#emily-rose

[allmyeverymuse]

Nightlights

It was the middle of the night, and she looked truly aimless. Just wandering the streets as if she had nowhere to go, or wasn’t sure where exactly she was. She knew, of course, or at least she thought she knew but she wasn’t entirely sure. 

The party had been interesting, humans laughing and drinking and shouting and having fun. It reminded her of ancient rites she’d once read about in a book, but of course she was too young to have seen them first-hand. People dancing and drinking around a large bonfire, celebrating a successful hunt. This was different, but it was still the same feel. Revelry.

And then someone had tried to put something in her drink. Something strong. Had she been a normal teenage girl, it would have knocked her out and she might have awoken to a terrible realization, but all it did to her was make her... drowsy, and unsure of her location. She couldn’t stay out here, she knew that, but...she couldn’t really make sense of where she was and she wasn’t a strong enough flyer yet to try a higher vantage point.

@rhacgal

[allmyeverymuse]

The Hoard

The cave was high up in the mountains, where even the birds dared not fly. It was hidden away well, but he still found it. Stumbled upon it by pure accident. He landed quietly, and would be expecting silence, but what he heard (perhaps what had drawn him there in the first place) was a young woman, singing her heart out to some old, jazzy tune. 

The entrance was too small to fit a dragon, and so he would have to shift to investigate. And once he passed the dimly lit tunnel, the cave opened up into a wide area. It was well-lit by torches, there was a crystal chandelier that was hanging strategically from a jagged, rocky ceiling, but it was the collection that surprised him the most. 

The walls were draped with jewelry, glimmering gold and jewels. There were bookshelves stuffed to bursting with books, both old and new, and maintained record albums. An old-school gramophone was playing one of them. There was a collection of musical instruments along the left wall, elegant gowns on the right, a chaise lounge along the far wall. And in the middle of the room was a young woman, blonde with bright green eyes, singing.

It took a moment to recognize. There was no pile of gold coins, but this was a hoard - a dragon’s hoard. And that meant that this woman...

She turned to look at him, shock and maybe even horror crossing her face. “...What are you doing here??” she asked, her tone breathless and yet accusing. 

@xgentlechaosx

[allmyeverymuse]

Starter: Emily-Rose

“Just because I’m young, that doesn’t automatically make you right.”

[allmyeverymuse]

Tails and Scales and Valentine's Day

The dress was white, the day was important (even without the human holiday in effect) and the little dragoness? She was... nervous. Because today was Emily-Rose's birthday. 200 years old and ready to shed the adolescent skin she'd been trapped in for so long.

Her 'parents' were out that night, as they went every year. The day was spent celebrating her birthday, but Valentine's Day was sacred to them and she often insisted on their going out. Truth was, she liked the solitude, the sound of the silence in the house.

But this Valentine's Day she had Owen in her life, and she felt the need to gift him with something. So as soon as her family was out the front door, she went out the back, shifted into her true form and flew off towards the nearest mountain range, where she kept her hoard.

Landing in the cave on the sheer cliff face, she shifted back to two legs and approached the large mound of gold and jewellery in the front room. It wasn't the whole of her hoard. Everything else, her books, her music, her instruments... they were stored with great care, but she always had that mound. There was something deeply comforting about laying on a mound of treasure - something that touched a primal part of her soul.

Today she had no time for that luxury. She knelt by the pile of trinkets and coins and loose jewels and dove her hands into it, tearing into the hoard. She was searching for something to give to Owen. It had to be gold. Silver was nice but the implications in their society were too wavering. Gold was firm. Gold, especially from their own hoard, was a token between dragons to express a desire to mate, and Emily? Ungh, she wanted Owen. So it had to be gold.

---

A couple hours later, she walked into Owen's restaurant, her resolve wavering a little. If he refused the gift she was going to be heartbroken, and she knew it. She wasn't sure she could bear another heartbreak this year. The mortal she could get over... but to be shunned by Owen, the only other dragon in her viable age bracket she was likely to ever meet? Ugh.

She was about to leave, just turn around and walk out and not take that risk, but she heard her name on his lips and like a fool she stayed. Standing there as he approached. 

She turned when he touched her arm, and gave him a smile, swallowing down her anxiety. "Hey. Happy Valentine's day." She gestured to the packed restaurant and grimaced. "Busy night for you, huh? Do you... have a moment? I'd like to talk to you; I can wait if need be."

theothermuses

[allmyeverymuse]

A New Year, a New Verse (Open to all)

There was no hint of the meek, sheepish young woman beneath the glitter and glamour. No trace of the goofy grin behind the small, sultry smile. No lingering clumsiness - only the slow, purposeful sway of hips that knew how to draw the eye.

Emily-Rose on stage, and Emily-Rose anywhere else were two very different people and it showed. Gone was the girl, still in high school, recently slandered by the other class-men, and in her stead was the confidant young woman she wished she was. 

It was all an act, but it was a good one.

Her voice was sweet, soft and crooning, without even a hint of a growl and applied with steady tones over the timeless melody of Etta James' 'At Last'. A genre of music rarely heard anywhere but on lounge stages such as this one.

[timetochooseyourbattle]

Angel- Sarah McLachlan

This was the song played at Emily's funeral. It's so perfect and makes me teary every time. I always listen to it when I think of her for a long time.

[timetochooseyourbattle]

On of my little notes read this:

Dear Emily-Rose, I love you so much more than you'll ever be able to realise. I hope you're in heaven looking down on me because I still see you in my dreams with me holding you and showing you that I love you so much. You're the best little sister in the whole world and that even if mum has more babies, none of them will ever replace you.

I will miss you everyday.

love from Rebecca (the person who loves you the most)

I still mean that, Emily. I love you so much.