07-29-2021, 06:26 PM
Tirza doesn't feel guilty for killing the crab even when someone comes to condemn her for it. She recognizes this is a deity without having seen one before (perhaps the eagle had been one, perhaps not) - all she sees is a being wreathed in the same bright flames that decorate her skin, crowned in the galaxies she's scorned all her life. If she could see the face of this goddess through the blinding light, Tirza doesn't doubt she would see snake eyes - everything she loathes (her parents) and everything she loves (the colours that bind her and her siblings) in one neat package.
Here to punish her for not standing by and allowing herself to be killed.
A soft hiss escapes her but she doesn't look away, not even to watch the crushed remains of Carcinus turn to stardust like the twins. They are all dead, not worth even a spare thought.
And then a blink and she's in a pit. Roots and sharp rocks add texture to the narrow, sandy walls. Her hooves splash in water when she shifts around and she is distracted from noticing she's now whole and back to her natural age by the voice of the goddess. Slay the beast and she’ll be returned home? Easy enough, this young and rash mare thinks. What’s one more monster?
Until she turns to see the lion - until she reaches for the powers she's known all her life and those she does not yet understand. Tirza realizes she's going to have to do this with nothing. Rage pulses through her but she doesn't dare take her eye off of the beast before her to glare at the goddess. She had stomped on that crab but that isn't going to work for this massive lion.
Despair tries to sink in too but Tirza never was very good at giving up. She backs up, away from the lion, and remembers the water around her hooves as she sloshes through it. Notices now the level is rising.
Hera set a trap but she placed it too close to the sea. Perhaps the water just adds a fun element for her to watch - but it also gives Tirza an idea. The lion is large, yes, but her head is still higher. If she can avoid being clawed to death long enough... perhaps the beast will drown.
The pit they're in is narrow and Tirza can see a bend behind her but she has no way of knowing whether there is more or if it's a crescent-shape and ends right there. She can feel the growl from the lion as a tremble through the ground, telling her she has no time to plan. It's either move or stand here and die. So she turns and she hears the snarl behind her when she does - as though her movement was the thing that finally allowed the lion to attack.
The fire-painted mare surges as fast as she can through the water that's now up to her knees, splashing and cutting herself on sharp rocks that line the bend of the pit as she squeezes through. Her blood mixes with the water but she ignores this pain. The space opens up a little again after the bend and she glances back to watch the lion navigate that same bend. The rocks catch on his shoulder but there's not even a scratch or a drop of blood.
Not exactly encouraging, but then Tirza doesn't have teeth or claws of her own to try to break through that skin anyway. She only has the water to count on, which is now rising up her legs.
She turns back around to see that there is a wall just a few feet ahead of her. The pit is indeed crescent shaped as she feared - not the beginning of a labyrinth she could use to bide her time.
Out of time, Tirza turns to face the lion - striking out at it when it lunges for her. Both of their movements are sloppy in the rising water but the cat only seems to be focused on one thing - her. The water churns with their movements as they clash together. In the chaos they trade places a small number of times and Tirza's back and shoulder are torn open from the lion's sharp claws. The beast is between her and the earthen wall when she strikes a hard blow on its head with her hooves.
Tirza does not hesitate to take advantage of the dazed lion, fueled by such a strong desire to live, striking again and watching as the beast involuntarily inhales a gulp of water as it struggles between her, the water, and the end of the pit. The level continues to rise and she fends off the frantic movements of the lion as best as she can. It becomes submerged and she rears - bringing her folded legs down on its back to keep it beneath the brown, sludgy surface. She received more wounds as it struggles but each roar brings more water into the beasts lungs and soon the movements stop altogether.
When he resurfaces, his body is soaked and limp - the only movement from the current of the water as Tirza now tries to not drown as well.
Here to punish her for not standing by and allowing herself to be killed.
A soft hiss escapes her but she doesn't look away, not even to watch the crushed remains of Carcinus turn to stardust like the twins. They are all dead, not worth even a spare thought.
And then a blink and she's in a pit. Roots and sharp rocks add texture to the narrow, sandy walls. Her hooves splash in water when she shifts around and she is distracted from noticing she's now whole and back to her natural age by the voice of the goddess. Slay the beast and she’ll be returned home? Easy enough, this young and rash mare thinks. What’s one more monster?
Until she turns to see the lion - until she reaches for the powers she's known all her life and those she does not yet understand. Tirza realizes she's going to have to do this with nothing. Rage pulses through her but she doesn't dare take her eye off of the beast before her to glare at the goddess. She had stomped on that crab but that isn't going to work for this massive lion.
Despair tries to sink in too but Tirza never was very good at giving up. She backs up, away from the lion, and remembers the water around her hooves as she sloshes through it. Notices now the level is rising.
Hera set a trap but she placed it too close to the sea. Perhaps the water just adds a fun element for her to watch - but it also gives Tirza an idea. The lion is large, yes, but her head is still higher. If she can avoid being clawed to death long enough... perhaps the beast will drown.
The pit they're in is narrow and Tirza can see a bend behind her but she has no way of knowing whether there is more or if it's a crescent-shape and ends right there. She can feel the growl from the lion as a tremble through the ground, telling her she has no time to plan. It's either move or stand here and die. So she turns and she hears the snarl behind her when she does - as though her movement was the thing that finally allowed the lion to attack.
The fire-painted mare surges as fast as she can through the water that's now up to her knees, splashing and cutting herself on sharp rocks that line the bend of the pit as she squeezes through. Her blood mixes with the water but she ignores this pain. The space opens up a little again after the bend and she glances back to watch the lion navigate that same bend. The rocks catch on his shoulder but there's not even a scratch or a drop of blood.
Not exactly encouraging, but then Tirza doesn't have teeth or claws of her own to try to break through that skin anyway. She only has the water to count on, which is now rising up her legs.
She turns back around to see that there is a wall just a few feet ahead of her. The pit is indeed crescent shaped as she feared - not the beginning of a labyrinth she could use to bide her time.
Out of time, Tirza turns to face the lion - striking out at it when it lunges for her. Both of their movements are sloppy in the rising water but the cat only seems to be focused on one thing - her. The water churns with their movements as they clash together. In the chaos they trade places a small number of times and Tirza's back and shoulder are torn open from the lion's sharp claws. The beast is between her and the earthen wall when she strikes a hard blow on its head with her hooves.
Tirza does not hesitate to take advantage of the dazed lion, fueled by such a strong desire to live, striking again and watching as the beast involuntarily inhales a gulp of water as it struggles between her, the water, and the end of the pit. The level continues to rise and she fends off the frantic movements of the lion as best as she can. It becomes submerged and she rears - bringing her folded legs down on its back to keep it beneath the brown, sludgy surface. She received more wounds as it struggles but each roar brings more water into the beasts lungs and soon the movements stop altogether.
When he resurfaces, his body is soaked and limp - the only movement from the current of the water as Tirza now tries to not drown as well.
