Blood.

He shuddered.

It fell from his elbows, spilled from the spots on his neck and traced the creases of his face, pouring around the exotic lines that framed his eyes.

Why?

He panted, spitting blood onto the still, reflective surface of this land he didn't know. His reflection rippled, disturbed by the crimson liquid oozing from his body and steadily staining the surrounding water. He furrowed his brow and flicked his gaze away from his reflection; away from the older boy with all of his looks and none of his heart.

A couple months ago he had been nothing but sweet, soft smiles. He deemed that kid naive. Now he was a blood soaked boy, stranded by his own accord, miles and miles away from the only home he had ever known and didn't care to go back to yet.

Rein tucked his chin close to his sticky neck as he thought of his home, of his golden mother and electric father. Ordinarily, a pang would have shot through his chest, paralyzed him, made him fall to the ground and weep for their absence. But he had grown numb to that. However, the question remained: would he ever go back at all?

The argument he had gotten in with his mother wasn't worth losing her entirely. But he was tasting the world and loving its flavor - especially with his new tricks.

He smirked, the wet blood plastered to his coat sparking and sizzling. He would return eventually, even if only to show off the magic that coursed through his veins and electrified his blood - literally.

---

rein's chillin. he's been on an adventure! he's got a gash on the back of his left elbow, but most of the blood on him isn't his own :D
open to all! gonna tag @Rexanna for funsies x)

He heard her before he saw her.

He heard the splashes, the dazzling rise and fall of her chains. He felt the ripples, the water lapping at his fetlocks upon her arrival. His smirk faded, his gaze sticking to the water, to his hooves - dark, ebony, like hers. He shut his eyes instead, desperate to prolong having to even think about her because to think about her was to think about home and happiness and scars and secrets.

The water grew still again, he couldn't feel it lapping as forcefully.

"I missed you..."

She was close. He opened his eyes, staying still, letting her words ebb and flow their way into his senses. His gaze trailed to her reflection, her creamy fur, so warm, so close. The memory of the time spent in their cave now bittersweet in his memory, soured by the enigma that was his existence.

"Are you... Are you okay? Can I help?"

His jaw tightened.

"Please, Rein, let me help..."

He looked up then, his navy gaze dark and taunting as he stared back at his creator. He suppressed the longing to bury his nose in her cream and black mane, smothering that feeling with memories of skepticism. He fought the urge to find that crescent shaped scar, looking instead at her eyes, and then of course the rodent like thing on her back. His golden brow furrowed, his features obscured by doubt and suspicion that were only amplified by the creatures presence.

"What's that?" He asked, the words tumbling from his lips before he could stop them. He immediately regretted saying them. He turned away, as if to imply he didn't care for an answer. "I...never mind," he added, mumbling the words as blood fell down his nose and collided softly with the salty water at his hooves.

'She's a traitor,' he reminded himself, his gaze finally daring to find the scar carved into the cream of her fur, a mark he shared on his shoulder. Traitor. His coat bristled at the sight of her scar, the blood on his body igniting again, electrifying and sizzling across his body. His dark, indigo eyes flicked up to her lighter, oceanic pools; his features daunting, daring her to try and help him now.

---

@Rexanna

HERE, FOR YOU, A VERY CONFUSED BABE WHO LOVES HIS MAMA BUT AGAIN IS VERY CONFUSED

His chest was gnarled, his heartbeat rising as the seconds slid by, amplified by the annoyance he felt when she answered his question regardless of his taking it back. A companion? Dad had two, she had one, and he had none. That's not fair. He added this to his list of reasons to be mad at her (which was, in fact, horribly short and pathetically underwhelming - though he hadn't realized that yet; he hadn't realized the irrationality behind his hateful, erratic thoughts). He scoffed at the creature, ignored it's strange squeaking. Normally, he would have been intrigued by its unfamiliarity, by its dainty claws and vocals, but his mind wasn't normal.

His gaze held hers unwaveringly, his brow furrowing further, trying to communicate his annoyance with a burning blue look rather than trying to play his hand with any vicious words (the words he thought about saying became strangulated in his throat - the good ones and the bad).

"Magic? You found your magic?"

His thoughts were interrupted, the mention of his magic making his blood run cold. The sparks sizzling off the blood matted to his coat grew larger, hungrier as she smiled. Did she know he had had magic all along? She tossed the words out so casually, as if she had known it was there and all he had to do was coax it out.

He didn't say anything, his glare darkening as if to say duh I found it. He found it after the first creature he ran into, a snake. It was the first he'd ever come across. He thought it was scary, even scarier when it lunged for his pastern. He wasn't as scared when his blood electrocuted it. That was when he found his chest grow hollow for the first time. He didn't feel any remorse for the creature as it withered and struggled, it's muscles spasming for a moment till it was limp. He had watched it with intrigue, not noting the fact he had killed it and instead focusing on how.

