There's no saving me.
I've become a shell of the man I was. Only time will tell if I'm strong enough.

How effortlessly his sharpened claws dug into the bark of the evergreen tree - the muscles within his toned physique assisting to push the Western King upwards with an enchanting finesse. The very action held the very poise that their kind was known for as he slinked along a heavy branch, his weight hardly affecting the strength of the tree. His legs tucked beneath him as Tetradore lowered himself onto the tree, one of his front paws dangling almost tauntingly as he flopped with faux relaxation. His chiseled cranium rested against the bark as his striking emerald eyes looked down at the floored feline. Oh, how angry she seemed! That very emotion painted upon her every movement! He watched as her tail twitched in a serpentine motion, her jaws twitching to flash her canines in a voiceless warning that Tetradore was not terribly inclined to heed. He was used to being regarded with that level of hatred, the man retreating behind that facade of perfected apathy as his irises followed the prowling form of his newly turned Vector. She circled slowly around the base of the tree, looking for answers within that weathered and worn bark. How little it would help her and yet, Tetradore had little intention to provide her with any further instruction. Harley was unlikely to listen even if he explained the nuances of climbing, her animal, her life, or her dismal future. Even he, admittedly, detested what he knew as to come for her. The pair might not ever be comradely but she was still his Vector. He had brought her into this life...and to share with her the horrors of Syn was...appalling to even consider. Few were ever given the opportunity to see the Were-King at his weakest - a part of the man hardly wishing to gift those vulnerable moments with Harley, of all people.

The rumbling growl that reverberated within the night drew his thoughts from the hopelessly dark places they so lingered, his attention refocused upon the woman beneath him as a soft snort of bemusement echoed throughout their connection. He regarded the glare he was given with little more than a slow, languid blink, her scoff too responded with little more than echoing silence. His words, after all, had served their purpose, prompting enough disdain within the woman that she all but threw herself at the trunk of the tree. Her claws sliced through the bark, sending chips flailing in the wind before her ascent came to an abrupt halt. In a comically slow manner, the female jaguar's form slid down the base of the tree - leaving deep grooves in her unwanted descent. He could feel the frustration that seemed to resound within her, the humiliation of her failure prompting nothing more than a glimpse of amusement upon the features of the Were-King. Oh, how she so deserved that. Regardless, his near glowing gaze hardly once left her figure as she clawed at the earth beneath her, only to pick up that silent pacing once again in a desperate bid to collect herself and gain that prize he had offered her - himself. The yowl upon her lips, however, chased away his momentary joy at her misfortune. Harley was nothing if not utterly determined as she backed away from the tree. Her body moved far more confidently this time, far more assured of itself as she bounded forward without the gangliness that came from her overthinking. That promise that echoed within his thoughts was one he knew to be accurate, the Alpha capable of telling in her stance alone that she had finally made that connection to her inner feline.

Slowly, the large ebony creature rose to his feet. The panther was still and silent as he watched his vector charge at the tree. Her paws dug into the bark for traction, her powerful hindlegs pushing her further upwards and onward and yet, this time, she seemed to hold enough faith in herself to continue her momentum upwards. His ears flicked at the sound of her back feet slipping in the bark and yet, it was only accompanied by the further digging of her nails as she all but dragged herself upwards and closer towards him. He watched as she pulled herself up and onto the branch above him, her proximity hardly concerning in the slightest as he simply watched and waited for her to regain her composure. Her balance was nothing if not outstanding, the woman facing the heights head-on with the same sort of fearlessness she regarded everything. How different she was from Henry - Henry who had failed and fallen and slipped more times then he could count. Henry had required his infinite patience but Harley? Harley required a hatred that he was willing enough to stir. For too long his role in life was the very monster that Harley viewed him as. He was the forewarning of a painful death, the epitome of a pitiless callousness, how very capable he was of being exactly that. He witnessed that shift within the woman, her victory bringing about a near predatory edge within her as she stretched out upon the gnarled branch above him. Her smugness was near palpable and yet, Tetradore had come to anticipate this from the woman. Her self assuredness was...remarkable, to say the least. Matteo would like her.

Tetradore watched as her nose twitched, the feline within almost seeming to expand, at that moment, as the girl finally took stock of her senses. How aware even Tetradore was of those smells of the forest, his ears twitching upon his head at each subtle sound that drifted towards him and yet, his attention remained entirely focus upon her. Her sudden insistence that she could see him, much less smell him was regarded with a roll of his eyes. "Should I be congratulating you?" He inquired, presenting the woman with the same sarcastic lit she so often threw at him. The Alpha watched as Harley slunk closer, his whole frame becoming taunt with each forward step before, slowly, she lowered herself onto the same branch as his. Oh, how ignorant she was of his intentions! Tetradore was entirely content to wait until the last moment to move, the man giving into that ploy that he was truly trapped upon that branch. It was only once he deemed her close enough that the feline moved, his own steps equally as slow and poised as hers as he shifted further out onto the branch he'd occupied, letting it thin beneath him. The further out he went, the more she was certain to feel his every step reverberate within that branch - the more it too would test her very balance. Her smugness echoed within the depths of his thoughts and yet, he regarded her with little more than a backward glance over his shoulder. "That remains to be seen." Her offered, his baritone voice a soft velvet before the panther reclined back upon his hind legs. In one powerful motion, Tetradore lept out into the open air, the jaguar simply jumping from one tree to the next with effortless grace. The very power in his haunches sent the branch the pair of felines had stood upon wiggling with vibrations, though it held all the same. His paws landed with an almost silent thud before Tetradore paced forward, the panther finding himself closer towards the trunk of this new tree. He settled upon his haunches, his emerald eyes once again setting his Vector with a firm stare that all but challenged her. "Come and get me, Harley." He had promised not to teleport...but he sure as hell hadn't promised not to jump.

This is my last goodbye