A great deal of tension thawed with the sunrise, leaving Azure's shoulders and thickening the air with doubt. Beyond the bonfires and drunken laughter, across leagues of wilderness, in the lair of the beast was what was left of her family. Were they safe? If not it is surely her fault. Still, she didn't dare step foot in the Grounds. The very thought nauseated her.
Instead of twiddling her thumbs and occupying herself with thoughts of doom, she flew out into the market. Perching herself above the bustling crowd, she watched people flow between the stalls, and listened. News flowed in through the portal, spreading through the market, unbridled.
She quickly grew frustrated. Nothing she heard could pull away her doubt. Nothing but a trip to a cursed place. Reaching the Sanctuary would take a few minutes, the trip to her aunt's farm a little over an hour.
It was amidst these thoughts that something peculiar caught her eye. An unusually festive gourd gripping in its vines, not an unsuspecting victim, but a stream of pennants. Above it, standing atop a ladder and wrestling the decorations from above, a bright-maned girl.
Azure fluttered across the busy street and shifted out of her bird form, appearing on a terrace just above the pair. Quickly regaining her balance, she crossed her feet and leaned over to ask, "Need help with that?". Normally, she'd make a comment on the struggle and offer to place a bet on the pennants' ultimate triumph, but she stopped herself when a sickeningly sweet sensation bubbled inside her at the thought, threatening to spill into words.
Instead of twiddling her thumbs and occupying herself with thoughts of doom, she flew out into the market. Perching herself above the bustling crowd, she watched people flow between the stalls, and listened. News flowed in through the portal, spreading through the market, unbridled.
She quickly grew frustrated. Nothing she heard could pull away her doubt. Nothing but a trip to a cursed place. Reaching the Sanctuary would take a few minutes, the trip to her aunt's farm a little over an hour.
It was amidst these thoughts that something peculiar caught her eye. An unusually festive gourd gripping in its vines, not an unsuspecting victim, but a stream of pennants. Above it, standing atop a ladder and wrestling the decorations from above, a bright-maned girl.
Getting distracted was terribly easy when your mind desperately sought it.
Azure fluttered across the busy street and shifted out of her bird form, appearing on a terrace just above the pair. Quickly regaining her balance, she crossed her feet and leaned over to ask, "Need help with that?". Normally, she'd make a comment on the struggle and offer to place a bet on the pennants' ultimate triumph, but she stopped herself when a sickeningly sweet sensation bubbled inside her at the thought, threatening to spill into words.
Azure
