what will you do when the vultures come for you, run and hide?
There's no place like home.
She'd never been able to click her heels and go back to the place she loved the most. Gods she had tried, those first few weeks that she'd arrived in Caido, a complete wreck. The capital was her home, her palace was her home, her mother's embrace- that was home. And then it wasn't, suddenly she was just a girl, all alone and with no idea how to create a new life. She was lost and tired,
and then she wasn't! Oliver came along and offered her a new family, a new home. It would never be the same, but it was damn well good enough for her. And she worked so hard to help the people there, to fulfill some fantasy of fitting in and being needed, comforted by the smiles of the people she aided and the grimaces of the soldiers she bested. Things changed there, and she tried to fix it. Things changed again, and uncertainty began to trickle back in. People died, people left, so much kept moving forward and it'd only been less than a year. How much would her new home continue to change, and when would she get left behind?
The Voice's claws being dug into her earth was the point that made her begin to withdraw. She'd stayed thus far for Oliver, but she held no obligation to the new goddess. If the grounds chose her, it was hardly Aisha's home anymore. She still liked to help the people who needed her, to feel some connection, but it was dwindling. Maybe it was time for another change.
The leopardess pondered it all as she sat on a grassy slope, whetting the bevel of her blade with a flat stone. Oliver would certainly admonish her form and method, but it'd always worked for her, and there was something comforting about the movements. The moon crested above her, Safrin's children providing enough light for the feline woman. Peace, at least now, on this ground that had remained the same. No matter where you are, dirt is just dirt.
She'd never been able to click her heels and go back to the place she loved the most. Gods she had tried, those first few weeks that she'd arrived in Caido, a complete wreck. The capital was her home, her palace was her home, her mother's embrace- that was home. And then it wasn't, suddenly she was just a girl, all alone and with no idea how to create a new life. She was lost and tired,
and then she wasn't! Oliver came along and offered her a new family, a new home. It would never be the same, but it was damn well good enough for her. And she worked so hard to help the people there, to fulfill some fantasy of fitting in and being needed, comforted by the smiles of the people she aided and the grimaces of the soldiers she bested. Things changed there, and she tried to fix it. Things changed again, and uncertainty began to trickle back in. People died, people left, so much kept moving forward and it'd only been less than a year. How much would her new home continue to change, and when would she get left behind?
The Voice's claws being dug into her earth was the point that made her begin to withdraw. She'd stayed thus far for Oliver, but she held no obligation to the new goddess. If the grounds chose her, it was hardly Aisha's home anymore. She still liked to help the people who needed her, to feel some connection, but it was dwindling. Maybe it was time for another change.
The leopardess pondered it all as she sat on a grassy slope, whetting the bevel of her blade with a flat stone. Oliver would certainly admonish her form and method, but it'd always worked for her, and there was something comforting about the movements. The moon crested above her, Safrin's children providing enough light for the feline woman. Peace, at least now, on this ground that had remained the same. No matter where you are, dirt is just dirt.
AISHA
