The Hunter Becomes Hunted ((Tebby!))

[Anonymous]

Zephyr looked confused for a second, then said, "I honestly have no idea. I stopped keeping track at...what? Eight?" He shrugged. Then, he traced his bandages thoughtfuly.

[Anonymous]

She looked at him in confusion. Lost track? How do you lose track of how old you are? Maybe if you didn't know how many days had passed because of something that happened. Or maybe if you were away from civilization. Both of those had happened to her, but she had never forgotten her age. Then she realized something.

What if he had lost track of how old he was because...because he happened to be much older than she had originally thought. She looked at him in a dazed confusion, trying to sort her thoughts. Being immortal wasn't common, but it did happen. She shouldn't be so shocked, but she hadn't been expecting to meet an immortal. She collected her thoughts as quickly as she could without him thinking something was wrong. But something he said also made her think.

"Eight...what?" Eight decades? Eight centuries? How old was he? No that it mattered anymore. He still looked younger than her, and no matter how old he was, she would never think any differently of him. Her heart was his.

[Anonymous]

"Eight years. I thought that was pretty obvious. Unless you've guessed that I'm immortal? Well...you know, i'll take a little guess at my age for you...perhaps...198? 225?" He shrugged. "Not as old as my sisters. I'm the youngest." He glanced at over towards the kitchen, as if he were thinking about getting something. He looked back at Cosette. "Any more questions?"  He thoughtfully ran a finger down the length of the scar on his face, saying quietly to himself, "I need to change the bandages."

[Anonymous]

It was rather strange hearing him say how old he was. She didn't know why, but she couldn't quite wrap her mind around the whole 'immortal' thing. How could someone possibly have the ability to live forever? How do they get 'older'? At what age do they stop 'aging'? She would have loved to ask him all of these questions, but that wasn't something that is easily explained. So for now, it would just stay an unasked question.

She brought herself back to reality and realized she had been staring at the scar on his face for quite some time. She shook her head slightly, averting her eyes, hoping he didn't catch her staring. "uhh...questions? No. How about you? Any questions you have for me?" She watched as he stroked his scar, following his finger the whole time. "Ch-change the bandages?" She looked away, not really wanting to have the thought come into her head as to what is under his bandages. If there was blood...ugg she didn't even want to think about it. She grew quite queasy at the sight or smell of it. If he was changing his bandages, she would make herself scarce; in a hurry.

[Anonymous]

Zephyr watched her looking at the scar. He found it interesting that she seemed interested in it. He almost found it amusing when he realized she didn't like the thought of blood. It was a thing that he had seen all too many times, and him being sick at the sight of it would make him a failiure at his job. He said carefully, "As you may have guessed, I have a lot of secrets...I might let you in on 2 of them. But, you must promise not to tell anyone at all. Do we have a deal?" He faced the other way, preparing to take the bandages off. "And no worries, there is no longer any blood behind these.."

[Anonymous]

She shifted her weight awkwardly from one foot to the other. "Uh...yea we have a deal." Her hands wrapped around her stomach, as if hoping to keep the nausea away. She soon realized that it didn't work; the room began to spin a bit. He had said there was no blood. Quit worrying. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get her mind off the thought. There had been blood. Lots of blood. She shuddered slightly. Stop thinking about it Cosette! No need to pass out or throw up right now. She inhaled deeply and looked back up at him.

[Anonymous]

Zephyr turned around. His eyes were closed. There was a deep scar going down from his eye, going down and becoming shallower and extending onto his cheek. It was the scar Cosette had seen coming out of the bandages. He said, "I have two eyes still...just one is not what you think." He opened his eyes. Using magic, there had been a ruby placed into his eye socket. It was as if it were another eye; it was the shape and size of one, and it looked just as able to see as his normal eye. "See...this is what was behind the bandages.. "

[Anonymous]

She couldn't help but have a queasy feeling in her stomach as he turned around with his eyes closed. The scar was nothing to be afraid of; in fact that wasn't what she was afraid of. It was what was under his eyelid that she was nervous about. Would it be an empty socket? Would his eye be slashed? Would it be one of those pale white eyes? Her stomach wrenched a little at the thought. Did she really want to see what he was about to show her?

But it was too late as he opened his eyes. She had to admit, it was rather strange to see him with two eyes. And the...whatever it was replacing his old eye hadn't been nearly as frightening as she had expected it to be. But that didn't mean she didn't just flat out stare at it. Her eyes widened in curiosity at the object in question. "What is it?" she said involuntarily, meant only for herself to hear. She figured he would answer her, though she felt pretty foolish for asking such a question.

[Anonymous]

Zephyr blinked. "Well..to put it simply, its a ruby. Its a ruby that I need to protect. What better place to hide it?" He said, "its a cursed ruby, so technically, I can see just fine. I don't feel like going into details, but it is not a great idea to be using this eye all the time." He sighed, sitting down on the couch. "The second secret...is how I got the scar. Want to hear?"

[Anonymous]

She tried to let it sink in. A ruby? A family ruby? A cursed family ruby? In his eye socket? She wasn't going to question it further, she just had to sort it out in her mind. All she could this was that this ruby must be either worth a pretty penny or be incredibly powerful. She was going to aim for the second one, considering it seemed more realistic to her. He did say it was cursed.

"Yea...It's understandable why you wouldn't want to advertise where it is." She sat down next to him on the couch, a bit more space between them than before. "And I think I would like to hear it." Though whether she actually did was another question. It seemed like the story would be a lot to handle. That seemed to be his entire life. The best story she could tell him was just a night she had spent with a guy. He could probably guess the central theme to it, therefore rendering it pointless to tell. But his life was anything but boring or pointless. She didn't know if her mind would be able to handle it, but she listened anyway.

