Oh hey, guess what? Another one!

(So… how powerful is Jackie?)
(Also, I apologize for having such long posts. De’Tearion is one of my favorite characters, lol, and highly developed)

De’Tearion rose up a bit, his eyes widening in surprise. He swayed for a moment after Jackie vanished, off balanced by his limbs suddenly holding the ground instead of a woman.

When she hit him in the head, he yelped, then whipped around to retaliate. However, her crotch kick threw him off balance again, and he flopped onto his back, watching as she disappeared, and seething now that his headache was worse.

He teleported away a moment later, appearing in a small cottage he had acquired. It was outside of the town where the arena was set, tucked discreetly in the woods, a perfect place for him.

De’Tearion groaned, holding his head for a moment. He then shrieked angrily, and attacked a nearby chair in a fit of rage and frustration. The chair was torn apart in seconds, and De’Tearion leaned against the wall, shaking with the effort to calm himself down. Tears of black blood streaked down his face and he pulled up an amulet he had tucked under the collar of his robe, holding desperately to the black glass pendant of a female goliath beetle.

After a few moments, he slid down the wall, foul memories replaying in his head despite his attempts to fight against it. So much failure, so much ridicule, and so little freedom.

Eventually, he managed to get out of those dark memories, and considered the strange events in the arena. He knew he needed practice with a sword, but that wasn’t what concerned him. Jackie had been able to resist his hypnotism, utterly. He had never encountered someone like that, except for Vanishers, and Jackie was definitely no Vanisher.

“How?”he breathed, shaking his head.

Then, the small kiss. What was that? Why would she do that? They had been fighting, not courting. There was a difference! Especially when she reminded him of the power-hungry females of his own race! It made no sense, but it also bothered him in a way he couldn’t really describe. He wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“Mercy have me. What madness be this foul woman?”he burst, rubbing his temples with his free hand. The massage seemed to help his headache somewhat, and he soon dozed off against the wall, his jet black hair somewhat disguising part of the mess on his handsome face.

(Oof. That just took out a few of De’Tearion’s prey-catching weapons, lol. Thumbs-up)
(Yeah, lmao!)

De’Tearion didn’t sleep for long. His head still pounded, and hunger nagged at him. He hadn’t eaten since he’d arrived at the arena several days ago.

But, he had tasted Jackie’s blood. Even a tiny sample like that built a link of sorts, allowing De’Tearion to track her far easier than others, among other things. And, the smell lingered with him, haunting him with the temptation of a meal.

He remembered another woman he’d had that with. A kind, young human that he’d fallen for years ago. Unfortunately, one mistake turned her kindness into hatred, and he was forced to leave everything and everyone he knew… again.

“Why have you forsaken me, Mercy? Why have you cursed me with the name of De’Tearion?”he moaned.

Another wave of Jackie’s smell hit his nostrils, and De’Tearion rolled his eyes, sighing.

“Why must you keep taunting me, Mercy?”he muttered, starting to clean his face.

Nothing happened. De’Tearion snorted, finished cleaning, and slowly stood. He then walked out of the cottage, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply, focusing on Jackie’s smell. It flowed around him, through him, engulfing him in her scent. After a moment, he turned and opened his eyes, walking through the trees with a determined stride. Unless he found a worthy meal beforehand, then she would be it, even despite her strange abilities.

(Lol. Literally a strength vs. speed situation then, lmao! Though, De’Tearion is fast in his own right, but probably nowhere near Jackie’s speed by the sounds of it, lol)
(Lmao!)
(Also, was Jackie even hurt when De’Tearion started crushing her wrists, or did she escape that before it got too bad? I’m just curious)

De’Tearion continued through the forest, moving in the trees with the stealth of a cat. He steadily followed the scent of Jackie, detecting that they were now approaching each other.

A faint chirp cooed from him, and he leaped straight up into the trees, vanishing into the leaves with barely a sound. He then closed his eyes, their damning glow disappearing instantly. The lack of sight didn’t faze him at all. All of his senses were quite keen, and it was also more fun when his prey couldn’t see him.

(Hello?)

(Okay, just double-checking, lol)

(Lmao!)
(Lol, thumbs-up)
(Wait a minute! She can hear heartbeats too? …Or is it because of her cat ears?)
(So, do you want to say it’s night, thereabouts? Or is it still day? Don’t mind me, I just keep seeing nighttime and I want to make sure)

De’Tearion almost chirped at her words, but he managed to stay quiet. He pondered how she knew his whereabouts, even with his silence. Remembering her ears, he questioned what else she could hear, and decided not to move. He would test her hearing. If she still knew his location, despite his silence, either her ears were more keen than he’d initially thought, or her nose was, or both.

He ignored her first words and considered her next ones. What nonsense was ‘owning’ someone’s life? It made no sense to him at all. But… if he accepted the challenge and won, would that essentially make her a subservient meal? So rarely has he found an easy meal, especially one that would sate him.

(Lmao!)
(Thumbs-up)

De’Tearion had quickly picked up on the fact that Jackie’s heartbeat and blood flow didn’t sound right. So, when he heard rustling leaves, he immediately knew that somehow Jackie had tricked him, and could clearly hear her heartbeat next to him.

