crash a little closer

the lullaby

Still gossip, innit.

Raising an eyebrow, though normally the Lullaby absolutely would mind - benefit of being the predator's predator and all that - he easily slips his hand from Isla's and nods that she absolutely should take the lead. "I will be right behind you. Though...not too close." This was about the Remedy after all, and nothing cut into the satisfaction of killing something quite like having someone else hovering over your shoulder or 'helping' where none was needed.

Though brutality had quite problematically become one of the Lullaby's love languages, still he gazed softly at Isla as she went ahead, wanting nothing more than for his friend to ease some of the tension in her heart by exhausting her muscles.

I got a feeling inside that I can't domesticate
It doesn't wanna live in a cage,
A feeling that I can't housebreak

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

ISLA

The softness in Remi's eyes is reflected back with gratitude in Isla's own; she knows (and then some) that the Lullaby isn't accustomed to anything getting to a kill before he does, so for him to allow her to go ahead isn't something she takes for granted, even as his friend. Rolling her shoulders as if to try and loosen up muscles made tense by more than the thrill of the hunt, Isla prowls ahead.

She doesn't shift until the very last moment, and even then it's only because she will need a molten tiger's claws to break through the armour of a fyrhund's hide. Springing forward, it's the transformation from woman to feline that is the real ambush, and the yowling grows louder for a split second before cutting off entirely, replaced by the cries of victories from the crows circling overhead. With teeth cracking through the creature's rocky plating, the molten blood won't cause her much difficulty, and it's the flesh she's after besides.

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

Having some idea what Isla is up to but fearing for her safety just the same, it's with teeth pressed tightly together that the Lullaby watches the Remedy prowl forward. She is an easy target for the fyrhund as she currently is, and taking the bait, the canine realizes its mistake too soon if it realizes it at all, as Isla shifts. Feeling his mouth water and the joints of his knees become rubbery with predatory approval and need, the Lullaby shifts as well though perhaps not into a form Isla will have expected.

As a manticore, the scent of blood might have been maddening to the point of carelessness, but as a hawk with senses attuned more to movement than smell, he could circle above the tigress and keep an eye on the surrounding area to ensure nothing tried to sneak up on Isla as she fed.

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

ISLA

By the time Isla realises Remi isn't alongside her in his own furred form, she's muzzle deep in the fyrhund to get her fill, not just of the meat to sate her bloodlust, but the violence of having ended something too. It's nice, not to think - or only to have to think about the muscle and sinew before her - and it's with hazy eyes that she finally glances up from the carcass. And up again, realising all of a sudden that the crows are silent.

Because of course the sight of the hawk has them scattering - they're still carrion, however big and brash they might be - and Remi is left to circle her alone. Rumbling her approval and stretching luxuriously along the hot stone, Isla pads away to flump down in her big cat form, fastidiously licking the blood from her paws and leaving the rest of the fyrhund for the Lullaby to enjoy.

~FIN

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood