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You take your blade to the Wild.
And begin cutting her free. The bark is tough against your blade, resisting it's supremely sharp edge with all it's might, as if it cutting the Wild out would cause itself to die, to shrivel up, to fade into non-existence as it's heart is ripped asunder. You begin to see flesh as you cut deeper, the flesh even harder than the bark, clinging tight to the princess, each fiber and strand of muscle like a large hand gripping her tight.
You hear her gasp as you finally free her right arm, that which has been reduced to a mere, shriveling mass of roots, frail and fragile in your tough and scaly grip. Your thumb glides along the back of her hand, soft to the touch, it's fragility present in how thin and weak it is. You can feel her shaky and weak heartbeat against your fingers as you gently hold her arm in your free hand.
Then, you let go of it as delicately as you can and move over to her other side to free her other arm, but stop in your tracks as you see her staring at you. Her expression is one of pain and sorrow, but conflicted with the thankful and happy look in her eyes as she stares at you tiredly. Before you can even think, you carefully place your free hand on the back of her head and hold her head against your chest, her silky smooth hair and skin immediately pressing against the feathery fluff that adorns you. You feel her warmth begin to meld with your own as you caress the back of her head, trying your best to comfort her before you continue to cut her free. Suddenly, you feel something wet meet your feathers, and can't help but look down to see her tired eyes, closed but leaking tears like a miniature waterfall of comfort and sorrow mixed into one. Your grip on the back of her head tightens a small bit as you feel the sharp stab of guilt rip it's way into your heart once more.
Why did you do that? Your body moved before you did, why? You can't help but ask yourself all sorts of 'Whys' as you carefully let go of her and move to her other side. Upon examination, it seems like the bark covering her other arm is tougher than the last, like it's forcing itself to grow and adapt for the sole purpose of keeping it's prisoner in it's floral grasp. You feel hate begin to pour into you like a liquid flame. Switching your gaze to Wild, the hate blossoms into a large burning fire of desire. The desire to free her. Just look at her. Look at her. She's so tired. Her cheeks are sunken. Her eyes unfocused. Her heart beats weakly in her open chest. Her ribs are worn and weary. You hate this place. This cabin. This basement. It's trapped you for so long, and her as well.
You use the new, burning fire inside you to cut away the roots with deadly precision, the quick strikes and stabs of your Pristine Blade causing the air to whisper with each movement of the shimmering blade. This bark shall not hold her for long. It's resistance is futile against the raging wildfire that is your rage towards it, your hands the embodiment of determination as you continue to carve her free for hours on end, never stopping to take a breath, a break, a simple rest, as to do that would cause your flame to run out, it's only fuel now being your continued strikes and cuts against the hard bark and taught muscles underneath.
As you cut, your mind wanders, drifting across your memories like a small leaf along a steady stream. You met her in the cabin. You chose to leave her. She attacked you. She killed you. You met her in the cabin once more. She was a beast. She hunted you throughout the tightening expanse of foliage inside her basement. She tried to devour you, but failed, splitting you in twain. You died... and woke up here. You were a path in the woods for but a brief moment, but the union felt so strange... it felt like a thing that should be, but also shouldn't. Like you and her were a beautiful painting on a cosmic scale, torn in half from unseen forces, glaring at you from shadows below you both and wishing to make you lesser. You broke free from it and... found yourself here. With her. Her fragile form encased in the overgrown, bark covered tomb that is this cabin, that is this basement. You feelings that accompany these memories finally hit you-
Curiosity. Nervousness. Anxiety. Relief. Pain. Emptiness.
Anxiety. Instinct. Steeled will. Nervousness. Terror. Pain. Emptiness.
And now... here... On this 3rd world, this 3rd cabin, this 3rd basement, this 3rd Princess... you feel...?
No. Wait. Something is wrong... Were you really eaten? Weren't you crushed? The vines crushed you both, and all you could do was stare at her body, feeling the vines wrap around your own and squeeze you until you both popped like a balloon... The look on her face then. It... Why does your head hurt so much. Feelings. Feelings and wrong memories. Wrong memories? But you know for a fact you were crushed. But you were also eaten. Which one is it? Were you devoured or destroyed!? Your head hurts. It feels like glass digging into your skull. The acid pours across your body, melting you down to the bone... The vines press into your body, crushing you until a bloody pulp... Both at once. But not. Two lives? Did you live two lives and simply forget? It feels like a path split before you, you split in twain, and now you're suddenly back together like nothing happened. Your head hurts. Focus. Focus don't cut her. FOCUS. Focus on the bark and flesh under it before you. Slowly and carefully cut into it, careful not to cut the remains of her arm. Push aside the conflicting realities that dance across your mind, each step a painful stab into your soul as you try to comprehend them. Focus... and breathe. In and out. Focus on her. Focus.
