11-19-2018, 01:12 PM
And in the darkened underpass I thought,
"Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"
"Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"
The water clutches desperately to her coat, sinking its nails into her skin then into the flesh and muscle beneath. Winter’s chill is reaching down into her bones even as Valdis paces feverishly in attempt to stay warm. Her blue eyes occasionally flash to what lies ahead, but mostly she stares down in heavy thought until a familiar scent cloaks the inner lining of her nostrils.
She sees her mother pressed to Kagerus’ side as the snow falls around them. A weight pulls against her heart, confusion burrowing into her thoughts. The only two parents she has known through her childhood stand united together with open displays of affection. While a great part of her soul wants to embrace them, Valdis just roots herself and looks away. Mother has a family and children with Kagerus; she isn’t in that picture, not really. She and Velk are outsiders now.
If only she knew that it remains that way even with Castile.
Her jaws clench together in silenced frustration until a voice melts through the cold. While she blatantly trembles from the cold, she desperately tries to anchor her voice as her eyes narrow on him. ”Valdis,” she offers as she scrutinizes him, her curiosity piqued by the smallest trace of her father on his skin. Rather than verbally acquiesce, she merely agrees with a quick nod before sidestepping to press into him, mirroring her mother and Kagerus. They remain across the crowd, involved with others, and so Valdis maintains the distance, closing her eyes as she continues to shiver against Santana.
It’s with the arrival of the faeries that their mission is briefly assisted. They warm their bodies with a summer breeze. The heat soothes Valdis and strips away most, but not all, the moisture and water. A look of hope brightens her pretty face, but it falters when the frigid north gale returns, blasting them even more powerfully than previously. Shutting her eyes, the girl braces against the cold and musters her inner strength before ambling forward, battling the buffeting wind. As her forelock and mane whip around her face, Valdis turns her head to look back at Santana. ”Grab my tail,” her voice rises to be heard, ”We’ll go this way.” She tilts her head to the right hoping that he can see her through the sheet of falling snow, but as a precaution she adds, ”Let’s go to the right. We can stick together!” Somehow, her usual preference of solitude seems like a poor idea now.
A long moment is allotted for Santana to grab her tail or at least touch her in some way so that they may not lose each other. Valdis attempts only once to see her mother in the blizzard, but her vision is bleached by the white snow. It’s all she can see; nothing past her face can be deciphered, leaving her confused as she stumbles forward, shifting her body to the right with her head low against the gale. ”This sucks,” she mumbles under her breath as her body shivers and battles against the wind. Their path is obscured, their footsteps blindly treading on unfamiliar territory. All she can hear is the roar of the blizzard and her eyes stare only at the ground underfoot. Valdis occasionally trips over a rock or slips on a frozen slab of ice and snow as the frosty blanket thickens around them with every passing minute. The trek is perilous and difficult, but she presses forward in determination.
But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.