parasite eve

After Kotori had left, Ikigai remained beneath the wide sprawling willow. The liquid continued to flow from her eyes, nose and mouth. It pushed from the skin around the crystals that protruded from her forehead like some glittering, crown of gore. The young fae's snow white pelt, usually pristine in appearance, was streaked with glowing magenta. She'd been one of the only wolves to bleed this particular shade and she couldn't help but wonder if that made her special or not. Had she been chosen by the spirits? Had this color denoted her as being different? She surely suffered the same as some, but not the same as all. Many wolves had lost their minds to madness. Thankfully she hadn't been one of those.

Iki could barely move. It felt as though the crystals were draining the very life from her. Along with the fatigue and general malaise, Iki's head hurt so, so much. Light and sound was excruciating, and so the girl tried her best to shield her face in the hollow of her crossed forelegs. She slept fitfully, waking only when the pain was too much. Soft sobs would pull from her and the girl's tears melded with the ooze, leaving trails of pink down her pale cheeks.

Sound from nearby brought a surge of panic from Ikigai. With mad wolves around, the girl would stand no chance. She'd barely gotten away from Ashen, though she hadn't gotten away unscathed. The proof of that was the luminescent crystals protruding from a large bite on her foreleg. She'd been lucky to get away with her life. The Ashen wolf had been screaming in her face, calling her names, telling her that she was dead. When Iki had tried to run, she had been caught, only managing to slip away when another wolf attacked the first.

Mercuric eyes were washed over in magenta, trying to focus through the pink as Iki looked for the source of the disturbance. A set of paws could just be seen under the edge of the sprawling, whiplike branches. She never would have known who it was had she not heard the voice of the parrot. "Pontifex..." Ikigai whispered, afraid to speak much louder, lest her cousin be wracked by madness like the others. Despite her worry, she couldn't help but call out to him, craving companionship, love, and understanding.

"X"