Crowned

Arc 3, Chapter 76: Its Better to Grieve with Someone, Than to Grieve Alone.

//TW\\

IMPLIED SA
(In the past)

SELF DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOURS/THOUGHTS

IMMENSE DISTRESS

———

The winds were cold... She was the only one not allowed near the fire. The fire raising within the confines of a ruined house. She could hear the chatter... the brief grieving... before it faded into silence. Trophy had found hunting rope a while ago... and used it to bound her to the post of the porch. She felt miserable... Which she felt as if this was a good thing. Everyone told her she deserved it after all. The stars were pretty, at least. She'd never seen them so beautiful and bright before... the open sky really accentuated their beauty. They reminded her of someone... But it was best not to dwell on things you can't have. The snow... pierced her skin and ate away at her. Not that it wasn't before, but, she'd had nothing else to focus on. It stung, not like being stabbed anymore... no, it had been like her bones slowly cracking... in a sense they were, as the fluid in them froze and expanded, and regenerated, only to repeat the process. She wished her nerves would stay frozen, but then again, she deserved this right?

Right?

She had to of. Why else would the world beat her down with such dismay. She must've earned this in some way. What did she do to deserve this pain? Obviously hurt others. She really only did it in self defence, but she did still do it. She only wanted what's best... The best possible outcome, but that doesn't necessarily mean the path to get which was okay. She must've done this.

But... If the path to the best possible outcome lead here... Was this really the best she could've gotten? What everyone else could've gotten? Why was it that every time she'd helped someone, another got hurt in their stead?

...

Cause and effect.

Every action had an equal and opposite reaction. Huh? Wow. How stupid she was. She'd hadn't expected that to apply in this sort of situation. But hey, that wouldn't stop the cold now would it? She was freezing what could be done about that? What she'd done the rest of her life. Suck it up and deal with it. Her eyes continued to lay on the sky above... She'd had nothing else other than the pain to really... Fixate on then. She watched her breath show, and puff up like a cloud of steam above her. Rhythmically, one two three... The occasional heavier breath as the pain worsened and intensified from gruesome regeneration. Her burnt face did not take a liking to the ice as it came into contact with it. The frost bite didn't help either... the silence was comforting, at least. It was unsettling before. Back when her life had meaning, but now? It felt... nice... She closed her eyes, she'd may as well have tried and get some sleep. But...

She felt something brush up against her side, using her shell as a blanket of sorts. Taco jumped, and forced her brittle and chilled bones and muscles to shoot her body to a seated position rather than on her back. Her eyes darted trying to look in her shell. She felt— scared? How unusual. Her wrists burned as she tugged at the ropes which bound her, combined with frostbite, she let out a short, scream which she attempted to silence as to not wake anyone up—

—That's when the creature—or rather—person skittered out of her shell, and scrambled back over to the bush... She saw their small size. Tiny... Big round eyes. Beady like the one she'd seen. They looked scared... She pressed her back against the post behind her, her large withered wings twitched as she stared at the bush... She felt bad. Scared. But... Remorse. That thing had probably been about as chilled to the core as she'd been.