You take the deepest of breaths, and slowly exhale as your mind goes blank with cutting, your body taking over as your mind wanders across the delicate stepping stones of your mind, your inner eyes peering down into the conflicting pools of memory you now realize should and shouldn't exist at the same time. What? Why? How? All sorts of questions ripple these ponds as you try your best to comprehend their depths-
Until you're suddenly snapped out of your thoughts as her second root-like arm is finally freed, and she begins to fall forwards towards you, gasping from the sudden increase in gravity upon her fragile form. In one quick motion, you throw the Pristine Blade aside, it's edge bouncing off the wood with an unnatural clang that resounds around the grooves and crevices of the bark around you both. You quickly catch her in your arms, holding her gently as her weak and thin form stares up at you, a somber and happy smile growing on her lips as her eyes meet yours.
The world seems to fade around you both as you hold her torso in your arms, your hands holding her up by her armpits. Her body is torn in half, her ribs are exposed, and her breathing is so... weak. You stare at the Wounded Wild before you, your eyes shifting between her sad and happy eyes and her exposed, beating and tired heart... and you can't help but cry. A few salty, warm tears trail down your face as you look down at the scarred, wounded Princess before you. She looks slightly shocked at your cry, and somehow reaches one of her weak, frail arms up to the side of your face, gently placing the palm against your cheek as she stares at you with tired eyes. She begins to cry too as you both hold each other silently, the only sound being your breathing, her beating heart, and the small pitter patter of both of your tears hitting the wooden floor below. It feels like forever passes in an instant as you stop crying, not realizing your head had lowered to have your eyes meet the ground below.
You gaze at your body, your chest rising and falling, your feathers somehow... older. Exhaustion and tiredness somehow present in each individual onyx feather that covers your scaly, grey flesh. You look down to your scaly feet, scratched and covered in old scars, one of your toenails is broken off, a permanent reminder of the past you have lived. And then you look up. Back to the wounded Princess that rests in your arms. Her open chest rises and falls, her breathing so light you can only feel it if you focus hard enough, her heart drumming along steadily and softly as she stares at you with a worried sadness in her eyes.
She tells you how shocked she is that you freed her, but thanks you nonetheless. You can't help but stare into her eyes, teardrops clinging to the edges of them, a remnant of the sadness and relief you both just shared, her eyes themselves like large, tired pearls yearning for a better life than the clam they're trapped in. You wordlessly begin to go up the winding, root-like staircase while holding your precious cargo tight and gently in your arms, each step smooth and hard against your talons and feet. Wild stares upwards at the open sky just before you both, past the rest of the steps you must take, and you can hear and feel her heartbeat begin to quicken and become rapid.
The suffocating air of the basement seems to leave you as you reach the final step. But just before you take it, the Wild asks you to stop. And so you do. She stares up at you, the bags under her eyes scars of stress upon her fair skin, her eyes piercing into yours, searching for something you're not sure of. She releases a breath she didn't know she was holding, and relaxes, the remnants of her shoulders losing all the tension they once held in your soft but firm grip only moments ago.
She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales repeatedly, her rapid heart's drumming beat being to slow down to a steady, comfortable pace as she calms herself down. Looking from you to the stars just out of her reach in quick succession, she whispers out an apology, her soft and tired voice seeming to sing slightly at the end of her sentence, as she needed a moment to simply process the fact she's finally leaving... and that she can see the outside world with her own two eyes, not through the roots and leaves of the trees that she was once connected to... that she once was.
Your grip on her tightens a bit as you take the final step. The midnight breeze rushes into your face as you step out onto the overgrown hill, it's grass tall and lively, reaching up to your knees. You look around at the expanse of forest all around you. You see many flowers, red ones, blue ones, yellow ones and white ones. It feels like a paradise hidden away from prying eyes, one only for you... and her.
