feral | sting eucliffe

LVII | MV

Episode 57: Meeting Vincula!

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SHE LOOKED AT HER HANDS, turning them over. Her arms were bruised heavily after she passed by the library room, seeing a little girl there. The little girl couldn't have been that old, maybe two. Y/n had seen her reach and touch a dark purple book that had caught her eye. Stopping her trek to the mess hall, she diverted to the training room.

Bestia grabbed the book, setting it down. Only after opening it, she realized it was a big book filled with astrology information and the stars. The little girl looked at her in wonder before lifting the metal necklace around her neck. It was like a dog tag of some sort and it read 'Nutrix'. Y/n smiled fondly, mumbling the name. "Nutrix, huh?"

Suddenly her hair was pulled, a shriek escaping her lips. It was the headmaster and he was absolutely furious. "What are you doing?! It's time for your meal, is it not?" He shouted at her, hitting her repeatedly as she cried out in pain, her back slamming against the wall as he threw her to the door. 

"Get out! Go! Begone!" He shouted at her angrily. She quickly got to her feet, scurrying out of the room. Heading into the mess hall, Obice and Anguis sitting at their usual table. Y/n would try to call Nikos by the name that he desired, but they'd be punished otherwise, so they all decided to play it safe. However, when they were alone, they'd call each other by their real names.

For now, Obice was named 'Akane'. Anguis had named her. Anguis came from a Japanese background, slightly remembering some of the words that his mother had taught him before he was brashly taken from her. Akane was a deep red, a color that was derived from a plant and was used to dye things. That's what he said when he was explaining it to them, at least.

Nikos looked up from his food, poking at it. Yet, he refused to shovel a spoonful of the bland mashed potatoes into his mouth. "What happened to you?" His eyes glinted with malice as soon as he spotted the newly forming on Bestia's little arms. Obice even seemed concerned, grabbing her left arm and placing little kisses on it. 

Y/n averted her eyes, receiving her own tray from a guard. "I saw a little girl in the training room. She was reaching for a book and I went to get it for her. Headmaster saw me," Her voice grew soft at the last sentence. Nikos⁠—knowing that it wasn't his business⁠—just nodded along with it. "I heard from Lily that we might be getting another person in our cell."

Lily was another girl who was held captive here. Unlike Y/n's array of beast powers, she held a powerful green thumb. She was in cell D624 with a few other girls and went through the same process as them. She must've said it earlier since she was sitting in her own table now. "Who?" Bestia tilted her head up, reluctantly eating a bit of the food.

Obice blinked, suddenly interested in the conversation as she childishly played with her food. Nikos quickly scolded her for it, saying that she'd be punished if she was caught before continuing. "The guy from cell A132. I roomed with him for a bit; he's not bad." He said, ending his sentence with a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"Didn't he burn his cell bars last week? I wouldn't consider him good either," Y/n muttered under her breath. It was animalistic instincts that drove her slight fear of fire and all things flammable, fearing that it could catch fire at any point in time. Nikos seemed to have gotten over that fear after staying with the boy from cell A132 for a bit.

Nikos looked up with a sharp glare, red clashing with e/c. "Your judgment shouldn't rely on his previous actions. He's as desperate as the rest of us." He said bitterly, obviously seeming on edge. He stood up abruptly, dumping the rest of his food into the trash before heading back to his cell, a guard coming up behind him to lead him the way.

Y/n glanced down, knowing that she was in the wrong for once. After a few minutes of lingering at the more empty lunch table, she looked over at Obice, wiping the little girl's lips with a scratchy napkin. "Come on, we'll be getting a guest, so we should act a bit politer and make a slight effort." She said.

As stupid as it sounded, she only said these things to simulate a normal household for Obice. Akane was taken at a young age, barely three when she was snatched from her home. That's what she heard the guards say, at least. Dumping both of their trays, Y/n grabbed the little girl's hand and headed for their cell. 

Two guards followed behind them, weapons at the ready in case they decided to try anything funny. After entering the cell, Y/n muttered a quiet apology to Anguis, but the boy didn't bother responding as one of his snakes hissed quietly instead. He wasn't upset but did seem a bit nervous about the new addition, even though he'd met him before.

An hour after Akane was tucked in for a nap, the rusty bars opened. A boy a bit taller and muscular than Nikos was thrown in. He had shackles on his wrists and ankles, unable to burn through them as he whipped his head towards the guards. He yelled at them in a foreign language, one that Y/n and Nikos didn't recognize. 

His orange eyes held anger as the guards swung the key of the shackles, an amused look in their eyes as they stared at the angry kid. The boy tilted his head down, angry tears streaming down his face as he didn't recognize the other kids in the cell room. Nikos sent Y/n a look, the girl fearfully crawling towards the boy. 

He looked towards her with an odd look, one that was filled with pure skepticism. Part of her hand formed into a furry paw, a claw emerging from underneath the paw pad. She slashed the shackles easily, the metal binds falling to the ground. He tilted his head up, recognizing the boy in the corner, but not the girl in the bed and the one right in front of him.

He cleared his throat, "I'm Vincula; the boy from cell A132."