A/N: Second chapter! Or, actually, first, but the prologue counts as a
chapter I guess. I've been writing this for quite awhile but forgot about
it and stopped for a loooong time. So here's the continuation of Ethea's
story, for your reading pleasure.
Part 1: Early Childhood
The world is neither a kind nor welcoming place to a cub such as Ethea. She was lost. She was tired. She was hungry. And more than that she was scared. Her mind, churning with a sense of betrayal and hatred and at the same time love, wracked her soul to the point that she felt physically ill and had to cease her stumbling every so often to wretch.
The tears that had evaded her where coming now, blinding her. All she could see was a haze of bright hues and sunlight as a new day began, breaking and merging in a flash of colours as her tears distorted all and everything in sight. The little creature snagged a paw on a gnarling tree root, skidding pallet first into the ground, a squeal of pain and surprise breaking the gentle chorus of the morning. Ethea pulled herself to her haunches, sobbing openly, loudly. Her face was scraped down the cheek from her fall, the dirt streaked over it and stinging the wound. Her paws were bruised and bleeding as the tiny creature hadn't had any experience before with long periods of travel. Her stomach fanned out waves of aching hunger, contracting in spasms of retaliation at it's fast.
Ethea curled up into a ball, beneath the leaves of a bush, letting her self- pity wash over her as her shrieking sobs slowly subsided whilst slumber spread it's tendrils over her mind.
* * *
She was cold... So cold... Her face felt numb, but feeling nothing was better than the stinging of before. Violet optics blinked slowly, a bantam paw reaching up to wipe the pine needles from her face where they adhered themselves to the salty tear trails. Ethea yawned; beak stretched open wide as she stood. The cub shook herself like a canine, sending all the debris from her pelt flying in all directions. She blinked, a slow smile creeping over her maw. It was nice... The light filtered through the treetops in a gentle haze, highlighting dust specks that drifted serenely to the earth.
Her beak opened to release an innocent giggle of pleasure, but was interrupted by an abrupt rumble from the stomach, familiar waves of pain spreading over her, a harsh reality check for the little one.
For the first time Ethea had to consider food. True, her mother had been weaning her off of her milk lately, so she could manage solids. But her mother wasn't someone she wanted to think about. The little eyrie let out a squeak of fear and anger as the memories flooded back. So much blood. The smell of it was intoxicating, like a drug, still clogging her nares.
Ethea was surprised to find that it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Her stomach gave another heave, releasing an audible growl of discontent. The bantam cub was forced to start her search. Grass, leaves and even dirt were all given a try in quick succession, each less appetizing than the former. The petite eyrie gave a frustrated yowl. Where exactly did her mother get all that food? Did it fall out of the sky?
She froze as a familiar scent caught her, breathing in great greedy gulps of it. Soft sounds of movement reached her pinnae, sending an unfamiliar surge through every one of her undersized limbs. Saliva built in her beak and she swallowed it quickly, pressing herself to the ground on instinct and crawling beneath a bush to her left.
She had to stifle a silent mew of surprise and hunger at the sight before her. The Kyrii was eating calmly; chattering softly to itself as it grazed. Even though she didn't know it, she was sizing it up. So much meat! It was young... She could sub-consciously tell by the size. Her muscles were tensing unbeknownst to her.
Just at the moment, as she was still watching awestruck with her violet occuls, her stomach gave a loud roar of hunger. The Kyrii gave a shrill squeak and even as it's legs shot out, to send it flying, Ethea found herself hurtling forward from the underbrush, talons unsheathed, a yowl of hunger and frantic disconcertion shaking her.
The Kyrii thrashed from where it struggled beneath her, and then beside her. She was too small! She was too weak! She couldn't hold it. Quaking with confusion and panic she slashed out with a paw, flailing madly in a random guess. Her paw took hold and the next thing she knew the Kyrii lay sprawled on the ground giving low gurgles of distress. A stream of blood was seeping through the paws it had clenched around it's own neck. Ethea was dumbstruck with fear and hunger, rising above the maimed creature. She lifted her tiny paw and...
Froze. Ethea's gaze met that of the creature, panicked and afraid. Its eyes begged her for mercy, its squeals piercing her ears. It was so young... It was so terrified. She couldn't do it... But she had to! Oh, but she had to... She found herself sobbing, torn between what was right and what was necessary. Blinded by her tears for the second time this morning she slashes with a quavering paw and put the creature out of it's misery.
With faltering steps she drew back, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. What had she done...? How could she eat it? Against her better judgement she faced the still animal, her stomach flopping as she did so. She wouldn't!
With set determination she sat herself as far away as she could from the carcass while still being in sight of it, shoulders hunched, refusing to let herself give way. She minutes ticked by into hours... Her stomach was unceasing in it's begging for nourishment and it wasn't long before she was doubled over in pain.
Maybe... Maybe just one bite? It was dead already... It wouldn't hurt... Right?
Hesitantly the petit cub leaned over the kill, cringing as she opened her beak and gently tore a scratch in the Kyrii's hide. Blood seeped slowly from the wound, revolting and alluring at the same time. Choking on bile and a sob, both, Ethea leaned over and took for herself a small mouthful of the meat, swallowing it down whole.
She staggered back, coughing as it went down, but a fire lit behind her optics. Her hunger flared three-fold and with no reluctance this time she dove forward to the carcass, eating ravenously. For in truth she was starving... But the meat was sweet in her mouth and her stomach craved more. Her misgivings were forgotten as she ate her fill and more, 'til she thought she would burst.
A voice in her head squeaked out its indignation and the wrong in this. She'd killed! She'd devoured it! A living creature! Ah, but it was too late, and it had tasted so good... She could overlook it...
With the clumsy steps of a contented toddler, Ethea made her way back a bush, curling up beneath it. Sleep was quick to take hold of her...
* * *
The days passed in similar succession. She killed and ate and slept as she pleased, travelling all the while away from her beginnings. She had gone back, but only once. She'd had a feeble hope that maybe she'd go back and be mistaken. Mamma would be fine and Zecheriah and Dinyra would wake up and laugh and chortle as they used to. And her father would be gone for good. Not hurt, for Ethea didn't hate him as her mother had, just gone. Off to a better life for him.
She didn't dislike her sire, but all she knew was that when he was around Diviena was miserable and quick to anger. She just wanted to be happy... For all of them to be happy... Was that too much to ask? No, no it wasn't.
And so she had made her way to that shrub-enclosed clearing, peering in. It had been dark, the moon a beacon of guidance in the sky, fueling her hope. At first she had been elated. They were there! Mamma and Zecheriah and Dinyra! They were there! Just sleeping! Curled up in a bundle, safe and warm and welcoming. She was home!
She had bounded forward, tripping over herself in her want for the comforts of family, letting out an infantile squeak of joy. Diving forward into their midst where they were resting together, she had burrowed beneath her mother's forepaw, snuggling into the feathers of her mane.
"Mamma!" She had been so full, so relieved, so contented to be there among them that it took a moment for the chill to settle in; for her to realize they were all cold... They were so cold. Ethea pulled back in confusion, looking to Dinyra for reassurance, as the older sibling had always been to quick to give.
"Din? What's wrong with you?" Dinrya had looked down on her, her beak open as though to speak. But the gaze was glassy, the pupils unfocused. Dead and lifeless... In the ethereal glow of moonlight it was like a horror story unfolding. The lines across their throats, the blood matted and stained into their plumage, the unseeing eyes and gaping maws.
Ethea froze, and to her it almost seemed as if their still paws groped for her, trying to pull her into the afterlife along with them. And her mother's, oh her mother's, the talons were extended, clawing for her neck. She wanted Ethea to come... She wanted her to!
Ethea squealed in terror, scrabbling back from the pile of bodies on the ground. She didn't want to die, she'd didn't want to end up like them. Always watching without being able to see...
She'd never gone back, needless to say... In fact she'd spent the greater part of her childhood wandering away. She never grew in size as most would, and would later accredit it to the shock and malnutrition of her early years. She just sort of reached her full height as a cub. That didn't mean she stopped growing fully. She lengthened, becoming sinuous and lithe, elegant, even. Beautiful to a point, if one could see past the troubled mentality.
The rest of her childhood was a slow, repetitive drawl. She had forgotten nothing of it, all the same. Every moment was forever burned onto the back of her eyelids, called up when she most wanted to forget them. It was... a dark period in her life, to say the least. Not that much of it was been light.
* * *
It was when she was in early adolescence that the met him... Again.
The kacheek was meaty, stocking up on food before winter and all the more tasty for it. Ethea smacked her beak, pleased with the kill. The blood was warm and the body would last her for a long while yet. She had no need of moving for now. She'd relax whilst she could.
It wasn't long before she heard a gentle sound. Like a tail swishing over her head. She opened her eyes, blearily, searching for the extremity in question only to see nothing. Dismissing it she closed her eyes again only to hear the same audible.
With a small sound of disconcertion she pushed herself up onto her haunches, stopping dead, just as he did across from her. He stood stock still, her former meal clenched gently in his jaws, a trail of smeared blood divulging the details of his plan. To drag away her hard earned food and take it for his own.
They scrutinized each other carefully, the strange eyrie releasing the kacheek and taking a careful step forward. Ethea took this as a challenge.
"Who do you think you are?" She snapped, pleased with how firm her voice was, if still youthful.
The other eyrie gazed at her further, and she felt her nape prickle at the careful gaze.
"Well?" She muttered after a time, the silence settling over her and making her feel edgy.
"I might ask you the same," the other eyrie replied. Ethea froze, suddenly unsure. It sounded different, and yet familiar. Like déja vu, but not.
"That's mine," she gestured with an unsheathed paw to the carcass, her voice sounding less calm to her own ears.
"I shall eat my fill and leave you with the rest. There is more than enough... It's reasonable, yes?"
Ethea nodded, grudgingly, easily persuaded in her youth. "Only if you tell me who you are..."
The eyrie lowered his head slowly, deliberating. "Very well... I am dead. I live and I breath, but my heart is not my own anymore. Satisfied?"
Ethea shook her head, not even noticing the sarcasm in his tone in her young, naïve state. "No... Are you really dead? Like... a ghost?"
The older eyrie gave a low chuckle, straightening up and sizing her over again. "No. I am alive, but what's dead is my emotions..."
Ethea scowled. "Will my emotions die?"
The elder took a breath. "Let's hope not..." He said no more, settling down to eat. Ethea sat where she was, watching him closely. He was old, she decided. Not really old, but he was at least a generation older than she was. And he was a bit... Tufty. In places his fur bunched out in tufts, leaving bare patches behind.
The old male looked up upon feeling her gaze upon him, tracing it to the 'tufts'. "Scars, youngling... I dare say you'll have your own crop by the time you're my age."
She nodded, accepting it as truth. Settling to the ground, little tail weaving back and fourth nervously she watched him eat. And he sure could eat! She felt her plumage bristle. "I need to eat too, you know!" She squeaked out, trying to look formidable, but failing horribly.
The old male gave another laugh, nodding to humour the child. "True enough, it was good of you to share."
Ethea seemed pleased by this, puffing out her chest feathers. "S'okay." She looked up to very immodestly elaborate on her modesty. The look in his eyes stopped her and she balked a little, skittering back a few paces. The other eyrie stood to his paws, stalking forward a step. His optics shone with an emotion she couldn't place. Not hunger, not curiousity... What was it?
He stretched out a paw to her, and she gave a shrill cry as his digits closed around the scruff of her neck. Spitting and clawing wildly at air, she struggled as he lifted her to his eye level, tipping her head back. "It can't be..."
* * *
A/N: Well, well, well... What can't be? You'll see! Actually, seeing as how my writing skills aren't exactly excellent, you probably already know exactly what's coming. But, meh, please keep reading anyway! Humour me, I'm a good little Mystix, I promise! Reviews are once again highly appreciated.
