[Steel Shadow]

The adventure continues!

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"What are they doing?" She hissed, cowering at the back of the coach, arms wrapped around blossom protectively. That was, admittedly, more for her own peace of mind than for the Lunar's safety. She'd try to protect the woman from a cold breeze if she could.

"I'm... Not sure. I think they're terrestrials, though?" Blossom replied, her eyes locked on to the exchange happening at the front of the bus. The two Exalts had been posing as mortals, travelling through the east on a sight-seeing trip. It had been Blossom's idea - She'd not seen the east since her second breath, and she'd never been a fan of all the pomp and festivity that followed Exalts around on official trips - And of course, Silent was only too happy to comply with whatever she desired. The concept of posing as a mortal had amused her as well, and she went about it in true Night caste style. Aside from a little disguise magic before they left, she hadn't shaped essence in months. It was... pretty relaxing, actually.

Or it had been, until their coach had been stopped on a secluded road in the forest. She'd thought it strange at the time - This area was supposed to be under the protection of the Silent Law, since it wasn't protected by another Solar. Had someone managed to slip through the net, or had they become lax in her absence? She had hoped for the former, right up until the first Dragonblood had stepped aboard and started speaking about some sort of 'protection tax'. then she knew it was worse than either.

"They're Terrestrials alright," Silent all but growled. "They're my Terrestrials. They're not even trying to hide my emblem on their armour." Reluctantly, she released her grip on her love and began to stand. This mortal charade was over. "Hold on, I'm going to-"

But Blossom was on her feet faster, her hand on Silent's shoulder urging her down again. "No, Dear, you stay put. If they recognise you this will be the end of our trip, but they don't know me from Linith. I'll talk to them. I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding." And then she was gone, before Silent could stop her.

The Solar just barely managed to restrain herself. Maybe Blossom was right. Maybe another Solar had instituted a new tax and asked her people to help him enforce it. It would be alright. She just needed to trust Blossom to take care of it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath...

"Excuse me Sirs, I-"

Her eyes shot open as a Crack ripped through the air. One of the Dragon's had punched Blossom into a wall.

"What the hell are you doing?!?" One of the others yelled at him.

"Shit, she's a Lunar, idiot! Didn't you see the tell? Look, she's still alive, definitely not a mortal."

"You just punched a Lunar!!!"

"Think about it! If she goes back and tells the Solars what we're doing here..."

"I think..." From behind him, the Dragon heard the voice of death herself. "They already know."

And that was when he realised his lungs were filling with blood, stemming from the cut across his jugular on the inside of his throat...

~

The grand doors to the Silent Law's central office in Meru cracked and shattered as Silent approached them, unable to stand against her rage. The Dragonbloods within reached for their weapons, only to freeze in place when they saw who was responsible for the destruction. What had been a busy hive of activity slowed to a halt as the Solar walked across the central floor, towards the central desk. Behind her, she dragged the corpse of one of the Dragon's who had attacked her coach. She slammed it down on the desk, shattering it in two.

The Dragon who had been behind said desk (Another of Cathek's descendants. No name came to mind. Didn't matter.) stared at her in shock. "S-Sir? What is the meaning of this?!?"

"This man was part of a group of Terrestrials that attacked myself and Blossom in the East." Her voice was calm. Impossibly so. "He was the only one who showed any hesitance or regret when they attacked my Love. You may allow his family to bury him properly."

"I... Lawgiver, this is-"

"The rest, of course, will wish for death for some time before it finally claims them. But that is not something you should concern yourself with." In Silent's shadow, Blossom trembled. None of her lives had ever seen the woman so angry...

"It's... Not?" The Dragon could barely think herself, standing in the full gaze of Silent's presence. All she could do was follow where the Solar guided her.

"No. Your concern is recalling every unit and agent we have out in creation, and dismissing them. Once you have done that, you will dismiss yourself, and leave Meru forever. I will be lenient, and give you one full day to accomplish this."

"Wha-"

"At the end of said day, I will kill any Terrestrial still wearing my emblem or claiming to be a member of the Silent Law. I am ending that organisation, effective immediately. Am I understood?" Her words echoed through the chamber, not another sound to be heard.

