no one really knows what the ocean hides
but you and I, bird, we’re gonna find out
Reia is unbridled and untamed. She frequently wanders from her parents in search of adventure and to test her own limits. It had been the River when she inhaled her first lungful of air, then the Playground where she met another girl. Now, a forest engulfs her. The trees stand sentinel high above, towering over her with gnarled, twisted branches. A plague, she has overheard, but the instruction to flee escapes her.
Nothing will hurt me, she thinks with the expected arrogance of a child.
I am a predator.
(Foolish girl)
Like the blue flame crackling along her crest, Reia’s eyes light up when they see the viridian and white boy. Not family, she tells herself just as she had with the girl. Prey? Friend? Uncertain and inexperienced, she creeps forward with hushed footsteps. In her chest, the rhythm of her heart tangoes. Pin-like teeth peek out of her gums as she stares down the boy curiously. Remnants of dry, cracked blood cling to her lips from her last scavenged meal, and yet the thrill of a new face elicits an inner hunger.
Reia charges at him quickly with her bottle-length tail elevated in delight. Her last attempt to sneak had been futile, and so she barrels through the snow in an approach entirely opposite. ”HI!” She just barely shouts the word before slamming into him and nipping at his ears with her small, jagged teeth. Maybe, just maybe, the boy has blood like the squirrel she ate. Would that make him delicious, too?
From the exertion of her run, Reia huffs the cool air, her silver eyes rolling to observe how he reacts, because her greeting was normal, right?
and I'll be next to you when the lights go out