Part 1: Early Childhood
The world is neither a kind nor welcoming place to a cub such as Ethea. She was lost. She was tired. She was hungry. And more than that she was scared. Her mind, churning with a sense of betrayal and hatred and at the same time love, wracked her soul to the point that she felt physically ill and had to cease her stumbling every so often to wretch.
The tears that had evaded her where coming now, blinding her. All she could see was a haze of bright hues and sunlight as a new day began, breaking and merging in a flash of colours as her tears distorted all and everything in sight. The little creature snagged a paw on a gnarling tree root, skidding pallet first into the ground, a squeal of pain and surprise breaking the gentle chorus of the morning. Ethea pulled herself to her haunches, sobbing openly, loudly. Her face was scraped down the cheek from her fall, the dirt streaked over it and stinging the wound. Her paws were bruised and bleeding as the tiny creature hadn't had any experience before with long periods of travel. Her stomach fanned out waves of aching hunger, contracting in spasms of retaliation at it's fast.
Ethea curled up into a ball, beneath the leaves of a bush, letting her self- pity wash over her as her shrieking sobs slowly subsided whilst slumber spread it's tendrils over her mind.
* * *
She was cold... So cold... Her face felt numb, but feeling nothing was better than the stinging of before. Violet optics blinked slowly, a bantam paw reaching up to wipe the pine needles from her face where they adhered themselves to the salty tear trails. Ethea yawned; beak stretched open wide as she stood. The cub shook herself like a canine, sending all the debris from her pelt flying in all directions. She blinked, a slow smile creeping over her maw. It was nice... The light filtered through the treetops in a gentle haze, highlighting dust specks that drifted serenely to the earth.
Her beak opened to release an innocent giggle of pleasure, but was interrupted by an abrupt rumble from the stomach, familiar waves of pain spreading over her, a harsh reality check for the little one.
For the first time Ethea had to consider food. True, her mother had been weaning her off of her milk lately, so she could manage solids. But her mother wasn't someone she wanted to think about. The little eyrie let out a squeak of fear and anger as the memories flooded back. So much blood. The smell of it was intoxicating, like a drug, still clogging her nares.
Ethea was surprised to find that it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Her stomach gave another heave, releasing an audible growl of discontent. The bantam cub was forced to start her search. Grass, leaves and even dirt were all given a try in quick succession, each less appetizing than the former. The petite eyrie gave a frustrated yowl. Where exactly did her mother get all that food? Did it fall out of the sky?
She froze as a familiar scent caught her, breathing in great greedy gulps of it. Soft sounds of movement reached her pinnae, sending an unfamiliar surge through every one of her undersized limbs. Saliva built in her beak and she swallowed it quickly, pressing herself to the ground on instinct and crawling beneath a bush to her left.
She had to stifle a silent mew of surprise and hunger at the sight before her. The Kyrii was eating calmly; chattering softly to itself as it grazed. Even though she didn't know it, she was sizing it up. So much meat! It was young... She could sub-consciously tell by the size. Her muscles were tensing unbeknownst to her.
Just at the moment, as she was still watching awestruck with her violet occuls, her stomach gave a loud roar of hunger. The Kyrii gave a shrill squeak and even as it's legs shot out, to send it flying, Ethea found herself hurtling forward from the underbrush, talons unsheathed, a yowl of hunger and frantic disconcertion shaking her.
The Kyrii thrashed from where it struggled beneath her, and then beside her. She was too small! She was too weak! She couldn't hold it. Quaking with confusion and panic she slashed out with a paw, flailing madly in a random guess. Her paw took hold and the next thing she knew the Kyrii lay sprawled on the ground giving low gurgles of distress. A stream of blood was seeping through the paws it had clenched around it's own neck. Ethea was dumbstruck with fear and hunger, rising above the maimed creature. She lifted her tiny paw and...
