[mature] Simple lies, Strange eyes [HEARTFIRE]

[Wolfbane]

ALL THE DOUBT YOU'RE STANDING IN BETWEEN

It shouldn’t be so gratifying to see the way Wyrm’s skin visibly shivers at Heartfire’s arrival, but it is.

It shouldn’t bring Wolfbane a wave of relief to watch him unravel, but it does.

He shouldn’t rise so quickly, smile so broadly, stumble towards the dust that mingles with his blood in a final way, but it happens.

Wyrm is gurgling at first and then making no sound at all. Heartfire unleashes a pain on his grandfather that Bane wouldn’t exactly wish on his worst enemy, and the two of them - blue roan and blue striped - stand side by side and watch it happen with something like mutual affection. Wyrm ruined too many lives for too long, and now that cycle was ending with a crescendo worthy of being written down. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

This was true power. Not her vision manipulation, not his odd form of shifting, not even the way she pulled him apart at the seams without blinking; their connection was at the core of Wyrm’s downfall. Their combination of gifts: Wolfbane’s impossibly quick healing and Heartfire’s thread of the all-seeing-eye… that they had found each other years ago and mended what might’ve been too broken to mend.

The only remnant she leaves is one old, fatty heart that stops beating and leaves them watching, one of them breathless, with smiles on their faces. Quietly Bane turns his head and presses his nose into the dark curve of Heartfire’s cheek, closing his eyes. “If this changes me,” He worries to her, only to her, “try to make Lepis understand. Take care of Eyas.” The stallion mentions.

She’s so much like you, he thinks as he pulls away.

His wings are gone, one leg is a stump that’s growing even when he hobbles forward on the other three. He’s much more red than gold but determination and a desire for this to be behind them lends him strength enough to keep from passing out. Wolfbane lingers for a moment more, staring down at the shriveled mass of pulp and veins with a steady contemplation. He knows what might happen. He saw it happen to his father. Risk comes with reward, but often at a heavy price.

In the next moment he swoops down and clenches the heart in his teeth, lifts his head and grinds it between his molars before forcing it down his throat. The metallic taste lingers on his tongue and he understands, finally, what it means to eat the flesh of another living animal. Breathing softly he waits, until all at once his body convulses and his shoulders clench, back bowing. Heartfire’s grandson gasps, shudders, and in an explosion of growth sprouts four new wings and instantly regains his leg.

His chest jerks out, spine cracking as he looks to the heavens and his stripes fade from blue to red.
It’s his first transformation; his rebirth.
Wolfbane blinks once, twice, then turns to look back at Heartfire with one green and one blue eye.

WITH WOUNDS THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS SEEN

WOLFBANE

@[Heartfire] this was honestly so much fun