Selkie Cove, Tuesday Afternoon

[poison-pretty.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, being in town got to feeling claustrophobic. Too many people with too many loyalties, all crowded together, dancing on eggshells while they pretended one thing and felt another...It all got so tiresome after awhile. After awhile, Karla felt on edge, jumpy; and needed to retreat somewhere to gather herself again. The park in town was a bad idea; it was part of the rounds of several of the regular patrollers. And the Preserve was also out. Not only was it in the heart of Umbrage's territory, it was also where Karla had her secret vegetable garden. Which meant she limited her visits there as strictly as possible; the last thing she needed was to attract the wrong kind of attention by sneaking in there too often.

So instead of the obvious places, when Karla escaped the town, it was usually to somewhere on the edge of the island, where she could look at the sea and dream of home or, at least, happier times. Back where there had been happier times, anyway, like brief flashes in the dark.

Usually, Karla was silent when she snuck away to center herself. Today, however, Fandom intervened. As it occasionally did.

Dammit, Fandom.

"Without you, the ground thaws, the rain falls, the grass grows.
Without you, the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play.
The stars gleam, the poets dream, the eagles fly, without you.
The earth turns, the sun burns, but I die, without you...

The impulse to sing left her and she stood there, wrinkling her nose. "That's bullshit," she announced to no one in particular. "I'm not about to die for a lack of anyone."

[For one in particular, but open for anyone else wandering by, Resistance or Loyalist! Also, you saw nothing a moment before. *Waggles fingers*]

Comments

[broken-empath.livejournal.com]

"I know the difference, I just do not care," Raven said. That...wasn't quite the truth. Love had remained some sort of elusive prize. Some part of her craved it, even secondhand like she'd tried to pry out of Sookie and Bobby. It was hard to find in this place.

"Emotions are all tools. Means to an end. And so is pleasure."

[poison-pretty.livejournal.com]

"So are you, my darling, broken, empath. So are you." Karla looked at Raven and shook her head. "I fear what will happen to you when you're brought back to yourself. I truly do. But...I can't deny...some part of my relishes it, too. Because then you'll know what it's like to suffer."

[broken-empath.livejournal.com]

"I already know," Raven said. All that time in detention, unshielded, surrounded by all that pain and rage and grief. Begging to be allowed to heal them, to ease their suffering. Made to write "obey" over and over again with the magic quill that carved the words in the back of her hands, and not allowed to heal that either.

"And I relish in it!" she snapped, taking all that remembered pain and flinging it at Karla.

[poison-pretty.livejournal.com]

Karla staggered under the onslaught, fighting her way through the agony, bursting back up through it and glaring at Raven.

"Then enjoy this!" she sneered and used Craft to send a slap streaming towards Raven's face.

[broken-empath.livejournal.com]

Raven's head rocked back, and she brought her hand to her cheek. "Is that the best you can do?" she challenge.

[poison-pretty.livejournal.com]

"Not at all," Karla said. "But I'm not about to share all my tricks with you just yet." She smiled. It wasn't a pretty thing. "Your day is coming, Raven. Soon."

[broken-empath.livejournal.com]

"Promises, promises," Raven sing-songed. "Do your worst. I look forward to it. You have no idea how much."

She wasn't planning on losing the fight. But even if she did, some part of her would be at peace with it.

[poison-pretty.livejournal.com]

"Oh darling, I'm not going to do my worst," Karla promised. "I'll be doing my best. To free you."

Her eyes were sad and there was a hint of real regret in them. It only last for a moment, however, before she added, "Once you remember who you are, my work will be done."

[broken-empath.livejournal.com]

"And once you are on your knees, mine will," Raven countered. "And since I already know who I am, I think my odds are better."

This slip of a girl couldn't defeat her.

[poison-pretty.livejournal.com]

This slip of a girl was hardly alone. Even Raven's own side thought she was creepy.

"Darling, if I were on my knees in front of you, you wouldn't know what to do." But Karla would. She'd done it before, in a world just to the side of this one. Once they thought you were powerless, that was the perfect time to strike.