and bury it before it buries me
She knows it isn't him. (And there is a part of her that is grateful.)
No.
Litotes was back in Beqanna, she believes. Just the thought of that land sends the feeling of dread into her heart. That land had never been good for her. Hyaline, even with its mountains, Elena realizes, was only hiding the shadows that had eventually found her in the forest. (Shadows that she found, shadows that she could have ran from, but had stayed even she knew it was wrong.)
Like the shadow boy of Denocte, little girl?
No, she lies to herself, nothing like him.
And she had tried to face that evil land had, tried to face it all because she promised Lilli she would not leave her. But left all the same she had. Left, gone blind, gained her mother’s eyes, built a fire in her chest from kindling and lost sparks. Found Novus, discovered the ocean of Terrastella, found shadows and stars. Now, here she is, with this not Litotes shifter, in this not Beqanna land.
Glacial blue eyes look onto the feline, the wearer of the voice. The voice that is like a sensitive prick of a needle against her nerves. But she cannot help the way her eyes flitter to the darkness around he, she cannot help the way her stomach clenches, thinking she might see him, one of them. But it is darkness and darkness alone that she finds spread before her like a twisted, shadow version of her beloved ocean. She should concentrate. To set a broken bone one must…
“You aren’t, are you?” she acknowledges.
“Boudika,” she breathes. “Forgive me,” she says with a smile. A smile, if you can believe it. Elena has not learned her lesson. She sees those with scowls on their lips and hunger in their hearts and she offers them nothing but her warmth and her light. Lilli had told her she had always been fire, and maybe, maybe it was time that Elena start believing it.
And maybe she hungers too, but Elena is starved for things like affection, like love, like happy endings. She seeks to devour all the things she doesn't have. It is why when she sees hunger within Boudika’s eyes it is not fear that reflects her own, but empathy. She knows hunger, Elena has been hungry her entire life. As so many orphans are.
She goes from the tiger to the horse. Elena smirks. (Always in the face of danger.) “And isn't that what the wolf said?” She says and she is so fearless. Elena has always stood taller when she should tremble, she has laughed when she should cry, and softened when she should steel herself. She has seen far scarier things than wolves in the night stealing baskets from little girls in a red cloak. But Elena raises her hood and offers the wolf her friendship. “Can you take me to the mountain?”
No.
Litotes was back in Beqanna, she believes. Just the thought of that land sends the feeling of dread into her heart. That land had never been good for her. Hyaline, even with its mountains, Elena realizes, was only hiding the shadows that had eventually found her in the forest. (Shadows that she found, shadows that she could have ran from, but had stayed even she knew it was wrong.)
Like the shadow boy of Denocte, little girl?
No, she lies to herself, nothing like him.
And she had tried to face that evil land had, tried to face it all because she promised Lilli she would not leave her. But left all the same she had. Left, gone blind, gained her mother’s eyes, built a fire in her chest from kindling and lost sparks. Found Novus, discovered the ocean of Terrastella, found shadows and stars. Now, here she is, with this not Litotes shifter, in this not Beqanna land.
Glacial blue eyes look onto the feline, the wearer of the voice. The voice that is like a sensitive prick of a needle against her nerves. But she cannot help the way her eyes flitter to the darkness around he, she cannot help the way her stomach clenches, thinking she might see him, one of them. But it is darkness and darkness alone that she finds spread before her like a twisted, shadow version of her beloved ocean. She should concentrate. To set a broken bone one must…
“You aren’t, are you?” she acknowledges.
“Boudika,” she breathes. “Forgive me,” she says with a smile. A smile, if you can believe it. Elena has not learned her lesson. She sees those with scowls on their lips and hunger in their hearts and she offers them nothing but her warmth and her light. Lilli had told her she had always been fire, and maybe, maybe it was time that Elena start believing it.
And maybe she hungers too, but Elena is starved for things like affection, like love, like happy endings. She seeks to devour all the things she doesn't have. It is why when she sees hunger within Boudika’s eyes it is not fear that reflects her own, but empathy. She knows hunger, Elena has been hungry her entire life. As so many orphans are.
She goes from the tiger to the horse. Elena smirks. (Always in the face of danger.) “And isn't that what the wolf said?” She says and she is so fearless. Elena has always stood taller when she should tremble, she has laughed when she should cry, and softened when she should steel herself. She has seen far scarier things than wolves in the night stealing baskets from little girls in a red cloak. But Elena raises her hood and offers the wolf her friendship. “Can you take me to the mountain?”
so take away this apathy
bury it before it buries me
@Boudika
![[Image: ddvotwe-59302ba6-6a81-47bf-9846-30c5a5db...0iFb4PvyXE]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/8026a53b-dc57-41ab-b574-9f8a8fe57ce4/ddvotwe-59302ba6-6a81-47bf-9846-30c5a5db0780.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzgwMjZhNTNiLWRjNTctNDFhYi1iNTc0LTlmOGE4ZmU1N2NlNFwvZGR2b3R3ZS01OTMwMmJhNi02YTgxLTQ3YmYtOTg0Ni0zMGM1YTVkYjA3ODAucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.ujCJH7FAbsQhfZlQniMmEd_vw-VmvaTDn0iFb4PvyXE)
let's light this house on fire
we'll dance in the warmth of its blaze
pixel made by the amazing star
