07-06-2021, 08:21 PM
mazikeen
It took about the time for Gale’s head to travel into her stomach for Mazikeen to think that maybe, maybe she had overreacted. Just a little. Unwilling to linger on the island, she had fled immediately. Needing both to heal, to actually eat something that wasn’t the thigh or the head of her lover and king, and to sort out the storm of thoughts she thought had left her for good.
The healing that had resurrected her once took its time with the wounds she gained from their fight on Islandres. It had been a difficult flight back to Hyaline but she had pushed herself, leaving a trail of her blood across Beqanna.
She is not filled with the elation that she had expected. Even though it is almost certainly not a real death, she expected more satisfaction from it. There is some, of course, but as she flies she discovers that she is grieving. That she does not want to be rid of him, not yet. Maybe one day, far off into the future. Maybe tomorrow if he wakes up and will not forgive her. But today? She had not been ready for how heavy his absence in her life would be. She’d been enjoying their time together and looking forward to more of it.
And yet when she knew he was watching the cave she was resting in, when she breathed in the familiar scent of him and let relief flood through her, she did not rouse herself to greet him. She expected to die when he slipped in beside her and she did entertain the idea of turning over, of showing him how glad she was he was not actually dead until they were so wrapped up in each other they would lose track of where they each begin and end.
But by the time she opens her orange eyes to look for him, he is gone.
So she waits and she finishes healing, until her new scars blend with the old ones and she can no longer tell which is which.
She wakes immediately when she hears noises outside the cave that do not belong to snow and she shifts automatically to match the leopard that appears at the entrance. Those red-orange eyes do not blink and her heart begins to race when he lays down a small cub. And when Mazikeen rises, when she steps forward and sees the blue and orange eyes blink up at her, she understands. She gives Malik a small nuzzle as a greeting and then Mazikeen steps over the cub and goes to Gale.
She doesn’t let herself hesitate, doesn’t even wonder if he’s going to take revenge for what is only the first death that he owes her. If he does, she will deal with it. But first she moves to greet him, bumping her leopard head against his shoulder and then rubbing it against him with sure affection. She is sorry, though the words themselves stick in her throat.
It is only when she pulls back to look at him properly, to see his reaction, that she finds her voice, which has been an elusive thing for her lately. “You did it.” There had never been a doubt, and that truth shines in her voice - that same note of awe she used when she asked him about his limits. She backs back into the cave, inviting him away from the cold winter storm - feeling on-edge but hopeful. She cannot vocalize her apology but she manages something else, something still true - and it only seems fair to admit this piece of how he affects her. “I missed you.”
The healing that had resurrected her once took its time with the wounds she gained from their fight on Islandres. It had been a difficult flight back to Hyaline but she had pushed herself, leaving a trail of her blood across Beqanna.
She is not filled with the elation that she had expected. Even though it is almost certainly not a real death, she expected more satisfaction from it. There is some, of course, but as she flies she discovers that she is grieving. That she does not want to be rid of him, not yet. Maybe one day, far off into the future. Maybe tomorrow if he wakes up and will not forgive her. But today? She had not been ready for how heavy his absence in her life would be. She’d been enjoying their time together and looking forward to more of it.
And yet when she knew he was watching the cave she was resting in, when she breathed in the familiar scent of him and let relief flood through her, she did not rouse herself to greet him. She expected to die when he slipped in beside her and she did entertain the idea of turning over, of showing him how glad she was he was not actually dead until they were so wrapped up in each other they would lose track of where they each begin and end.
But by the time she opens her orange eyes to look for him, he is gone.
So she waits and she finishes healing, until her new scars blend with the old ones and she can no longer tell which is which.
She wakes immediately when she hears noises outside the cave that do not belong to snow and she shifts automatically to match the leopard that appears at the entrance. Those red-orange eyes do not blink and her heart begins to race when he lays down a small cub. And when Mazikeen rises, when she steps forward and sees the blue and orange eyes blink up at her, she understands. She gives Malik a small nuzzle as a greeting and then Mazikeen steps over the cub and goes to Gale.
She doesn’t let herself hesitate, doesn’t even wonder if he’s going to take revenge for what is only the first death that he owes her. If he does, she will deal with it. But first she moves to greet him, bumping her leopard head against his shoulder and then rubbing it against him with sure affection. She is sorry, though the words themselves stick in her throat.
It is only when she pulls back to look at him properly, to see his reaction, that she finds her voice, which has been an elusive thing for her lately. “You did it.” There had never been a doubt, and that truth shines in her voice - that same note of awe she used when she asked him about his limits. She backs back into the cave, inviting him away from the cold winter storm - feeling on-edge but hopeful. She cannot vocalize her apology but she manages something else, something still true - and it only seems fair to admit this piece of how he affects her. “I missed you.”
@
Gale