07-31-2021, 07:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-31-2021, 07:16 PM by Quicksilver. Edited 1 time in total.)
The Empress had not returned.
In the absence of an explanation, Quicksilver felt it only appropriate to assume that he'd been to blame. He could not recall the delerium that mistook Reiko's face for that of his late mother, but he had lost several days to exhaustion and whatever herbal remedy had sent him deep into a long slumber. To have done something to drive her away, anything, could only have been his own fault.
He was still weak, though feeling a little more like himself by the time @Ira came to see him. She was a welcome sight, and Quicksilver wilted before the High Queen. To her he scooted pitifully with his low-sweeping tail, all soft whimpers in apology as he reached to tentatively brush his nose to the underside of his leader's chin in a mark of respect.
In his final hour there on Tsukiishi, he explained to Ira what'd happened all those weeks ago. He shared with her how he'd crossed paths with the snowflower and wanted to wish her well in her new claim. He told how he'd intended to be gone only briefly, but the feline had ambushed him - let her inspect the scarring of his neck and dorsal if she wished.
Most importantly, he acknowledged his foolish decision to roam in the first place and said he was sorry over and over and over, until the Queen likely tired of hearing it.
Together they moved to depart, and though Quicksilver was loathe to leave without bidding his friend farewell, he was more than ready to go home. There was a hollow ache deep at the heart of him, in knowing that she hadn't come to see him off - for he was unaware of her isolation. He picked his way carefully after Ira, down the rugged slopes toward the valley that opened the path toward their own spires. It was there, at the base of the mountain, that Quicksilver paused to glance sadly over a silverwhite shoulder through the snow that floated onto their backs, into the void as wide as the one within him.
Should the Queen question this pause, he'd turn toward her. She would see the sorrow in his eyes, and for the first time he'd admit out loud: “I love her, Ira.”
It was the truest thing he'd ever said. That he ever would say.
“I love her.”
the staff team luvs u
In the absence of an explanation, Quicksilver felt it only appropriate to assume that he'd been to blame. He could not recall the delerium that mistook Reiko's face for that of his late mother, but he had lost several days to exhaustion and whatever herbal remedy had sent him deep into a long slumber. To have done something to drive her away, anything, could only have been his own fault.
He was still weak, though feeling a little more like himself by the time @Ira came to see him. She was a welcome sight, and Quicksilver wilted before the High Queen. To her he scooted pitifully with his low-sweeping tail, all soft whimpers in apology as he reached to tentatively brush his nose to the underside of his leader's chin in a mark of respect.
In his final hour there on Tsukiishi, he explained to Ira what'd happened all those weeks ago. He shared with her how he'd crossed paths with the snowflower and wanted to wish her well in her new claim. He told how he'd intended to be gone only briefly, but the feline had ambushed him - let her inspect the scarring of his neck and dorsal if she wished.
Most importantly, he acknowledged his foolish decision to roam in the first place and said he was sorry over and over and over, until the Queen likely tired of hearing it.
Together they moved to depart, and though Quicksilver was loathe to leave without bidding his friend farewell, he was more than ready to go home. There was a hollow ache deep at the heart of him, in knowing that she hadn't come to see him off - for he was unaware of her isolation. He picked his way carefully after Ira, down the rugged slopes toward the valley that opened the path toward their own spires. It was there, at the base of the mountain, that Quicksilver paused to glance sadly over a silverwhite shoulder through the snow that floated onto their backs, into the void as wide as the one within him.
Should the Queen question this pause, he'd turn toward her. She would see the sorrow in his eyes, and for the first time he'd admit out loud: “I love her, Ira.”
It was the truest thing he'd ever said. That he ever would say.
“I love her.”
the staff team luvs u