[Rewind - 1 minute, 23 seconds.]
The sterling silver chain whipped from my hand, and I snatched it back last second, encapsulating the stalker's malformed arm. Sharply, I yanked it back, removing the leverage right out from under it.
"Too unaware. Idiot."
Promptly, the creature smashed into the rooftop, lost as to what occurred. Surveying for options, I ripped back my chain.
"Window? Not high enough."
"Wall? Too slippery."
"Forget it."
Sprinting towards the stalker to gain momentum, I spun my chain and propelled it forward, launching and hooking it on the monster's leg.
"Guess there's only one way to go. Up it is."
Using the weight of the stalker against it, I prepped myself and gripped on the chain as hard as I could, sprinted up to the wall and pulled with all my might, catapulting myself over top of the building.
"Easy enough."
Floating gracefully through the air, I looked for the best positioning given my area. Unfortunately, all the rooftops were the same damn height around here. Let alone the ridiculous infestation of ash shamelessly ornamenting the entire city.
Looking down to relocate the state and positioning of the monster, something caught my eye.
Or rather, it didn't.
"The absence of color. Black. And wonderfully exposed."
His back faced toward me, the black hair and slim stature were unmistakable.
He was exactly the one I had been driven to kill.
Once again using the wretched stalker as a catapult, I shot myself at the black haired calamity. This time, it wasn't as forgiving.
As I flung forward towards my target, the stalker yanked back on the chain surrounding its neck, attempting to snatch me back within reach.
'Too obvious.'
I quickly twirled myself mid air, spinning out of the portion of the chain wrapped around my arm. Freed from the restraints, I outstretched my hands at the last second and pulled, ripping the chain off the neck and through the hands of the stalker.
"Thanks for the chain. It looked good on you though."
Finishing my maneuver with a bang, my feet hit the floor, creating a beautiful crater to cushion my fall.
Everything else disappeared, and I began the chase again.
"Why are you running, if you are not guilty?"
Silence.
Only the sound of leather boots taking bites out of the ashen ground broke it.
'Fine, don't speak. I prefer my prey silent anyway.'
Crunching and sliding, I forced my way towards him.
'He's entering the narrow strip of land now, where the hell does he think he will escape too?'
To my surprise, he darted off much faster than before, as if he wasn't already running at full potential.
'Oh yeah? This'll be more fun than I thought.'
A deep, manly voice resonated throughout my entire nervous system.
[You have been marked - Predator's Claim]
My grip slipped.
My body froze in time.
It felt like my soul nearly jumped straight out of my body, completely destroying my focus.
This voice was one I've heard only once before...
"AGH, damn it! What the hell does that mean? Marked? Predator's Claim?"
I realized I was forgetting something important, but it was too late.
I whipped my body around, unraveling the chain from my arm immediately and snapping it through the air behind me. It caught the stalker on its side, but it had already closed the gap between us. Its bloodstained talons and void ridden body were about one hundred feet closer then I have ever wished to be to one of them.
Its blinding white eyes shot holes through my skull as it wrapped its arms around me, slowly sinking its talons into my sides. Silver liquid seeped onto the claws of the stalker, sinking deeper and deeper in my skin.
That's not going to be enough to stop me.
It should've never claimed me as its mark.
My chain that had previously struck its side, had made a better impact than I thought. The chain had split a good, hand sized portion in the side of its body, making for an exquisite room tour.
"Careful. You should keep that inside."
Forcing my hand into the left side of its body and grabbing a hold of whatever flesh I could find, I squeezed as hard as I could, imprinting my fingers and the chain as deep as possible.
The creature shrieked, yanking its body back from my hand, a beautiful stream of silver ooze spraying out from its side.
"Not bad at all. I've seen better."
Not bothering to hear its response, I immediately turned around to find my prey, and it turns out, it isn't as stupid as I thought.
'Did he hide? Or did he run? If I was a bunny running from a fox, what would I do...'
Hide. It only makes sense.
Conceal yourself from your predator, and have it assume you ran away.
"But I'm a smart fox, Mr. Calamity, you won't get me with such a simple trick."
Creeping into the long plaza, I closed my eyes, listening for any minute sounds or movements. No matter who or what you are, you can't stay silent forever.
"Little bunny doesn't want to come out to play?"
...
"I just want to get to know you."
...
I leaped up onto the top of the rickety merchant shop, giving myself a better lay of the land around me. There was one long, narrow path, filled to the brim with blacksmith and merchant shops. At either end, open, circular plazas. Stemming from the center, there is a massive industrial district, with little to no hiding spaces, other than the gaps of vision provided by over-accumulated smoke. There was no obvious access to the paths into the industrial district, and regardless of that, the broad open spacing of the pathway renders it useless as a method of escape. Too vulnerable.
'Guess I'll just have to bring the meal to me.'
"All these merchant shops out here, I wonder what they have in shop today!"
I hopped down, and decided to take a look inside.
"Hm, what should I buy today? We've got clothes, we've got charms... oh! This might work!"
Picking up a bottle of what seemed like some combination of sludge you could only find in an abandoned alleyway, I grinned.
"I wonder what this potion here would do? Let's play a little game. I'll guess what it does, and you take your guess, then we'll see who's right. Whoever guesses it right wins!"
I tossed the glass potion high up into the air, and whipped my chain at it, shattering it and spraying the potion everywhere. The contents flew out, and dropped down like raindrops.
"My guess is..."
"Destruction!"
As this happened, I unraveled my chain from my arm, and whipped it full force around me in a circle.
Wood and ash flying everywhere, I shredded through the tops of the markets and blacksmith shops around me.
"No contact this time, but how many times will you be so lucky?"
I walked up to another undestroyed merchant shop, and grabbed another potion.
"What do you think this one will be? Catastrophe? Explosion? How about..."
"Death."
I tossed the potion up into the air, shattering it into smithereens as it rained beautiful streams of crimson for all to see. I then lashed my chain all around me in circles, creating a typhoon of black ash, soot, and wood. And this time, a magnificent sound rang in my ears.
Clang!
A loud ringing resided off of my chains and stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Found you, little bunny."
Immediately, I reached my arm through the ash cloud to catch my prey and...
[Switch.]
'Damn it! Three of these shields back to back and the impact still felt like running full speed into a brick wall!'
'Just who the hell is this lady?'
Her slim but firm arm cut straight through the cloud of dust and threatened my safety in every way. You could see every vein of strength fueling her arm and prepping it to rip me apart...
'Sorry, Ms. Silver Streak, but I have a life to live as well.'
In one fell swoop, using the blinding cloud to my advantage, I swiftly unsheathed my dagger, flipped it on its base, and with two hands, smashed it straight into her outstretched one, crushing it right onto the anvil.
"Who says my trick was simple?"
"Fuck you!"
'Guess it was good enough.'
Promptly turning, I vaulted over the side of the shattered blacksmith shop and stayed within the ash cloud and sprinted away, holding my breath for as long as I could before passing out.
Gasping for air, I inhaled huge amounts of dust and felt a sharp pain in my throat and lungs equivalent to swallowing a cup of fiberglass.
'Damn this silver streak! What kind of calamity runs for their life instead of wreaking havoc?'
'Everything broke the moment the trial chose me.'