iii. The Empress
Ostara had come and gone while the Verbena had been preoccupied, rescuing Alexander from the Union's sterile laboratory walls.
She's found in the days that followed emptying her apartment of bags of accumulated debris. Seasons old clothing and papers and who knew what else, bundled and tied into overflowing trash-bags; straining at the seams as the brunette sent each in turn to the dumpsters outside her apartment complex. Rows of tiny herb gardens tended and weeded where they sat across window-ledges floors up from true contact with nature herself.
Offerings gifted to lush, abundant ferns that bordered the pagan's doorway. Smatterings of newly turned Spring earth poured into their pots.
-
It's the last such visit to throw a bag into the dumpster that a screech is heard and a bundle of fur streaks past her legs. The cat was wild, its fur matted but otherwise a striking pale grey struck through with strips of black. A set of gold eyes flashing at the witch from beneath the safety of a nearby jumble of stacked boxes; some sadly degrading where they waited endlessly for retrieval.
The low growl that vibrated from it a sound less of warning and far more pain; a blot of dark red staining one of the creatures paws where it sat; flicking its tail in Kiara's direction.
"Don't give me that look, I didn't see you there."
The cat's eyes regarded the Verbena for a longer moment, its fur matted down by the occasional deluges of rain the overcast skies had been unleashing on the city all afternoon. The brunette turned away from the animal and then paused, cutting a glance over her shoulder. The feline had stopped its low growling and instead sat up, cradling its injured paw against its chest and waiting.
"What? I don't have anything for you, cat."
There was a low meow. Kiara threw the last of her bags into the dumpster and felt a soft, wet body twine around her legs. Gold eyes peered up at her.
Another plaintive meow, this one more demanding. Hungry. Pain.
"I can't. I do not have room in my life for a pet. Do you understand? I'm a disaster right now."
A damp head butted against her calf. Hungry.
Kiara's eyes lifted upward as wind sliced down the alleyway, tangling her hair around her shoulders; sending a ricochet of raindrops against her skin. She leaned down and scooped the small, vibrating body up from the ground beside her.
-
The lights had been extinguished in the apartment save one lamp, spilling golden light across a bedroom. There was a glass of red wine set on the bedside table and a length of silver-gold chain held between the Verbena's fingers. It held a grape garnet at its end; the facets gleaming where the light caught in its myriad sides.
A small body was curled at the end of the bed, one paw outstretched; observing the swaying chain through narrowed gold slits.
Whatever we are. However things change. I promise I will always see it clearly.
She lowered the chain into a small box and set it on top of a few items, securing the lid on top and resting her palm there for a moment.
-
The rain only lashed the windows some of the night, by morning, it had eased off and the sun began to warm Denver's streets.
-
the devil
HDub witnessing!
Kiara
[Mind 2: Adder's Tongue, Coincidental, Base Diff 5, -1 Focus, -1 Taking her Time]
Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )
Kiara
[Thank you!
]
Ostara had come and gone while the Verbena had been preoccupied, rescuing Alexander from the Union's sterile laboratory walls.
She's found in the days that followed emptying her apartment of bags of accumulated debris. Seasons old clothing and papers and who knew what else, bundled and tied into overflowing trash-bags; straining at the seams as the brunette sent each in turn to the dumpsters outside her apartment complex. Rows of tiny herb gardens tended and weeded where they sat across window-ledges floors up from true contact with nature herself.
Offerings gifted to lush, abundant ferns that bordered the pagan's doorway. Smatterings of newly turned Spring earth poured into their pots.
-
It's the last such visit to throw a bag into the dumpster that a screech is heard and a bundle of fur streaks past her legs. The cat was wild, its fur matted but otherwise a striking pale grey struck through with strips of black. A set of gold eyes flashing at the witch from beneath the safety of a nearby jumble of stacked boxes; some sadly degrading where they waited endlessly for retrieval.
The low growl that vibrated from it a sound less of warning and far more pain; a blot of dark red staining one of the creatures paws where it sat; flicking its tail in Kiara's direction.
"Don't give me that look, I didn't see you there."
The cat's eyes regarded the Verbena for a longer moment, its fur matted down by the occasional deluges of rain the overcast skies had been unleashing on the city all afternoon. The brunette turned away from the animal and then paused, cutting a glance over her shoulder. The feline had stopped its low growling and instead sat up, cradling its injured paw against its chest and waiting.
"What? I don't have anything for you, cat."
There was a low meow. Kiara threw the last of her bags into the dumpster and felt a soft, wet body twine around her legs. Gold eyes peered up at her.
Another plaintive meow, this one more demanding. Hungry. Pain.
"I can't. I do not have room in my life for a pet. Do you understand? I'm a disaster right now."
A damp head butted against her calf. Hungry.
Kiara's eyes lifted upward as wind sliced down the alleyway, tangling her hair around her shoulders; sending a ricochet of raindrops against her skin. She leaned down and scooped the small, vibrating body up from the ground beside her.
-
The lights had been extinguished in the apartment save one lamp, spilling golden light across a bedroom. There was a glass of red wine set on the bedside table and a length of silver-gold chain held between the Verbena's fingers. It held a grape garnet at its end; the facets gleaming where the light caught in its myriad sides.
A small body was curled at the end of the bed, one paw outstretched; observing the swaying chain through narrowed gold slits.
Whatever we are. However things change. I promise I will always see it clearly.
She lowered the chain into a small box and set it on top of a few items, securing the lid on top and resting her palm there for a moment.
-
The rain only lashed the windows some of the night, by morning, it had eased off and the sun began to warm Denver's streets.
-
the devil
HDub witnessing!
Kiara
[Mind 2: Adder's Tongue, Coincidental, Base Diff 5, -1 Focus, -1 Taking her Time]
Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )
Kiara
[Thank you!
]