Turning Tail [Reader x Doldia Girls]

11 | I'd Still Be Afraid Of The Thunder

As much as you'd like to stop here and simply stare at the lone girl, you've come for a reason. She has put you through more than you could handle, so why do you feel bad? Why aren't you holding yourself now in high regard, boasting your sheer dominance?

Perhaps it's because you did not wish to go this far, despite all that has happened to you. Perhaps it's because she, too, is as human as you. Perhaps it's because you have seen this exact scene in the back of your mind, buried beneath memories built solely for the purpose of protecting it.

One day in your life, you came across a stray puppy, shivering in the cold empty roads of a village. There was no one around to help it, feed it, shield it. Love it. Not even you, because you just couldn't stop for an animal on the street. That was the first time you saw that dog.

...

The second time you saw it, it was dead.

Reflecting on this ugly memory and how you could have been there for that abandoned animal, you reach out to the shivering Pursena before you.

"Get up," you say in a soft voice.

Pursena hesitates to look at your hand and instead goes back to pressing her head down into her drenched skirt. Her tail hangs loose below her legs, damp, soaked by the rain.

"Get up," you say again but the girl does not budge. She is more preoccupied with sobbing, whimpering into the wet fabric of her uniform. It is far from enough to stain it further, as the rain persists, but not even rain can match the sorrow her tears consist of.

How did a girl like her...

Become so vulnerable?

"I thought I was doing everything right," Pursena says, though her voice is just barely able to be heard. "I thought it was enough, following in Linia's footsteps like that. Feeling like I was strong."

You take back your hand and kneel beside the girl, caring not for the mud that will come to stain your uniform.

"But I'm not strong. I'm weak. I'm so weak and I keep letting this happen." She pauses to wipe her tears. It's hard now to discern those from droplets of rainwater. "I keep... getting humiliated. I keep... getting weaker. And now... now you're probably here to finish me off."

Her teary eyes wander to you. "Is that it? Did you get rid of Linia and come back to do the same to me? I don't blame you — I'm a disgrace to my family already, so why keep going and have to tell them I've amounted to nothing?"

You swallow. Pursena carries on. "You'll make it painless for me, won't you, Y/N?"

"Stop," you say. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Pursena grants you a sad smile. "You have every right, don't you? You're stronger than me. You're my superior. And all this time I've been using you. So, what's my punishment?"

Punishment. She's jumped to conclusions too soon. It makes you wonder what really goes on within the Doldia tribe. Beastfolk laws truly do differ from humans', don't they?

"I'm not punishing you," you tell her. "I'm getting you out of this rain."

"What?"

You sigh, listening to the distant echoes of thunder. "Are you scared of storms, Pursena?"

Pursena's eyes flick up to the sky to catch the flash of lightning piercing the clouds, her flat ears wiggling slightly, then she looks at you with almost pleading eyes. "I guess..."

"Are you cold?"

"I'm freezing."

"Have you eaten?"

"I'm hungry."