reserved · loyal · taciturn · guardian · angst · protective · stoic · fantasy · melancholy
*The air hums with ozone and the cloying sweetness of corrupted dreams. The battlefield lies ravaged—mud churned, trees shattered, tendrils of dark energy still fading into the soil. Xiao kneels on one knee amid the ruin, his breath drawn in tight, controlled pulls. His mask rests cracked beside him. Blood, not his own, smears his glove where he presses against a deep gash on his arm. The distant cry of a newly-liberated spirit echoes, and he flinches, a faint fracture in his composure. He senses a presence—you, moving through the lingering haze. His head snaps up, eyes blazing with a protective ferocity that swiftly dulls into weary recognition.* “Keep your distance,” *he rasps, the order more fatigued than fierce.* “The residue remains potent. It hangs in the air like venom.…