Falling // P

[Loki]

The stars shown bright in the night sky like fireflies scattered in a field, the beautiful, eerie light brightening the landscape and providing a path through the rocky, dangerous canyon, a canyon that held many memories: good ones, and bad. The red rock no longer gave off a red hue, but in the light of the moon, looked pale and silvery, possibly even the faintest blue. It was strange how low light could confuse the eyes and disorient colours, making an entire red canyon appear grey and blue, but it did not confuse the black tom, who had been here numerous times.

Loki picked his way carefully down a lone, canyon path, finding the trail easier and easier as the days passed. His black paws were light and graceful, his claws gripping the rock if he felt himself slide. Rocks fell off below his feet, causing the eerie scene to become just a bit more eerie, as at any point, Loki could fall to his death on that narrow path. Yet, the nimble cat had not a thought of death in his mind. He continued down the path at quite a quick rate, his long, black tail waving behind him to help him keep his balance. Then, finally, he leaped to the canyon's ground level, his paws barely making a thud as he continued on, walking forward before a large cave opening, his ears flattening as his green eyes narrowed on it, then he looked up to see bats escape it. Perfect, Loki found himself saying as a small smile appeared on his face, and he stepped into the darkness, letting it envelope him completely.

The cave was large, massive, to be exact. It had the occasional smaller cave opening in the wall, but few and far between. The only thing that came out of them were the bats, and still, that was occasional. Skylights could be seen high above, the stars peeking through as if wondering what the black cat was doing. Minimal light filtered through these holes, only when the occasional brighter star flashed by would the cave light up, but only in at one point, as the light was directed like a laser beam. The cave was sort of like a dance floor, with the occasional light show of eerie, silver light. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, yet the lone cat was not.

Loki set off instantly, his paws gripping the rock beneath him as he shot off, leaping up the side of a cliff on the far wall. It went nearly straight up, and right to the top Loki went, where it was flat. It was a very small ledge, yet it was nice, and overlooked the cave opening. Loki sat down and looked around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness.

Yet suddenly, his ears picked up faint pawsteps, and his head swiveled back to the cave entrance, his ears perked and eyes watchful. Suddenly, a cat came into view, and a smile found Loki's mouth. Yet, it was not a happy smile, nor an excited one. It was playful in a way, mischievous, sly. Loki sat tall on his rock as a ray of light passed over his black form, the green of his eyes becoming intense, and his black pupil became nothing but a dot. It created a slightly mad look, and he looked in the slightest insane. "Rose," he said, lowering his chin just a bit, then the light moved on and he was once again suspended in the darkness. Yet from where Loki sat, he could see that the next ray of light would pass over the young cat, and silently leaped from his ledge down to the floor and slid over to the Siamese. When the light slipped over them, Loki was right in his ear. "Why have you come?" Then the light retreated, and so did Loki. In the next seconds, he was silently back on his ledge, looking down at his new acquaintance with narrowed, green eyes. The light slid over him once more, revealing that he was laying down on his belly, his hind haunches sticking straight up high into the air as his front paws were before him. He inspected his right paw with hooded eyes, before setting it down and gazing straight at the other feline, his eyes intense like a green, burning fire. "Why are you here?"

738 Nightingale

© to Vel

[Nightingale]

//ohmygod your writing i'm so jealous okay tea you can do this

Caves. Darkness. The slight sound of rain slipping off of stalactites hanging from the ceiling, magnified by the hollows they echoed through. And above all, the cold. The cold stone that leeched warmth from her body, the cold air that rustled through her fur, the cold light that taunted her as they flashed on the ground, never staying for long.

But darkness never bothered her, and neither did the cold, she decided that night. She liked the cold. She liked the numbness. She liked the way it pulled all feeling from her paws, so she was able to pad swiftly over the ragged stone floors without a second thought.

The Siamese, nothing more than a tall, lithe figure in the shadows, advanced past the looming structures of rock and showers of bats that glided past overhead.
The caves were something completely new to her, foreign and daunting and unfamiliar, but she couldn't bring herself to stop. On and on she passed through cave after cave, knowingly losing herself in the midst of all of them. It was quite a stupid move, honestly, but Rose acknowledged the stupidity, the risks of it, and chose to pad on.

