Black Morass All things devour

Backdated to Jan 20

The first night was hard.

course' it was. She hadn't gone down this hard in a while. Her world was turned upside down and rightside up all in one, and she was stuck spinning in the middle. Oh woe is me!

Since the first day she'd run, someone had been there. Suppose she was lucky that way really, everything in the world, laid out at her pretty paws, not that she ever once been grateful. She was opportunistic, that was all.

Hardly better than the coyotes she tore to pieces. Animal.

Strangely, she was mostly quiet when they'd finally got back, lulled to a calmer state through gentle words, cradled by them; she was never cradled before! ...Oh but she couldn't shake the jitter in her legs, turbulent as rushing river waters. She didn't cry, at least, not like the mess she'd been last time. She felt a s-static tingling buzzing burning on her neck, hairs stood on end; like lightning was soon to strike, hidden in the shifting stormclouds. Unpredictable as she, herself.

No tears, but instead she was ravaged by nausea and bitterness. Little cobra uttered words of venom on quiet breaths. She thought of each face, blotted in red; every tie and every tether she had, unwinding, unwound. What left now but tall, reverend silver to take their place.

She looked up now, devouring eyes fixed on her, on @Ione. Devouring eyes right back, surely; perhaps not so plainly.

She would've done anything to stay.

she did not press too close, did not crowd the girl when her body hummed with tension, but her presence was unwavering, a steady anchor in the storm.

hush, child, she murmured, voice thick with something honey-sweet, something meant to soothe. she reached then, a gentle touch, a whisper of contact against envy’s crown, as if to smooth the static from her skin, to temper the wild energy that crackled beneath it.

they were not meant for you. her words were soft, a quiet certainty woven between them, a promise disguised as truth. but you are here. and i see you.

she let the silence stretch between them, let envy feel the weight of her words. no grand declarations, no empty comforts—only this. only her.

you will be more than what they left behind.

tag for ref :)

She did not see the good nature in it. That @Lorcan would not have robbed her of this purpose she so desperately itched for, she did not hear the crack of his voice as he made such a verdict, or the hesitation in those golden eyes, and if she had, she'd muddied it within her own thoughts by now, descending deeper and deeper. An act, everything was an act. Did this make it easier or harder? She did not know. She rationalized it in the only way she knew of.

Rejection. Envy did not love, not as she should've been able to; she loved the way a pack of dogs loved to tear apart a rabbit, and now the rabbit got away, into the ground where she could not follow.

She thought they'd all have come here together. That they wanted to stay with her, but no, no they did not. Oh all along they conspired, they waited for the best moment, a chance to slip away and cover their tracks behind them. She drew a pearly paw across her muzzle to mute whatever sad scowl fell onto it; a kicked puppy all out of venom.

Regret regret regret ate away at her mind; her tongue too sharp for her own good, jaws too quick to bite and too feral to speak, again she was met with vicious consequence. This indecision was eased at least by the weaving of threads, mending the hole each missing face left. I thought they were. She muttered. Stupid. Stupid.

She drew in a deep breath, all of it pushed behind her in a single moment. It would not be the last time she had such thoughts, but right now, she would turn them off with the flick of a metaphorical switch. She resented how it had made her head spin, how it had made a mess of her. Her scrawny figure would brush past Ione, pressing into her coat with her head and sliding by, her tail slithering under her neck. More than they left behind. What can I do? She asked, an eagerness on the tip of her tongue, mute, but still there.

ione did not move, did not flinch, as envy pressed against her, winding around her like a serpent seeking warmth. she let the girl do as she pleased, let her tangle herself in the reverend mother’s presence as though it might fill the hollow left behind.

her touch was desperate, hungry, but ione knew hunger well.

you will learn. her voice was quiet, smooth, an undisturbed surface over deep waters. "you will grow."

she looked down at envy, at the pale fur streaked with remnants of her turmoil, at the glint in her eyes that had not yet dimmed. no, she was not broken, not yet.

you will be more than what they left behind. a promise, a certainty. ione did not offer comfort, not in the way others might, but she would offer purpose. a place. but first, you will listen.

her chin tilted slightly, an invitation, a challenge. are you ready?

Envy leaned into a stretch, let her head crook to the side. Course'.

What more could she be taught? She was curious, unsated. Enough to forsake all that came before, shed like old skin, peeling away. Reptile in the glassy red of her eye, unfeeling.

Surgeons hands itched for practice. Oh it was almost a giddy thought! a spark sending electricity through her limbs, stark detachment from that sulking, sad little beast she'd been. She could listen. She would!

I'm pretty good already, you know. A prodigy! She remarked, wide-eyed and eerily calm. You could call her crazy and you wouldn't be wrong, but she knew what she was worth. She knew that refinery of such skills only made her safer, closer. she also knew that without them, she wasn't much at all.

parasite. She wanted to take more, know more.

envy was a raw thing—wild, hungry, desperate to carve herself into something more than the scraps she'd been left with. a girl unhinged, a girl waiting to be shaped.

of course you are, ione murmured, indulgent, letting the words drape like silk. but even the good must become better. refinement is power. and power is survival.

she stepped closer, circling envy like a serpent sizing up its prey. but there was no malice, only an understanding, an appraisal of something valuable.

mourn them now, a whisper now, voice dripping with something saccharine. she knew the answer before it was spoken. we start our training tomorrow.

Her eyes followed the reverend mother as she circled her where she sat, her head craned upside down to look over her shoulders as she went behind her, amusement toyed at her features, like she saw something she enjoyed.

Power. A prize given to those who take it.

I don' need to mourn them. Envy murmured, a conviction on her tone as sharp as the teeth that formed the words. A clawed paw lifted to trace idle circles in the earth, raking indents through its face. I'll see you tomorrow, then. You don't need to worry about me. She is firm now, unwavering.

Thrilled.

ione's lips curled, slow and knowing. good.

her voice was a purr, rich with satisfaction, with approval. envy had shed the last remnants of weakness, had peeled herself from the past like dead skin.

i do not worry, she murmured, stepping closer, letting the heat of her presence linger. you are exactly as you should be.

a final brush of her tail as she turned, stepping away, letting the moment dissolve into the murky embrace of the morass.

the path was set. the lesson had begun.