and i whisper, are you listening? liquid concrete under our feet You’ll regret this. Sticking to the meadow was harder than it had been in the past. She had once liked being a wanderer with no loyalty to any person, place, or thing. Only loyal to herself, doing as she pleased and upsetting nobody in the process. It had been easier to remove herself into the sea of flesh and faces that made up the meadow when nobody had known her name. Then the Amazons had changed all that, as it had also changed her, and she didn’t feel the same in that empty sea. The jungle tugged at the back of her mind, forcing her to think about it as much as she tried to ignore it and forget. What’s left for you there jaguar child? You started a war, lost your control, and then simply disappeared and let other’s clean up the mess. Continuing to fight a war that was never theirs to fight. It always should have been between just her and Lion. He had been the one to take advantage of her, find that one small weakness and overtaken her body. He was to blame when it came to her losing face to her people. There had been only two choices that she could see at the time. Ignore it and look weak or stand up and fight. She chose the latter. It hadn’t been all bad. It had inspired the jungle sisters when there had been a lack of camaraderie and a purpose to thrive. It had also been the start of the Queens turning into Khaleesi’s, a small legacy that continued to this day without her knowledge but would surely bring a flicker of a smile to her lips. The original Khaleesi can’t resist. She has to see what has happened to the humid land she once called home. The paths unfold at her hooves as if she’s been traveling them consistently for the past one hundred years. Sweat, snakeskin, wild blooms. It envelops her and she accepts the embrace gladly. Here she moves easy where others would become tangled and constricted. The only place she doesn’t stand out, uncomfortable. Jaguar spots ripple in the golden afternoon that peeps between green leaves, adding to her already dappled appearance. And for the first time, the tiniest pang of regret. Brushed off a moment later, there’s no point in that. Now she walks down memory lane and she can’t keep those memories deep down in that dark box anymore. The chain slips off and the lid bursts open. The thicket where she gave birth to her daughters, one wanted and one unwanted. Here is where she had once stood and and instructed her sisters. There was the spot she had defended her home, kingdom, and people. It was overwhelming. Without realizing it she had come to a standstill, golden eyes probing the murkiness as her past swept in a whirlwind around her, seeing ghosts everywhere. I told you, you’ll regret this. The Jaguar of Fire & Brimstone |