Rheagn's Fairy Circle

The carnage was plentiful and all-consuming. Kitt’s hunger thundered through her, as steady as her heartbeat; waves of rage enhancing the hunger as she ripped through each assailant coming towards her. There was only blood spilling and spraying, the smell of death permeating the air, and her ravenous rage which thrashed inside. That seething rage only called for more.

Her claws tore into flesh like cloth and when her maw met their throats, hot blood gargled against her tongue. When a pirate appeared before her, their body was quickly discarded, the only thought running through her head was the same two words, over and over again, a mantra sharing rhythm with that thundering heartbeat. A mantra to end threat, end threat, end threat. Over and over, again and again. 

But this was all Kitt knew. To tear apart any potential threat to herself or to her…

The emptiness that took over her mind seemingly did nothing to stop her body from continuing on, which pounced upon the next pirate, taking him to the stone ground. As the emptiness continued — vast, yet vacant — it was as if she was floating outside of her body, watching herself from above. She watched as her body pinned the pirate down in the sand, skewering the precise steel of her needles through each of the male’s shoulders. He cried out, writhing in pain beneath her before she quickly silenced him with her claws in his throat.

She left the pirate on the stone ground to choke on his own blood and snapped back into her body at the same moment she’d started to pivot, lunging at the next assailant. She continued on and on, until her arms and maw were dripping with gore, the front of her covered in small bits of flesh and a long river of dark, congealed blood. She fought on and on, until she was left viciously swiping around in the open air, a grunt of surprise escaping her.

Kitt was now entirely alone in the canyon, save for the countless bodies laid lifeless around her, the other side of the rushing stream left vacant. Blood stained the stone and sands at her feet and was even splattered along the canyon walls around her. There was so much blood, it’d begun trickling into the stream, the once clear water now crashing against the stone in sprays and rushes of pink. The only heartbeat she could hear was her own, thumping steadily in her ears as she took in her carnage. 

Why was she alone? Where was Li? If he’d joined her in the bloodshed, she hadn’t noticed. She was much too occupied with protecting herself; standing her ground against people who wanted to hurt her. If Li hadn’t joined the battle, then perhaps he’d traveled on instead? Or… was he one of the lifeless bodies among her? And more importantly, why did the thought of killing Li in her attack have her heart hitching in panic?

Without thinking, Kitt was on the move as she began frantically turning over bodies, in search of the masculine face she would recognize. Each face she scanned all seemed so unfamiliar, none of the features pinging any recognition in her mind. After a while, each vacant face began to blur, leaving Kitt with another wave of rising rage and panic inside of her, like a fever burning through her, heating rising to her cheeks. With every face she searched and deigned not to be Li, her heartbeat quickened, pounding louder and louder in her head. So loud, she wouldn’t have been surprised if her heartbeat had echoed through the canyon. 

Then, an ambush of thoughts speared through her mind. Perhaps, Kitt didn’t know Li’s face at all. And if she didn’t know Li’s face, what was the purpose of her memory at all? Or…. perhaps he’d left her here. Alone, surrounded by piles and piles of death at her own hands. Carnage of her own making. How could she blame him?

Kitt lowered her head between her hands. Why was she like this? The death all around her… she had ached for it before. She hadn’t been able to stop until only she was left with this death. When that urge came, it was stronger than any other desire inside of her; like she was a feral animal, starved for death. Consumed by it. A neverending fever of pure, seething rage.

But now… when she took in the carnage around her, the horrors made her stomach lurch. The more she took it in, the more she noticed. A pile of sand-dusted entrails. A lone torso with tattered cloth clinging to the torn flesh. So many dead eyes lulling over to stare straight at her, as if even in death, they would remember what she’d done. They would all remember her, but Kitt was never going to know them. All their faces had blurred and she wished she could know, in her heart, that she would never forget those faces. 

But she couldn’t know that for sure. Even now, kneeling in the middle of her carnage, head in her hands, all she could feel was the sun beating down on her back and a different kind of ache building inside of her like a bomb preparing to blow.

The feeling made her chest ache so intensely that every breath seemed to spread the ache, a virus wreaking havoc on her body. She felt paralyzed, unable to move past the raw, cutting ache. Her mind spiraled and spiraled, the same few thoughts echoing through her head. She was alone. Completely and entirely alone. And she only had herself to blame.

The realization shattered her into a million pieces, a booming, echoing roar ripping through her, the canyon carrying the devastating sound far up towards the sun — still beating down upon her, ever her witness. 

Kitt unleashed this new wave of rage upon everything around her. She roared as her claws met flesh, intestines, cloth, stone. If her claws could tear through it, it was all met with her assault. Every breath was as sharp as her bloodied claws, her throat raw from every jagged inhale and exhale. Every muscle in her body screamed but she didn’t care. 

She slashed and sliced until her legs failed her, collapsing beneath her weight onto the unforgiving stone. Her body shook from both the ebbing waves of rage and the exertion. Slowly, vengeful roars became ragged breaths. Ragged breathes became slowed, deep inhales and exhales. Leaving her in the silent canyon clearing. Even the sun had left the canyon, the once orange and deep red stone dimmed to more muted colors. There was nothing here for her and she hated that for a moment, she thought there could’ve been. 

She was alone. She only had herself and perhaps, that would be enough.

It would have to be.

So focused on her own inner turmoil, Kitt hadn’t noticed the torrential downpour upon her until she was entirely soaked. She couldn’t tell how long it’d been raining, but by her observations of the stream now, the overflow had just begun; starting large puddles in the stone and the surrounding sand appeared soaked with the overflow. Water began to rise and on instinct alone, Kitt turned away from the carnage at last and made her way to the nearest cliff, getting herself ready to climb once more. 

