she felt something plow into her side. The mottled she-cat hit the ground, and she began to hiss, but everything was going too fast around her. She felt the breath being knocked out of her lungs as her pelt was pushed into the dark grass beneath her, and she attempted to thrash, but the weight was too much. Aquarius felt someone's paws pressing down on her, pinning her down, and her mind spun. She felt the dark of the night being blocked out, and as she struggled, she forced herself to open her eyes through the blanket of shock which rested upon her mind. Her eyes shot open, glittering with fury, when she heard a growl come from the opponent on top of her. Only then did her gaze meet the amber optics she had dreaded ever seeing again. She laid there in sheer shock and slight horror, trying to take in the seen around her. Fortunately, the tom was able to process the situation more quickly than her, and stumbled off of her. As soon as she could, Aquarius screeched, jumping up, her gray fur bristling and her gaze glittering like burning ice.

She didn't know what to say. She had had one encounter with this cat, and she had never wanted to meet - or even see him again, and here she was, being attacked by him. She glared at the tom, her fur refusing to lie flat, her claws out and digging into the soft night-washed grass beneath her paws. Her pelt on end and her claws flashing in the faint light from the sky, she looked more menacing than usual - well, as menacing as an undersized she-cat could, anyways. "I could say the same thing," she spat at the fiery pelted tom, a biting growl hidden in the undertones of her voice.

Of all the things she had expected to find on her night-hunt, he had certainly not been one of them. This cat was able to manipulate her, to say things that cut her. This tom had a seething way with words that enabled him to get into a cats mind. As cold as Aquarius had grown over the moons, she still knew that this cat was not good. This cat was not right. He was twisted in a way that the molly had yet to understand, had yet to even begin to understand. The mere complexity of the strange tom made her seethe, and made her grow icier with every word she spoke. Ossified. She grew ossified.

She snapped at the tom. "I didn't sneak up on you. Hell, I didn't even know you were there," she snarled, the intensity of her own voice surprising even her. The moons that passed had changed her from the naive Trainee she once was, and the cruel reality of life had hardened her. But even under her shell, she still knew what the right thing was, and when other cats were good or bad. But slowly, that seemed to be slipping away. Like she was morphing right in front of this tom's eyes, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. "The surprise was mutual. Clearly you can't scent a thing, or you would have realized it was a fellow Syndicate member! Don't you have any respect for others?" She snarled. Even as she said it, she knew it was true. Clearly this cat had no explicit emotion. But implicit, that was another story, one that would take moons for her to find out about. But the future was not her concern; the present was enough to make her wary of the tom. Quite enough, actually.

"I hate you," she hissed. How dare this cat think he had the right to blatantly attack her, than blame her for sneaking up on him? What a statement! Only a kit would do such a foolish thing. She couldn't conjure up a response, and her mind was certainly in a frenzy. Her mottled fur bristled on the back of her neck, and her tail lashed behind her in her anger. "I never wanted to see you again. I didn't know your name, and I barely talked to you. That was a good start." She felt herself crumbling as her mind poured out into her voice. "And now you're back." Her voice subtly broke.

If she couldn't handle the pressure of talking to a cat who seemed to have a horrid aura, she had to question herself if she had the nerve to handle herself in an actual battle. Yes, she had been through them plenty of times before, but she didn't feel so sure anymore.

Never in her life had she felt so unsure of herself. Maybe, maybe she was truly breaking. Maybe she just didn't realize it.

Or, maybe, she was being empowered. It was a strange thought, of course,
but she had certainly been more on edge since her encounter with the tom.
She had been jumping at every small sound, every flame-pelted cat that passed her. Some had questioned her, but cats rarely talked to her, and she had brushed it off as nothing. But even so, she seemed to know that there was something about this tom she couldn't escape. Like there was blood on her pelt she could never get off.

What an ironic metaphor, she thought to herself, almost breaking down.

‘’Don’t you dare try to cross me.’’ He snarled, roughly flicking his thick tail against the ground, it created a small shake. He wasn’t as enraged as the other feline was, but her emotions emitted in the air, and choked him in a longing grasp. It made Stephanotis react to the cat with his own desire of snappiness. It wasn’t like he knew she was there. ‘’Why were you there in the first place? Shouldn’t you be asleep?’’ He grunted. It was too late for Hunters to still be prowling around. After night, it could get rather dangerous...and gruesome. Though nothing was happening currently. The tom had been parading the lands because he felt like he had the power to do that. Like he knew he had the power to control her. To have her bend to his every will until she broke.