Froze. Ethea's gaze met that of the creature, panicked and afraid. Its eyes begged her for mercy, its squeals piercing her ears. It was so young... It was so terrified. She couldn't do it... But she had to! Oh, but she had to... She found herself sobbing, torn between what was right and what was necessary. Blinded by her tears for the second time this morning she slashes with a quavering paw and put the creature out of it's misery.
With faltering steps she drew back, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. What had she done...? How could she eat it? Against her better judgement she faced the still animal, her stomach flopping as she did so. She wouldn't!
With set determination she sat herself as far away as she could from the carcass while still being in sight of it, shoulders hunched, refusing to let herself give way. She minutes ticked by into hours... Her stomach was unceasing in it's begging for nourishment and it wasn't long before she was doubled over in pain.
Maybe... Maybe just one bite? It was dead already... It wouldn't hurt... Right?
Hesitantly the petit cub leaned over the kill, cringing as she opened her beak and gently tore a scratch in the Kyrii's hide. Blood seeped slowly from the wound, revolting and alluring at the same time. Choking on bile and a sob, both, Ethea leaned over and took for herself a small mouthful of the meat, swallowing it down whole.
She staggered back, coughing as it went down, but a fire lit behind her optics. Her hunger flared three-fold and with no reluctance this time she dove forward to the carcass, eating ravenously. For in truth she was starving... But the meat was sweet in her mouth and her stomach craved more. Her misgivings were forgotten as she ate her fill and more, 'til she thought she would burst.
A voice in her head squeaked out its indignation and the wrong in this. She'd killed! She'd devoured it! A living creature! Ah, but it was too late, and it had tasted so good... She could overlook it...
With the clumsy steps of a contented toddler, Ethea made her way back a bush, curling up beneath it. Sleep was quick to take hold of her...
* * *
The days passed in similar succession. She killed and ate and slept as she pleased, travelling all the while away from her beginnings. She had gone back, but only once. She'd had a feeble hope that maybe she'd go back and be mistaken. Mamma would be fine and Zecheriah and Dinyra would wake up and laugh and chortle as they used to. And her father would be gone for good. Not hurt, for Ethea didn't hate him as her mother had, just gone. Off to a better life for him.
She didn't dislike her sire, but all she knew was that when he was around Diviena was miserable and quick to anger. She just wanted to be happy... For all of them to be happy... Was that too much to ask? No, no it wasn't.
And so she had made her way to that shrub-enclosed clearing, peering in. It had been dark, the moon a beacon of guidance in the sky, fueling her hope. At first she had been elated. They were there! Mamma and Zecheriah and Dinyra! They were there! Just sleeping! Curled up in a bundle, safe and warm and welcoming. She was home!
She had bounded forward, tripping over herself in her want for the comforts of family, letting out an infantile squeak of joy. Diving forward into their midst where they were resting together, she had burrowed beneath her mother's forepaw, snuggling into the feathers of her mane.
"Mamma!" She had been so full, so relieved, so contented to be there among them that it took a moment for the chill to settle in; for her to realize they were all cold... They were so cold. Ethea pulled back in confusion, looking to Dinyra for reassurance, as the older sibling had always been to quick to give.
"Din? What's wrong with you?" Dinrya had looked down on her, her beak open as though to speak. But the gaze was glassy, the pupils unfocused. Dead and lifeless... In the ethereal glow of moonlight it was like a horror story unfolding. The lines across their throats, the blood matted and stained into their plumage, the unseeing eyes and gaping maws.
Ethea froze, and to her it almost seemed as if their still paws groped for her, trying to pull her into the afterlife along with them. And her mother's, oh her mother's, the talons were extended, clawing for her neck. She wanted Ethea to come... She wanted her to!
Ethea squealed in terror, scrabbling back from the pile of bodies on the ground. She didn't want to die, she'd didn't want to end up like them. Always watching without being able to see...
