Closed Heart of a Zith (Scorn)

[Sayani]

1st of Winter, 513 AV

Morwen had finally come, and with her, the trees had lost their leaves, and the wind was cold. It didn't bother her, actually, it was exactly the opposite. Winter was a time of survival of the fittest, and she couldn't imagine some Season more exciting than the one that demanded survival. Winter was a birthday present she got every year, and that lasted for ninety-two days. She couldn't ask for more.

She moved away from the entrance of Kalinor and towards the bare forest, enjoying the cold and not even trying to protect herself from it. For now, the cloak she was wearing was more than enough to keep her warm enough.

She wasn't really planning to hunt, since she had eaten not long ago, but she wanted to be outside. It was her birthday, and although she cared very little about the day itself, she still enjoying spending time outside, alone, and her birthday was an excuse as good as any other. Her sister wanted to celebrate it together, but all it took was for Sayani to promise her they would, once she got back, and she was free for the whole day. She stopped near a tree, taking a deep breath and feeling the smell of Winter, the cold and the snow. Amazing.

Sayani would have stayed there, not really doing anything, if she hadn't heard a sound. Her hand reached her bow and an arrow, as she readied the weapon and turned to where the sound had come from. A rabbit appeared, clearly running from something. It stopped when it saw Sayani, seeming to be startled by her. The rabbit prepared to run again, and the Symenestra pulled the bow string, before quickly loosing it. The arrow flew towards the rabbit. The animal was already moving, trying to jump to safety, and Sayani knew it was more luck than anything else that made the sharp edge of her arrow cut one of the rear legs of the animal. She rushed to its side, grabbing the rabbit by its ears before it could recover from the fright, the cut and the temporary loss of balance.

The evident fear in the rabbit's eyes and the twisting and kicking it did in her hands send a shiver of pleasure through her body. She could almost smell and taste the fear. Sayani looked around. There was no one to be seen. She looked back at the rabbit, smiling. If she wanted, she could easily have ignored the feeling that was raising inside her, but she didn't. After she retrieved her arrow, she sat with her back against the closest tree, and raised the rabbit until its eyes were aligned with her own.

"So weak and pathetic, are you not?" Sayani took the leg, the same one that had been hurt, and pulled, feeling the small animal double its effort to get away, knowing it was feeling each time more pain. This knowledge was so fulfilling, so enjoyable, that she smiled even more, truly happy. If no one saw it, it wouldn't hurt to enjoy the moment. She could deal with the small guilty she would feel later.

She felt the bones crack under her finger at the same time she heard it, and the rabbit suddenly went still. That was why rabbits weren't very fun. They were easily frightened to death. But it still made her sigh, feeling the rabbit stop moving and the life go away so easily.

Sayani moved the lifeless body around her hands, trying to decide what to do with it. Running one long claw on the rabbit's belly, the Symenestra smiled when she saw the red blood coming out. Delightful. Maybe she would even eat it, or take it to her mother. What a nice Winter that one could be.

x Edreina

[Scorn]

Scorn refused to be in that city any longer. She could not stand being surrounded by the stink of the stick men and their gods who demanded blood sacrifice. She needed freedom, to feel the fresh air under her wings, to smell the hunt and the pine and the crisp clarity of the sky. And so, not for the first time, she fled the underground city and tried to remember one more time what it truly was to be Zith. A few bells after her initial flight, the adrenaline had faded, and she was able to relax and be in her element. The solitude was also nice, at least for the moment. She could be at peace with her thoughts, and not have to worry how they would affect her colony: in this case, her sister. To clear her head, she decided to engage in the sort of games she and Scourge played when they were young. The Zith cleared her mind, close her eyes, and listened. She could hear the sounds of wildlife all around her: large, slow beats of beast large enough to feel confident in their safety; the tiny pitter-patter of smaller creatures, for whom fear was a fact of life; even the buzz of insects, animals so small as to be beyond the Zith's comprehension. She was too upset to engage in a proper hunt just now. That sort of thing required complete focus, and often the sort of fight that could be lethal if a Zith wasn't paying attention. No, today she would try for something smaller. She filtered out the heart-beats, selecting one that was small, but not beating nearly fast enough yet. Cutting the air with her wings, she sharply adjusted her course, going into a steep, angled dive toward what smelled like a rabbit. The rabbit clearly felt safe under its little bush, and certainly Scorn did not feel like fighting thorn and twig to get to it. So instead, she landed on the bush, hard enough to shake it, and startle the tiny creature into running for its life. A low laugh bubbled up, and she let it out as a throaty chuckle. Yes, little rabbit, run. Run and fill your bones with fear. Fight for your survival so that the moment of your death is filled with all that much more despair. This, this was what it was to be Zith. She lifted off after the rabbit, allowing it just a hint of a head-start. She would let her shadow fall over it, spurring it to hop faster, then fall back a bit to give it false hope. She had no fear of losing the beast. Its heart was unique to Scorn now, and she would not lose the trail of fear-scent. All of a sudden, there was a thud, seemingly thunderous to Scorn's focused ears, and the rabbit's heart sped up dramatically for several ticks before it stopped. A frosty hate filled Scorn's stomach. What sort of death wish must a creature have to steal from Scorn her kill? She redoubled her wings' efforts, following the rabbit's scent to its predator before the trail went cold. She perched in a tree just above the scene of the rabbit's final moments. She had landed with a loud rustling of leaves, making no effort to conceal her arrival. What she saw infuriated her. It was one of the stick men, adding insult to injury by stealing her kill. Scorn fully intended to kill the woman on the ground before her, despite knowing how her sister would protest. The only thing even slowing her down was the need to make her new prey fear her as much as the rabbit had. She hissed, long and low, before growling, "That was my kill." She bared her teeth and spread her wings, partly in preparation to attack, but mostly to make herself look more large and imposing.

[Sayani]

A hissing sound made Sayani look up. A creature covered in thin grey fur was standing in front of her, growling and spreading her wings. A Zith. A blue haired Zith, that Sayani didn't remember seeing before in Kalinor, but that wasn't even important. The important thing was that this Zith seemed ready to strike, probably because of the rabbit. The Symenestra glared at the other, not really afraid, but knowing she would be in trouble if the Zith really decided to attack. She knew very little about Zith, so she couldn't know if the other was only threatening her or if she was really willing to fight. Sayani didn't like to push her luck, though.

She dropped the dead rabbit to the ground, near her right foot, standing up and holding her bow in a firmer grip. Her other hand was free to grab an arrow if she needed, but Sayani wouldn't do that unless it was necessary. She knew enough to know she shouldn't threaten someone or something that could harm her, unless said threat had a great chance of being effective. If she wasn't sure it would be, she wouldn't do it.

"I saw a chance to shoot, and I shot." she answered in common, simply, her voice controlled. "If it were a bigger animal, I would apologize, but I doubt you have any trouble finding and killing another rabbit." Sayani suspected the Zith was annoyed at the fact that she had lost a kill, but the Symenestra could do very little about that. It was already done, and there was no way to bring the rabbit back to life. And she could always hand the rabbit to the Zith, if the other wanted, since she wasn't hungry to begin with. But unless extremely necessary, Sayani wouldn't do so if the other didn't ask for it. The Symenestra didn't like to be the weaker one, and it seemed like weakness to give in a threat without a more immediate reason to.