Quiet sobs grab your attention as you look down at your wounded companion. She's trembling slightly, like she wants to burst forwards onto the beautiful world and explore every path, crevice, bush, cave, tree and everything it has. Her eyes are watery and full of tears that quickly escape down her cheeks, chin, and onto her heart and the soft dirt below. Her hair flows in the wind like a short wave of silk, the branches that make up her "crown" trembling slightly in the new-found pressure against them. Her mouth is curved upwards in a soft but excited and happy smile that's so wide it seems to shine and beam the happiness she feels towards you and the world around you that she has so longed to see, to feel, to touch and hold and hear and smell. And now, she finally can.
You stay there for who knows how long, holding the Wild as she cries and smiles, the pressure and anxiety and fear and all the negativity in her life seeming to melt away alongside her heavy and warm tears as they drop to the ground, her sorrow now used to grow the land around them, no matter how small it may be. Her sadness is the fuel for the fire of love and life that has blossomed inside her exhausted heart. After a while, you feel her breathing begin to calm, the tremors of anxiety and pain leaving her body as she takes one long, deep breath, her heart beating hard as she inhales the sweet and soft night air, the scent of flowers and fresh sap coated and infused in the breeze itself. She then exhales slowly, her chest shaking lightly as she does, her ribs quietly creaking with the sudden movement.
She looks back up at you, and asks if you would like to rest for a moment. It seems the suddenness of freedom has caused her heart to ache, she tells you. You can tell, her heart seems to be shaking slightly as she tells you that. Not thumping like normal, but steadier and quieter. You can't help but agree with her, telling her you're also shocked at the beauty of this new world you've found yourself in alongside her.
You hold her tight to you as you carefully lay down on the side of the hill, the grass seeming to almost envelop you, pressing against you from all sides and limiting your view to the beautiful night sky above, the stars that adorn it like beautiful jewels that shine only for you both. You rest the Wounded Wild upon your chest, her heart seeming to race slightly of its own will as it gets closer to yours. You feel a tang of guilt as you realize you two can never be one again, as just like the pristine blade separated you both from union, so too do walls of flesh that are your bodies separate your hearts.
The guilt is quickly smothered with Wild's eyes staring up at you, her bags slightly red from all the tears she just shed only moments ago. She feels much lighter now. Her soft and worn skin presses against your feathers, her hair seeming to shift and intermingle between them and press against your skin like a soft stream of silk against a rocky riverbed of scales. A small heat rises to your cheeks at the sudden intensive closeness of it. The moonlight shining on her face, the large blades of grass seeming to stretch upwards towards the sunless sky looming around you both, the flowers that press against you offering their fragrance and delicious scents to coat you both in life and growth... it feels so nice. Peaceful. You didn't know how much you longed for this peace, this natural tranquility brought about by nature herself. You utter a soundless thanks to the world for this gift as you look down at Wild.
She's staring up at the stars now, a gentle, toothless smile now spread across her lips as she simply takes in the beautiful night above, it's sky spotted with clouds of barely visible texture and shape, it's stars shining down like beautiful, shining dotted across a black ocean of unending obsidian. Her heartbeat thuds against your chest as you both simply take in the scenery together, enjoying this nice break before an arduous journey to explore the new freedom you have acquired through trial, blood, sweat and tears... Wait. Her heartbeat... Doesn't it seem slower?
You tear your eyes away from the starry night sky to Wild. She's look at you now, and her smile turns somber and bittersweet as her eyes close halfway. She doesn't have to say anything for you to realize what's happening to her. It's a process you're all too familiar with yourself. Once you've experienced twice now.
She's dying.
You quickly move to get up, but she releases a shout that betrays her gentle form, begging you to simply... stay with her. Keep her company in her final moments, just like she has done with you before. She tells you you can't save her, it's too late. The Wild stares into you, and thanks you for being with her for so long. Even though you two were enemies at a time, tragic pieces in a game you both still do not comprehend, she's still happy she got to know you. Her heartbeat is weaker now, her breathing shaky and unsteady.
You honor her last wish and lay back down, the flattened grass below pressing into you once more now feeling like daggers, the tall grass surrounding you both now feeling like a wall meant to suffocate you and hold you in place for eternity, the stars in the sky above now many eyes glaring down at you both. Anxiety and fear and guilt make it's way into your soul.
Why. Why did this happen. You thought you could both be free now.
