Homesickness
Faith + Pleione
05-18-2022, 04:55 PM
The frozen dew was a sight to behold. Pleione had been struggling to adjust to the temperatures of her local home, the way the sun fought the chill, and the way the chill won over as it blew in over the sea. It wasn’t just that it was cold, her thick pelt was already prepared for worse, it was the way the humidity clung to her skin, and the way she still hadn’t managed to clear all the salt from her fur. Still, it wasn’t all bad. There were little things like this, the frigid air turning the morning dew to crystal glass around the remnants of flowers and yellowed grasses. For one precious moment Pleione let her mind empty and just admired the aesthetics, watching the twinkling of sunlight dance over the field before her as it slowly melted again in the growing heat of the rising sun. She had yet to feel fully herself since arriving in the empire. It was as if she had left something more behind her than just her home, like some essential part of her was missing now and evermore. It was stupid, it wasn’t as if staying would have changed anything, save guaranteeing she’d be a corpse by now. Foolish nostalgia. It made her sick. She felt lucky to be patrolling beyond the borders now, where this morose was less likely to be seen and interpreted as weakness by her peers. Of course, doubtless the Empress’ eyes were still on her. She could never let her guard down, never again, for the rest of her life. As if that was any different to the way she’d always lived. |