Title: Silent Fury

Pairings: mild Bryce/Varuna

Prompt: Anonymous request – Silent Assassin Mode Varuna

Words: 1,828

Warnings: Violence

AN: I'm always open for requests, especially if they're about my own created characters~

-

Varuna had to admit that he hated the 'secret areas' of the Lush Woodlands. It wasn't a surprise and, in all honesty, he suspected that a lot of members of his guild hated the third floor as much as he did.

Glancing over at a large baobab tree that had been severed cleanly in half, Varuna winced.

The...last time he was here Nitish fainted suddenly from a menacing aura and Bryce was attacked by Telem, only so that the nightseeker could put Varuna in what he called Silent Assassin Mode in order to save Roxbury from a resurrected dragon. Obviously at the time he didn't know that. He just...wanted the other nightseeker dead for daring to strike out at Bryce with a knife. Right in front of him.

He...didn't really remember much of what happened after that to be completely honest. He remembered snatching Achyuta's driveblade with the sole intent of hunting Telem down and making him pay. Nothing was to stand in his way. He also remembered feeling the almost supressing aura of something powerful and dangerous. And that powerful aura was trying to devour Roxbury.

After that...anger and rage. Telem was right in front of him, but his anger toward the Sand Leviathan was stronger. It was trying to kill Roxbury. It was trying to kill his leader and teammate. His friend.

Just wanted to kill it. Kill that fucking dragon. Kill it to save Roxbury and then go after Telem. He hated Telem for hurting Bryce, but what he had done was nothing compared to what that dragon was doing to Roxbury.

He was actually sorta glad that Durriken used that Ariadne Thread to warp him, along with his partner Telem, out of the labyrinth and away from him. Varuna had just decapitated a dragon. He didn't even want to imagine what he might have done to Telem should he have gotten his hands on him.

He didn't want to be like that again...

Honestly, if the little brothers of the guild weren't so insistent in exploring the area, Varuna would be happy to never set foot in these naturally formed pathways beyond the Throne ever again.

A hand landing on his shoulder pulled Varuna from his thoughts. Thankful for the distraction, Varuna looked over at the hand before glancing up at the owner. The silent question of his wellbeing in deep blue eyes brought a small smile on his lips. "I'm fine, Bryce," he said.

Bryce, still grasping his shoulder, didn't look all that convinced. He chose not to comment further and simply squeezed Varuna's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Another hour or two and we're out of here," he said instead.

Varuna nodded his head, silently relieved. And he was about to respond when a noise, a sound that could only be described as a loud roar, caused him to become tense, his hands reaching for his blades. He shared a quick glance with Bryce, their gaze lingering for just a moment before they both abruptly spun around, turning their backs toward each other while instantaneously looking for the younger members of their party.

Just as Varuna gripped the handles of his weapons and counted only Baldur and Fletcher, the trees settled within the thick undergrowth of the naturally formed walls of the labyrinth shook violently. And then...a dark blue blur suddenly appeared.

Black claws. Red eyes. Blue fur. White teeth.

A blue furred bear. A desouler.

And...it was running at full speed. Heading directly for...Baldur!

Before Baldur could react to the threat, all but watching with an expression of surprise on his face as the desouler lifted a claw to strike him down, Blayden suddenly tackled him to the side in time. The desouler swung its arm wildly, but hit nothing, thankfully.

But as they hit the ground a few feet away from the majority of their party, the shrubbery near where they landed suddenly bristled and...Varuna felt his heart quicken and his grip on his blades tighten.

There were two more. Three foes in total. All of them furious and vicious. One of them was approaching where Blayden and Baldur were, the two teenagers just barely recovering their breaths from the last attack. They hadn't seen it yet.

They...might not be able to handle a second attack!

Varuna felt a trill of something race up his spine, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up on end when he heard Bryce all but scream out his brother's name. Then, he felt it.

Time slowed. His senses heightened. Everything but him seemed to have stopped. He could see everything so clearly.

A voice, cold and chilling, rambled around in his head. Identify the threat. Classify the level of danger. Detect the menace's weakness. Isolate the weak point.

Three desoulers. High danger. Lumbering in movement. Two vulnerabilities; neck and spine. Under the throat. Back of the head.

Focus on target. Stop it from attacking by any means necessary.

Attack without warning. Swift in assaults. No hesitation. Hesitation means death. No one was to die. Only monsters. Only threats.

One strike - one kill. Three foes, three rapid attacks.

Now.

Gripping his blades tightly in his hands, Varuna sprung forward. His first target was the desouler closest to Blayden and Baldur. Claw in the air. Eyes red and piercing. Mouth wide, teeth gleaming. It was about to attack. It was the first threat. The biggest threat. The most dangerous.

