Midnight(1.35)

Elijah slung his bag over his shoulder, not leaving his gun behind as he finished tying himself a ladder. He didn't need to be caught sneaking off, because he knew someone would try and stop him, who wouldn't try and stop the antisocial mage with recent copious amounts of stress on him from going out in the middle of the night?

He climbed down his makeshift ladder, before hopping down to the ground and sending his ladder back upwards. He sighed and fished through his bag and pulled out a flashlight, not wanting to take any chance of being caught in darkness as he strode through the woods. He jumped at every swish of leaves or snapping of a twig.

The forest seemed darker than he had ever seen, he never liked to go near the woods at night because of this reason. He wanted to get to the lakeshore as soon as possible, that way he didn't need to stay in the dark woods all night.

He pressed forward through the grass once he noticed a bright, flickering light as the trees began to thin out. He saw no one nearby, only seeing a flame lighting up a torch near the water's edge.

He stepped near the light and surveyed the area, his different coloured eyes flashing as flames flickered on the torch above him. Elijah adjusted his hoodie and narrowed his eyes as he heard footsteps coming towards him through the sand. Once he noticed the tall figure appearing along the lake, he pulled his weapon from his bag and prepared himself for either a fight or a friendly chat, either way, he'd be anxious.

"Put down your weapon Springtale." A man's voice droned. "I'm no threat to you unless you make me one." This sounded like a threat to Elijah, but he lowered his gun and put it away, making sure he'd still be ready to reach for it if needed.

The man stopped just before the light, stopping Elijah from being able to see his face. He could still tell the man had bright, white and green hair that curled and spiked up, as well as the man's black shoes that seemed to have been cleaned recently by the way they shone. He took a step back and looked up at the man who seemed to be much taller than the average person, yet he was lenky and not too muscular from what he could tell.

"What did you need from me exactly..?" Elijah was visibly shaking, he was still terrified of most people due to his recent torment. He could barely handle looking up at the man who stood before him. "I.. I won't fight you…" Mostly because he couldn't, his nerves were far too unstable for him to use his magic safely, and just by looking at the man he could understand his magical aura.

"I don't want to fight you, I'd much rather you just cooperate." The man said, stepping into the light, causing Elijah to reach in his bag and pull his gun on the man. He knew this man as Thorin, someone who was known to go after young runaways in the streets, killing them or scaring them for their food and money. Elijah had told Cat, that if they ever came across this vile man, he would make quick work of him. 

Now that they were face to face, Elijah felt like he was about to die, he could barely move. He wanted to run away, crying for his mother, if he had a mother that is. His legs trembled and he couldn't quite figure out what to do now that he had his weapon pointed at Thorin, should he shoot? Probably not. Would he shoot? Probably not.

"S-stay back!" What came out of his mouth was more of a cry than an order, but he doubted Thorin even understood how scared he was, he probably just thought it was funny that Elijah was basically cowering in fear of the tall man. Elijah lost it when Thorin took another step.

BANG!!! The sound of his gun going off must've been heard from all the way at the Shadefall Manor. Elijah could tell that he very well missed his shot, because there was only a tiny scratch on Thorin's cheek, with a little bit of blood trickling down the side. He was definitely done for now and almost collapsed from pure terror.

He didn't know what to do now as Thorin walked over to him, standing over him. He stood petrified as the man looked down at him in disgust.

"I thought you'd be much more impressive." He sighed. "But I guess there are two different kinds of people when it comes to what you went through." 

"...What..?" Elijah took another step back. 

"Fight me," Thorin ordered, "calm down and fight me and maybe I'll let you live."

Elijah stared at him wide eyed. He was in no state to fight, he was so shaken up still and his abilities would be unstable. How could this man expect him to fight when he was trembling in fear. But the man said he could live if he fought right..?

He lifted his gun and regained focus, taking his shot at Thorin, who casually blocked his shots with magical barriers. He could see that he would need to engage in a magical battle, but didn't want to risk hurting himself. Are you just going to cower in fear for the rest of your life?? 

Elijah shot another bullet and enchanted it as it made contact with another one of Thorin's magical barriers. The barrier shattered and Thorin had to dodge out of the way in order to avoid being shot in the face. He smiled down at Elijah, who was calm enough to steady his magic work now.

He dashed forward, activating his abilities and getting ready to pull up more of his tricks on his attacker. Maybe a real battle is what he needed to get back on track.

Thorin slammed his fist in Elijah's face, not giving him a chance to him. He then grabbed him by the hair and slammed his face into the sand. He stood waiting for him to sit up and cough up a mouthful of sand.

"I thought you'd be stronger."