Shrike's Heart (#2)

[idolpro]

The woman before you is beautiful—fair of features, with lovely golden skin and luxurious long black hair, petite. You have the immediate and distinct impression that she's just let go of your hand, and she steps back, and smiles.

It's not quite a happy smile.

"I'm sorry," she says. "There's just nothing I can do, as things are. But the way is there; it just needs to be lit."

You open your mouth—maybe to say something, or to express confusion—but you have to cough, and taste something metallic, spattering black blood onto the ground in front of you. Then you realize—blood seeps from opening wounds in your arms, your chest, your stomach, your face. It rims your eyes and trails from your nose and you feel like you're dissolving—

—and you fall through the ground like it's the surface of a lake, and go down, down, down.

> Wake Up

Comments

[justfuckingtryit]

...I don't know.

There might be one in the village.

[constellationprize]

[ nods her head - it occurs to her, finally, that she could set the boy down, so she lays him next to his brother, carefully ]

[justfuckingtryit]

I'll go look.

[He goes- comes back not much later with a shovel and wordlessly starts digging.]

[constellationprize]

[ as he digs, she watches over the bodies idly - in the moment it's all she can do not to think too deeply, but she rubs her hands together hurriedly as if trying to warm them up, with a nervous energy. ]

[justfuckingtryit]

[Eventually, it's deep enough; eventually he sets the shovel to one side.]

...okay. Let's get them in there.

[constellationprize]

... Okay.

[ if not close up, then by the look of her hands as she takes hold of the man, it's clear she's trembling, breath unsteady, but. she's here. ready to do this. ]

[nihilmancy]

[Silently helping to ease them into the grave.]

[constellationprize]

[ sort of, exhaled, ]

. . . Thank you - Sekhmet...

[justfuckingtryit]

[Also lending a hand. His hands are steady; when they finish, he picks up the shovel and gets to work covering them u again.]

[nihilmancy]

Mm.

[She's quiet as she watches the soil cover them.]

[romanticlove]

[Hopefully they don’t think her inconsiderate for avoiding touching them. Normally she would need to be severely injured to become a problem but the smell of blood alone was making her throat burn. She keeps a look out instead, just in case.]

[constellationprize]

[ murmurs a "thank you" to thorn too, quiet as she watches him cover them, then thanks ren as well.

this is all a lot. ]

[justfuckingtryit]

[He straightens up, when he's finished.]

I guess that's all.

[romanticlove]

What do we do now? Keep moving?

[She looks around, brows furrowed.]

[nihilmancy]

It is all that we can do.

I know her the best of everybody here. Um, Shrike. She would want this. And she would want us to move on.

[justfuckingtryit]

Then we'll follow the path.