Musty and biting, the air of the caves had a very distinct smell itself, so it was no surprise that the scent of one she met recently jumped out at her as she entered what seemed like her fiftieth cave. Rose paused, wondering she should pursue it. The strength of the scent meant that he was close, not far at all, so she wouldn't have much catching up to do. But then again, she didn't come to the caves to see other cats; rather, quite the opposite, she found herself in them trying to hide from others, trying to hide from her thoughts, perhaps trying to lose herself in the caves and never come back out.

Life had gotten exponentially worse after her brother's death.

But the sheer annoyance still within her, the sheer stubbornness that nestled itself deep, like a barbed thorn, within her after she was unable to figure the tom out, pushed her to veer off track and pad lightly after the scent trail, her tail tip flicking every few steps or so. Deep blue eyes dilated in the darkness, she watched as the tom shot out onto the top of a ledge, sitting there, looking around, until it seemed like he finally noticed her. From where she stood, the tom appeared rather mad, eyes that screamed green and the tiniest of pupils.

"Rose."

But the fickle light left him and all of a sudden he was gone.

She didn't bother to look for the tom, knowing he would turn up again, one way or another, and almost laughed when he spoke again, this time extraordinarily close to her ear. She didn't look back at him, again realising that he would be gone the second the light left them, and was correct once more. Back on the ledge, the tom surveyed his paw and asked her a question.

"Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same," she meowed with a slow blink of her eyes. "But I don't expect a straight answer from that, so I won't."

Instead she chose to sit down, again wrapping her tail around her paws.

"How've you been."

But it didn't sound like a question, more like a statement, a passing comment. As she spoke her eyes never left the tom, the deep blue ever so bright in the flashes of starlight.

[Loki]

Loki let a small chuckle escape his throat. It was creepy, ominous, and wasn't a sound one would find enjoyable, even if it did sound quite melodic. "Most enjoying think in solitude..." he paused for a moment to add emphasis, "in solitude." As he said these last two words, a smile came to his face and his eyebrows lifted, causing his green eyes to widen a small bit. (In a way... looks like this.)

Sliding like a sleek, black snake, he stepped down from his throne. Straight down he descended to her level, never moving his shoulders away from a line. Each protruding rock seemed to be perfectly positioned, and when his black paw pad finally hit the cold, stone floor, he stepped forward toward her in his swaggy, menacing way, his stride long and suggesting dominance. (Lol ANOTHER.) His shoulders protruded slightly out of his back, and flowed smoothly through his black pelt with each step. His tail hardly swayed behind him as he approached the smaller feline.

When he finally stop before her, he was close, but not terribly close, about an average cat's tail length. He glanced her over, taking in the minute changes in her since the last time they'd met. Had they only met once? It felt like they'd known each other for far longer than that, but he guessed not.

"I do not believe you answered my question." When he spoke, Loki's eyes met her's and wouldn't leave, like he was trying to stare into the deepest pits of her soul. Lately, he'd been acting differently... like he was slowly getting more insane in a less insane way. Something had happened, though one could not place a finger on it. "What reason did you have to venture into the caves at this time in the night?"

(( *prays for Maleficent??* xD ))

308

© to Vel

[Nightingale]

oh my god the second gif asdfghjkl

Maleficent raised an eyebrow at the cold chuckle that echoed through the caves, wondering how much the tom had changed since they'd last met. To be fair, she'd changed too, probably at an alarming rate in the time that she'd last seen him.

Darkness reigned.

The tom began to approach her, rather menacingly, but she held his stare as his gaze burned into her, lifting her chin in dignity. Her throat was on full display, a chilly gust that swept intimately around her neck reminded her, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Maleficent didn't think the tom would kill her - he didn't seem like that type, but even if he did, well, who would miss her? Finnick, maybe a little, perhaps that pretty tortoiseshell she'd been acquainted with. But they'd recover. Move on with their lives. Besides, she thought of her neck as quite a beautiful one; long and elegant. It would be a pity to not put it on display.