Despite the surprise though, and how insanely annoying Jackie was, she seemed to become more intriguing each time they met. De’Tearion had never met anyone who could actually trick one of his kin like she’d just done. If he had to admit, it fascinated him.

De’Tearion calmly opened his eyes, giving Jackie a curious sidelong glance. It was a bit eerie the way his eyes shined in the dimness, but somehow it seemed to highlight his face in a very attractive way, particularly his delicately carved high cheekbones.

“You hear heartbeats? Interesting… Now, explain your terms. ‘Owning’ another’s life be something I am unfamiliar with,”he bade, unfazed by her threat.

He then settled into a more comfortable position, practically lounging now as five of his six clawed limbs spread out to hold onto the surrounding branches. He leaned on his free primary arm, gazing at Jackie with a calm but stone expression.

(Hello?)

(You’re good. My schedule’s changed slightly, so yeah)
(Also, just to clarify in case, the ‘six limbs’ part was referring to De’Tearion’s four arms and two legs, so yeah. Hopefully I didn’t confuse you there, lol)

De’Tearion chirping, considering her words. Though he wasn’t very familiar with the concept of slaves, one of the creatures in his homeland was notorious for gathering slaves, even if they only ended up eating the poor bastards afterward. But… if De’Tearion won, then that likely meant he had a willing snack.

“Very well. I accept your challenge,”he said.

Then, without any warning, De’Tearion expertly twisted and kicked Jackie out of the tree. Afterward, he swung down, holding the branches with his toes. While hanging upside down, he simply screamed, a frightening chorus of chirps and clicks that could intimidate most creatures, even without the fear-inducing magic enhancement.

De’Tearion quickly stopped screaming, frustrated by how many of his abilities seemed to not work on Jackie. He then teleported, one of his toes getting nicked by an arrow, a groove now in the curve of his claw.

He appeared on the ground, several feet away, black mist forming around his fingers. With a growl, he shot forth two balls of dark energy meant to stun. One hit the branches where he’d previously been, and the other hit the branches above that, where Jackie had jumped. They exploded in large bursts powerful enough to snap a few branches.

De’Tearion chirped angrily at the fact that Jackie had only been grazed. He then noticed her click her heels and vanish. Magic item?

At the last second, he realized that she was right behind him, and he whipped around. He gasped as her sword cut a chunk of his hair off, nearly hitting his nose, and he stumbled back to the ground. His lost hair almost immediately disintegrated into ash.

“‘Tis been many centuries since I last encountered one as fast as you,”he hissed.

He then teleported to several feet behind her, throwing two more balls of stunning energy, both directly at Jackie.

“That seems more like your own motives. And, this be a duel to the death not,”De’Tearion replied.

When she shrieked, De’Tearion collapsed to his knees, gasping and holding his ears in agony. He nearly passed out, but she stopped just beforehand and he managed to somewhat recover.

He teleported away, reappearing behind Jackie again and stumbling to the ground. He tried to stand, but failed, black blood trickling from his ears. After a moment to let a wave of dizziness pass, he raised all four arms and threw four balls of the stunning energy. One was aimed directly at Jackie, the other three were aimed around the first one.

De’Tearion then crawled over to a tree and leaned back against it. His ears rang loudly, seriously disorienting him, making him lightheaded. And, the amount of magic he’d just used at once had exhausted him. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to continue fighting.

De’Tearion didn’t register that Jackie was hit. It also took him a minute to realize that she was gone. When he finally did notice, he groaned in pain, then groggily maneuvered to his feet, turning around so that he could slowly climb the tree.

A moment later, De’Tearion was once more in the branches. He found himself a comfortable spot and laid there, quickly falling unconscious. Translucent black drool occasionally fell from his mouth as he slept.

De’Tearion slept until it was nearly noon. When he finally woke, the familiar ache of hunger nagged at him. His ears also hurt, and De’Tearion had a bad feeling that his balance would be way off for a while.

He groaned, crawling along the branches toward a tree, and sluggishly climbing down. It was strange, not jumping down like he usually did, but he was glad he hadn’t jumped. The moment he stood on the ground, lightheadedness bombarded him and he stumbled and fell.

“Damn that woman,”he hissed under his breath, moaning in pain as he slowly sat up.

De’Tearion sighed, then teleported back to the cottage he was staying in. He then maneuvered onto the small bed in the corner, leaning against the wall and holding his head while trying to ignore his hurting body.

De’Tearion didn’t move for a long while. He wasn’t really paying attention anymore to what part of the day it was. The pain slowly settled until only his ears were still throbbing. He simply stared into oblivion, his mind blank except for the occasional thought on the oak wood the cottage was built from. It would likely be a while longer before he could even attempt to stand without falling down.

De’Tearion fell asleep again, and didn’t wake until it was a little after midnight. His ears still ached, but the wounds were mostly healed.

To experiment, De’Tearion shifted to the edge of the bed and slowly stood up. He nearly fell over again, but this time he moved his feet to stabilize himself. Dizziness bombarded him then, and he sighed.

“How had she screamed like that?”he mumbled shakily, genuinely wondering.

He sat down again, taking a deep breath. Then, he got comfortable and took another nap.