“Good idea. You start, I’ll follow.” The deep voice came out of nowhere, shooting through the roar of the rain with a sort of rugged ease.

Kitt spun with her needles at the ready.

Li was standing close beside her – closer than she preferred – just as drenched as she. His face was grim, his once spiky hair now a spiked, black curtain above his brow. His mask was up, obscuring only the bottom half of his face, those dark eyes observing her.

“You’re still here.” Kitt let the small confirmation slip out. She hadn’t meant to say anything at all, but now Li was looking at her with a sort of… confusion? 

No, that look was tinged with pity. Kitt only turned back to the wall and began to climb. She didn’t want to talk. Not about what she’d done to the pirates nor about the relief that had flooded her when she’d seen Li and immediately recognized him. It was like her memories were jumbled, hard to draw upon simply because she couldn’t recall what was even inside of her own mind. So the comfort in recognizing Li’s face, in the confirmation of those dark eyes on her, was the only confirmation that her memories were improving. Yet something about that comfort was unsettling to her. Left her feeling like she wanted to squirm. To run. 

But all she could do right now was climb. So as the rain sliced away at her, the only thing on her mind was to get as far away from Li as possible, though she heard him climbing steadily behind her, his heartbeat a steady thump. And a part of her felt such unease when that heartbeat seemed to coordinate with her own. As if they were on the same beat.

Kitt only pushed her muscles harder, forcing herself to climb faster and faster. The rain ravaged them as they climbed, slashing her face like ice cold steel. The canyon stone, once hot and rough, was now slick and hard to manage. Even with her needles, Kitt was slipping every other hand or foot grip. Her heart jolted at every missed grip but more so, at each misstep, her skin prickled up as a warm touch caught exposed flesh. And yet, she shook him off each time, continuing her attempt to get ahead with quick and unfocused movements. 

“Don’t rush!” Li roared through the rain. He practically had to, or else she wouldn’t have heard him. “The faster you go, the sloppier you get!”

But Kitt only ignored him, her claws digging deep into the stone now as she used all of her traction to leap up and over the precipice of the cliff. Her first set of claws hooked onto a larger rock farther back from the ledge but her needles missed their mark. Her chest slammed down upon the blunt stone edge, all the air in her chest heaving out with a hoomph. Her second set of arms were trapped beneath her own body weight, leaving her legs kicking and flailing, desperate for purchase.

She thought she heard Li call out her name, but she could barely hear him over the roar of the rain and the sudden high-pitched screech that echoed through the canyon. The sound made her ears ring so loudly, her free hands struggled to get out from beneath her to cover her ears. But she was only left thrashing at the ledge, unable to successfully sustain a foothold or pull her second arms free. The rain had officially made every ledge and every crevice so slick, there was nowhere she could catch purchase. Even her hold on the rock over the ledge was beginning to slip, forcing her to dig her claws into the stone. 

She was slipping and suddenly, Li was gone. No reassuring touches. No light aids. Eventually, her claws would rip through the stone and she was going to lose her grip entirely. She was going to fall to her death, all because she put too much trust into that reassuring touch. What had she not gotten through her head before? She only had herself. On the precipice of death, that was the only thing she knew down to her core. If only she’d realized sooner. 

Kitt let out a few snarled cries as her claws dug deeper and deeper into stone, to no avail. She dug her claws so deep into stone they ached, her arms shaking from the effort. She closed her eyes the further she slipped, unable to witness her own death. She imagined the feeling of it would be enough, falling to the canyon floor, the rush of the wind embracing her death. She would leave this world the same way she came into it.

When suddenly, slick, yet calloused hands hooked under her shoulders. Those sturdy hands helped drag her over the precipice and steady her on the ledge of the canyon. She was on her knees, heaving breaths escaping her as she opened her eyes to see worn black boots. And when she peered up at her aid, that same uncomfortable relief flooded her once more.

Li was crouched before her, a concerned crease in his dripping brow. Though, as she continued to observe him, it was like she saw that same flash of relief in his eyes. All Kitt knew to do was to shrug off his touch and rise from her knees; away from their closeness. In the same moment, another high-pitched shriek rocked the flooding canyon. Now able to cover their ears, they both did so, their eyes attempting to see through the downpour. To Kitt’s surprise,, Li actually lowered his hands much earlier than she did, his hands going to his pack. Which was now much fuller than she’d seen it last, she realized. Before the pirate base, the pack had efficiently blended into the silhouette of his shadow. Now, the pack’s leather bulged and the straps keeping everything in were stretched to their maximum length.

He pulled out two of the handheld weapons she recognized from her battle with the pirates just moments earlier. They seemed to be a sort of long-range weapon, though none of them had seemed to have the ability to wield them very well during their assault upon her. All their shots had hit the canyon walls behind her and as the pirate reloaded for another shot, Kitt found her moment to rip them apart. So, as Kitt observed the weapons, her confusion grew. How did the weapon possibly work; let alone efficiently.

Li caught her stare for a moment, before returning his eyes to a spot on the horizon.

“Did you want one?” he asked without looking at her. No, that cold, deadly stare stayed on the horizon watching something she didn’t, or perhaps couldn’t, see. “There’s plenty. You could have two, if you wish. I took back every single one they had on that base. Even their lousy replicas.”

Replicas? Took back? So these weapons were of his own design, of his own creation…

The last thing Kitt could recall before the emptiness took over her mind and consciousness was another high-pitched shriek, this time it was so close, she could hear the many irregular heartbeats coming straight towards them.