Then he had moved on to other creatures, eager to learn more about his electrified blood. He started with ones that were easy to catch, like beetles and butterflies. He would slice his canon open with a rock (he cried the first couple times, but it he eventually grew used to the pain) then charge it, and fling it at the creature. Not all of them died, especially the larger ones.

He grew eager to test it, to get better at killing them with the least amount of blood he could use. And so he sliced himself open more and more, but knowing little of how to stop the blood flow, he haphazardly left a crimson trail. Naturally, larger creatures followed.

The worst was the bear. It was a young beast, barely past its infancy. It scared him nonetheless, especially when it bared its teeth and bounded closer. That was when he learned of his other trick.

He let his silence separate them, turning his head away as she asked if it hurt, partially closing his eyes when she said son and his heart whispered mommy. He wanted his chest to stop hurting for her, to stop yearning for her, to stop simultaneously being angry and full of longing.

But he couldn't understand how to make it stop.

It was frustrating enough to channel into his blood, to call forth more of it, more to stain the waters and construct a sword. It happened quickly, faster than he was capable of understanding, but when it was over he understood it very well. His blood sizzled and cracked and found its way to her. He hadn't meant for that. He gripped his sword tightly in his jaws, blinking as he realized he had drawn it to aim for her throat.

That wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to end it all, but not end her. He didn't want to lose her - not at any cost. His inability to end her made him realize, at last how foolish really it was to be angry at her.

He dropped the sword, the bloody weapon dissipating as it hit the water with a gentle splash, the two liquids quietly melding. His face fell, the anger he hid away simmering, dulling, making way for the waves of remorse and love he had quelled for so long. He moved without thinking, burying his nose into her cream and golden fur, tightly pressing his eyes together as he breathed in her familiar smell and cried softly because it felt like home.

"I-I'm so-sorry, I'm so sor-ry," He choked out amidst her two toned mane. "This girl she-she bit me and I let her do it, I told her to, I dunno, she was hungry! And I thought - I thought you would be mad and then I got angry and I dunno - it was stupid. And then I ran away and I g-got bit by a snake and my blood killed it, Mommy, I killed it," He words were choppy and full of remorse, smothered by her mane and his tears. The guilt of killing the creature finally set in, finally resonated with him. His gifts were evil by definition, capable of bringing only death and pain. He knew that now.

"I-I killed so many..." He whispered, his eyes growing wide and features growing guilty. He felt dirty, covered in their blood, covered in innocent blood. He brought this death, this pain. He made her hurt, which was worst of all in his mind.

What have I done?

"I'm so sorry."

His stomach churned, nauseated. He choked on his breath, his eyes squeezed tightly together, blocking out his horrors. I hurt her, I hurt her, I hurt her, I hurt her. Emotionally and physically, he had scarred them both by trying to prevent himself from being cut further.

He pressed his head farther and farther into her, into her soft, two toned locks. They smelled of that rodent, her tiny companion. The foreign scent mingled with her familiar one was sickening, he decided. His arrogance had pushed her away, had inhibited him witnessing such an important part of her life. It wasn't sickening, he was sickening, for doing that to them both.

"...I'm okay," but on the inside, is that so? Even if her body had recovered from his shock, he knew he had left wounds on her heart.

"I'm so sorry, Mommy," He choked out again, his muscles relaxing as she stroked his necked. His crying didn't cease, but it slowed. His eyes opened reluctantly as she spoke, shocked by her acceptance. I almost killed you, and you're not even mad? He withdrew slightly from her embrace to turn his shocked blue gaze on her face and trace the emotions that appeared on her golden, exotically lined features.

She smiled, his lips fell apart in shock. He sniffled. Royal blood? "No way," he murmured softly, remnants of his childlike wonder still prevalent in his tone, though suppressed by his disbelief. Her tale began to make sense in his head, loose strings that once dangled in his mind connected. She's a princess. He didn't doubt it.

His tears flowed harder again as he leaned into her embrace. He understood, he finally understood. As she spoke of fate, he understood, but not quite how she meant him to. He understood that his magic was lightning and blood and death. He vowed to himself that he would never use it again. He didn't want to be known for having bloody hands.

The blood that caked his body was drying, some of it chipping off on it's own accord, the rest being nosed off by her cream maw. Her soft voice soothed him. His tears were quiet and slow. He turned his head down, careful not to poke her with his spiraled horn. He smiled through his tears as she spoke of shooting the Elephant King in the chest. A soft, pathetic little laugh escaped his golden lips, but he didn't say anything in response. He had nothing left to say.