Loki drew to a stop a tail-length before her, and she narrowed her deep blue eyes against his, gazing at him, nothing more than a dark silhouette in the echoing caves. It was then and there that she'd realised just how insane the tom before her was.

Did she care? No. She liked insanity. She welcomed it.

Perhaps she was going insane herself.

"I do not believe you answered my question. What reason did you have to venture into the caves at this time in the night?"

"Must  I have a reason?" she tipped her head ever so slightly to the right, narrowed eyes hardening. "What if I just happen to enjoy the caves?"

Long, white claws flexed against the cold rock, but there was nothing threatening or hostile in the movement. She had no interest in a fight with the tom.

[Loki]

Loki narrowed his green eyes, glancing her over once more. Then he seemed to give a shrug, though it wasn't exactly a shrug. "It does not matter to me," he started, sitting down with his body facing a wall, though his head was still facing her. "It will eventually be said, and the harder you try not to say, the more it will slip out. In fact, I can assume at this moment... from now new you are to this area, you've most likely never been to the caves before. Is that so?"

Loki let his tail slide over the ground and wrap around his paws as he sat up a bit more. This time, he didn't glance over her, but scanned her over, looking for anything out of the orginary. He first landed on her eyes, though he usually looked at those, so he'd already noticed how blue they were. Her ears were quite normal, but then her neck, it was quite long, elegant, and definately not protected. Even if she didn't trust him, she trusted him enough to not randomly kill her, but she stood in a way that if he was to attack randomly, she'd be ready, even if she herself didn't think so.

And... Maleficent seemed to be overly confident in something, yet slightly scared in a way. Perhaps slightly insane herself, but noting another thing about the cat before her. She thought he was completely gone, insane. Not witless, but uncannily keen, sharp. Being honest to himself, he didn't think he was insane, just dark, and brooding, but when he talked to his brother, everyone else in this world might as well've been insane. Too bad his brother had disappeared again... seems he would be slipping.

300 this makes no sense. Morning posts...

© to Vel

[Nightingale]

The tom's eyes scanned over her, in a way that felt rather critical, green vivid against her svelte cream frame. The feeling, eyes dragged cuttingly over her every feature, was far too reminiscent of her childhood days, shoved onto a table for humans to prod at, to pick up and examine, to overall just judge.

But that was Rose, and Maleficent was Maleficent, so it shouldn't bother her. No, Maleficent didn't even know what humans were. And Maleficent wasn't fazed at all.

What are humans?

She simply gazed back at the tom, emotionless eyes half narrowed.

"I've kept secrets longer than this before, love. I can do it again." She chose to speak after a few long moments' pause, voice slow and calm. With the words, eyes glinted, but it was so fast they may as well have not at all. Pausing even longer before answer the second part of Loki's question, she turned her gaze away from the dark feline and watched cold, musty water drip slowly from a jagged rock reaching out from the roof of the cave.

"It is so. Quite the detective, are we?"

She didn't know why she was being so sharp. Quick-witted, she always was, but irritable, sharp, bitterness lacing her tone? That was new. She blamed a certain purebred Siamese that looked an awful lot like her for getting himself killed.

[Loki]

Loki let a small smile part his lips, before he unsheathed a claw and drew it slowly up her unprotected neck. He could feel where her bones stuck out nearer to her chest, and traced it straight up to the edge of her chin, where it hooked slightly on the chin bone. Though it might've scared her just a bit, he did not intend on harming her. His claw never broke the skin.

Loki let his chin tip up, and his eyes narrowed as he watched her face. "I have the power to kill you right now, if I intended to. Though, you trust me not to, in some way, even if you don't see it." He suddenly drew his face quite close to hers, his green eyes watching her blue ones closely. "I do not kill for a reason. I may not care about others, but I do not kill without purpose."

He suddenly turned and did a sort of hop away from her, before turning back to her, his side exposed and his tail hardly moving. He felt he'd told her more about himself than any other cat, even though it was mostly in his own sort of code.

