The Only Heartbreaker [ZhongChi]

ONE

It was cold.

It wasn't the same as the cold of Snezhnaya or the Tsaritsa. It was unpleasant and painful. He couldn't get away from the feeling of a thick darkness consuming him. He fell, and fell and fell. He was scared, he wanted to cry.

. . .

"N-no! AGH- STAY AWAY!" his voice cracked. He tumbled onto his back and shoved himself as far back as he could. Once he hit the tree with his back, it was over for him. The wolves prowl, baring their teeth and snarling at him.

He expected to die there, but by some blessing he didn't. He was enveloped in a darkness akin to the all consuming void. Perhaps that's precisely what it was. Perhaps, this wasn't a blessing at all.

In a moment's time, he was falling. He couldn't do anything as he was plummeting to the ground that seemed to be non-existent. In the end, he awoke in the sky.

"The skies of Teyvat are fake"

. . .

"They will deceive and they will use. Do not believe their blatant lies, child, for they will take all they can from you"

"Yes, master Skirk."

A hit to his side, he moves to attack

A dodge to the right, he follows after

An abrupt hit to his legs, causing him to fall heavily to the hard felt ground.

"Get better, you'd be dead by now" the tattered woman says, holding her weapon to his neck. Looking down at him. Mocking him
Anger and hot, red rage bubble up inside him.

How dare this woman mock us! She's just helping. Does she KNOW what we're capable of? She means well. Let me in, Ajax. Let me show her our strength. The distorted voice echoed in his mind until Skirk interrupted his thoughts.

"Control it, child. How will you survive if you let the taint get to you?"

She was right. She always was.

. . .

He stood before the wolves, a short sword of steel in his hands. It was cold, the comforting type. The cold he felt when playing outside with his siblings. But they wouldn't play the same now. The wolves growled, and howled, and then cowered in the presence of something more.

They ran from him, he gave chase. She taught him to become the predator. She taught him to hunt.

So he would. His bones snapped and reassembled, elongating. His fingers pierced by his own bones slowly melded into razor sharp claws. His skull reconstructs itself into a mask with a glowing blue orb as his eye. His teeth sharpened and spread, hundreds of rows of teeth now adorning the inside of his mouth, with a long, thick tongue covering the bottom fangs. His skin purpled and hardened into plates similar to armour. His weapon was abandoned to use a better one- his own body.

The wolves tried to escape, but didn't make it far. The beast caught up to them, sinking its talons into one of them. As the animal squirmed and fought, trying to get away from the monster, it bit down. With a disturbing squelch, blood oozed around the teeth of the once scared, little boy. The wolf was dead as soon as he saw it. The beast pulled, and pulled, and snap! The bones holding him from consuming the wolf were crushed between his jaws. The internal organs that weren't caught in his maw spilled out as he chewed the meat. He was so hungry. He was famished.

He chased the others. One by one the pack was devoured by a tainted being akin to an abyss lector. Pure white snow glistening with the moon's glow slowly absorbed pools of carnage.
He left the woods with blood on his hands and tendons stuck between his teeth. He hungered in the abyss and wished to never succumb to such a fate again, no matter what he had to eat.

. . .

"Go now, you're as ready as you'll ever be"

It had been 3 months since he fell down and it was finally time to leave. Or at least try.

"Remember, child, don't tell them what you saw. Celestia doesn't like those who've seen their secrets."

"...I know, master Skirk"

"Don't let the taint overtake your mind"

"...I won't, master Skirk"

A sigh leaves the woman
"Take care out there, I don't want to see you here ever again"

This time the boy stays silent. He's used to hearing scolding and the same advice over, and over, and over.

"...I will, Skirk"

He treads through the poisonous air of the abyss, following the feeling of pure power. He was to escape through a crack that formed in the den of a great beast. He's tense, his whole body ready to snap into action as soon as any form of life shows itself.

He snapped.

Lunging towards the great beast of the abyss guarding his escape, he tried to scramble his way to the opening, the taint in the air thinning out and getting replaced by a sharp freshness, similar to breathing after a long day of hunting with his father. His hands reached the fresh snow, he was so close!

An agonising feeling engulfed his lower half. The beast tore its claws through his clothes and the meat of his thighs. He screamed as his legs slowly went numb. He drops to the ground, his short sword of steel in hand. He strikes the beast, just like she taught him.

For every wound inflicted upon the beast, it responds tenfold. His body droops down, close to giving out. Unleash me, you fool! I can finish this fight!

He wasn't going to die, he had to show the world his power, what he was capable of, they all had to know he wasn't weak! He would do anything to prove it. He would knock the gods from their petty thrones and conquer the seven lands of Teyvat.

In that very moment, the moment he's close to breaking the rule Skirk set down, a blue light appears. It's sharp and warm, like the waters of Morepesok as the sun sets in the midst of summer. A gem with a bright symbol in the middle. A hydro symbol.

It was a vision, the treasure gifted by gods.

His wounds closed up as soon as his hands  touched the source of the glow. A wave of water unleashed and the beast screeched. He laughed, high on the thought of being chosen by the Archon of Fontaine.

Blood splattered all across the walls of the cave. The beast dead within moments.

He climbed out of the crack in the earth that closed up behind him. It was as if it was never there, as if he never took the fall, but he knew he did. The vision in his hand a sign of his victory. The thrumming power under his skin forever a memory of what he saw.