moonlit.

            dreams were cheap for people like her. they weren’t even worth loose change that drop from pockets to make music against cobblestone. everyone was dreaming , caught up in the intangible visions within their minds that life left them &. death came to nestle in cavity behind ribs. ———  this woman kept staring at her like she was actually this princess. she’d nip this quick. someone had once told the adoption home this but then they had met her … tried to drag her off to some ‘ acting house. ‘ despite her lack of education she knew where they were trying to take her to. their slithery grins were enough of a tell.  it was how she had earned the scar. man brought out a blade to threaten her with &. he ended up screaming because she bit into his arm. then … the gig was up. 

            she was an unruly rabble - rouser , much too ill - mannered to be a born &. bred royal. no one asked her again , the owner hushed those voices with the gruesome recollection of that tale. she maintained a life of being the undesired.  ———  not that she minded. snow had the freedom to do whatever from exploring the grounds to reading. determined fire stung her nerves. how she wanted to be something beyond … an orphan … to a person that had a last name. had a home. had a life. a cheap dream. yet the words that followed contradicted that foolish hope. defenses built thick , no villains could not slip past her barricades without her knowing.

            ❛     am i not enough as i am ?     ❜ she spat back in retort. hand tapped her chest ( more like thumped ) , passion enraging the ballroom with no longer dreamy ghosts dancing but an audience of listeners , ❛     i might be an orphan but i don’t need a last name to fulfill me.     ❜ from one of the etiquette books that the orphanage passed out like bibles , she held the edges of skirts bowing her spine forward to do a perfect curtsy.  as she rose , a tremor went through her system. overcome by the chill of the storm outside. ❛     if you have nothing else to say , just leave me be. i wanted warmth from the storm. i’ll leave in the morning.     ❜ her weak deposition showed , fingers &. toes almost frostbitten from traversing over hills looking for a tiny piece of solace from bellowing winds.

‘   who doesn’t want to be more ?   ’   blake challenged, faunus side stepping to briefly block snow’s path to the nearest entrance. even standing in front of her was starting to bring a cacophony of memories to the front of the felid’s mind. once upon a time, this very ballroom had been alight with the silver gleam of chandeliers, and foods blake had only had the daring luck to steal from time to time. caught once in the palace kitchens, and she would have had her hands sliced for her insolence. she had stared upon the princess with the same adoring gaze as all who’d come to see her, the prettiest crown jewel that the young girl had ever seen. a young crush had blossomed from observing the princess sneak into the kitchens just to breath in the scent of morning pastries, listening to her heart song filter through the snow - dusted gardens. blake had nearly sacrificed herself to save the princess from the evil hand of her attacker, the evil sorceress salem, but the question on whether the princess had survived had plagued her for years. through look alike after look alike, fake upon fake, her life had become a mission to satiate her curiosity.

     eyebrows rose in surprise as something dropped down in front of him, and he glanced up from his book a little worriedly. upon realizing it was a purposeful landing, by none other than the graceful blake seoni, rèn relaxed back against the tree trunk to which he was sitting. he watched her lips turn up in amused curiosity before meeting her gaze, and then shrugged shoulders, cocking one brow with a bit of a playful smile. ‘truth be told,’ he responded carefully, ‘i hadn’t really been listening when it was brought up — but it was a good excuse to not actually interact with people while i finished the final chapter of this book.’ glancing around the setting they’d met in, rèn pursed his lips. ‘then again, climbing into a tree to get some time to myself does seem a little overkill.’

     closing his book, so as to express that he wasn’t bothered by her presence, he pulled one leg up, hugging his knee to his chest and cocking his head. ‘have you been hiding this whole time? that was …’ lotus checked his scroll, ‘about four and a half hours ago.’

‘   i tried to do the same thing, but my attempts weren’t as uneventful as yours.   ’   a tired smile, something like a laugh gracing the edge of her words. exasperated amusement perhaps. while she did appreciate her teammates and could participate in their games from time to time the exhaustion of living with three other people twenty four seven tended to grate on her.

      the  desire  for  answers  is  bright  ,  it  burns  hotter  than  a  star  on  the  verge  of  collapsing  &.  in  a  way  ,  perhaps  yang  is  that  star  in  this  very  moment.  maybe  she  will  combust  into  naught  but  stardust  should  she  allow  to  brush  this  off  for  any  longer  ,  let  it  eat  her  alive  &.  spit  her  out  in  blake ‘ s  private  favour.  she ‘ s  like  a  dangerous  flower ,  nightshade  is  ;  someone  so  enticing  ,  yet  all  over  her  body  are  thorns  meant  to  push  those  who  linger  too  close  away  ,  allowing  them  to  only  see  beauty  of  petals  before  wilting  &.  becoming  a  fleeting  memory.  a  memory  of  ‘  what  ifs  ‘   &.   unfathomable  desire  to  come  closer  upon  seeing  her  once  more.  after  so  long.  yang  would  be  lying  to  say  such  a  confrontation  didn ‘ t  put  a  dent  in  her  blissful  pride.  dragoness  was  more  than  content  with  simply  playing  along  with  this  false  narrative  she  &.  blake  silently  agreed  on  ,  to  continue  on  &.  act  as  though  they ‘ d  never  seen  each  other  until  beacon  ,  but  it ‘ s  so  tiring.  it ‘ s  annoying.  how  can  i  think  of  anything  less  when  i  look  into  those  golden  eyes   ?   they ‘ re  too  old  for  these  games  ,  too  mature  to  step  around  the  obvious  issue  at  hand  like  that  would  ever  make  it  go  away.  not  these  memories.  not  of  blake.