[Anonymous]

Zephyr nodded. "Alright then. I will tell you. I'm sorry if its a little gruesome, but I can't help that." He sighed. "Well...you remember that guy that came after us way back then? Well, think much more powerful and cunning. That man's boss is who I had to kill..." He paused. "A friend and I decided to go and kill him ourselves. We would solve it all that way, you know...it would have ended a bad part of our lives." He looked up thoughtfuly. "Got it so far?"

[Anonymous]

She nodded, absorbing the information. "I think so, yea." She didn't want to speak much or interrupt to much.

[Anonymous]

Zephyr continued."We both planned exactly what we'd do and how. We thought it was brilliant. But...it went horribly wrong. My ally, my best friend, my only friend, lost his life and my eye was cut out by the boss. He cut my eye out with a knife...torture and such.." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I received no sympathy when I came back to my base without one eye and a fair amount of cuts. I was blamed for my allies death, and I couldn't do my job anymore because of my eye." He frowned. "Thats it...."

[Anonymous]

She just stared. It was just a blank stare at nothing in particular. She didn't know what to say, and she couldn't find her muscles to make herself move. Something about his story made her want to either hold him in her arms forever or leave right then and there. But without control of her legs or arms, she just sat. Sat and stared.

It was then that she realized she had been holding her breath. She inhaled sharply, closing her eyes as she did so. What was wrong with her? She shouldn't have expected anything when he began telling his story. She should have kept an open mind. She should have done a lot of things before he told his story, but it was too late now. She felt...odd and she didn't even know why. She swallowed, opening her eyes again. She wanted t ask him question upon question. Was the man still alive? How long ago was this? Is his sister upset with him for allowing his friend to die?

"Did it hurt?" She couldn't stop herself from asking, and as soon as she said it, she blushed. Stupid question. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She cursed at herself for asking such a blaringly obvious question. Of course it would hurt; maybe not initially, but once the shock wore off it would. "uhh...ignore that question." She averted her eyes, slight color still in her cheeks.

By this time she could move her legs. She needed to go for a walk, needed to get outside and relax a bit. "I am going to get some fresh air. Care to join me?" She stood and walked a step before stopping and looking back at him.

[Anonymous]

Zephyr looked at her as she stood up. He saw everything in front of him but saw nothing at the same time. The facts lay before him, but he couldn't process them. He gave her a look that had sadness in it along with a blankness from being so lost in his memories.

"...I'll stay here." He just stared ahead.

[Anonymous]

She frowned slightly, hesitating before walking towards the door. She looked back, sadness in her eyes. Would he be ok? "Zephyr?" she swallowed slightly. "I love you," and with that she opened the door and stepped outside.

When the door was closed, she leaned against it and started to cry. What the hell was going on? Why was she crying? She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop it. The tears streamed from her eyes and she found herself sliding down the door until she was sitting with her back against it. Her breath was harsh and raspy already, and the longer she sat there, the more she cried. It was a good thing maybe.

She had been long overdue for a good cry.

After several minutes, the tears slowed and she began to be able to control her breathing. The reason for her tears was still unknown, and she decided not to question it out of fear that they would start back up again. She stood slowly, standing in one spot for a few moments before daring to take a step. She really needed to go for a walk and clear her mind. She walked down the street, keeping her eyes on the pavement and making sure her mind was concentrating on walking. The less it wandered the better.

[Anonymous]

Zephyr heard Cosette crying and it made him feel like he was responsible for it. It madr him unhappy, but he just stayed where he was. He got another unexpected visit from Shadow.

She was bitter to him, everything she said spoke this. She was somewhat harsh in her words, and she left after an arguement. Zephyr started throwing knives in the wall in front of him. He glared at the wall.

[Anonymous]

She walked for a while, consciously keeping her mind off of anything that would make her cry some more. It was a refreshing walk, and she had been able to think about some things, but when she returned to his house, she felt no better than when she left. She stood at his door, hearing thuds against the wall. She winced slightly before knocking on the door. "Zephyr, can I come in?"

[Anonymous]

Zephyr heard Cosette coming up to the door. He glanced quickly at the door, and stopped throwing the knives for a moment. "Of course you can...my door  is always open for you."  His voice had a hint of sadness in it. He said quietly, "i don't mean to stick my nose into your business, but I heard you crying....I can't help but wonder if it was my fault. I'm sorry if it was...did I say something wrong? Did I hurt you?" He threw one knife especially hard, cursing himself for being stupid.

He remembered all the killing he had done in the past. He remembered the killing he had almost done only a day or two ago. He made her cry. His visible eye narrowed. 'I'm a monster.', he thought, throwing a long knife into the wall.

[Anonymous]

She hesitated before opening the door. She stepped cautiously into the house, flinching when he threw more knives into the wall. She heard his question, but held back her answer. He hadn't upset her, not on purpose at least. He was only telling her a story, one she had wanted to hear. She just wasn't quite prepared for it. So technically yes, he had upset her, but she wouldn't tell him that. She closed the door quietly behind her, watching as he threw another knife into the wall.

"You didn't upset me. I just...have a weak stomach is all." It was convincing, and true. She knew he was talking about the crying, but she was going to pretend that didn't happen. She didn't cry often, and when she did, she didn't like to remember it. She held her eyes on him, smiling slightly as she did so. She didn't want him to feel bad for her short moment of weakness. She didn't want him to think it would be a reoccurring thing. She would make sure it wasn't.

She walked over to him, slowly but confidently. She wasn't afraid of him or his past. She knew who he was now, sorta, and she wouldn't leave him because of something that wasn't his fault. She had decided this before he even told his story, and she would stick by it until he told her he didn't love her anymore. She stood next to him, watching as he took his anger out on the wall. She smiled as best she could as he chucked another one at the wall. "Mind if..if I try?" She looked at him softly.