Post by Brownie on Dec 15, 2017 18:02:12 GMT -5
848 wc
--
Her paws find the steps with ease, even when all she could see was darkness. She put her paws in the groves worn away from the stone, soft, comforting, the path so many paws had lead before her. A path that would never be tread after she left. The stairs were cold and she knew she was almost at the peak when she heard a dusting of snow crunch under her paws as she ascended. A whistle of a breeze tickled her ears, growing louder until at last she went to step and found the spiral had leveled out. The platform was small and circular, perhaps only a dozen pawsteps wide at the middle. Snowflakes fell over her, little spots of cold that wet her fur as they melted. She felt the chill of the wind, but never uncomfortably so. The Light warmed her, kept her safe and untouched by the changes in environment. Carefully the she-cat made her way to the edge of the tower, scouting with her paws before placing them firmly in the snow.
She closed her eyes, bringing dark over dark. It was seasons upon seasons since she last looked over the tower and could see the area around it. "One last time," she asked, reaching to that place the Light had taken its place inside her. A flash of gold and the surroundings were painted upon her closed eyes. The trees were mostly conifers, drooping under white frosting. Stones poked out from underneath the layer of white, sometimes scattered about randomly, but most still identifiable as parts of a building. A sloped metal roof winked in the dim light. Crumbled walls formed a neat square around a group of trees, bare branches dark and gnarled. She tipped her head to the sky, seeing neither sun or stars, but the dim, even golden glow of the Light looming overhead. It seemed to brighten as she observed it and she couldn't help but smile. "I'm coming, dears."
She could feel them moving within the energy of the Light, twisting and leaping through its currents like fish in a stream. They grouped around her, tugging and pulling with little paws: the souls of those lost in the Light. She opened her eyes and the world snapped back into darkness.
Memories slipped their way into her mind unbidden. For the first time since she could remember, she gave way and let them wash over her. She remembered the last time she had seen her sister, remembered her bending to drink from the basin at the base of this very tower.
The she-cat took a step back from the edge, pulling her paws back onto the stairs, slipping back onto the warm grooves as she descended. Warmth spread over her as she made her way into the heart of the tower, away from the cold wind. She remembered the last cat she saw: Ivris, her brother. She remembered watching them all step into the Light, one by one. She remembered Ivris's eyes, the shift from joy to horror as he noticed she hadn't joined him. She remembered watching the others pushing through behind him, she remembered watching his orange tail-tip disappear into the golden glow.
Most of all, she remembered the emptiness she felt when she turned back to the tower, alone, the only one who had chosen to stay.
The chill set back upon her as she left the tower. Her memories lead her back upon the path, drawing her like a magnet to the place she remembered so vividly. The clearing lined with honeysuckle, golden blooms arching across the gaps between trees, draping down over their heads. Small stone benches leaned against ancient oaks. A wooden post stood proudly under a high-topped fir.
Snow pushed up between her toes. She hadn't visited the clearing since that day. Both a sick desire and a unconquerable fear of reliving the scene again had both attracted and repelled her. Even with all the years of solitude she could not force her paws upon this path. She wondered if this was how June felt all those seasons back. No, she didn't think it was like this at all.
She could not see, but she knew all the same when she reached her destination. It tugged at her heart, dredging up emotions on a scale she didn't think she had the capacity to feel any longer, dulled as she was against the passage of time. Her breath caught in her lungs, her heart skipped a beat. She was drawn with the wild desire to call upon the Light and set her eyes upon the place she only remembered from the deepest of dreams. She felt the snow tickling the backs of her ears and used the chill to ground herself back into this reality. The wish to see nagged in the back of her mind, but she stopped herself, knowing to hold onto the memories would be better than to feel the sorrows of the change.
She stepped up to the Light, feeling the warmth on her nose. They had been filled with hope, hope that they could pass through this barrier and out into paradise. She smiled, stepped forward, and felt the warmth caress her shoulders, her hips, until she was standing within the golden glow. Couldn't they see? There is no such thing as paradise. It was warm, comfortably so, as if she was embraced by all the souls trapped there. Perhaps they did. A better world was all they had left. All she had left. Was it worth the sacrifice? She thought so. It was hot. Almost uncomfortably so, but she smiled, closed her eyes, let the heat rage around her. She knew there would be no paradise, but that wasn't what she wanted. "Go," she said, softly as the heat singed her lungs.
The Light shattered around her.
A flash. Darkness.
She fell.
