Had these colours always existed? Even in the grasp of winter, it seems like the colours move now. They move in rhythm, flowing through the snow and the sky until they lead to her. It is like they surround her, intensifying and pulling me towards this woman I do not know. Had they always been so bright? The red of her fur seems to illuminate like the dusk sky; like spring flowers, ripe berries, blood. The faces of those before me seem sallow and pale in comparison. They fade away into grey, their scents bland, their words like the buzzing of flies. What is this? Is is like hunger and yet not, like a dream and yet pleasant. Whereas the world outside my expands and breathes with life, I feel suddenly small within my shell. I cannot stop myself from approaching and yet, I feel a fear so deep that it no words reach it.
She sits away from the group and I circle around that same group, daring not to enter their circle of communication. Instead, I shrink away and slide around the furthermost reaches of the area. Though I want to approach, I cannot help but approach cautiously, only truly emerging when I am close enough to truly see the beauty that she is. Even the black of her fur glistens like the wing of a crow; they way the crimson blends into it is unlike anything I have seen. Nakki had never been so colourful - no other had been. She fills in the black and white space in the world that is me.
I come from beside her and perhaps I stare too much before my eyes follow the brilliance that are hers. They lead me to the carcass, the stiffening corpse of some fallen beast. I can smell something off in the air, a darkness that lingers and infiltrates the area around us and yet it is unfamiliar.
"You seem... interested in it."
I can finally speak as I turn to face her once more, blinded temporarily by that flood of colours. I do not know what to say. There are words within me that are endless and yet, I fear them. I fear that she will chase me away when I wish to be so close to her. I cannot fathom why. All I know is that no other has ever seemed so alive, so tangible. The death within me craves this life, I think. And so, I can only hope she will know how to placate the endless questions within me.
wraith
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