[PQ] Into the Woods Without Delay

YOU SAID THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE MOON IT ROSE TOO SOON AND WE'RE DOING WHAT WE SHOULD It would be her first foray away from home. Her first time in 21 years leaving the familiar sphere into which she was born. Her first- Her heartbeat is a wild thing, a fast tattoo drumming in her chest. She can feel it in her throat, hear it in her ears: the thrum of blood, the wild beat of change. Terrified, electrified, she is paralyzed by the vastness of it all. It is the fruition of all her dreams- -it is the manifestation of all her nightmares- -it is her sins, her shortcomings, which have brought them here, and the weight of it sits upon her shoulders like a stone. In the search for their freedom they have condemned the world- Breathe deeply. Think clearly. At least as a leopard she feels safer (though she can hardly be said to deserve the form, now) shielded by an armor of claw and fur. Her feline eyes make out more than shadows in the trees which stand across the scar, gaping and expansive (there is so much world!), dark and unknown (but that world isn't home). Standing by Jigano, the leopard whines, her heart in her throat, her stomach in knots. She barely registers Kiada's arrival: all of her attention is on the scar, and what it means. She wants more than anything to cross that line, but she fears it more than anything, too. Inhaling deeply; one step, then again. If either of them are to cross it first it should be her- the sinner, the Natural, the fallen priest. Closing her eyes and swallowing deeply, Amalia steps across the scar-- --and out into the world. a m a l i a You said it's life that moves too much We're losing touch But I'm not losing you