INJURED/BLEEDING SENTENCE STARTERS. || ACCEPTING
@embercrested said: “I don’t think that’s suppose to come out.”
DEATH HAD TAKEN SO MANY THINGS. NEVER AGAIN WOULD SAE KNOW THE PLEASURE OF A HOT MEAL AFTER A BATTLE, NOR RELIEF IN THE PATTER OF RAIN AS IT COOLED WARM FLESH. SENSATIONS TURNED MEMORIES -- RELICS OF THE DAYS BEFORE THE NOTHINGNESS -- LITTLE WAS LEFT OF THE WOMAN SHE ONCE WAS. & WHAT DID REMAIN, SAE FOUND LITTLE USE FOR. THE PAST WOULD ANCHOR HER IF SHE LET IT, PREVENTING HER FROM FULLY EMBRACING THIS NEW CHAPTER IN HER LIFE, FROM DOING ALL SHE WAS CAPABLE OF.
YET, THERE WAS ONE THING ARTHAS HAD NOT TAKEN, ONE ASPECT OF HER OLD SELF SHE DID NOT SHY AWAY FROM -- HER ABILITY TO APPRECIATE BEAUTY. THE NATURAL WORLD HELD SO MANY WONDERS; THE ENDLESS VARIATIONS IN LANDSCAPES AND ECOSYSTEMS HAD LONG SINCE FASCINATED HER. IN FACT, THEY WERE PART OF WHAT HAD PROMPTED SAE TO LEAVE HER PEOPLE, TO SEE THE WORLD BEYOND KALIMDOR, TO FIND THE PIECES OF HERSELF THAT HAD ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE MISSING.
NEVER HAD SHE ANTICIPATED LOSING SO MUCH.
DRUSTVAR WAS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE, IF A BIT GLOOMY, BUT SAE DID NOT MIND. THE DENSE FORESTS AND MOUNTAINS REMINDED SAE OF HER CHILDHOOD ATOP HYJAL, WHEN THE PIGMENT OF THE TREES NO LONGER SANG IN UNISON BUT HARMONIZED ACROSS MANY HUES. THE AUTUMNAL LANDSCAPE INVIGORATED SAE, PROMPTING HER TO DO SOMETHING RATHER OUT OF CHARACTER. SHE TOOK OFF HER PLATE, ALLOWING THE BODY SHE FELT SO DISCONNECTED FROM TO TRULY BE IMMERSED IN THE SURROUNDING WORLD. SAE DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY PHYSICAL SENSATIONS, BUT HER MIND WAS MIRED IN LONGING, FAR AWAY FROM THE BUSINESS THAT BROUGHT HER THERE.
THE SOUND OF FIGHTING PULLED HER AWAY FROM HER REVERIE, HEAD TURNING TOWARD HER CAMP -- THE SOURCE OF THE NOISE. PICKING UP THE BLADE AT HER SIDE, SAE BOUNDED THROUGH THE TREES, HER SPEED INCREASING WITH EACH STEP. IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE THE SCENE CAME INTO FOCUS -- A HORDE OF WICKER CREATURES HAD DESCENDED UPON THE PARTY, INTENT ON RAVAGING EVERYTHING IN THEIR WAKE.
SAE CAME FROM BEHIND -- THE CRACK OF HER BLADE ANNOUNCED HER ARRIVAL, AS IT CAME CRASHING INTO THE WOODEN BODY OF ONE OF THE CREATURES. FRENZIED BY THEIR SUDDEN ARRIVAL, SHE FELT NOTHING BUT ANGER AS SHE CUT THEM DOWN, ONE AFTER THE OTHER. IT TOOK SOME TIME, AND THE WORK WAS FAR LESS PLEASURABLE THAN THE SLAYING OF FLESH, BUT SAE SAW IT DONE. AS SHE WRENCHED HER BLADE FROM THE BRANCH IT’D BEEN STUCK IN, SAE LOOKED UP TO SEE THAT NONE REMAINED.
AS SUCH, SHE LOWERED HER WEAPON, AND APPRAISED THE STATE OF HER COMPANIONS AS SHE STRODE BACK TOWARD THEM. EVERYONE SEEMED TO BE IN GOOD ENOUGH SHAPE ; PERHAPS, THEN, IT WOULD BE WISE TO SCOUT THE SOURCE OF THE ATTACK. A PLAN BEGAN TO FORMULATE IN HER MIND, BUT THE THOUGHT WAS INTERRUPTED WHEN SHE HEARD THE YOUNG WAYCREST SPEAK. CONFUSION COLORED SAE’S FEATURES, BROWS DRAWN TOGETHER AS SHE STRUGGLED TO ASCERTAIN WHAT THE GIRL HAD MEANT, EXACTLY. BUT WHEN SHE TURNED TO LOOK AT HER DIRECTLY, LUCILLE’S EXPRESSION SAID IT ALL.
SAE’S EYES TRAVELLED TO HER MIDSECTION, WHICH WAS NOW SPORTING A DEEP GASH. BLOODLESS ENTRAILS POURED OVER THE OPENING OF THE WOUND, AND SAE’S RAGE DOUBLED IN ITS INTENSITY. WITH A CLENCHED JAW, SHE TURNED BACK TO SEE A TRAIL OF HER INSIDES MARKING THE PATH SHE’D JUST WALKED. FANTASTIC.
WORDLESSLY, SAE MOVED TO RETRIEVE HER ORGANS. AS EACH ONE WAS GATHERED, SHE DID HER BEST TO REMOVE THE DEBRIS FROM THEM, BEFORE STUFFING THEM BACK INSIDE THE GASH. NO ATTENTION WAS PAID TO THE ANATOMY OF WHERE THINGS WERE SUPPOSED TO GO. NO, SAE’S MIND WAS TOO BUSY CURSING ITSELF FOR THE FOOLISHNESS OF HER ACTIONS. HERE WAS WHY SHE NEVER TOOK THE ARMOR OFF, AS IF SHE’D NEEDED SO GRUESOME A REMINDER. & WHAT HAD IT ALL BEEN FOR? AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY. IF SHE WAS NOT CAPABLE OF FEELING HER INSIDES BEING RIPPED APART, WHAT USE WAS THERE IN CHASING THE EMBRACE OF THE WIND HOWLING THROUGH THE TREES?
ONCE HER INSIDES WERE BACK...INSIDE OF HER, SAE HELD THEM THERE WITH HER LEFT ARM, BEFORE FINALLY UTTERING HER REPLY --
‘ EXCUSE ME.
SHE READJUSTED THE GRIP ON HER WEAPON AND TURNED HER HEAD TOWARD THE TREES. BLOOD WOULD BE NEEDED TO MAKE HER BODY WHOLE AGAIN, AND SAE WOULD WASTE NO TIME. A BEAT PASSED, AS SHE SENSED THE PRESENCE OF LIFE IN THE FOREST AROUND HER, AND THEN SHE WAS GONE -- TAKING OFF IN THE DIRECTION THE CREATURES HAD COME FROM, IN SEARCH OF A LIFE TO TAKE.