Maea
And I only needed one more touch
Another taste of devouring rush
Another taste of devouring rush
Where Isla experienced her new life with comfort and ease, Maea felt the raw newness of it with every fiber of her being. Emotions running high, they swayed between deepest darkness and blinding light like a freshly awakened volcano. Always on the verge of overflowing, she was not quite bold enough to let herself erupt just yet, but too far gone to return to the numb dormancy she had lived in for so long. It was a lot, honestly. Feeling, sensing, dreaming, processing the losses and gains and rediscovering who she was, all that she had become and daring to seek out who she might yet grow into - a season was the least amount of time she would need. So far, though, the people she had met since reawakening helped the process immensely. Astonishingly there had been only kindness, support and encouragement to greet her welcome back. Not a harsh word, no judgement to be seen nor any obstacles thrown in her way - whatever ghosts she experienced stemmed solely from her own mind and it was boggling to her how easy it had become to breathe. How sweet the air tasted, and how full of promise every day felt.
Whether she knew it or not, Isla boosted her confidence a lot without doing anything special; only with simple invitations, a gentle kind of acceptance without conditions that Maea wasn't used to. Gratitude was too small a word for all that she felt in that moment. So Maea only smiled at Isla, and nodded a quiet thank you.
For a moment she lingered to admire the tiger before her, absorbing the amber colors and the metallic sheen of her stripes. Then she sank into her own shift. Albinism remained even in this form, yet where Isla's stripes were golden, Maea's resembled blued steel. Flicking the long tail and licking her chops with a white-hot tongue, the tiger offered her head in a feline bump of unbridled affection - before trying a playful swipe of a paw at Isla's nose and bounding off towards a distant hilltop, from where they might scout for prey.
It was so much easier like this. Not so many thoughts crowding her mind. Nor as many inhibitions holding her back. There was only the solid ground under her paws and the endless sky above, and fire singing in her veins. Perhaps she ought to stay like this; what more could anyone need?
Whether she knew it or not, Isla boosted her confidence a lot without doing anything special; only with simple invitations, a gentle kind of acceptance without conditions that Maea wasn't used to. Gratitude was too small a word for all that she felt in that moment. So Maea only smiled at Isla, and nodded a quiet thank you.
For a moment she lingered to admire the tiger before her, absorbing the amber colors and the metallic sheen of her stripes. Then she sank into her own shift. Albinism remained even in this form, yet where Isla's stripes were golden, Maea's resembled blued steel. Flicking the long tail and licking her chops with a white-hot tongue, the tiger offered her head in a feline bump of unbridled affection - before trying a playful swipe of a paw at Isla's nose and bounding off towards a distant hilltop, from where they might scout for prey.
It was so much easier like this. Not so many thoughts crowding her mind. Nor as many inhibitions holding her back. There was only the solid ground under her paws and the endless sky above, and fire singing in her veins. Perhaps she ought to stay like this; what more could anyone need?
But the room was so quiet
Whose side am I on?
Whose side am I on?