      only  reaction  to  door  slamming  will  be  a  roll  of  lavender  hue  in  sockets  as  xiao  long  hops  up  on  desk  ,  sitting with  legs  crossed  &.  facing  directly  at  blake  so  nothing  more  may  be  hidden.  she ‘ s  worried  someone  may  come  running  &.  knocking  ,  that  slam  was  pretty  loud  after  all  ,  but  it ‘ s  a  concern  yang  quickly  discards.  it ‘ s  not  important  right  now.    ❝  we ‘ re  gonna  forget  about  torchwick  for  a  bit  ,  okay   ?  ❞  she  speaks  softly  ,  on  the  foundation  of  expelled  breath  through  nose.  inhale  ,  exhale.  calming  nerves  before  inevitable  spat.  gaze  casts  downward  ,  to  wooden  table  top.   ❝  y ‘ know  ,  i  couldn ‘ t  really  settle  down  before  beacon.  always  lookin’  for  the  next  adventure  wherever  i  could  find  it  ,  especially  in  clubs.  it …  was  easy  to  hook  up  with  people  for  the  thrill  ,  ‘ cause  i  knew  i ‘ d  never  see  or  have ‘ ta  deal  with  them  when  morning  came  around.  ❞   huff.  she ‘ s  not  proud  of  this  ,  never  will  be.  there  could  have  been  better  ways  of  spending  her  nights  ,   of  getting  the  thrill  she  so  desired  ,  but  if  she  hadn ‘ t  ,  then  yang  never  would  have  remembered  the  velveteen  ears  atop  blake ‘ s  head  ,  the  way  smooth  timbre  pierces  straight  into  soul  like  no  other.  there ‘ s  no  forgetting  you  ,  no  matter  how  hard  i  try.   ❝  but  then  –  one  girl  stood  out  to  me  more  than  anyone  ,  jus ‘  like  now.  she  was  gorgeous  :  real  pretty  eyes  ,  soft  hair  …  ‘ an  her  touch  sent  my  mind  to  space.  ❞  gritting  of  teeth.  gold  dragon ‘ s  stare  flits  up  to  meet  blake ‘ s  narrowing  hue  ,  brow  quirked.   ❝  …  if  you  think  i  could  forget  that  ,  blake  ,  then  you ‘ re  wrong.  i ‘ m  not  just  another  memory  for  you  to  forget  about.  ❞

were they really too mature for games like these ones ? it felt like it, sometimes. blake had spent most of her life acting older than she truly was. she’d once thought that it wasn’t a facade, that she truly felt older because that’s what she had to be for the people around her. she had asked for this life, hadn’t she ? blake had been the one far too eager to grow up and make a change in the world. perhaps that was why beacon made her feel so childish, finally amidst people her own age but most without the weight of worlds on their shoulders yet. some of them were so carefree, so cheerful and friendly. maybe they hadn’t wished to grow up so fast, and so life hadn’t yet sunk it’s claws into pure, innocent flesh. running away from her problems was blake’s specialty, it’s personally no surprise to her that she was avoiding a scolding like a little girl caught drawing on the walls.

‘   forget about torchwick   —   ?   are you crazy   ?   ’   an immediate, venomous attack wrought from spite and paranoia. who sounded more ill out of both of them ? one tired smear of of blake’s hands across her eyes would reveal the relentless exhausting within them. nightshade had had been the one darting at her own shadows, hearing whispers that weren’t there, losing control over her own pieces of wispy aura. had it not been yang, and the incandescence of the phoenix’s presence stopping those ghastly figures in the corners of her vision, she might not be able to concentrate. but as much as being around another person helped, felid showed no gratitude, only scathing rhetoric when talked through the night they found one another. she understood, and perhaps that was why yang followed her lead when blake avoided acknowledging what happened between them. one night stands were not meant to be complicated things.

she was gorgeous. oh blake was used to ensnaring poor victims within satin embrace, only to leave before the first rays of light could grace the rumpled sheets. flattery, as it was, made her more irritable for some reason, golden hue turning to bright - eyed slits as bronzed tiers parted in something just shy of a hiss.   ‘   then what do you want me to do about it   ?   ’   oh ... she had never wanted to be a cruel person, but a life so drenched in blood could do cruel things to a girl.   ‘   what do you want me to say   ?   how do you want me to act   ?   ’   what was this ? o, villainous spite. it struck her like she’d been slammed into a wall of ice, feeling the chilling embrace of clarity. what else could beastial girl do but to push her away ? many had set their sites on nightshade only to drag behind them a broken heart. what made yang any different ? and still, she found herself softening her tone, shifting to the petal soft velveteen of pretty, poisonoius moonflowers as he voice became gentle, and consoling.