It was going to be the first to die.

Appearing directly in front of the blue-furred beast, out of reach of its arms but mere inches away from the white tuff of fur on its chest, Varuna flicked his blades around and brought them together in front of him vertically. Straight up with a slight lean forward. With a suddenly lurch, he embedded the two slick blades deep into the soft, vulnerable area under its chin, the tips of his swords touching the base of the skull. Where spinal column joined the brain stem.

He barely registered the gargled cry of pain from the foe as he tightened his grip on his weapons, turned them slightly so that the sharp cutting edges faced away from each other. Suddenly, barely with an exertion or effort, he ripped the two blades out to the sides in an arching motion.

Varuna could feel the monster's threat level immediately drop.

Near decapitation.

Full incapacitation.

In a spray of blood, the desouler tilted to the side on its way to crumbling to the ground. But Varuna was already on the move. There were two more threats to take care of. Two threats he had to stop before they hurt anyone. He would not fail.

The other two foes never saw him coming. And all he could see of them, pass their glistening fangs and razor sharp claws, was their necks. Under the chin. Near the hinge of the jaw. The back of the neck.

Nothing else mattered. Kill. Kill the threat. Eliminate the threat. Destroy everything that was a danger to others. Even if it killed him in the process.

Just stop it...Just...stop it!

Two more strikes were all that was needed to stop the danger. One desouler had barely hit the ground before the other toppled over. Blood spurted from their necks. Both as incapacitated as the first.

All threats eliminated. Mission completed.

"Varuna!"

With the twin blades slipping from his hands, Varuna felt completely drained as he fell abruptly to his knees and then heavily onto his hands. His heightened sight and hearing abruptly faded into a neutral range. His white hair curtained around his face and shoulders as he stared at the ground with wide, unblinking eyes. He was breathing heavily from exertion. All his muscles ached from strain.

His head...his head was spinning. Flashes of a face he didn't recognise but feared. Large shadowy creatures. Each one wanting to harm him. But he would kill them first. Stop the danger. Eliminate the threat.

No...stop it. He didn't...want such thoughts in his head.

It...it happened again. He...

"Varuna, its ok," Bryce's voice cut through the haze of his mind. "We're all safe now."

...Good...

With something warm and strong wrapping around him tightly and securely, Varuna felt his eyes slip close and he lost consciousness.

... ... ... ... ...

Slowly opening his eyes, Varuna felt disorientated and unsteady. He felt as though he was moving, at a rather hurried pace, and yet he felt heavy and limp in his arms and legs. It took him a moment or two to realise that he was in fact being held, tightly and warmly, by a pair of familiar arms.

Barely having the energy or will power to move, Varuna glanced to one side to see the blur of green foliage and tall trees rushing past. Looking to his other side he saw a familiar breast plate of armour.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. Bryce was carrying him. His head was resting on Bryce's shoulder as the brown-haired landsknecht kept his gaze forward, carrying him effortlessly through the Lush Woodlands. He could see that Bryce's brow was furrowed slightly, his lips pressed together tightly. He didn't look all that happy.

Varuna couldn't help but sigh as he lifted his chin up to look probably at Bryce. He knew exactly why Bryce was displeased.

"Bryce?" Varuna murmured.

Not slowing his pace, Bryce glanced down at him with an expression of relief on his face. "Everyone's ok," he immediately said. "That includes you and me."

Varuna sighed again and nodded his head. He was relieved.

He closed his eyes and rested for a moment. He couldn't help but strain his hearing, though, listening to the sounds of other footsteps. He could also hear voices. Familiar voices. Not too far from him.

The younger brothers of the group were leading the way, talking in whispers to one another. He heard Fletcher mumbling something along the lines of it hurting. Miach answered in his usually whispery voice. He said something about adrenaline making it bearable. He could also hear Blayden's voice with a tone of concern as he spoke to someone. Baldur, it seemed, Blayden telling him not to ask questions about what happened. Not now. Not yet. Baldur, however, seemed...intrigued.

Varuna clutched his forehead and released a low, almost inaudible groan as he rested completely into Bryce's arms. That was the second time he went on a full and deadly rampage. Others had assured him that they never felt threatened by him, and he believed them. He truly did.

But the little 'what ifs' still plagued him at night.

"I...fucking hate this," he muttered as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Yeah," Bryce was heard mumbling as he tightened his grip on Varuna, cradling him even closer. "So do I."

Varuna just...he just wished that he knew more of what was happening to him so he could control it better. But that wasn't possible.

...Right?