It had not disconcerted him upon the fact that she tried to make herself appear bigger. With the fluffing up of her pelt, and watching it bristle like thorns. Honestly, she had looked adorable. Just quite cute - really. She couldn’t be a scary cat. Who would be afraid of her? Her little snide remarks and actions were overlooked. The tom had turned away from her, embracing the open field rather than trying to tango with her. If she knew for her own good - she would had shut up. No matter how she felt about him, Stephanotis was not the one to care. Why would he care what others felt for him? After all, he wasn’t living for them. He remained unnerved, allowing his muscles to slink into a comfortable position. He could still feel her presence around him, and instead of acknowledging her, he let out a loud yawn.

“You're lucky I even seen you in the first place.” He didn't snarl. Nor, growl. His voice had been the same deep, eerie coldness that it usually held. Almost longing and ghostly. “If I hadn't, you'd been dead.” That was the truth. Her blood streaming through his claws when he opened the fatal gash. Now, Stephanotis liked to keep his paws clean. He had no reasons to kill anyone. Oh no, never had a significant reason. On another note, wasn't he making the world a grand place by having others get rid of themselves? Besides, he wasn't the villain if he wasn't delivering the final blow. That was...their jobs. “Which I'm not surprised. Is that what you want, deary? To die?” Briskly, as fast as lightning, he turned back to face her. His expression unreadable, but his orange eyes glowing upon their surrounding.

This molly held the confidence he didn't think she had. Feisty, she was. Annoying, yes she was. The Tom found her amusing. Really. She was like a little toy to him. For him. Given as a gift. A broken doll that he could alter whenever he wanted. If, only she was obedient. Then, she would had been the complete package. Stephanotis narrowed his gaze at her, his orbs taking more of a murderous appeal when she snarled at him. “You're the fine one to talk about respect.” The little sides of his mouth etched into a grin. That one of a cheshire’s smile. “But that's a mutual thing. That's a two way path.” If she respected him, he would respect her. It wasn't that hard, now was it? Stephanotis locked his gaze on her, and never allowed it to waver. He wasn't the type of tom to pull away so quickly. She did none to scare him, and he had no idea of the effect he held on her, but oddly, he felt spectacular on the inside. Like, he had dominated her. “I suggest you keep your insults about me to yourself.” His voice was low. A deep whisper that only she would be able to hear. Stephanotis didn't like when others insulted him. Frankly, those shouldn't like when he was insulted either. In a way, he was giving her a chance to make up for her mistakes. He was giving her a chance to start anew. On his good side. “Especially if you like to keep that little mouth on that pretty face of yours. Because, I promise you, your attitude is getting annoying. So, I'll be happy to be rid of it.” He deadpanned, his eyes hinting to no emotion. Just a cold orange haze, and a firm line on his maw.

“You're allowed to feel however you want about me. I couldn't care less.” He ruffled the mane around his neck. It made the ginger Tom laugh. The fact that she hated him, and she didn't know him. That satisfied Stephanotis. “You're not supposed to love your nightmare.” He had the audacity to let out a long, powerful purr to annoy her further. He dismissed her other comments with a flick of his tail. “My name matters as little as the reason you know me.” It was simple. She shouldn't want to get to know him. Because getting to know him was a confusing manner in itself. Getting to know him was twists and turns of all sorts. Getting to know him would drive her into deep insanity, thus ending her life. “You sound so happy about that!” He teased, but his voice had too much of a rough edge to it, so it appeared far from teasing. She spoke like she was surprised. That he was ‘back’. Stephanotis flicked his ears. “But, I told you before, nightmares always come back.” He sauntered up to her, whispering his words of delight into her ears. He debated on whether he would snatch the piece of flesh, but decided in the end to leave her ear alone. He was playing with her. Messing with her. She was breaking. That much he could tell. Yet, a Tom like Stephanotis continued to push until he couldn't do it any longer. Until she was emotionally drained and physically wrecked.

Stephanotis found himself circling around the feline. She was like prey, and he was the predator. One thing she would never know, was when he would strike. If he ever had any intentions on doing so. The Tom simply found joy in how she was failing. It was fun to watch others break. She didn't know him, and he had acted like he knew much about her. When Stephanotis stopped, turning his gaze to the side, he could hear a few crickets singing through the night. He hummed along for a few moments, sitting down on the coarse grass.

As stated before, he was a nightmare. One that would reoccurred. He was a ghost. A spirit that was attached to her. He was the blood that kept flowing from her, but she could never become fully clean.

“I'm going to be the best mistake you ever made.” He didn't dare look at her, only narrowing his brilliant gaze forward, and laughing silently to himself. If she was scared now, don't she dare look forward to the future.