"I-... But-"

Cruch

No one saw Silent move, but she must have, becuase suddenly she had the Dragon she'd been speaking to by the throat, and was slamming her into a wall.

"Am I understood?"

"I... Don't..."

Crack

The wall began to crumble. Silent found another one.

"Perhaps I am not being clear. Today, I learned that, despite everything I had been told, the organisation I had founded was as corrupt as the one I wished to replace. Today, I learned that trusting others to do your work for you is a mistake. Today, I learned-"

At this point one of the Dragon's who had been shocked into silence found his nerve. He charged in, desperate to save his superior from the mad Solar who had attacked her.

Silent ran him through with her free hand, then tossed him aside through the hole in the wall. He did not get back up.

"Today I learned that the only person I can trust is myself. So. There will be no Silent Law, aside from myself, from this day forward. Recall your agents, and dismiss them. Or I will kill them all. Am I understood?"

Blood dripped from the side of the Dragon's mouth as she stared after the man who'd tried to save her in shock. "Lawgiver... Please..."

"Am. I. Understood."

The Dragon crumbled before her eyes. "... Yes... " She coughed, her head bowing in submission. Silent let her drop to the floor.

"Good. Get to work, then."

And with that, she walked out again, a horrified Blossom chasing after her.

~

The Lunar reached the house some time after Silent did. Try as she might, she just couldn't keep up with the woman while she was like this. Desperately, she hoped that she wouldn't be too late, that she'd be able to talk her Lover out of this rage she'd worked herself into.

But when she finally caught up, she knew there was nothing she could do.

Silent was wearing her armour. All of it. Oricalcum pieces she'd not worn since the war. She'd even retrieved her blades from storage, and it was clear she was only still here to finish attunement faster. The Solar was seated on the stairs, across from the front door, when Blossom entered. Her eyes were closed, as if she was trying to plan out how she'd do an entire organisation's work on her own.

"Silent..." Blossom's voice echoed around the house. It already sounded so empty...

The Solar's eyes opened, and they shone with sadness. "I'm sorry, my love."

"You're... Leaving me again."

"..." Silent nodded her head slowly. There was nothing to say.

"I... I knew you would. Some day. I just... I hoped..." Tears began to stream down the Lunar's face. She couldn't hold them back.

"I hoped as well. But I was a fool. I'm sorry, Blossom. I've hurt you again. And I'm probably going to keep on doing so." Blossom bit her lip. Silent was in full Solar mode now. There really was nothing she could do.

"Will... Will I ever see you again?"

"..." Saying nothing, Silent stood, and Blossom realised she was finished with the attunement. The Solar walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her one last time. "I... Will try. I love you, Blossom, and I will try to be with you whenever I can be. But I do not know when that will be, and it will never last for long."

"I don't care. Just as long as you come back to me." The smaller woman began to sob into her bondmate's chest.

"Just wait for me here in Meru, so that I will know where to find you, and I shall."

"I'll... I'll wait for you. I... Never. Never with anyone else. I'll wait for you." She was babbling now, but it didn't matter.

"You don't need to do that," Silent said, stroking the woman's hair. "I'll understand." She bent down, and kissed her Love on the brow. And when the kiss ended, she was gone.

Blossom dropped to her knees, and her sobs echoed through the house well into the night.

~

It was all a blur. She moved from one side of Creation to the other between blinks. She stepped between towns and settlements, and knew everything she needed to in a heartbeat.

Why had she ever tried to get help? She could do this job all by herself.

In a small village, she caught a small child trying to steal an apple. She rammed it down his throat and watched him choke, before flipping the shocked merchant a coin to pay for the fruit.

In a city (independent), she stopped a group of guards from extorting an old man. She skewered them and pinned them to the wall with the old man's walking stick. The one guard who'd turned on her fellows, who'd tried to defend the man, she beheaded. A quick death - She'd still been guilty of standing with the others.

In a town, two merchant's ran their stalls into one another. While they argued with one another, Silent ran them down.