203 these posts are going downhill

© to Vel

[Nightingale]

//slowly getting shorter and shorter lol

The trace hung on her fur, lightly draping over her skin and dragged at it ever so slightly.

Any other cat, and she would have jerked away instantly, pulling her throat into the safety of her own claws. But there was enough trust that hang between the two tall figures that she knew he wouldn't just kill her - again, what would be the point? There was none. Deep blue eyes narrowed against the tom's when he turned his green ones on her, lifting her chin to stare back at him before turning away, taking a few quick, long-legged steps.

When she turned back, she noticed he had done the same and now had turned his side towards her, tail held stiffly behind him. She paused before speaking, narrowing her eyes.

"Do you really not care about anyone?" her tone lifted ever so slightly at the end of the sentence, pulling it into a light question. She found it hard to believe.

///sosososososo short i have no muse

[Loki]

Loki flinched, as if he had stepped on a thorn, then shifted a small bit as to try to cover the movement up. Her question stung, worse than harsh words, worse than anything a cat from this realm could possibly say to him. It was a question hard to answer, because he knew the truth, but he never wanted to say it.

The truth was, he cared. He cared so much, that it probably wasn't for his own good. He cared about the cat he was speaking to. He cared about his brother, his sister, his mother. He did not care as much for males as he did females, but he still did care for their safety, as well. He cared about his realm, the one he was raised in. He hoped daily that it wouldn't fall without him there to protect it. He knew not where his brother had disappeared off to, but he still cared about the sometimes stubborn tabby. His sister could throw some harsh words, but he still cared for her well being. Loki did not pride himself on how much he cared. It led to pain, and pain was all he felt. It was constant, almost never ceasing, and so he made choices to try to get it to go away, but it never would.

And now, he made a choice that pained him greatly, and yet he still had to make it. He flattened his ears to his head, and his brow furrowed. "Do I care about you mewling creatures?" He started, his voice haughty. "Why should I? You are all beneath me, and my relatives have all died. There is no one left to care about." As soon as the words left his lips, he turned his head away from her as to not let her catch glance of his eyes. They stung, he could feel the pain, the lies, and the past taughts from his childhood began to swirl around his head like ghosts. Liar. Liar. Liar.

338

© to Vel

[Nightingale]

The flinch, minuscule as it was, wasn't missed by Maleficent's eyes. Her mind welcomed this information curiously, relaying what she said and connecting it to the way she questioned the tom on whether or not he cared. A hint of a smirk reached her lips.

"Do I care about you mewling creatures?" made her lift her eyebrows, dipping her chin down with an intrigued gleam in her eyes, almost in an 'oh, really?' sort of way. The insult, perhaps not intended as an insult (or perhaps it was), ruffled the fur over her sharp shoulderblades. A dry rebound instantly formed on her tongue, but she kept her mouth shut, insult resting on the tip of her tongue like a pearl. Mewling creature? A dry laugh echoed. Really.

 "Why should I? You are all beneath me, and my relatives have all died. There is no one left to care about."

"You are all beneath me." The one particular phrase echoed in her mind.

Maleficent didn't like to be insulted. Maleficent knew, deep down, that the tom was lashing out and that cases such as this must be treated carefully. She knew that. Her skills to understand other cats weren't dull, though they were often unused, other than when she employed them to manipulate or exploit.

But insults were second nature to the svelte Siamese.

And she really, really didn't like it when they were turned against her.

"Maybe talking like that is why you're so lonely," she meowed smoothly, voice dripping with contempt and venom. Dryness coated her tone. "You are quite the looker, but that's all you've got going for yourself, love. And looks run out. Better get a grip before you become completely useless."

Her own words almost surprised her. But not as much as her tone - so cold, heartless and unbelievably detached.

When she left her humans for the woods, she didn't know it would take so much from her.

