She was dead.
Of course she was dead. She had to be. The rumbling and the waves and lava. Taiga had come crashing down around her ears. Everyone ran like hell. Arete remembers that she had screamed. Leaping forward, she flashes into a large rambling siberian tiger. She clawed at the ground as she pushed as fast as she could. But while the world burned around her, and everyone she knew and loved were scattered to the four winds, she found that that occursed wall that had been erected was far too dense for her feline body to get through. She growled, scratching it at it... And then...
Black.
Eventually, she had woken up to blackness. There was nothing. No place to be. No food. No green. The trees were as charred sticks that were just barely hanging to the ground for life. The wolves were howling as they consumed every last living thing they could find. But Arete remained. She did not move. She did not eat. Eventually, her body shifted back to equine, and her fine pelt shrunk and wrapped around her frame. Her cheek bones stuck out and her belly bloated from lack of food.
She was sure she'd die there.
Of course she would. She was stuck. The Gods had punished Taiga for their insolence, and she had been the most insolent of them all. The daughter of Romek lowered her head to the burnt ground and wept, and waited for death to take her.
Except, much to her chagrin, it did not.
And eventually, the forests grew back, and the wall that had risen at the borders began to fall apart. Arete was far too weak to do much in the way movement, but she had enough to get her to the most removed portions of the forest. She had never felt more alone in her life. And for a girl who was born into a family with such promise—one that had put a rather large chip on the former princess' shoulder—that was saying a lot. She had shared a womb. She had been born with a best friend who was missing... What she wouldn't give to hear Alivia harass her again. What she wouldn't give to see Daddy or Mummy again. What she wouldn't give to hear another voice again.
So alone.
She subsisted of bark and tree roots while her body healed, and she grew healthier. The scars that wrapped her body would fade with time, but for now, she walks with an identifiable limp. In pain, she groans with every step she takes, but she needs to get out to the meadow, to fresh grasses and open spaces.
She was so goddamned sick of trees.
A growl settles in her throat as the senses of her tiger go on full alert. Her tail twitches, and her ears are spiraling. She is still too weak to shapeshift, but she had learned long ago, those who show weakness become the prey. And a tiger is no one's prey.
"Come out into the open. It is rude to linger in shadow."
Of course she was dead. She had to be. The rumbling and the waves and lava. Taiga had come crashing down around her ears. Everyone ran like hell. Arete remembers that she had screamed. Leaping forward, she flashes into a large rambling siberian tiger. She clawed at the ground as she pushed as fast as she could. But while the world burned around her, and everyone she knew and loved were scattered to the four winds, she found that that occursed wall that had been erected was far too dense for her feline body to get through. She growled, scratching it at it... And then...
Black.
Eventually, she had woken up to blackness. There was nothing. No place to be. No food. No green. The trees were as charred sticks that were just barely hanging to the ground for life. The wolves were howling as they consumed every last living thing they could find. But Arete remained. She did not move. She did not eat. Eventually, her body shifted back to equine, and her fine pelt shrunk and wrapped around her frame. Her cheek bones stuck out and her belly bloated from lack of food.
She was sure she'd die there.
Of course she would. She was stuck. The Gods had punished Taiga for their insolence, and she had been the most insolent of them all. The daughter of Romek lowered her head to the burnt ground and wept, and waited for death to take her.
Except, much to her chagrin, it did not.
And eventually, the forests grew back, and the wall that had risen at the borders began to fall apart. Arete was far too weak to do much in the way movement, but she had enough to get her to the most removed portions of the forest. She had never felt more alone in her life. And for a girl who was born into a family with such promise—one that had put a rather large chip on the former princess' shoulder—that was saying a lot. She had shared a womb. She had been born with a best friend who was missing... What she wouldn't give to hear Alivia harass her again. What she wouldn't give to see Daddy or Mummy again. What she wouldn't give to hear another voice again.
So alone.
She subsisted of bark and tree roots while her body healed, and she grew healthier. The scars that wrapped her body would fade with time, but for now, she walks with an identifiable limp. In pain, she groans with every step she takes, but she needs to get out to the meadow, to fresh grasses and open spaces.
She was so goddamned sick of trees.
A growl settles in her throat as the senses of her tiger go on full alert. Her tail twitches, and her ears are spiraling. She is still too weak to shapeshift, but she had learned long ago, those who show weakness become the prey. And a tiger is no one's prey.
"Come out into the open. It is rude to linger in shadow."
Arete
Some like beautiful, perfect and pretty.
I see the good in the bad and the ugly.
I see the good in the bad and the ugly.