Am I Still Pretty?

The approach of paws and the sound of her name on a soft voice brought the girls throbbing skull lifting from the ground. Through a pink sheen she looked upon the concerned face of Kotori. His words were sympathetic and were full of sadness. Iki would have given her head a shake, but she knew that it would have been too painful. It was difficult to even keep her eyes open and, more than anything, she just wanted to sleep. There was nowhere safe to rest, however. There was danger everywhere and she wouldn't be able to defend herself. For fear that something would happen to her, Iki had sent her cat off to hide.

How bad was it? "It hurts... so bad." Speaking hurt. Breathing hurt. Iki wondered if she had crystals in her lungs. They seemed to sprout from wherever her skin was broken, so why wouldn't they be inside of her as well? The girl held out her foreleg. From fresh bite wounds, more of the magenta colored crystals were protruding. "The ones without crystals and mushrooms... the ones that just bleed glowing ozze. It seems to make them crazy. Aggressive." The vibrant liquid still trickled from the wound as she looked down upon it. "It's not safe anywhere."

Kotori then asked why and this time Ikigai did shake her head, though lightly, and she paid for it. Flashes of white light cut through her skull and the girl cringed, gasping lightly for breath as the pain continued. Another soft sob pulled from her and the girl raised her paws to her head, grasping it lightly with her dexterous digits. "I think the spirits are trying to tell us something," she whispered through her tears. "I think we need to find out what it is. Maybe they're trying to prove that we're all connected. That we're all one." She didn't have any proof of this, however.

"Speech"