----
edited for formatting
edited for wc (sorry)
edited to make more sense
--
Her paws find the steps with ease, even when all she could see was darkness. She put her paws in the groves worn away from the stone, soft, comforting, the path so many paws had lead before her. A path that would never be tread after she left. The stairs were cold and she knew she was almost at the peak when she heard a dusting of snow crunch under her paws as she ascended. A whistle of a breeze tickled her ears, growing louder until at last she went to step and found the spiral had leveled out. The platform was small and circular, perhaps only a dozen pawsteps wide at the middle. Snowflakes fell over her, little spots of cold that wet her fur as they melted. She felt the chill of the wind, but never uncomfortably so. The Light warmed her, kept her safe and untouched by the changes in environment. Carefully the she-cat made her way to the edge of the tower, scouting with her paws before placing them firmly in the snow.
She closed her eyes, bringing dark over dark. It was seasons upon seasons since she last looked over the tower and could see the area around it. "One last time," she asked, reaching to that place the Light had taken its place inside her. A flash of gold and the surroundings were painted upon her closed eyes. The trees were mostly conifers, drooping under white frosting. Stones poked out from underneath the layer of white, sometimes scattered about randomly, but most still identifiable as parts of a building. A sloped metal roof winked in the dim light. Crumbled walls formed a neat square around a group of trees, bare branches dark and gnarled. She tipped her head to the sky, seeing neither sun or stars, but the dim, even golden glow of the Light looming overhead. It seemed to brighten as she observed it and she couldn't help but smile. "I'm coming, dears."
She could feel them moving within the energy of the Light, twisting and leaping through its currents like fish in a stream. They grouped around her, tugging and pulling with little paws: the souls of those lost in the Light. She opened her eyes and the world snapped back into darkness.
Memories slipped their way into her mind unbidden. For the first time since she could remember, she gave way and let them wash over her. She remembered the last time she had seen her sister, remembered her bending to drink from the basin at the base of this very tower.
The she-cat took a step back from the edge, pulling her paws back onto the stairs, slipping back onto the warm grooves as she descended. Warmth spread over her as she made her way into the heart of the tower, away from the cold wind. She remembered the last cat she saw: Ivris, her brother. She remembered watching them all step into the Light, one by one. She remembered Ivris's eyes, the shift from joy to horror as he noticed she hadn't joined him. She remembered watching the others pushing through behind him, she remembered watching his orange tail-tip disappear into the golden glow.
Most of all, she remembered the emptiness she felt when she turned back to the tower, alone, the only one who had chosen to stay.
The chill set back upon her as she left the tower. Her memories lead her back upon the path, drawing her like a magnet to the place she remembered so vividly. The clearing lined with honeysuckle, golden blooms arching across the gaps between trees, draping down over their heads. Small stone benches leaned against ancient oaks. A wooden post stood proudly under a high-topped fir.
Snow pushed up between her toes. She hadn't visited the clearing since that day. Both a sick desire and a unconquerable fear of reliving the scene again had both attracted and repelled her. Even with all the years of solitude she could not force her paws upon this path. She wondered if this was how June felt all those seasons back. No, she didn't think it was like this at all.
She could not see, but she knew all the same when she reached her destination. It tugged at her heart, dredging up emotions on a scale she didn't think she had the capacity to feel any longer, dulled as she was against the passage of time. Her breath caught in her lungs, her heart skipped a beat. She was drawn with the wild desire to call upon the Light and set her eyes upon the place she only remembered from the deepest of dreams. She felt the snow tickling the backs of her ears and used the chill to ground herself back into this reality. The wish to see nagged in the back of her mind, but she stopped herself, knowing to hold onto the memories would be better than to feel the sorrows of the change.
She stepped up to the Light, feeling the warmth on her nose. They had been filled with hope, hope that they could pass through this barrier and out into paradise. She smiled, stepped forward, and felt the warmth caress her shoulders, her hips, until she was standing within the golden glow. Couldn't they see? There is no such thing as paradise. It was warm, comfortably so, as if she was embraced by all the souls trapped there. Perhaps they did. A better world was all they had left. All she had left. Was it worth the sacrifice? She thought so. It was hot. Almost uncomfortably so, but she smiled, closed her eyes, let the heat rage around her. She knew there would be no paradise, but that wasn't what she wanted. "Go," she said, softly as the heat singed her lungs.
The Light shattered around her.
A flash. Darkness.
She fell.
----
edited for formatting
edited for wc (sorry)
edited to make more sense
