TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021
"Speech!"
Nights were long lately, both literally with the turning of the season but also emotionally. Psalm had not found sleep came easily to her anymore. She'd always felt herself a light sleeper, even more so after their mother had left but now she often found it denied her outright. She'd lay awake in her alcove, listening for the soft breathing of her siblings, ears perked for a slight shuffle of paws or any indication any of them might be leaving in the dead of night the way their father had. It was often only as the first lights of dawn would color the mouth of the den that she'd finally relax enough to sleep, for however few hours she'd get after that.

So it was a little odd that sleep found her so much quicker tonight, the darkness swallowing her up and cradling her in its warm and empty embrace, a better escape from reality than most dreams as she simply existed in oblivion for a while. Then when she opened her eyes where she expected to see the den around her, feel the hard stone under her, instead, she found herself under the sun, grass at her paws. The girl blinked, bright blues scanning and she realized she was in the place where she'd last dreamed of her mother. The young woman lifted her muzzle to sniff the air, voice lifting as she called out: "Mom?"

A voice reached his ears, a voice that he hadn't heard in a long time, but also felt like perhaps he had heard it yesterday. Time had no meaning here and it both felt like weeks since he had been visited by Balthier and as if it had only been hours. He went through the motions of life here, hunting and relaxing in the sun, but his thoughts never really left his children or the regrets of what he had done. This was his punishment, yearning to get back what he had pushed away and never being allowed to do so. He was stuck in a purgatory that was outwardly pleasant, but in his thoughts he was tormented by himself. He couldn't quite shake the vision of Balthier's cold reception no matter how justified it had been.

It wasn't his son's voice he heard this time though - it was the voice of his daughter. He turned toward the sound even though she wasn't calling to him. She was calling for her mother. Even still, he moved toward her voice, his blue eyes landing on the monochromatic form. Just like Balthier it was like he could see her, but not fully. He hesitated behind her for a moment, his mismatched ears flicking uncertainly. After how speaking to her brother had gone, he wondered if it would have been better to just leave and let her wake up without having to see her face of disappointment, but he couldn't resist the chance to speak with her one last time. "Psalm," he said to get her attention, offering her a small smile as she turned to face him.

Walk | "Talk" | think