W E S S E X
Sometimes snow insulates and sometimes snow betrays; Hotaru is no longer of Halo, so perhaps the snow here knows, and even her slighter, no-longer-pregnant frame elicits a soft, alerting, crunch. Wessex turns a breath before the Valkyrie speaks, needlessly drawing herself up and puffing out, like any threatened animal would.
She wants to smile at the quip, she does, (and it’s true, no snow could ever do her sleekly fierce companion justice), and the corners of her mouth falter ever so briefly before she locks them together again.
Wessex stares.
It hurts so much more than she thought it would, that familiar ache, that hollow, heartburning sense of loss. It hurts so much more because at her core she knows it’s preventable. The Wraith swallows, dry even though that’s physically impossible.
“Why?” she asks cutting of any following phrase lest her voice crack. No hint of what she means, no specifics, no why did you set us on this path, or why did you think we would attack Halovians, or why did you do it like that, of all ways? or even, why aren’t we worth it? She doesn’t have the energy to say all of that. Not with Ru.
She could kill her. Probably. Right here and now. The thought flashes across her mind.
… couldn’t she?
She wants to smile at the quip, she does, (and it’s true, no snow could ever do her sleekly fierce companion justice), and the corners of her mouth falter ever so briefly before she locks them together again.
Wessex stares.
It hurts so much more than she thought it would, that familiar ache, that hollow, heartburning sense of loss. It hurts so much more because at her core she knows it’s preventable. The Wraith swallows, dry even though that’s physically impossible.
“Why?” she asks cutting of any following phrase lest her voice crack. No hint of what she means, no specifics, no why did you set us on this path, or why did you think we would attack Halovians, or why did you do it like that, of all ways? or even, why aren’t we worth it? She doesn’t have the energy to say all of that. Not with Ru.
She could kill her. Probably. Right here and now. The thought flashes across her mind.
… couldn’t she?
The Wraith
