Better as Bones

blue - XXXVI

Nyx

He yanked her arm, growling. His hair grew curls softening his jaw. It cupped his cheeks pale with the dulling gray blush. His eyes flashed the harsh color back at her. Small, timid, cowering. Her body was bruised. Her ears and lips bloody. Dark, stringy hair obscured her view. He tightened his grip.

"Come on," He snapped. She stumbled forward, hicking a sob. He stepped on her heel briefly. Her body shuddered. "You're lucky I found you, you know?" She nodded, ducking her head deeper into her chest. Her body was frail. She was still young.

"I could leave you here," He threatened, grabbing her hair. Her hands flew, pain searing across her face as she yelped. His lips curled. "I'm protecting you this way. Do as I say." She nodded frantically. He dropped her. She thudded, tears pinching her eyes as she gasped. Her scalp burned red.

He dragged her up once more. She fumbled after him helplessly.

The city around them faded in the darkness. The streetlights swam with the haze. Their flesh outlined in a golden lining. Ripe leaves rustled. Gray over laid the streets.

"Now tell me why I found a helpless brat in the ill sector of Brina?" He asked, tone dropping. The girl sniffed. Her feet shuffled up dust.

"I don't want to talk to you," She whispered. His fingers twisted in her hair. She yanked on his wrist. His skin pressed pale. "Stop! Stop!"

"Tell me," He hissed between his teeth. She swatted his arm.

"My parents left me!" She grasped the ground as her scalp bled. "I don't know." He hummed, rubbing his hands. His eyes flicked to her, examining.

"And your eyes?"

"Blue," She mumbled. Something was in her voice. I couldn't tell what at the time. To be honest, I still don't know myself. But I will know soon. And I know from visions. That in her voice is only the hopelessness of the hopeful. The pain that weaves its way through those bred with dreams. She won't have that in her voice anymore. Someone else will.

"You know that is why you are useless to me, yes? The only reason you have worth in this world?" She nodded quietly. "Good. Children should know their place." She watched her feet, hand intertwining his.

I was on a shoreline. Eyes a haze. My paws pressed into the sand. The sea swam gray. It's foamy tongue lapping at me. The water didn't end. Or then, I couldn't see that far. Everything was a blur.

Then, I didn't know why. My eyes were changing as I grew. Aged. They became increasingly fickle with each day.

Tendons pulled as I gazed up. A hole in the sky. No. Something was there. It floated large. Cracking and dirty. Ivy and vines spilled over. I could hardly peer to see the thick undergrowth from below.

A floating island. Miles from any near city. Nowhere near Malo or the girl. No one could find me here.

My paws waded the water. Parting it slowly with each precarious step. Squinting, searching. How could I get up there? Was there food?

Something screeched overhead.

I shook off my fur as I scoffed. I was as frail as the girl. But not as easy to lay down and die. I wouldn't let my dreams be crushed so easily by one obstacle. What a pathetic cause.

I laid, letting my limbs go limp. I peered above. The bird flew, circling slowly. Good. My ear muffled the ground as I shallowed my breath. I stayed.

Blazing marigold spilled over me when my chest pierced cold. Talons pressed deeper into my ribs. Hooking, the bird lifted my body. I gritted my teeth as something trickled in my fur. Peeling open an eye, watching the ground below. It fell away. Waiting.

Something swooped underneath me. A burning blaze of drowning green. I writhed. Claws extended, I slashed. The bird screeched, wings beating my body. I dragged across its underbelly, letting warm blood spray my face. The bird dropped. I wiggled free, the holes between my ribs pulsing.

The ground hit my pads, bursting them alive. The sweetness of blood tinged the air. I panted, my eyes daggers into the dying bird. It batted its wings, body thudding the ground. It tried and tried. It did not fly. My lips curled as I neared it. It scrambled swifter as I placed a paw on its belly.

"Goodbye," I murmured, my purr hot on its ear bone. I pawed it forward. The bird beat the ground faster, fear flashing in its beady eyes. A screech peeled away from its throat as it dangled over the edge. Falling. Faster. Pounding. Beating. Splatter. I could see the body there, then. The bird screeched beneath my paw.

I grinned, warm worming in my guts. "It's a shame there's no bodies here," I purred to it. "I'll have to do with my own hands." The bird screeched again. I licked my lips as I pushed it over.

It dropped. Body hurtling towards the stone-like water. I laid on the edge, watching as its body slammed the edge of the water. It burst. Red swam, brushing the shore as long lengths of insides hardened the sand. The burst open underbelly would make a good meal for a fox. And it made for me relief.

I laid on the edge of the island until the moon only illuminated the edges of my vision. Until the body below was only a blob of flesh and feathers in the darkness, not the beautiful art I had been admiring since dusk. I stood, my body aching.

The stone of the edge had cooled. Fog of vision or ice, I could not tell. My striked raw pads stung with each step. I crept forward, nearing the dark claws of the bramble. It loomed above me. I shook myself human.

My fingers enclosed the leaves, twisting them dead. Through I pushed, until I was engulfed. I exhaled warmth, the brush of it heating my lips. Shaking, I parted. My feet padded the cold.

The moon seemed larger than it was in Kyson, yet faded. Gusting wind brittled my bones. I clenched my teeth, padding forward. The stone rose, coursing upward to carve out a small cove. I traced the roof with my fingers, pressing down. Inside was dark.

I pressed my body flush to the cold, pulling myself forward, through the thin slice of rock. Air pushed against my lungs. I sat up. Widening eyes, I sucked in the darkness. The cave was spacious compared to the entrance. Complete with it a small dip in the stone, a nest.

I shook, my fur returning. I curled small, tucking my tail over my nose. Warm I exhaled. The cave grew comfort in the night, the tiny space warming with my breaths. When I awoke the sun streamed inside. It pierced my eyes and drew lines across the cave. I studied the light beams from my nest. Outside, leaves rustled with the breeze.