She'd never gone back, needless to say... In fact she'd spent the greater part of her childhood wandering away. She never grew in size as most would, and would later accredit it to the shock and malnutrition of her early years. She just sort of reached her full height as a cub. That didn't mean she stopped growing fully. She lengthened, becoming sinuous and lithe, elegant, even. Beautiful to a point, if one could see past the troubled mentality.
The rest of her childhood was a slow, repetitive drawl. She had forgotten nothing of it, all the same. Every moment was forever burned onto the back of her eyelids, called up when she most wanted to forget them. It was... a dark period in her life, to say the least. Not that much of it was been light.
* * *
It was when she was in early adolescence that the met him... Again.
The kacheek was meaty, stocking up on food before winter and all the more tasty for it. Ethea smacked her beak, pleased with the kill. The blood was warm and the body would last her for a long while yet. She had no need of moving for now. She'd relax whilst she could.
It wasn't long before she heard a gentle sound. Like a tail swishing over her head. She opened her eyes, blearily, searching for the extremity in question only to see nothing. Dismissing it she closed her eyes again only to hear the same audible.
With a small sound of disconcertion she pushed herself up onto her haunches, stopping dead, just as he did across from her. He stood stock still, her former meal clenched gently in his jaws, a trail of smeared blood divulging the details of his plan. To drag away her hard earned food and take it for his own.
They scrutinized each other carefully, the strange eyrie releasing the kacheek and taking a careful step forward. Ethea took this as a challenge.
"Who do you think you are?" She snapped, pleased with how firm her voice was, if still youthful.
The other eyrie gazed at her further, and she felt her nape prickle at the careful gaze.
"Well?" She muttered after a time, the silence settling over her and making her feel edgy.
"I might ask you the same," the other eyrie replied. Ethea froze, suddenly unsure. It sounded different, and yet familiar. Like déja vu, but not.
"That's mine," she gestured with an unsheathed paw to the carcass, her voice sounding less calm to her own ears.
"I shall eat my fill and leave you with the rest. There is more than enough... It's reasonable, yes?"
Ethea nodded, grudgingly, easily persuaded in her youth. "Only if you tell me who you are..."
The eyrie lowered his head slowly, deliberating. "Very well... I am dead. I live and I breath, but my heart is not my own anymore. Satisfied?"
Ethea shook her head, not even noticing the sarcasm in his tone in her young, naïve state. "No... Are you really dead? Like... a ghost?"
The older eyrie gave a low chuckle, straightening up and sizing her over again. "No. I am alive, but what's dead is my emotions..."
Ethea scowled. "Will my emotions die?"
The elder took a breath. "Let's hope not..." He said no more, settling down to eat. Ethea sat where she was, watching him closely. He was old, she decided. Not really old, but he was at least a generation older than she was. And he was a bit... Tufty. In places his fur bunched out in tufts, leaving bare patches behind.
The old male looked up upon feeling her gaze upon him, tracing it to the 'tufts'. "Scars, youngling... I dare say you'll have your own crop by the time you're my age."
She nodded, accepting it as truth. Settling to the ground, little tail weaving back and fourth nervously she watched him eat. And he sure could eat! She felt her plumage bristle. "I need to eat too, you know!" She squeaked out, trying to look formidable, but failing horribly.
The old male gave another laugh, nodding to humour the child. "True enough, it was good of you to share."
Ethea seemed pleased by this, puffing out her chest feathers. "S'okay." She looked up to very immodestly elaborate on her modesty. The look in his eyes stopped her and she balked a little, skittering back a few paces. The other eyrie stood to his paws, stalking forward a step. His optics shone with an emotion she couldn't place. Not hunger, not curiousity... What was it?
He stretched out a paw to her, and she gave a shrill cry as his digits closed around the scruff of her neck. Spitting and clawing wildly at air, she struggled as he lifted her to his eye level, tipping her head back. "It can't be..."
* * *
A/N: Well, well, well... What can't be? You'll see! Actually, seeing as how my writing skills aren't exactly excellent, you probably already know exactly what's coming. But, meh, please keep reading anyway! Humour me, I'm a good little Mystix, I promise! Reviews are once again highly appreciated.