Spontanéité

(Untitled, 30 May 2017) // snapshot

Just another something I couldn't finish after I'd started.
***

Shuffling forward so she was barely seated on the edge of the cold flat metal strip holding the old wooden planks together, she looped her arms over the lowest railing, feeling the cold metallic on her arms. She leaned forward against the railing and dangled her legs over the platform's edge, allowing the metal to press against her lower ribs as it supported her full weight.

The cold wind rushed past, touching her neck and face with its cold fingers, and she wrinkled her nose, briefly regretting her decision to slit her dark braids before resting her glowing gaze on something in the distance, a sliver of a smile cracking the stillness on her inked face. Just that smallest shift changed her entire expression, and she looked younger, more free. Alive. Beautiful.

She tilted her head forward over the railing and caught a glimpse of knotted, messily braided dark hair and dark, glowing amber eyes, ink markings hiding shadows cast under her eyes on sun-kissed skin- her reflection, caught in the ripples of water- before shuffling back, standing with bare calloused feet on the cool wooden planks. She narrowed her eyes, thinking, before moving silently to kneel at the river's edge, scuffing the muddy dirt with her knees. Her left ear twitched just slightly before she cupped her hands, taking the river-water and splashing it on her face, wiping the ink markings away.

She left only the faintest marks on her face, tinting her skin with silver and blue. Her hands were stained with inks of the same colours. Standing, she remained unmoving as the sky darkened with the setting sun, despite the cold she could feel on her skin as the winds flew past, her braids flying and whipping her cheeks.

A moment later when the sky was sunless and the first stars began to glow, she moved, flexing her inked left fingers as she crossed the bridge again, making no sound.

"Where you going?"

Her teeth flashed as she grinned and shook her head, chaotic hair swishing.

There was a mutter, and then, in an irritated tone, "What, you going to ignore me? That won't quiet me."

She rolled her eyes as she moved, plunging into the shadows of the forest.

"Come on."

"Quiet your whining," she muttered under her breath, slipping otherwise silently through the densely-packed trees, passing the sentry without them seemingly aware of her presence.

"Oh, ever so well done," the voice jeered. Only then did the sentry frown, suddenly alert as he tried to find the voice's owner. By then, she'd moved, as if invisible, past other sentries through the shadows of the towering trees.

It was when the trees seemed to move that the voice piped up again. "That was fun." She rolled her eyes and stood still a moment as the trees shifted in position before continuing, careful not to tread on any roots she could see, if she could help it, which wasn't easy, considering the darkness surrounding her. "You still trying to ignore me?" the voice persisted. "I'll awaken th-"

"Quiet," she hissed, then continued on her way as the trees began thinning out.

"Elder! Elder!"

She narrowed her eyes at the voice's attempts to awaken the Elder. "Quiet," she repeated, slowly and firmly.

There was a pause, and she could almost hear the voice grin. "Elder," it called in a lilting tone, stretching the syllables out.

She didn't wait for the Elder to awaken. She ran, nimble and agile through the undergrowth and roots and trees until she was out in the open again, careful to stop before she reached the precipice she couldn't see.

She knew, though, she had not outrun the Elder this time, and she sighed heavily as she heard the earth groan and rumble, and thick, moss-covered roots glowing with what looked like moonlight pushed through the ground and reached upwards. The roots twisted and curved and spiralled, forming a gnarled and glowing frame.

"I told you I wo-"

"Quiet." She stifled her sigh and turned to face the Elder as it continued to speak. It was an Eldr* this time. "Chessin, child, please refrain from awakening me unless you require my guidance."

The voice muttered something unintelligible before the silvery outline of a slender- yet also plump- grimalkin appeared, wavering, shimmering and very faint. "Chessin, you really ought to bother others instead," she rolled her eyes, turning back to the Elder.

There was amusement in the Elder's voice when he spoke. "Elevine, child, you really ought to stop ignoring the grimalkin."

She grunted noncommittally and the Elder roots parted and untwisted, sinking back into the earth, leaving no trace. Muttering unintelligibly to herself, she moved forward, accustomed to the darkness again before soon crouching low, running her hands over the ground. She inched forward until her fingers recognised the edge of the precipice. She stood, on its edge, closed her eyes, and stepped backwards into the darkness.

She heard a piercing scream that was not her own. Her eyes would not open. Her head throbbed and burned and her skin heated all over, almost burning. Only after a wave of muscle contractions passed through her body from fingertip to toe could she open her eyes, but only a little, at first.

"I hate having to do that."

She sighed, fingering her forehead and then rubbing her eyes before opening them fully, turning to face the voice and its owner. She shook her head, clearing it as she eyed the malkin.

No longer a mere pale outline, the grimalkin was large, with dark fur and vivid golden eyes- for the time being. "Chessin, you choose to follow. Quiet your complaints."

She looked up and blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust to the change in lighting. The sky was no longer dark and the forest no longer in shadow. Instead, a soft white mist had settled upon everything, giving everything a silvery glow, and the sky above was pale in a colour she still couldn't name, and dotted with constellations she could never care to remember.

She glided forward, her figure cutting through the glow, a cold whisper touching her skin as she walked. The white mist had always lacked warmth. Chessin scampered silently by her side, leaping and flipping in the air, the malkin's coat changing and becoming lighter with each step until the grimalkin seemed part of the mist itself. All she could see was the vivid golden eyes, now clouded over.

"I know I choose to follow," the grimalkin said suddenly, abruptly interrupting the cold silence. The fingers of her right hand twitched in acknowledgement. "It's always so pale and cold here," the voice sighed.

Her fingers twitched, again in acknowledgement.

Upon touching something unseen with one of her bare feet, she came to a stop and crouched. The trees shifted, stretching roots and changing positions, hissing good-naturedly at one another as they trod on each other. In the distant depths below, she heard a gremlin's familiar outraged shriek- most likely upon discovering Catrpileus' eldest daughter had taken his nest. She allowed herself a half-smile and waited.

"Well?" She met the golden gaze unflinchingly.

She heard Chessin's mutter, then a loud thud as the hatch was opened.

"Enter, Elevine, child," the grimalkin grumbled, imitating the Elder.

Rolling her eyes, she stood before descending the carved stone steps. As she walked in the dark tunnel, she reached up to one of the Flickers, eyeing her inked hand with satisfaction as the flickering light cast its golden glow.

***
*Eldr = male, Eldre = female