War and Peace and Pancakes

Far from Home

In a flash of light, suddenly she landed, head spinning as a wave of noise washed over her. Wherever she was, it wasn't home anymore. 

Ferya jerked in surprise. Last thing she knew, she was talking to Haniel about the flaws of humanity, seeing all the horrible things that humans did to one another. He had ripped the bracelet Murchadh had given her, off. And the bracelet that Lucifer had given her had disappeared with it in a flash of dark fire. Not that the angel had noticed, wrapping her in power and sending her... here.

The noise was deafening, the smell was atrocious and on either side of her giant buildings loomed, blocking out the sky. Ahead of her she saw light and movement, and she started to make her way there, stumbling over discarded debris and rotting... she didn't even know what was in this alley, but it made those in Pretoria seem absolutely immaculate by comparison.

She found herself stumbling out onto a sidewalk, immediately swept up in a flow of people walking in several directions, finding herself shoved and bumped into. Humans glared at her, swore at her and ignored her presence as they flowed by. There were... so many... of them. She had to pick a direction, walking and finding herself ducking her head, rolling her shoulders forward, trying her best too disappear.

"Fucking watch it." She collided with a solid mass of a man who gave her a rough shove, sending her tumbling into a metal pole, which she clung to as she tried to gather her bearings. She didn't recognize this place, not at all.

It was a city of humans. Things on the streets that looked like the ancient relics called cars and trucks zoomed by, honking at one another, flashing lights, blaring loud wailing sounds. The sky was getting dark, but it didn't seem to bother the people moving about.

Overhead, massive buildings continued to blot out everything but the tiniest portions of the sky. Everything stank. The air felt acidic, burning her lungs and eyes, causing them to tear up.

She saw two humans wearing dark, uniform like clothing, with what appeared to be several forms of weapons walking through the crowd, faces set hard. Haniel's statement about humans that hunted kin, enslaved and killed them, whispered through her mind and she braced herself, forcing everything she knew to be inhuman in her to hide. She pushed it all down, focused on how she was as a human, focused on being like those around her, hiding every bit of power deep within her.

She didn't know if they could sense power. If they could sense Kin. She didn't know how they hunted, but she didn't dare even try to reach out to anyone. Ferya had no idea how far away help was.

The wind shifted and she could swear that she smelled trees in it or flowers or grass, and she finally let go of the pole, forcing herself to follow that smell, to walk with the flow of humans and do her best not to stumble into too many of them. Everyone was ignorant of everyone else, even when faced with people sitting on the side of the walk ways, holding out dirty old cups, asking for money. Starving people watched others walk by and throw half eaten meals in the trash, waiting for a break in the flow of humanity to scurry over and fish what they could reach out of the garbage can.

The cruelty and filth of this world smothered her and she felt her resolve crumbling as she stumbled along, searching for an end to the city streets. As the sky darkened, more lights began to flash, giant billboards flashing pictures of everything from scantily clad women to strange looking food. Garish, blinding brilliance shifted and moved from every corner, driving needles of pain into her eyes by the time she finally caught sight of the massive sprawl of trees in the distance.

Ferya was on edge, scanning every cold face for a hint of a threat, looking for humans on the hunt or kin wanting to find some form of violence, her heart racing, sweat streaming down her back. She was exhausted and trembling when she finally made it across the last stretch of road, scampering out of the way of a blaring horn and rushing truck to step onto the grass.