{{PP-PT-F01}} I Guess Murders Ain't All Bad

[Cascade 0]

She nodded, whatever the reason, she wanted to make it quick. The less time she had to spend in that place the better. 

"Alright then, we best be on our way." She began to follow trailing behind him loosely once again. She heard Reytac ask his bird if it was female. She chuckled softly as the bird chirped in what seemed like acceptance and resumed pecking at his buckle. Funny how she had acquired a male companion and he had gotten a female. It was interesting to her how these things seemed to happen. She kept walking, her gait steady and relaxed. 

A sudden gust tore through the clearing, cold and sharp; cutting through the layers of her clothing like it wasn't there at all. The masses of crows and ravens took flight behind them, scattering about. Her skin prickled; the air carried something wrong with it- bitter metallic. She shivered violently as a chill needled its way up her spine and settled at the base of her skull. The image flashed in her mind, a dark room, the stench of death... blood, blood, BLOOD. She froze in place bringing her hands to either side of her head, eyed widening in terror. A soft whimper escaping her lips, "No." The word was soft, barely audible, desperate. She crouched down shaking her head, trying to ward off the creeping thoughts. 

Her companion flew down in front of her and began cawing as it flapped its wings in alert. She fell down to her knees, hunching over, her head hovering above the soil. The blood in her mind felt as though it had begun to drip into reality, inching towards her; lifeless cells that worked to claim her as well as the darkened, distant figure. The earth beneath her legs began to feel wet and warm. Crimson beginning to stain her. She could smell the bitter, metallic liquid surrounding her. Her thoughts raged, Not again! NO! Its not real, its not real, its not real! The words looped, a broken record she couldn't stop. Her own voice had choked and died, only unintelligible whispers left her as she shook in fear. The darkness behind her eyes pulsed like a heartbeat. Somewhere in her memory, water dripped in slow intervals. She didn't remember when the room had changed into a coffin, hers. The trees around them loomed, their branches clawing at the grey sky like gnarled fingers. The bird's frantic caws echoing off the rocks, warping echoes into cries of something else- pain, warning, grief. She felt it in her bones. She tried to breathe, but something was on her chest. Heavy, persistent, threatening. 

[Reytac 0]

At first, Reytac was distracted with the bird that was still nestled against his chest and trying to peck at the buckle on his shoulder. In fact, he walked right past Cascade as her bird flew from her shoulder - it was its caw, and his bird freezing up, that made him stop, and turn around as the cries turned frantic behind him. His eyes shot open wide when he sat that the girl he had just met was collapsed to her knees, her hands clutching at her head. He could see her nails were digging into the sides of her scalp, and red was welling up around where they were buried. 
Cascade's lips moved in an unspoken repetition, over and over again as Reytac dropped his bird. The raven glided from his hold to land beside Cascade's as Reytac ran over, dropping to his own knees in a slide as he wrapped one arm around Cascade. 

"Easy, Miss Cascade, easy.  Focus on the sound of my voice. Breathe with me here, okay, we're going to go through some slow breaths." Reytac watched her face for any sign of recognition, reaction, to what he was saying, and frowned when he could see that her eyes were vacant, staring at something that he couldn't see. He squeezed her to his side as he started rocking her. "Easy, now. Iiiiiiiiin." He drew his breath in, loosening his hold on her as he did so. "Ouuuuut." As he breathed out, he squeezed her. The brunette started repeating this process, loosening and squeezing her sideways to help force air in and out of her lungs. If he knew what had triggered this he could try to remove it - but they'd just been walking back to the camp, and until this struck she'd seemed fine enough, if annoyed at having to deal with the tamer again. 

"Follow my voice, Miss Cascade. Everything is okay. One step at a time - everything is okay. We're both fine, you've got a raven that's worried about you. Deep breathes, come on young lady."

[Cascade 0]

She was panicked, disassociated from the world around her. All she could hear was the thumping inside her brain, words echoing, banging against her skull. All she could feel was the warm blood that pooled around her, terror. She couldn't feel the pain from her nails, couldn't feel Reytac as he began to draw her back to reality, couldn't hear his voice, or the caws of her Raven. Just the pressure on her chest; heavy, suffocating. There was something unusual, pulses of pressure. She felt it, she focused on it. Her breathing hitched. The rhythm he'd set- in, out - began to stick, uneven but trying. Her fingers twitched against her head, then slipped, leaving streaks of red down her temples. Her eyes flicked, not quite focusing.

"-Stop." The words rasped out, barely there. "-it." she gasped again, "Stop it." The words weren't for Reytac, rather the voices in her head. This was all she could think to do to regain control, to tell it outright to be gone. Another squeeze came, forcing her to breathe. She wheezed as she began to take uneven breaths, coming back to reality. She looked up, her eyes lifeless as they glanced around. She saw the figure at her side, who was it? She tried to focus, a voice breaking through. "-Deep breaths, come on young lady." 

She looked at him, her eyes focusing, tears streamed slowly. "I-" she choked a hand covering her mouth. There was recognition there now, though fear still clung to her like smoke. "Reytac?" She sounded unsure, as if she wasn't sure this was really reality. Her hand fell to her side. Then it sunk in, she really was looking back at him. He nodded, her shoulders sinking, relief breaking her tension just enough for exhaustion to crash in. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Shame tugged at her chest. "I'm sorry." The tears stopped, replaced by an overwhelming feeling of dread. The raven beside her cawed softly, tilting its head, the small sound making her flinch. She swallowed hard, catching her breath. She looked down at her companion, "Doleo quod te terruit," she reached over petting the raven gently on its crown. She noticed it, the blood on her fingers, then she felt it. Warm, blood streaking down the side of her face, pain settling in. She groaned. 

 

 

Spoiler

Translation: I'm sorry for scaring you.