The inside of her head is nothing but white, all-encompassing rage as she continues to shift, as she continues to cleave blood red wounds in golden skin. It’s not enough when he pushes her away with surprising strength. She’s a panther when he does, white except for four black paws and a mask of blood through which her orange eyes are burning.
If he can still speak with humour, her job is not finished. Just a short moment ago she had been delighted by the sound of his laughter, but the moment where she had stuck her tongue out at him feels like it happened to someone else a lifetime ago. Another pair that knew how to be innocent.
She’s breathing heavily from her efforts and she does not even blink as she takes in the sight of him stepping away from her. A flash of victory followed by another round of disappointment as she realizes he’s the one turning from her. Again. She should have left when she shifted into a bird the first time, should have flown away from here. Away from him.
A drop of his blood falls from her panting mouth and splashes upon the earth. When he calls her by her nickname (even though that familiarity is incredibly annoying), she begins to return to herself.
Shame, disappointment, and relief flood through her as the blinding rage recedes. He’s not fully into the shadows of the nearby forest when she shifts again - an eagle that launches above the treetops. She’s going to collapse soon from exhaustion, but so long as she can get home. So long as she can get far away from here, she doesn’t care. Passing out will be a blessing.
Now, though, she pushes herself more. She rises as high as she can, until the air pierces her lungs in cold shards, and there she releases a primal, horrid scream. It is filled to the brim with every emotion storming within her and she screams until there is nothing left within her. Until she needs to inhale in deep, gasping breaths to recover from everything she had just expelled.
And then she catches a wind that will carry her home.
