[COLOR=TAN][hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ulmeolp.jpg[/img][/center] [indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=SILVER][I]Southern Plateau [/I] - [I]PRCU[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b]Hope in Hell #2.056:[/b] [COLOR=SILVER][I][b]Big Birds Don't Cry[/b][/I][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [COLOR=SILVER][I]N/A[/I][/COLOR][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][b]Previously:[/b] [COLOR=SILVER][I]Wake Me Up Before You Dodo[/I][/COLOR][/right][/SUP][/INDENT][/COLOR] [indent][color=CD853F]"Goodbye, Haven."[/color] The words were so simple, and yet they carried the weight of a life in their meaning. Uttered so softly, as if the speaker knew of the sacrifice they were committing. Did the puppeteer feel remorse? Did they value the soul they were sacrificing for their cause? Haven didn't have the time to consider it. She watched the face of her other-- [i]her own[/i] face-- as she felt those fingertips latch onto the uplinks. Her signature determination displayed well upon the tanned visage. The crease in her brows that came with it. Brown lashes lowered over those eyes the color of a lush forest at dawn. Her golden brown locks falling over her shoulder as she leaned forward. Those faint, everlasting scars that adorned her arms. Tawny feathers splayed wide behind those toned shoulders. Haven absorbed every feature as shock heightened her senses. Time seemed to slow down in her panic ridden state. She felt the racing of her heart become a metronomic pounding in her chest. She heard the rush of air that entered her lungs as she took a desperate breath. She smelled the faint traces of copper, fear laden sweat, acrid oil, and earth that covered her skin, suit, and feathers. Her other carried her own scent of moss and petrichor. As the edges of her uplinks began to tear away from her skin, bringing her closer to whatever fate would come by trapping her within this nightmare, Haven saw it. What once was the form of her other, kneeling so menacingly over her body, suddenly became lines upon lines of code. It ran across her vision like leaves in the wind. As quickly as it came, it was gone. Flickering out like a strike of lightning. What replaced it was a darkness similar to a night on a new moon. Her uplinks clattered onto the floor beside her. She did not reach for them. Instead, she stared into the darkness above her, petrified where she laid. Was this it? Was this her new fate? Had the simulation won? Above her, just barely, Haven could make out the faint lines of a honeycomb shape in the ceiling. Her eyes slowly followed the ridges to the closest wall, and then down as far as they could see without moving her head. More honeycomb indents followed down the length of the wall. This was... It was what the trial looked like without the simulation coding. Haven's eyes returned to stare at the ceiling above her. The events of the last few hours began to flash through her mind. From that first step into the trial, to the feeling of Rory's hand in her own, to their separation in that blazing room... [i]Where is he?[/i] ...to the cage, the painful cries of that woman, to her first battle lost, that cold metal table, her wings stretched impossibly taught, the hopeless feeling that crushed her spirit, the masks turned to ash, Amma saved her... [i]Did Amma survive?[/i] ...Amma's power spread through her calamus and vanes, Aurora's battered face, those monsters that tore at her skin, the wall that swallowed her saviour, Aurora's hand, her own dismantled and bloodied form, she let go of Aurora's hand... [i]I left her alone. I didn't mean to.[/i] ...the hair salon, her mother's laugh, the broken toy, the motel room, the disappointment, the pounding on the bathroom door... [i]It wasn't real.[/i] ...her sister's voice, the sorrowful words she spoke, the soft caress against her feathers, the regret that pierced her heart, the betrayal of a feather lost... [i]Anabel... I'm so sorry.[/i] ...not them, anyone but them, the pain they promised, the pain they inflicted, another feather stolen, [i]ugly duckling[/i], [i]little freak[/i], their hate, their disgust, their anger... [i]Was it real?[/i] ...the second escape from those girls, the second escape from that home, the forest, the warning shot, [i]little bird[/i], the shotgun reloading, she ran for her life, she was so tired of running... [i]Am I alive?[/i] ...the cabin, the darkness within, she fell, she crashed, she couldn't move, the false promises told to her, the name that should not be spoken, her other's foot pressed into her side, tan arms struggled against tan arms, more pain was promised, more pain inflicted... [i]I almost died.[/i] Haven lifted shaking hands to her body, and she found that her injuries remained. The tender spots on her skin where bruises would form, the shredded flesh of her ribs and thigh, the cuts and scratches that adorned her palms, arms, and cheeks, the split skin upon her lip, and the wetness under her eyes. She couldn't free her wings from under her to check the damage wrought there. She wasn't sure she wanted to know how they looked. It was [i]real.[/i] All of her pain, and all of the aching in her heart, welled up within her until she was overwhelmed by it. The dam to her soul broke. Whatever embers remained of her spirit were washed away by a wave of despondence. She hated the feeling so much that she choked on the sob that threatened to escape her. She wrung her fists beside her. She pounded them on the floor. She pressed her eyes together as tight as she could to prevent the tears from falling. Yet they still trickled down her temples and once again pooled beside her. She held her breath, desperate to keep those sobs contained for as long as she could. Maybe she'd pass out before they erupted from her chest. Maybe she would wake up and the pain would be gone. She'd be surrounded by her team, by her friends, by her loved ones again. They wouldn't hurt her. They wouldn't betray her. She'd find her fire again, and she would move on. The minutes wore by and the tears continued. Haven knew that it was only a matter of time until she couldn't hold her breath any longer. She pressed her brows together as she felt herself growing light-headed. Her attempt to hold it back was in vain. She still felt the anguish clawing it's way out up her throat. Haven took a deep breath only when it became too much to bear. She felt the oxygen return to her blood, savoured the feeling of it for one precious moment, and then she lost control. A whine escaped her throat, and then sobs soon wracked her body. They filled the silence of the dead room with her grief. The aching in her side worsened with every movement and even that didn't stop them. It felt like they would never stop. As if the tears that flowed from her eyes were supplied by an endless cavern somewhere deep within the crevices of her body. The sobs soon strained her throat until it was raw. They made her battered body feel like it burned in cold fire. And in some twisted, heartbreaking way, her weeping grounded her in reality. It made her feel alive. [i]I'm alive. This is real.[/i] The aching in her chest lightened. [i]I'm alive.[/i] The words repeated in her mind until she managed to catch her breath. Her sobs relaxed into feeble whimpers. The adrenaline that had been coursing through her slowly began to dissipate. Her body soon weakened with each inhale and exhale. [i]Did the others make it? Should I consider myself lucky?[/i] She sniffed, her tears slowing to a stop as the lake within her dried up. She wanted to get up. To look for her friends. Anything could have happened to them. They could be worse off than herself. She tried to move her arms, her legs, but her body didn't respond. She'd overdone it. She'd lost too much blood. The fatigue was settling in like a warm blanket over her and she didn't have the energy to fight it. Haven's eyelids grew heavy, each pass of her lids threatening to be her last glimpse of the honeycomb above her. Her breaths became slow and shallow. A quiet, steady rhythm thumped within her chest. Her exhaustion eventually won over her will, and pulled her into into a dreamless state. [/indent] [COLOR=TAN][hr][/COLOR] [CENTER][img]https://i.imgur.com/Q9J9PIr.jpeg[/img][/CENTER]