Your heart races, your breathing becomes haggard and rough, your mind wanders across all possibilities of a better life. The both of you are finally free, and this is the thanks you get? You'll be so alone without her, so cold in this world that now feels more like a curse than a blessing. There must be some way to save her, right? Right? Think, come on think! You're clever, you're smart, you can do this. Just. Think!-
Her weak and frail voice reaches your ears, dispelling the fog of shaky focus and fear that clouded your mind. She tells you you're hurting her, and you look down to see your hands gripping her own in a firm and tight grip. You can hear creaking bark, and feel a couple splinters embed themselves into your palms. You let go with a quickness only displayed in a life prior, one with a beast and a prey. Apologies spill out of your mouth like a waterfall of regret and pain, tears welling up in your eyes as you tell her this shouldn't be how it goes. You should both be free. You close your eyes and shout your prayer and question to the world itself.
Why can't you both be free, you ask the sky, it's gaze quiet and solemn against your own.
Why can't you both be free, you ask the earth, it's firm press against your back steady and unmoving.
Why can't you both be free, you ask the grass that encompasses you both, it's figure gently dancing in the soft breeze.
Why can't you both be free, you ask the flowers whose petals touch and tickle your feathers. Why can't you both be free, you ask her.
A wooden and trembling hand presses against your cheek and wipes away the tears that refuse to stay trapped any longer. You swiftly grab it in your own, and hold it against your cheek. You open your cloudy eyes and gaze down at the Wild. She looks so much more tired. Her eyes are unfocused, her breathing slow and slim, and you can just barely feel her faint heartbeat against your own that races like it's the last thing it'll ever do.
Her mouth curves into a large, toothy and loving smile as her heartbeat continues to fade into nothingness... and she cries. Like a steady river of sadness, her tears flow from her beautiful opal eyes, down her cheeks and frail form onto you, her hair becoming slightly damp as the tears make their way across her fragile scalp to your feathered, scaly skin. They feel so warm, so unlike the ever-growing cold body that lays atop your own. It hurts. Your heart hurts so much. She must feel so much worse than you do right now. You can feel it. Death is close.
She opens her mouth and thanks you once more. For everything. For being here in her final moments. For comforting her. For freeing her. For being the only one she's known and wishes to know besides herself.
And then, like the inevitable rise of the sun, the falling of leaves in autumn, the freezing of lakes in winter, the blooming of flowers in spring...
Her heart stops.
The last remnants of life cling so stubbornly to her now-fading eyes as she takes one final gasp of air, her final breath, the last one she will ever make. At least it's the sweet night air, and not the stale, pressing air of the basement you were trapped together in only hours ago. She utters her final words...
"I.....I... love......."
But she never gets to finish them.
The world seems to fade into nothingness as you sit up. The corpse that lays atop your shaking, trembling body begins to fall, gravity's cruel hand taking a firm hold of it. But you refuse to let her go so easily, wrapping your arms around her back and holding her close to you, her empty heart pressing against your chest with a dry squelch. Her head droops, her eyes empty and soulless, the light that once filled them gone forever. You raise one shaky hand, holding her tighter to you as you delicately and carefully close her eyes. Her mouth is closed in a soft, loving smile. It's full of life, unlike the rest of her. She's so frigidly cold now, unlike her beautifully warm self only moments ago. You press your mouth to the top of her head and kiss it as you stroke her back and hair, crying and sobbing loudly as the world watches in utter silence at the love you just lost. The one who made you complete. Your mind can't help but wander across the ocean of memories you made with her, even the most insignificant ones. Her eyes when she was a Princess. Her eyes when she was a Beast. Her eyes when she was a wounded Wild. Her voice. Her touch. Her sight upon you. Everything... Even the deaths held meaning when you were with her. You're so stupid to only realize this now. How did you not realize you fell in love with her sooner? You feel something in you snap in twain at this realization, and the dam you unconsciously made around your broken heart shatters.
You close your eyes. And you cry. You scream. You hold her corpse close to you and beg the heavens to give her back. She's the only one you've ever known. The only one who brought meaning into your life. The one who you've betrayed and who has forgiven you so easily. The one who offered you comfort that you so rejected for freedom instead. Why is fate so cruel, you ask yourself. Why is the world so unfair, you ask yourself. Why did this happen, you ask yourself. She doesn't deserve this, you tell yourself. She only wanted the best for you, for you both, and this is what she gets as a reward? She just wanted you both to stop fighting, to reconcile and make peace, to be HAPPY, and this is the thanks she gets after you do? This is the fate you both get?! Loneliness for one, the promise of a life of freedom for the other?! IT'S. NOT. FAIR.
Why. Why. Why. Why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why..... WHY!?....
...Why.