[Hayame does not realize that someone has entered the Hall of Mirrors before her. Not at first.
She had been prepared for the idea that she might find someone down there. Supposedly it was the place they must all pass through, and so, unwittingly sharing the same opinion as a certain fellow, of course she assumes that it may be somewhere people set up ambushes or traps. If they are of Zenith... she can eliminate them right now, and take their [TIME], even if she would rather just kill them the normal way instead of relying on some strange, otter-begotten magic. If there are traps, she will clear them-
Something. She simply needs to do something, her first attempts at usefulness stymied by the mystical inability to leave the castle grounds and the lack of any actual prey to hunt and secure supplies.
At first, she is alone, her bow at the ready and her senses on guard... but the sharp scent of the cold spoils her nose, the strange echoes confuse her ears, and the splintered reflections distract her eyes. It leaves her growing more paranoid and on edge by the minute, and as her longer equine stride begins to catch up with the one who has entered before... the mirrors gradually cease to reflect her. Instead, they are occupied with the remaining ripples of another past. Who is that, in the alleyway, turning to hear the sounds of villagers? Why does that young man look so familiar, the sight of chastising on the shooting range even more so? That child taking a beating, does she not know--
She does know who it is.
Suddenly she rounds a corner in the labyrinth and can see him, there in front a mirrorlike shard of glass, looking back at her as if just as confused as she is to see the other. The bow she had instinctively pulled up to bring to bear almost lowers, her mouth almost opens to ask what he is doing there... Until she sees behind him that someone else has notched an arrow, the glint of the metal arrowhead reflecting in ten different icy sheets around them. The six foot longbow is back up, the string is drawn back to her cheek, her dark eyes sight down the bamboo shaft as she shouts out the warning of-]
Liem- !
[But the second before her fingers release the arrow... she recognizes his attacker, too. Not one, but two Liem Talbotts stand before her, one in the glow of the ice and one in the shadow and suddenly... a debilitating surge of doubt forces her hand to hesitate. Which was the real one?
Except she'd already loosened her hold on the fletching. She jerks the bow downwards at the last minute to try and aim towards the legs instead of instinctively targeting the heart, but... she cannot stop her arrow from flying off the sharp snap of her bowstring.]
no subject
She had been prepared for the idea that she might find someone down there. Supposedly it was the place they must all pass through, and so, unwittingly sharing the same opinion as a certain fellow, of course she assumes that it may be somewhere people set up ambushes or traps. If they are of Zenith... she can eliminate them right now, and take their [TIME], even if she would rather just kill them the normal way instead of relying on some strange, otter-begotten magic. If there are traps, she will clear them-
Something. She simply needs to do something, her first attempts at usefulness stymied by the mystical inability to leave the castle grounds and the lack of any actual prey to hunt and secure supplies.
At first, she is alone, her bow at the ready and her senses on guard... but the sharp scent of the cold spoils her nose, the strange echoes confuse her ears, and the splintered reflections distract her eyes. It leaves her growing more paranoid and on edge by the minute, and as her longer equine stride begins to catch up with the one who has entered before... the mirrors gradually cease to reflect her. Instead, they are occupied with the remaining ripples of another past. Who is that, in the alleyway, turning to hear the sounds of villagers? Why does that young man look so familiar, the sight of chastising on the shooting range even more so? That child taking a beating, does she not know--
She does know who it is.
Suddenly she rounds a corner in the labyrinth and can see him, there in front a mirrorlike shard of glass, looking back at her as if just as confused as she is to see the other. The bow she had instinctively pulled up to bring to bear almost lowers, her mouth almost opens to ask what he is doing there... Until she sees behind him that someone else has notched an arrow, the glint of the metal arrowhead reflecting in ten different icy sheets around them. The six foot longbow is back up, the string is drawn back to her cheek, her dark eyes sight down the bamboo shaft as she shouts out the warning of-]
Liem- !
[But the second before her fingers release the arrow... she recognizes his attacker, too. Not one, but two Liem Talbotts stand before her, one in the glow of the ice and one in the shadow and suddenly... a debilitating surge of doubt forces her hand to hesitate. Which was the real one?
Except she'd already loosened her hold on the fletching. She jerks the bow downwards at the last minute to try and aim towards the legs instead of instinctively targeting the heart, but... she cannot stop her arrow from flying off the sharp snap of her bowstring.]