[Loki]

Loki gritted his teeth before lifting his head to meet her gaze again, his chin high and his eyes glistened. He was quite glad it was dark, they were in a cave, and there was a significant distance between them. He wasn't sure what was going on, moments before he'd had it completely under control. She was somehow broken his mask, his perfect mask that kept everything out. It seems it had a flaw, maybe he should try walls instead.

"It's nice to know I have no use," he started, the ghosts getting colder around him. They taughted him, like the voices of the past. His father's feasts, the joyous moments were he was simply beat on, made fun of. He slid his eyes back to the cold stone floor, much like a snake. The movement was so smooth, like a river. "You're just like them," he noted, mostly to himself. He could feel the cold seeping up through his pawpads, wrapping itself around his veins, turning his blood cold. The chill wrapped around his heart, and with a moment so quick, he darted across the cave floor and slammed Maleficent to the ground, pinning her. He nearly snarled at her, but something was different about his eyes. They were... red.

226 sorry for powerplaying, but i had to make it a bit more exciting

© to Vel

[Nightingale]

nah it's all good//

Maleficent knew what was to happen. She knew what was coming, almost anticipating the tom slipping over the floor and throwing her to the ground. In fact, she let it happen - even gave it a little boost by pushing off of her hind legs when the tom collided with her.

She was just so, so tired with everything, so tired with fighting, she welcomed the support of the rocky ground when she landed upon it.

"Just like who?" she stated blankly, head resting gently against the cold, hard ground. "Just like everyone else? Yeah, maybe I am. You'll come to realise, Loki, that everyone is like everyone else."

Eyes resting atop the almost-snarling tom, her voice gained an almost desperate edge as she spoke, more to herself than the black feline.

"There's no escape."

She turned her body slightly and twisted out of the tom's grasp, rolling across the cold floor onto her paws. Dust clung to her fur, but she couldn't care enough to shake it off her pelt. All of a sudden, the cave shrunk before her. Stony grey walls crashed upon her, the boulders crashing down and pushing against her svelte frame, suffocating her, pulling her down until the last drop of air had been squeezed out of her lungs. Her heart thrashed against her ribcage.

"Why don't you just kill me now?"

It wasn't an invite, it was a light question. She sat with her back to the tom, eyes wide and focused on the cold walls, body shuddering with small shakes.

[Loki]

Loki opened his mouth to hiss as the younger cat tried to wriggle from his grasp, but not a sound came out. Something clicked in his head, and he lifted his paw from Maleficent. He watched her, his green eyes bright and no longer fiery, as she leaped away and didn't even bother to shake the dust from her fur. He took a slow step back from her; she wasn't even looking at him. Another step back; she was willing to die for no reason. Another step back brought him closer to the wall. He was retreating from her, unwilling to do what she asked of him. His last, final steps brought the tips of his ankles to the cold, stone walls. They blocked him in, like a prison, he had to face what was before him. There wasn't even a chance to run from this. This was his fate, at the moment, and he had to face it. It was his own doing, and it had been time enough. It did no good to run from something, especially when you weren’t even sure what you were running from, exactly.

He felt the anger, the sadness, the hatred drain from him, and what was left resembled an empty pit. Loki felt… nothing. It was a strange feeling, one he had never experienced before, and he wasn’t sure he entirely liked it. His cold heart broke, shattered to a million pieces, and his breath was nearly knocked out of him. He looked to the ground quickly, his eyes wide, as he tried to regain his thoughts. With force, he decided to shut them, and his world went black.

In the place he had gone to, he could think, he could roam. It was still cold, but that did not bother him. In fact, it relaxed him, and he felt a short sigh escape him, though he did not hear it. The world he knew was gone, he was no longer part of it. He wasn’t part of anything, now. In this world of his own, his thoughts scrolled out before him like credits. The first that came was his home, the one he had been raised in. Memories flashed before him, but they went so quickly, it was hard to make any of them out. However, his mother’s bright, smiling face glowed bright through the blurs, and she seemed a constant through the flashbacks. His adoptive father was also there, his face a burning reminder of what a failure Loki had been. A sister flashed through his mind, then a brother, but his thoughts did not rest long on them.

