05-06-2020, 04:14 PM
I nod thoughtfully at her introduction, delicate mouth bowed faintly. City. A simple name, a sharp name, and I find I like the sound of it. Even if the owner is less than lovely, the vestiges remain. She says she will shed her skin, and I am suddenly met with just that image. An elderly serpent with rheumy eyes and brittle bones, breaking the surface of herself to reveal tender young flesh beneath.
It's an absurd thought, shoved back and away. Her next words are far more intriguing.
My smile is a humorless thing, like a crack in a frozen lake. "Pesky fairies," I murmured, distasteful. I've had far enough of fairies for a lifetime. For several lifetimes. But it seems I'm not the target of their sick play today. So I blew out an exasperated breath, and realized this elder mare really must be blind.
"You could say that." I paused a long moment, wings heavy by my sides. "You might not ask that if you could see the spear in my chest. My heart has been pierced twice, my throat ripped out once. And yet here I stand, breathing and talking. A bit unfortunate, really." I grimaced. Death has been denied to me more than once, granted several times only to be taken back. Dreadfully unfair.
Is that the sort of thing she needs to know? That even when you beg for the end. When you are absolutely certain that you have nothing worth living for, no purpose, no joy, you must go on. When your mind is fragmented beyond repair and there is nothing but pity and dismissal in the eyes of those who meet you. You must go on. Broken, physically and mentally, alone and forgotten. And still living. Still surviving. Whether you want to or not.
I blink at her, seeing the worn out body and envying the rest that it's capable of. That if her heart gets impaled, the wound would be mortal, and she would not have to live with the pain that should have been fatal long after it happens. She doesn't know what she's asking.
@[City]
It's an absurd thought, shoved back and away. Her next words are far more intriguing.
My smile is a humorless thing, like a crack in a frozen lake. "Pesky fairies," I murmured, distasteful. I've had far enough of fairies for a lifetime. For several lifetimes. But it seems I'm not the target of their sick play today. So I blew out an exasperated breath, and realized this elder mare really must be blind.
"You could say that." I paused a long moment, wings heavy by my sides. "You might not ask that if you could see the spear in my chest. My heart has been pierced twice, my throat ripped out once. And yet here I stand, breathing and talking. A bit unfortunate, really." I grimaced. Death has been denied to me more than once, granted several times only to be taken back. Dreadfully unfair.
Is that the sort of thing she needs to know? That even when you beg for the end. When you are absolutely certain that you have nothing worth living for, no purpose, no joy, you must go on. When your mind is fragmented beyond repair and there is nothing but pity and dismissal in the eyes of those who meet you. You must go on. Broken, physically and mentally, alone and forgotten. And still living. Still surviving. Whether you want to or not.
I blink at her, seeing the worn out body and envying the rest that it's capable of. That if her heart gets impaled, the wound would be mortal, and she would not have to live with the pain that should have been fatal long after it happens. She doesn't know what she's asking.
@[City]