Lunette Vuesain
I’ve got my love stuck in my head
In her world, she was only governed by herself. In her world, no one else could stop her. No one could tell her what to do, what to not do. They could advise her. They could strongly suggest a course of action. They could warn and plead all they liked, but at the end of the day, she was the only one who made the choices. She was ruled by nothing, only her fears and the monster riding her soul, but apart from that? No mortal being capable of walking this earth held true sway over her these days. What Lunette wanted to do, she would do. That was how simple it was to her, in her world.They had been quick to show her, though, that her world wasn't like the real world. When the lynx had come, she had thought everyone would abide those laws, that everyone would understand why Moonshadow stepping in in front of her was the elongated equivalent of outright killing her, and the disappointment when she realized that she had erred in their eyes had been soul-crushing.
Lunette no longer dared trust her own instincts, her own judgment, her own strength, glass-like and fragile as it was. And Kajika's words, they only reinforced that feeling, and her ears turned back, and the hope in her eyes quickly died. “We would have to get permission for you to go and I haven't asked. Do you think your parents would let you go?” She wished, oh, how she wished, that she was strong enough to defiantly bare a hint of teeth and say I don't care what my parents say, this is my life, but Neha's shocking reprimand rang in her head. Who do you think you are? She wanted to turn it back in their faces, who do you think I am? but she never could. Her tongue refused to form the words.
She was supposed to be meek and brainless, she supposed. Never wanting to venture further. Never wanting to see the sunrise from another place. Never anything, always ruled, and it hurt so much that she had to turn her head away from his words. “Do you really want to go out into unfamiliar territory?” Did he, too, believe in the lies the monster told about her? Did he, too, believe her nothing but a kept princess, without a single desire to her name? “I am worried you wouldn't like it.” They all sounded like excuses—like he was trying to convince her not to come.
And that, too, hurt.
"Do you think I didn't want to follow Ismena, all those times she went exploring? Do you think I want to sit on this mountain until I rot? I want to go out there but there's this thing inside of me—" She drew up short, breath suddenly too hot in her mouth, and, aghast, she turned away from him. She had gone where she shouldn't. She had spoken of what she shouldn't. She had told him about the monster, and it bared its teeth in the dark, and smiled.
She took a few steps away, shoulders sagged in defeat. Her silver tail hung limp between her legs. "Just go, then, Kajika," she said, quietly. "I'll still be here when you return, because I don't think I'm ever going anywhere." The last was just a bitter whisper, barely audible, and she bit down hard against the hot, thrumming pain in the back of her throat, blinked hard against the same fire behind her eyes. Crushed, torn to bits by the world and the monster's teeth, she began to walk away from him.