Sometimes she didn't kill them. She only took limbs. A hand, a leg... It made it easy to tell who was a repeat offender.

Sometimes she saw too much, and judged everyone a sinner. When that happened, she left Shadowlands in her wake.

Soon, the legend began to spread of the Silent Death.

She couldn't have that.

~

It had been... Blossom didn't know how long it had been since she had holed herself up in the house. She didn't know why she had, either. Only that it was important. Only that she'd never leave, if she could help it.

It was lonely. Sometime neighbours stopped by to talk, but they were brief visits in a long eternity of just... Waiting. Waiting for something she didn't understand.

One day, she woke to find a woman standing at the foot of her bed. "Wha- Who are you?" She asked in a sleepy confusion.

The woman frowned for a moment, and then her eyes widened. There was a sudden rush in Blossom's head, and then-

"Silent!" She threw herself at her bond-mate, kissing her eagerly. "Oh, Silent, I missed you! I missed you so much... I didn't know why, but I missed you... Wait.. .Why didn't I know?"

"Sorry. That was a charm of mine." The Solar was almost sheepish about it. But not quite. Blossom wasn't sure her Lover was human enough to really be sheepish about anything anymore.

"Charm? Silent, what did you do?"

"Well..." Silent shrugged as she began reliving Blossom of her nightwear. "I got started right, but then people started to fear /me/, not the law. It's not right if they're just doing the right thing because they fear me. This way, they don't remember me - No one does - So they fear the law, just as they should."

Blossom's breath hitched as she remembered the 'Silent Death'. "Silent, are you sure-"

"Shhh." Silent put a finger to the Lunar's lips, giving her a sad smile. "I don't know how long I have. Let's make the most of it."

And then the Solar proceeded to banish all thoughts of protest from her Lover's brain.

In the morning, Blossom awoke, and wondered who had left the flowers by her bedside. The feeling that she was forgetting something important bothered her until dinner that evening. By the next day, she had forgotten even that.

~

It was a boring Calibration feast, just like all the others, until everyone started killing one another. But that was Exalt business, so it was nothing that concerned her. The fighting was fierce, out-doing even the bloodiest battle with the primordials, but Silent felt no need to get involved.

That changed when the fight began to spread out into the streets of Meru. Then she remembered Blossom. Then, the small part of her heart that was still human began to worry. She walked through the burning streets, occasionally moving slightly to dodge stray shots. None of the fighters saw her. None of them remembered her.

When she got to her home, she found the gates swinging on their hinges, and the house empty. Of Blossom, there was no sign - But as a Solar, Silent didn't need any. One look, and she knew what had happened. The fighting had scared the Lunar, and she had fled with the others. She would not return.

Silent could follow her trail, but it wouldn't be long before it ran cold... And she'd have to spare the time from her work, which she could already feel calling to her.

She'd never see Blossom again, she realised.

She bowed her head, and said her goodbyes. And inside her, the small part of her heart that was still human shrivelled and died.

~

In the end, it was luck that killed Silent Breath. The Sidereals worked hard to determine a pattern or a way to predict where she would show up, but nothing worked. In frustrated desperation, they tried dangling bait out and seeing if she bit. To their incredible surprise, she did.

She stepped into the city, and immediately she knew a man was about to commit a murder. She beat him to the punch, ramming a blade through his stomach and up into his heart, killing him instantly. It was only then that she recognised him.

The man was almost the spitting image of Cathek.

It couldn't be him, she knew that. He had died long ago. But it could be that... Yes, this was one of his descendants. And his descendants, she realised, were Terrestrial Exalts. She was confused, how had she not noticed this man was an Exalt before? It was very obvious to her now. She could feel it in his blood.

It didn't matter. She'd broken her oath. There was only one way she knew how to deal with that.

In that instant, the air was filled with knives, arrows, fists, and weaponry of all kinda, all aimed at Silent's back. She didn't even try to dodge them, and the weapons pierced her flesh without a problem.

It was only later, after they were absolutely sure she was dead, that they examined her still standing corpse, and realised the blade that had dealt the killing blow was her own.

It was a long time before people stopped praying to the Silent Death to spare them.