Annihilate

burn everything you love then burn the ashes

Well.  Momma had been pissed.  She had yelled, and stomped, and shouted something fierce!  Which made sense really, since Anni had scared her.  Thing was?  Thing was, Anni loved the fire, the snarl and the glare and the just ENERGY in the air when Momma was good and angry.  It was kind of like Daddy’s fire, except it crackled along her skin and sent these fantastic little shivers down her spine, and she tried not to grin like an idiot while Momma was on a rampage, but it was HARD, okay?  Rampaging Mom was the funnest Mom.  It brought out the scary glow in her eyes that sucked the light out of the whole world and pulled it right into her, and how it radiated out of her like she was some kind of avenging angel or something was…well, it was fucking cool.  Just like Daddy’s fwoosh was fucking cool.

Probably the point of the yelling and the way Momma tore her a new one and beat her ass was to keep her from doing what had scared her again, right?  But.  Well.  But see, it had been worth it.  To explore, to have an adventure, to see Daddy all growly, to see Momma all scary?  Totally worth being a little bit sore for a while.  And besides, there were sooooo many more adventures to have!  So.  “Mauly!”  Anni snuck up to her sister—well, as sneaky as she was capable of, which frankly was not very—“Mauly, I had sooooo much fun!”  She said it in a giddy little whisper, so Momma and Daddy wouldn’t hear.  Because before they got all growlish and ragey again, she should get to earn it.  Ooooh, and she had ideas, too!

“Mauly, I have to tell you!  Aahhhh, I sneaked away and made it all the way to people!  And!  And there was this guy with red eyes like Uncle Hallows, but the kind of red that sends shivers down your spine!  And!  And!  He told me?  He told me he lives in the Chamber, which is this place where the land?  HAS A HEARTBEAT!  Like you can hear it and everything!  AND!  And there’s a tree?  And if you give it a present, it lights on FIRE!  And something something ravens that are probably super cool too, do you want to gooooo?  Let’s go!  You want to come, right?”

Naturally, because Maul was the coolest sister in the history of ever, she wanted in on the fun.  Of course she did, because who wouldn’t want to go explore a cool new place with a heartbeat and fire and ravens and danger and burning and yessssss!  But!  But Momma and Daddy were kind of hovery and watching the pair of them like hawks.  Or like falcons, in Daddy’s case, but that was not the point.  Point was, how on earth were they going to get away?

See, now this was why Maul was the coolest.  She was smart, and sneaky, and good at planning things where Anni was mostly just enthusiasm and charging into chaos.  And she?  Came up with the best idea ever!  One that was sure to lead to lots of growling and snarling and fwoosh and scary parents later, which really just made it even better.  Ooooh, but probably Maul should get to tell that part.

Anyhow, when they’d finally managed to sneak away (to the tune of very much yelling and oh god, the shouting and the crackling of tempers vibrating in the air made Anni want to stay and watch because fun! but also provided pretty awesome cover for the sneaking part) they set out to find the Chamber.  Which, actually, Anni didn’t know how to get to, come to think of it. But probably they could find it anyhow.

And even if they couldn’t, adventure!

Gendry and Arrya's
boom baby

This is the story of how, when the wolves knocked,
I met them at the door and I became the beast instead.

It’s amusing, really.

How far a clever idea and an innocent question can take them.

They cut through the crossfire like fearless little soldiers, nasty words and bitter accusations flying back and forth like bullets; one finds its mark, she thinks, but Dad takes it like a champ and fires right back. Uncle Nish is no lightweight, however, and even as their voices fade in the distance, she can tell when he gains some footing in the argument because Daddy’s voice grows softer. Maul looks over her shoulder, smirking; her plan is going off without a hitch and she gives an excited little buck and kicks up her heels in their general direction before darting along the hidden trail after her sister.

Annihilate’s been talking about The Chamber ever since Daddy brought her back from the Meadow and, of course, since she missed out on the last adventure, Maul is eager to go and see what all the fuss is about. Two days come and go before they spot the tips of even the tallest pine trees, however; their bellies start to grumble and crankiness sets in, and what’s worse, the longer the trip drags on the deeper the shit Maul knows they’re bound to be in. Hunger and angry parents be damned, Anni is thrilled by the fact that they’ve almost made it and Maul has no choice but to reluctantly carry on.

