Aurelia
The way he stares at her is almost as if she's being watched by a predator sizing her up, searching for weakness. And she's lathered in them, too. Most of the time she can navigate her own emotions, but with all of his added on top of the mix, and so much fresher, so much more hurt... it's a monstrous thing to overcome.
Yet... even as there's a sudden, gaping emptiness where Sunjata's bond once had been, it's no respite at all. In fact, she finds that it feels colder without it. The heat of his anger, the passion of his emotions - all of it cut out and away.
It leaves her feeling small beneath those steely eyes, those blue plates that cover his skin, and it's beneath all of this that she sinks into the shift she already holds so close. It had wanted to step forward from the start, willing her to get back. Her trust for Sunjata had held on but, now she feels as if even that teeters on the edge, and she doesn't feel safe here.
Her ringed tail tucks down around her smaller body and she takes a few cautious paw-steps back. Particles of ash and dust swirl up into the air with the movement. It takes her a moment to realize the words in her head are actually his and actually real - and on top of that it takes her a moment to find her own voice within.
Sunjata, I know you've been through a lot, and I don't blame you for feeling this way right now. Believe me, please, her voice is unsteady as she gets accustomed to using it this way, but she pleads anyway. You said something to me about your father once, she wills him to remember, 'if you cut him, he'd bleed iron.' He put you through cruel trials at too young an age... and came back just to do it all again. But you showed him you were stronger. Her gaze lifts to look at him with a spark of something - pride, spirit, determination.
I know you, Sunjata, and you know me. This time, she takes a tentative step forward, ears flinching forward hopefully.
Yet... even as there's a sudden, gaping emptiness where Sunjata's bond once had been, it's no respite at all. In fact, she finds that it feels colder without it. The heat of his anger, the passion of his emotions - all of it cut out and away.
It leaves her feeling small beneath those steely eyes, those blue plates that cover his skin, and it's beneath all of this that she sinks into the shift she already holds so close. It had wanted to step forward from the start, willing her to get back. Her trust for Sunjata had held on but, now she feels as if even that teeters on the edge, and she doesn't feel safe here.
Her ringed tail tucks down around her smaller body and she takes a few cautious paw-steps back. Particles of ash and dust swirl up into the air with the movement. It takes her a moment to realize the words in her head are actually his and actually real - and on top of that it takes her a moment to find her own voice within.
Sunjata, I know you've been through a lot, and I don't blame you for feeling this way right now. Believe me, please, her voice is unsteady as she gets accustomed to using it this way, but she pleads anyway. You said something to me about your father once, she wills him to remember, 'if you cut him, he'd bleed iron.' He put you through cruel trials at too young an age... and came back just to do it all again. But you showed him you were stronger. Her gaze lifts to look at him with a spark of something - pride, spirit, determination.
I know you, Sunjata, and you know me. This time, she takes a tentative step forward, ears flinching forward hopefully.
'Cause you brought out the best of me
