Despite the strangeness that had settled over the lands, Celosia felt comfortable in the darkness that seemed to have grasped Boreas. The shadows and the moon ever present and making her feel somewhat at ease in this new, uncharted territory of being on her own. That didn’t erase the unease that came with knowing that this was not normal, though. Something was off, and if she thought too hard about it she was sure it would get to her, so instead of doing that, she ignored the oddness of it.
Her father was quiet at first when she joined him, and they tracked the deer in comfortable silence until a strange glow caught their attention. The silence had gone almost unnoticed by her, until it was broken by the sound of his voice. Even though he spoke quietly, it felt too loud in the still night, disrupting the air around them. Her unease grew, and she nodded as he told her to stay quiet. Usually she’d have some sort of comment, or maybe an eye roll at the paranoia, but something told her to keep her mouth shut. Like there was some unknown beast lying in wait, and the sound of her voice might summon it to them. It was a ridiculous and embarrassing thought that she would never voice aloud, but it was there regardless.
As they continued on, the feeling of dread only grew, her mouth going dry, brows knitting together as the bear came into sight. For a moment, she didn’t quite know what she was looking at. The scene didn’t make sense. The bear glowed, while seeing another predator eat was no new sight to either of them, something about this felt wrong. The color of the deer's blood was unlike anything she’d seen before. This wasn’t like the odd colors of her family, or the blue wolves that had been Incendium, nor did the glowing feel like it was anywhere near the same as her horns. Some might consider her unnatural, but that was different. She didn’t know how, couldn’t explain it, but it was.
As the bear's gaze landed on them, there was a moment where it felt like the ground had fallen out from underneath her. There was a long, horrifying moment where she hoped, prayed even, that it would turn away. She was usually always up for a fight, but she didn’t want this thing to touch her. At her fathers command, she mirrored his stance, bracing herself for impact.
Time seemed to slow down, stretching on as it reared up and roared, fluids flying from its gaping jaws. Her lips peeled back from her teeth, her nub of a tail sticking straight up as well as all the fur along her spine. Still, she was small, and the easier target of the two wolves, and when the bear came charging forward, it was aimed for her. A paw swung at her, but she managed to dodge to the side in time to avoid injury, at least for now. With a lunge, she shot forward, dipping past the side of the bear to try and split its focus, force it to choose if it wanted to defend against her larger, more experienced father, if it wanted to take out the easier target.
WC: 1,408/2,500
"Speech" || Thoughts
