The Tattooed | Completed | ✔

Chapter 3 - The City in the Trees

"A tattoo is a true poetic creation, and is always more than meets the eye. As a tattoo is grounded on living skin, so its essence emotes a poignancy unique to the mortal human condition."

―

V. Vale, Modern Primitives: An Investigation of Contemporary Adornment and Ritual

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My body slammed into Dimitri's, as my back exploded with pain. I screamed, it was excruciating pain that radiated from my spine, out. Then suddenly it was gone, leaving a pulsing ache.

Bullets whizzed past us.

"Shit" Dimitri hissed. Turning my head away from his chest, I could see that a bullet had hit him in the arm and it was bleeding steadily. Feathers shined in behind me. I flexed my shoulders and they shimmered with movement. That's when I realized my dress was sagging forward, it had ripped open in the back. The feathers were mine. My Tattoo had ripped apart the back of the dress, revealing itself. I had wings.

Another bullet whizzed by, barely missing my arm. More bullets were being shot at us now. They began hitting metal. Wait, metal? I jerked my head around, looking behind me at my wings, they had turned to a chrome color. I would have been giddy with this discovery, I hadn't even had my Tattoo a full five minutes and I'd already found out the one power that they had been deamed.

Dimitri had finally flown high enough where the bullets couldn't reached, and he still yet flew higher. His black leathery wings pumped as the ground grew smaller and smalled. Soon we were headed for the trees that marked the end of the providence, the end of my world.

Dimitri refused to let me try my own wings, saying it would put us further behind than we already were. I didn't argue with him and decided to focus on being comfortable. Until my wings decided they weren't going to be used today, Dimitri was forced to hold me awkwardly hold me to his chest and finally after we were well beyond the boundry, my Tattoo pulled into my back. The forest below us was thick, to compressed together for civilization to expand here.

My dress was loose, suddenly I had a thought

"Dimitri?"

"Hmm?"

"How do you still have a shirt on?" I looked up from his chest, leaving the warm spot where my head had been pressed. He chuckled, his chest shaking against me.

"Practice"

　

I woke to the smell of eggs and sausage. Turning over, I realized I wasn't in my own room. The previous days events replayed in my mind.

The door creaked open and a small girl padded into the room

"Elwee says it's time to get up." She had walked over to the edge of the bed and tugged on my hand. I sat up and she started tugging away from it. Leaving the small bedroom behind, the little girl led me down a short hallway and into the a kitchen.

"Thank you Eddy for getting her. Now come eat." Ella stood next to a table with a pan. Eddy raced over and pulled herself up onto the chair furthest from the hallway.

"You can sit here Gwyneth." Ella nodded to a chair next to Eddy.

"Elwee, can see come wiff us?" Eddy's legs kicked back and forth underneath the table.

"If she would like to." Ella sat down and gave me a look that said I'd be going regardless of what I wanted. We ate our breakfast in mostly silence, Eddy hummed to herself and ever now and then kicked the table. Once we all finished Ella cleared the table and Eddy ran off to another room.