#ASharpenedSword (Blade)

[celestial-narwhal]

Music fills the air softly accompanied by Kafka’s quiet humming. She seems content at this moment to listen with her eyes closed and pretend she is playing a violin, hands adjusting as they would on an imaginary one.

From a glance, one would presume she would remain that way: back resting against Blade’s arm for support as she immersed herself in a one-woman performance. But Kafka isn’t someone who was that easily content. As shown by the way the stellaron hunter lifts herself off his shoulder, only to promptly rest her head on his abdomen instead.

“Bladie.” A hand is raised, palm resting against his cheek. Wine-coloured eyes, unfathomable in their depths, affixed their gaze upon the swordsman. Quizzical. Curious. Intent.

“You know I care about you, right?”

Was this a test? Was this sincere? Did she really mean it when she posed the question? Only she and she alone could decipher the answer.

Unprompted | Always Accepting! @grislyintentions

The weapon stoically looks on, already all to used to the spider's weaving. He allows for her warmth to rest on his arm, though shot nerves long have been left unable to feel. He allows for her head to slowly migrate to his stomach, the woman fearless as ever in the wake of a murderer with countless lives on his hands.

Though, the blood on his hands was equally hers, as was the blood that stained hers, his. A weapon could only ever follow the stroke of their wielder, after all.

Blood meets wine as his gaze calmly drifts down, meeting her with his usual unfeeling stare. Still, there has always been a sense of attentiveness in his eyes when it came to her voice, a certain importance placed on words that left her lips.

And so, he listens.

"... It doesn't matter whether you do or not. It does not change Destiny's script," Blade answers, his voice rough and scratchy from disuse, "I do not need your care, nor do you need mine. I will heed your call despite the answer."

His hand reaches up to grasp at her wrist, rough and almost bruising, but with no intention of harm. It is simply how his grip has come to be, long gone the days where his fingers could easily adjust the pressure he exerted. Still, despite the outward harshness of the gesture, he leans into the touch, almost affectionately, had affection still lingered in this long dead corpse.

"... I believe you do. Your 'care' simply has a different definition."

[celestial-narwhal]

*inhales and exhales* Babygirl-

"... I'm going to give my device to Silver Wolf. She'll be able to prevent nonsensical messages from making their way through."

[celestial-narwhal]

For Blade,

How do you feel about the lives you take? Do they haunt you?

"... No. I hold no remorse, nor regret for the lives I have taken."

Blade gazes impassively forward, walking amongst a field of shattered weapons. A shattered glaive rests innocuously in his hands, blood having yet to oxidize and settle on carefully sharpened metal.

"They got in way of destiny's slave, and so, they were met with their end. I would simply call it fate."

He finds a clearing that calls out to him, beckoning him closer with a solemn song that whispers in the grass. A beat passes, then two, before he reverently sheathes that iron tip into softened dirt, his eyes closed in prayer.

"Every life that stains these hands, was given a warrior's death. Do not dishonor their sacrifice by offering pity. To meet a warrior's end is something I would consider a mercy, for they were able to touch that unreachable side, and they were able to grasp it as themselves."

Really, he was envious of them. They knew a peace that he would never be able to embrace on his own.

[celestial-narwhal]

A Lost Soul

Name: Blade (应星 YingXing) Species: Immortal weapon. Pronouns: He/Him (AMAB) Occupation: Stellaron Hunter Region of Origin: Xianzhou Alliance (Outworlder, planet unknown) Age: Eternal. Height: 6′3″ (190 cm) Birthday: May 3 HC Tag: ScarsEtchedinMetal (Blade Hcs) | EpitaphofTheForgeMaster (应星 hcs) General Tag: ASharpenedSword (Blade) | MemoirsofABlacksmith (应星) Verses: Past and Present, available below vvv

Ship Status: Highly selective due to his volatile nature. He is not sound of mind and I need to know I can communicate with ship partners comfortably before writing ships with him.

Blade: The sharpest weapon in Destiny's Slave's arsenal, Blade will not hesitate to end the lives of those who get in his way. Countless lives stain his hands, and many more are to come in order to achieve his ultimate goal. He does not see death as a harsh consequence to those he fights, however. To him, it is a blissful mercy.

His own death is his ultimate goal, after all.

When he fights, it's with abandon. He cares not for injuries he sustains, nor does he cower from taking what should be fatal blows. In fact, the pain he feels when he is harmed only enhances his power. As an unwilling immortal, his sense of touch has diminished significantly, nerves shot and numb. The only time he can feel is in the heat of battle after receiving an injury, which gives him a maddening high of catharsis. He is prone to losing himself to his mara and own mind when battles are commenced.

Outside of battle, he is a stoic, reserved man. His words are saved for necessity, and he is ever-loyal to the Stellaron Hunter's cause. It will inevitably bring him to his promise end, after all. He protects his fellow hunters without hesitation, and even humors their odd requests every now and then. While it may appear he is dispassionate, he listens intently to those he is involved with, engraving those memories into his mind the best he can.

Blade doesn't recollect the entirety of his own past, after all. Might as well make new memories with others.

The things he does remember, he keeps engraved in his mind. Of five people, three must pay a price. If any such people appear before him, he will not hesitate to keep to that oath.

应星 Yingxing: An apparition of the past. Blade's former self. He was known as the Furnace Master amongst the Xianzhou Luofu. He created numerous amounts of weapons and curios with curious powers, bringing him to notoriety despite not being a Xianzhou native. He made deep connections while living there, eventually becoming a part of the High-Cloud Quintet with his dearest friends.

Yingxing was a reserved, but not shy man. While seen as apathetic and arrogant to strangers, he openly showed his love to those he cherished by making countless gifts for them and smiled frequently, eyes shining with an affectionate fondness. He disliked being in the spotlight, reserving that mark for his bombastic friends and loved ones.

While he was not of any nobility or high blood, he held grace in his calm demeanor, always ready to encourage others to reach for the stars and remind them that they could do amazing things. If he, a short-lived outworlder, could work hard enough to surpass the long-lived that surrounded him despite his limited time, you could surely do that same. To those he was intimate with, he was teasing and playful, loving to see their reactions despite his actions often being a result of impulsivity.

Yingxing held a viscous vendetta against Denizens of Abundance after being enslaved in a work camp as a child, only to watch his family get devoured by the borisins before getting rescued by the Xianzhou Alliance. Due to this, he had a propensity to hold deep grudges and held no mercy for those of the Abundance. In fact, he basked in the ability to enact his revenge against them whenever he was allowed, a rather unsettling light always glinting in his eyes when his vengeance was performed.

He explored the world best through touch, embedding each sensation and feel into his memories with every brush of his fingers. Being a master forge smith, he was incredibly talented with his hands, being able to shape even the most complex shapes into form. When he focused on something, the rest of the world melted away and only him and said object existed, causing him to often work for days on end without rest. He held a strange stubbornness when it came to his craft, and he was always hellbent on finishing whatever he started.

Yingxing met his untimely end on the battlefield. Now he lays forever trapped within the weapon known as Blade. Immortality comes with consequence.

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