11-08-2019, 09:39 PM
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cinzel+Decorative|Crimson+Text" rel="stylesheet"><div style="width:500px;margin:auto;background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(0,0,0,0) 400px,rgba(0,0,0,1) 500px), url('https://s26.postimg.cc/bad0ndmjt/ad145d9cc0926037cbfb9220cda348d3.jpg') top no-repeat;background-size:540px auto;padding:150px 20px 20px 20px;color:#eee;"><div style="margin:30px 0px 0px 315px;letter-spacing:25px;opacity:0.2;font:20px cinzel decorative;">cRess</div><div style="padding:30px 20px;text-align:justify;background:#431a00;border:1px solid #fddea7;border-top:3px double;border-bottom:3px double;border-radius:35%/35px;opacity:0.80;margin:200px 0px 0px 0px;color:#fddea7;font:14px crimson text;"><I><center>like a house on fire we're up in flames; i'd burn here if that's what it takes</i></center>
Cress has never been weak.
When her parents abandoned her and the earthquakes ravaging the Valley snapped her leg clean in two, she had been strong. When Carnage imprisoned her and tortured her to the brink of death over and over again, she had been strong. When she had been left back in the “real world” with a new ability and no idea how to control it, she had been scared, but she had been strong. When she brought her children by Flamevein into this world, only for him to disappear before Rhaenyra even took her first breath, she had been strong. When Ledger did the same with Dawn, she had been strong. When she tried to fight for the land she loved and was cast aside instead, she had been strong.
But oh, is she so tired of being strong. All of her life has been one constant fight, whether mentally or physically, and she feels her body growing heavy with age even though she is barely in her mid-teens. Her warrior’s frame has softened over the years and even though she has only birthed four children, the strains on her body are obvious. The strains on her mind are less obvious, but a practiced eye – or perhaps one just familiar with her – would be able to see the tension that rests there and the silent pain hidden in her dark eyes.
She’s so tired.
Her heart does not truly belong to Loess – it hasn’t truly belonged anywhere since the Valley – but it has come to be her home, much to her surprise. She can’t bring herself to go back to the Resort (<I>and,</i> she reminds herself, <I>they never wanted you there in the first place</i>), and though Tephra will always welcome her, she remains with Loess and Castile and her father. It is not much of a life, though, and when she leaves her youngest son with Oxytocin one morning, he sends her off with a smile and all of the ignorance in the world.
Her wings carry her all the way to the Beach before she realizes what she’s doing, and as she lands atop the cliffs before the sand she takes in a deep, unsteady breath. She is scared of what comes next, naturally, but as she takes a step towards the edge of the cliff, she knows that this is the only option. Ravine will be fine with the rest of their family, and Oxytocin had no idea this was her intention. Perhaps they will think she has just abandoned them and faded away into the shadows, as she’s longed to do so many times before.
Maybe they won’t realize that this is permanent.
Before she stops to reconsider, she steps forward until there is nothing but empty space underneath her feet.
She could throw her wings out at any time – catch an updraft and flee this place – but they are folded tightly against her sides as she falls, the cold wind ripping tears from her eyes. She is almost giddy with relief as she plummets towards the sands below, knowing that true freedom is only moments away, but at the same time a sob rips its way from her lungs as she mourns all that she has lost in such a short lifetime.
And then, suddenly... she feels nothing at all.
It takes her some time to come to in the Afterlife, and when she does, she feels the pull that several other dead do as well. Without a thought she follows the thread, and disappears even from Death. </div></div>
Cress has never been weak.
When her parents abandoned her and the earthquakes ravaging the Valley snapped her leg clean in two, she had been strong. When Carnage imprisoned her and tortured her to the brink of death over and over again, she had been strong. When she had been left back in the “real world” with a new ability and no idea how to control it, she had been scared, but she had been strong. When she brought her children by Flamevein into this world, only for him to disappear before Rhaenyra even took her first breath, she had been strong. When Ledger did the same with Dawn, she had been strong. When she tried to fight for the land she loved and was cast aside instead, she had been strong.
But oh, is she so tired of being strong. All of her life has been one constant fight, whether mentally or physically, and she feels her body growing heavy with age even though she is barely in her mid-teens. Her warrior’s frame has softened over the years and even though she has only birthed four children, the strains on her body are obvious. The strains on her mind are less obvious, but a practiced eye – or perhaps one just familiar with her – would be able to see the tension that rests there and the silent pain hidden in her dark eyes.
She’s so tired.
Her heart does not truly belong to Loess – it hasn’t truly belonged anywhere since the Valley – but it has come to be her home, much to her surprise. She can’t bring herself to go back to the Resort (<I>and,</i> she reminds herself, <I>they never wanted you there in the first place</i>), and though Tephra will always welcome her, she remains with Loess and Castile and her father. It is not much of a life, though, and when she leaves her youngest son with Oxytocin one morning, he sends her off with a smile and all of the ignorance in the world.
Her wings carry her all the way to the Beach before she realizes what she’s doing, and as she lands atop the cliffs before the sand she takes in a deep, unsteady breath. She is scared of what comes next, naturally, but as she takes a step towards the edge of the cliff, she knows that this is the only option. Ravine will be fine with the rest of their family, and Oxytocin had no idea this was her intention. Perhaps they will think she has just abandoned them and faded away into the shadows, as she’s longed to do so many times before.
Maybe they won’t realize that this is permanent.
Before she stops to reconsider, she steps forward until there is nothing but empty space underneath her feet.
She could throw her wings out at any time – catch an updraft and flee this place – but they are folded tightly against her sides as she falls, the cold wind ripping tears from her eyes. She is almost giddy with relief as she plummets towards the sands below, knowing that true freedom is only moments away, but at the same time a sob rips its way from her lungs as she mourns all that she has lost in such a short lifetime.
And then, suddenly... she feels nothing at all.
It takes her some time to come to in the Afterlife, and when she does, she feels the pull that several other dead do as well. Without a thought she follows the thread, and disappears even from Death. </div></div>