#disembodied post

[ryurumi2001]

With her belly full, Rumi carefully tries to make her way through the house, squeezing her way through narrow hallways into rooms she barely fits in. Luckily, with so much already broken, she doesn't cause much damage. At this point, the whole place will need to be remodeled anyways. As Rumi enters the common room, her breath stops. There, lying on the floor, is a framed photo of Celine, Mira, Zoey... and the other Rumi. It's the night of their debut. And they look... happy. Celine even has a hand on Rumi's shoulder as she has a reserved yet no less proud smile. Completely different from her own world's version of the picture, where Celine made sure Mira and Zoey were between herself and Rumi and her expression was more... neutral. Rumi begins to hyperventilate, putting a hand on her head and stumbling around the room, hitting walls and bookshelves, her large form knowing things over and shaking the room, and partially the house itself. Her tail swings, the pointed tip slicing a paper seal on a small, shaking jewlery box.......

[not-rumi]

Rumi slumps to the floor in the hallway, sobbing into her hands. That answer... It brought back horrible childhood memories. Of how much she didn't feel loved in that house at times. Most days, that's all it had been. A house. Not a home. With a person who was supposed to give her the warmth of love, yet couldn't given her amything but the coldness of being simply aknowledged as existing. And now Zoey had made her feel that coldness all over again.

[thenormalrumi]

Rumi curls up in the corner of her room, sniffling to herself, not caring about the water pooling around her or the cold seeping to her bones as she softly cries. Zoey hated her. She had to. Why did she ever think she could be loved?

[ryurumi2001]

Rumi slowly blinks awake, blinking as her eyes are extremely bleary right now. Unsure of where she is fully, she tries to stand uo, but gasps in pain as her right ankle throbs in pain from the sudden weight, causing her to fall over and land of her left side, crying out loudly and clutching where her left arm used to be as she tries to catch her breath, gasping as she rocks on the floor slightly.

[not-rumi]

Rumi enters the police station, clutching her purse tightly. She wore her highest fashion outfit, not out of an attempt at fashion, but because it gave her a sense of control - something she thought she had before tonight. After an exchange of words and bail money with the officers, she waits impatiently until Mira is brought out. And when she sees Mira, her heart jumps up to her throat.

[ryurumi2001]

Slowly and carefully, Rumi crawls her way through the hole in the wall into her old childhood room. Or, rather, this Rumi's old childhood room. Her throat tightens a little at seeing just how many things this Rumi had, but she doesn't articulate her thoughts, instead turning to face Zoey and Mira, who are in a cleared out spot on the floor with a couple sleeping bags.

[thenormalrumi]

Tiger growls as it pads down the hallway. Or, it tries to. It's shoulders brush up against the walls. Snarling, it backs up out if the narrow hallway and into the more open living room. If... No, when it was going to fight this predator and scavenger, it wouldn't do so in a cave that squeezed it tightly. A low growl, obviously confrontational, echoes up her throat and down towards the others.

[thenormalrumi]

Rumi sat in her room. Alone. She had spent a lot of time alone. When Celine had to go on hunts. All those Blood Moons in the basement that she now knew was just Celine trying to save her from becoming a tiger. All those date nights Mira and Zoey went on. Rumi spent a lot of time alone. And she was used to it. It never hurt before. But right now? It was suffocating. Maybe it was because of why. She had been pushed away, and by the very girl who had been so excited to finally bring her into the polycule for real. Oh, sure, Mira was excited in her own way, but Zoey was just... Zoey. Almost as much energy as Rumi usually had. But now? Now Zoey was growling and snapping at her, or reacting like she was some threat to her and Mira that needed to be fled from. And that didn't just hurt. Zoey had held Rumi's heart in her hands, and in one night, squeezed until all that remained was just this malformed lump in her chest. Rumi was never one to even contemplate leaving the people she loved, but right now, she wondered if maybe Mira and Zoey would be better off if she hadn't fallen in love. If they could enjoy each other without worrying about her. If she didn't exist.

Rumi suddenly winced, her body slightly spasaming as she gasped in pain. She tried to get up, but collapsed to the floor, muscles begining to bulge as her nails became claws, teeth became fangs, and tiger stripes extended over more of her. She knew what this was. She remembered this pain. But it wasn't a Blood Moon. So why was the tiger coming out? And why... Why did her mind feel even foggier than last time...

Rumi...

Ru... Mi...

Who was...

Rumi...

She was...

She. Was. Tiger. And Tiger is predator. And Tiger does not share its hunting grounds. That is for weakling lions who hunt in packs. Tiger hunts alone. Kills alone. Dies alone. There is no Rumi. No Huntr/x. No demons, or humans. There is predator. And there is prey.