Empty, Loved.
You'd felt safe in her arms from the moment you'd met her.
Cold yet full of boundless warmth.
Sharp in Features, Soft in Temper.
And in all the noise, she had been Quiet.
"Hello?" you'd offered, parting from the rabid crowd.
Freak.
Ghoul
Specter
She'd looked up, bright eyes behind a veil of black hair.
"Hello." her voice a whisper, no dozens of whispers, shadowed tones, and dripping words.
But she was quiet.
The bond had formed fast, forged in shared interest, crafted in isolation.
You'd spoken of a Storm, raging and red, screaming down upon you.
She's discussed a Specter, envious and emerald, slithering up from within her.
You both needed knowledge.
You'd gone it alone.
But you could slip into her presence.
The calm, quiet, cold.
Some would say like a grave.
But in truth, it's more like a winter night.
Stark, but beautiful all the same.
You wandered through the Hellcatch and throughout the Storm raged, but now you could awaken to her comforting embrace.
Through her, you found eight tolling bells.
One chiming in the wind, of distant grief and current wonder.
The other fire-charred, her song frenzied, frantic, and fun.
One of blue, tinkling a tune of thunder and vanishing across the skies.
Their tones intertwined, one of brass and one of stone, but out of sync, a chipper chirp vs. a brawler's bellow.
And then the one past their prime, replaced by one scarred and pitted, but chiming with a fervor so loud it made her head spin.
All that time, your first had been by your side, picking you up, shouting out her own defiant haunting tune, and you'd felt more secure than ever before.
Then the stone, that damned Little Rock, a stolen gift from a Smiling Nightmare. You should have known better than to trust nightmares.
But it was…
Safety.
Security.
Solace.
Where her cool clutch of comfort could not creep in.
You remember her touch not three days prior, softly caressing your shoulders as you raced into the endless sky. Your bond had been forged in the Hellcatch. Together you'd rescued Orym from being lost in the sky.
And now…
The stone shatters, and the bond gives with it.
"I couldn't get control! I didn't have control," she begs.
The Storm rages, and your safety net is gone.
Confusion.
Fear.
Anger.
All had burned within that crowd that day.
And now…to your own grief and surprise…she isn't quiet anymore.
The words slip past your lips before you can stop them, and the implications can't be taken back.
But what she's done can't be taken back.
"You lied," you state, feeling all the fear and grief hitch in your throat.
"No, no, no, no." she stutters in swift tempo, reaching out fearfully, for she can feel the bond slipping too.
But…the quiet is gone.
And so you have to retreat into your own once more.
You hear her scream, and it joins the tempest in your head.
Things had gotten so…comfortable.
Had you really thought it'd last?
Yes.
The Tempest does not calm, and the quiet does not return, but she is still there.
And you are glad for that.