The days that the full treetops rustle from the gusting winds were the days she cherished the most. Most preferred the ocean, the sounds of a bustling market or the tranquility of a garden. Nothing spoke of home than the leaves dancing in the wind. If she barely felt the caress of air, at least the leaves got some movement. Opening her eyes to gaze to the hidden heavens, her thoughts emptied enough to admire the sunlight filtering weakly, blinding her for a mere moment before being suppressed with the foliage she saw before sleep took her and the sight of a new day awakening. These woods were her comfort, the solace she sought when civilization rose to a choking point. Her favourite time of day was witnessing the sun retire; rays fading in luminescence as eventide took over and a chill would finally bless these woods.
Here she could be a wolf, an owl, or even a cute woodland creature if she felt the irony was needed. No matter what skin or fur she wore, solitude was always best suited.
Pale jade eyes blinked at the bough directly above her, eyes focusing to the foreground now as if she could see an imperfection in the details. Eyes narrowed as her human body stilled, instinct she honed over the years telling her something was amiss. It was not until two orange eyes opened up and peered down upon her, laying against the earth between tree roots and twigs. Those eyes could blend with the autumnal scene she witnessed many times here, but in the gentle heat, she knew they were weeks from such turning.
A head came into view now, followed by a humanoid figure that perched in such a way that was not comfortable for any human. Skin stretched taut over bone in grey pallor, revealing movements that no human could possibly replicate. This was abomination, and not in the same sense she were one. She was born a natural abomination, feral by experience, and taught to hold a semblance of control once out of these woods. The creature that stared at her appeared to be a starved human, eyes oozing with the same amber that filled the gaunt sockets, stretching into thick tears down the hollow cheeks before breaking from the stream and falling down towards her.
Instinct had her moving before her brain could comprehend any danger. The woman shifted, a wolf dipped in ink now bolting from her sanctuary before the acidic drop bubbled into the dirt and melted away a hole into the ground. She was quick on four legs, darting along the forest floor she came to know, but the creature gave chase at an alarming speed. She had no time to assess the creature, to see any weak points to them if she were lucky enough to get close... but she could smell the acid secreting from it's eyes as the gusts of winds found their path past the bodies of trees. Her low growls were drowned by the snarling of the creature, as if it were enjoying this chase after hunting her for hours now. She could hear the hunger deep in it's cavernous stomach, the need to devour something and anything that it would chance making a meal of this scrawny human. Whatever skin she wore, it would not deter the creature actively pursuing her.
She never ran from these woods, never held fear too long to be chased out either. The wolf whipped round a tree to slow herself, rounding to meet the creature that now joined her on the grounds of the forest and it's skeletal fingers digging into the earth as it too came to a sudden halt several feet away from her. It was apparent their reflexes would prove difficult to deflect, those fingers most likely able to cut the throat of the wolf and make her bleed like any creature. She would not be able to simply bite at it's neck and snap it like most prey, especially as a thought whispered in her mind: What if it cannot be killed?
Crux
Here she could be a wolf, an owl, or even a cute woodland creature if she felt the irony was needed. No matter what skin or fur she wore, solitude was always best suited.
Pale jade eyes blinked at the bough directly above her, eyes focusing to the foreground now as if she could see an imperfection in the details. Eyes narrowed as her human body stilled, instinct she honed over the years telling her something was amiss. It was not until two orange eyes opened up and peered down upon her, laying against the earth between tree roots and twigs. Those eyes could blend with the autumnal scene she witnessed many times here, but in the gentle heat, she knew they were weeks from such turning.
A head came into view now, followed by a humanoid figure that perched in such a way that was not comfortable for any human. Skin stretched taut over bone in grey pallor, revealing movements that no human could possibly replicate. This was abomination, and not in the same sense she were one. She was born a natural abomination, feral by experience, and taught to hold a semblance of control once out of these woods. The creature that stared at her appeared to be a starved human, eyes oozing with the same amber that filled the gaunt sockets, stretching into thick tears down the hollow cheeks before breaking from the stream and falling down towards her.
Instinct had her moving before her brain could comprehend any danger. The woman shifted, a wolf dipped in ink now bolting from her sanctuary before the acidic drop bubbled into the dirt and melted away a hole into the ground. She was quick on four legs, darting along the forest floor she came to know, but the creature gave chase at an alarming speed. She had no time to assess the creature, to see any weak points to them if she were lucky enough to get close... but she could smell the acid secreting from it's eyes as the gusts of winds found their path past the bodies of trees. Her low growls were drowned by the snarling of the creature, as if it were enjoying this chase after hunting her for hours now. She could hear the hunger deep in it's cavernous stomach, the need to devour something and anything that it would chance making a meal of this scrawny human. Whatever skin she wore, it would not deter the creature actively pursuing her.
She never ran from these woods, never held fear too long to be chased out either. The wolf whipped round a tree to slow herself, rounding to meet the creature that now joined her on the grounds of the forest and it's skeletal fingers digging into the earth as it too came to a sudden halt several feet away from her. It was apparent their reflexes would prove difficult to deflect, those fingers most likely able to cut the throat of the wolf and make her bleed like any creature. She would not be able to simply bite at it's neck and snap it like most prey, especially as a thought whispered in her mind: What if it cannot be killed?
Crux