everything is just shapes

Jaenelle had a beautiful, sonorous voice, one that could lull restless pups to sleep or quiet someone’s anxiety. Chiroptera were always singing to one another—it was how they conveyed messages and shared stories—but Jae’s voice, whether she knew it or not, was special. Even when various melodies and different notes mingled within the stone walls of Caverna, Aeluin could pick out Jae’s melody effortlessly. The same lyrics had been sung to her when she was younger and bundled together with the other squirming batlings . . . so when an edge hardened the concilium’s tone, stone under the silk, Aeluin noticed at once. Her ears began folding backward along her skull, as if to protect her from the older Chiro’s scolding. Little by little Jae crumbled her sense of adventure like a hammer hacking at stone. Shame and anxiety ate away at the fearless thirst for adventure . . . she saw the picture Jaenelle was painting of her with each lash of her tongue: not a pioneer discovering new lands outside of Caverna, but a foolish child in over her head. Aeluin would not admit it, not even to herself, but this verbal abrasion hurt. By the time the elder Chiroptera had regained her composure, the piebald girl had mentally steeled herself—as if bracing for a physical blow.

“My ‘proclivities’?” Lu rumbled under her breath. She wanted to challenge Jae again—snare her into a pointless argument that would have her precious good temper fraying at the seams—but then the ginger-dusted damsel launched into another tirade and sliced off any protests Aeluin might blurt with the expertise of a seasoned professional. Lu’s maw actually clapped shut, crushing the retorts she had simmering on her tongue. Sometimes her tantrums worked. Sometimes she could pull the ugly anger out of Beautiful Saint Jaenelle . . . except Jae wasn’t even giving her a SECOND to compose a good quarrel! Stupid, lavender-eyed twit! Incoherent growls mangled the syllables tripping over themselves to exit her mouth, spotted wings flaring outward in an instinctive urge to inflate her size. “You—you—you!” Her thoughts raced to find a hole in Jaenelle’s logic, something to tear down and exploit. “Maybe there’s no Chiro scent here because—because—nobody thought to get off their roosts and EXPLORE for once! Maybe Caverna is so full of cowards no one ever bothered to see if this place WAS safe!”

She pushed off on her hind limbs, jumping into the air again to demonstrate her point. “LOOK at this! Look at what’s above us! All around us! Is this not the coolest thing you’ve ever seen? And you want to return ALREADY? Just because I’m younger than you . . . what is it?”

The dark lady was obviously ignoring Aeluin’s outburst; however, it wasn’t her blunt disinterest that had Lu swooping down to land just behind her, head tilted curiously. Cinnamon-and-chocolate hairs lifted ever so slightly along the concilium’s nape and between her wings. Her ears pressed against her cranium, a rather ruffled snarl stretching her lips. When Aeluin followed the fae’s gaze toward where they’d just swept from the caves, she understood at once: the portal was gone. Not even a flicker of light remained to trace its gate. Only a smooth expanse of stone met her wide blue eyes, as seamless and solid as though it had never possessed a portal to begin with. Those same azure windows turned to meet Jaenelle’s slightly panicked glance. Elders damn it—Jae was freaking out!

Approximately one hundred nasty things clawed at her throat. Unfortunately, Aeluin never got to utter them—for a hideous noise ripped from within the bowls of the caverns. A rush of air against her fur told Lu that Jae had taken to the sky, and she peered up at Jaenelle again to see what the heck she was thinking. “You’re not going after that, are you?” Horrified fascination colored her lyrics. She broke into a disbelieving smile. Without directly responding, Jae ordered Lu to stay put before darting into the caves on her own—silken wings swallowed by total darkness. The leucistic sheila stood in place for a full five seconds. Then she too flapped her wings and chased after Jae, grinning like an idiot. “Where are you going, Jae? We don’t know what this place is—have you no sense?”

Chiroptera | cymatilis pearl | no home | no love | xathira