They’ve made it this far anyways, haven’t they?

It seems stupid to turn back now.

And so, after another half a day of traveling, the twins finally reach the border of the pine forest.

“Something, something, something, don’t cross over without permission,” she mutters, remembering what Uncle Nish told them Grandma Sol had taught him. Manners, or something or other that he’d been going on about that ‘Daddy never taught them.’ She slinks along shoulder-to-shoulder with her little sister, eyeing the big, ‘scary’ pine trees and waiting to feel the beat of a heart beneath her small hooves. It isn’t long before—ooh, oh she feels it now. Maul hops almost a foot to the right, squealing in excitement; she flags her two-toned tail and prances around her twin. “Anni, Anni! Do you feel it, too?” She grins. But then, then there’s a twig and it snaps and she freezes instantly.

Something isn’t right, someone is watching them—

“Who’s there?” Maul tries her best to growl, whipping around to face the source of the noise. “Who is hiding? Don’t be such a coward. Show yourself.”

M a u l

gendry x arrya

Annihilate

burn everything you love then burn the ashes

Okay. So maybe the Chamber was a little bit farther away than Anni was expecting. Maybe she should have picked a closer place to explore for the adventure just after her first one. Maaaaaaybe two days of not having food in her grumbly growly hungry belly was starting to wear on her temper and her energy levels. She wasn’t quite as bouncy as she had been when they set out, and she was kind of starting to see spots? But probably it was fine. Dizzy wasn’t a whole lot different from hurty, and hurty really wasn’t that bad, so dizzy was probably just as not bad. Good!

Besides, she was all kinds of stubborn, and the more she started to feel like she wanted to be home, curled up in a cuddle pile with Momma and Daddy and Mauly and a full belly, the more she was determined to keep going ‘til they made it to the goddamn Chamber, because she was GOING to hear the land’s heartbeat if it was the last thing she ever did. So she used all her bullheadedness to stay cheerful and excited and moving forward, because otherwise she would just lay down and stop moving ‘til Daddy caught up with them again and where was the fun in that?

Nope. They were gonna make it.

And besides, there were animals to see and pounce on and play with, and rivers to splash in, and hills to climb, and dirt to roll in, and puddles to jump in, and new plants and new places and a whole world to see!  So that helped quiet the snarling in her belly. And it helped her stay in good spirits even as she got worn out and exhausted and sleeeeepy and—no, no, focus on the goods! Hoppy bugs and chirping things and chittery squirrels and oooh, a frog! Froggy froggy frog, with the ribbits and the long sticky tongue and the shlooooop, fly for dinner! Fun!

“I wonder if flies are tasty. I would eat a fly, if I could catch one. Just to see. Because maybe!” And the best way to find out would be to try, right? Right. And frankly, she’d eat another horse at this point if it would just fill up her hungry belly. Or maybe like, mud was almost milk texture, right? There was probably something edible in mud somewhere. Worms, were worms food? Was that why Momma and Daddy ate from the ground? Because worms lived in the ground and that was where food came from? Probably.

She was just about to try it, when they finally, finally, finally found the forest! Little legs gathering to pounce, to leap, to dash into the forest, when Mauly remembered they weren’t supposed to, not without permission. But! But she had basically an invitation, right? Gryffen had practically told her she could, and that was good enough, she was sure. Besides, she couldn’t hear the heartbeat yet! Oooh, but Maul did! Maul did!

Completely unable to restrain herself any longer, Anni dove across the edge of the kingdom into the edge of the forest. And the moment her tiny hooves landed, she could feel it! Thumping against the soles of her feet, making her melt into a little puddle of delight. Her eyes were closed when Mauly growled, but they didn’t stay closed for long.

KITTY! Kitty kitty kitty kitty big talking kitty yessssss, best adventure! “Ooooh, is your name Rumpelstiltskin? Chomper? Juliet? Mister Whiskerson? I bet it’s Mister Whiskerson!” Big, growly Mister Whiskerson, guardian kitty of the beating-heart Chamber. Big black kitty with big yellow eyes and big shiny teeth and claws!  “Also it’s okay, we were invited! We have permission,” she said, with a happy little nod. After all, it was as good as true.

Gendry and Arrya's
boom baby