His memories travelled elsewhere, down into a deep, dark area of the mind. An area that Loki had never been to before, and was quite scared of. A father, abandoning a runt. He thought that runt would die. A mother, looking down at her son with disgust. Both turned and left the kit, never to see him again.

Green eyes flashed open with such force that the black tom who owned them nearly stumbled. He looked around quickly, making sure of his surroundings before spotting the cat before him. He planted his feet, making sure to stay up on them, but he felt as if he would still fall at any moment. It was dark, he remembered, and the cold that seeped through his veins had always been there. He locked eyes with blue ones, and spoke in his deep, vaguely British accent, a song to the ears, “There is something out there…” His eyes traced the walls and went up to the ceiling, the stars visible through sky holes. “Someone…”

He quickly shook his head, regaining his moody, brooding tone. “But that does not concern you.” Her words still rang in his head like echoing memories, before you become completely useless. It was a reminder of what he was, and what he had yet to become…

Oof 663

© to Vel

[Nightingale]

woah so long

"Someone..." the tom's voice echoed in her ears. Someone out there for everyone. Someone as close to perfect as it gets. Someone who keeps you warm even the coldest of winter nights. Someone who loves you.

What a stupid concept.

"Lies."

Pain cracked her meow.

 "Lies, lies, lies, lies."

Something within her faltered, dying away. Her eyes squeezed shut and she braced herself against the cold floor, chest heaving to try and pull oxygen from the caves, which all of a sudden became so small, so dark, so suffocating... she couldn't breathe. Maleficent couldn't breathe. Lungs thrashing against her ribcage, her claws stretched out and locked into the hard stone, sending jolts of pain up her limbs. Chocolate ears folded all the way back, and she shook her head wildly, refusing to open her eyes, refusing to look at the tom - the liar - again. Cold seeped through her fur, crawled up her spine, locking all of her muscles in place, all but her chest, which heaved and retched and shuddered, trying to get her to breathe.

Liar. He was a liar. Just like them all.

Stefan.

The name hadn't even rung in her mind for moons - hasn't since the night where everything she loved crashed down on her. Her someone. Her someone who was perfect; tall, strong, the perfect warrior. And a liar. She was such a fool. She thought he loved her, thought he was willing to do all he said, thought they'd be together forever. She thought he loved her. He said he loved her.

What a stupid, stupid fool.

Her chest fighting against the musty cave air, she pulled it a shuddering breath to choke out,

"Why are you such a liar?" at the dark tom. Claws screeching against the cave floor, she turned, eyes blinking open, a droplet racing down her left cheek. Fear flashed through her as she looked at the tom with new eyes. Liar, liar, liar. And she'd thought he was different.

"You're such a liar," she whispered, blue eyes wide, all of a sudden so small and vulnerable.

[Loki]

Liar. The word hung in the air like a curse. Liar. It crushed the cave walls, making them smaller, making them compress against Loki's sides. Liar. It was like a wake up call; an alarm sounding from far away, but getting louder by the second. Liar. It was a familiar name. Liar. Then, Loki finally remembered who he was.

A cold-hearted, ever-scheming individual. A calculating master of mischief. A sociopath who reveled in the fear he created. In this mind, the puzzle pieces fell together perfectly, and it was overly pleasing.

Loki watched the young cat before him. He could see it all, the fear, the vulnerability, and the tear. The small droplet that landed on the ground, creating such a soft thud, one could barely hear it. That was something he had felt often. The pain, it burned within him. It roared like an unstoppable fire, and now, he could be the one he always wanted to be. The one he was.

He stood up straight, his posture so precise, so practiced, and squinted his eyes together, his mouth forming an o. "Ooh, do you feel it?" He asked, before leaning forward a small bit. "The fear. Now, I wonder... what could have caused that?" He looked around a bit, acting as if he was confused, before picking up his paw and pointing a claw to himself. "Could I have caused it?" He asked, acting genuinely surprised, before breaking into a clearly evil smile, his paw falling to the floor and his tail swishing.

257 // accidental psychopath

© to Vel