BURN
BRIGHT

// takes place 8 hours after the conclusion to this thread

Cold, not the painful cold of freezing temperatures, not the chill of a harsh breeze, but a numb cold, a pervasive shiver hooked into the skin. The numb traversed down to the bone, the heart, the brain. If she even had any of those; her senses had died in a haze of bloodloss, and they remained dark. No, not dark, for dark implied light, color, vision.

In the void, there was no darkness, no grey, no color. The bleak monotone slipped over everything, from the tastelessness to the toneless not-sound. A soupy concoction one part void, three parts directionless, and a dash of disorientation mixed in as your soul spins aimlessly down the spiral to oblivion. The lack of sensory input canceled the hallucination known as “time.”

Thoughts drifted in and out of focus. These gradually lost their shape and color as the eternity and not-eternity wore on Ninazu’s psyche. Ninazu? She grabbed the name. Held it tight. Repeated the word in her mind over and over and over, until the word lost its meaning and she relearned its significance over and over and over.

Abruptly, the cold ended and she dissolved, like boiling water thrown on a nightmare. She breathed hot air, body convulsing, and thrashed. But the thrashing translated to twitchy toes and blinking eyelids to her lioness body, as her mind screamed and writhed. The comfort of the numb, where was her cold, how could she be she?

Ninazu gasped and wheezed, sitting up all too suddenly and yet slow as molasses, her jaw working around an object until copper taste drowned out the staleness of her gums. Her tongue, she chewed on her tongue. Her golden eyes opened, blinking rapidly, until she remembered how to see and the world focused.

Home. Her soul managed to navigate home, in the hut she shared with Stryker. How? Her memories blanked after Roxanne killed her serval body. Even the memories in the void faded and blurred to an uncomfortable grey. She chewed on her tongue and shivered, golden eyes closing, swaying on her paws.

Her fire licked down her neck with its comforting warmth. Green and yellow reflected in her golden eyes, and she stared, uncomprehending, at her pawpads beyond the flaming haze.

The fire’s warmth cradled her body. But the cold nestled in her chest and refused to thaw.

© MADI

BURN
BRIGHT

// takes place 8 hours after the conclusion to this thread

Cold, not the painful cold of freezing temperatures, not the chill of a harsh breeze, but a numb cold, a pervasive shiver hooked into the skin. The numb traversed down to the bone, the heart, the brain. If she even had any of those; her senses had died in a haze of bloodloss, and they remained dark. No, not dark, for dark implied light, color, vision.

In the void, there was no darkness, no grey, no color. The bleak monotone slipped over everything, from the tastelessness to the toneless not-sound. A soupy concoction one part void, three parts directionless, and a dash of disorientation mixed in as your soul spins aimlessly down the spiral to oblivion. The lack of sensory input canceled the hallucination known as “time.”

Thoughts drifted in and out of focus. These gradually lost their shape and color as the eternity and not-eternity wore on Ninazu’s psyche. Ninazu? She grabbed the name. Held it tight. Repeated the word in her mind over and over and over, until the word lost its meaning and she relearned its significance over and over and over.

Abruptly, the cold ended and she dissolved, like boiling water thrown on a nightmare. She breathed hot air, body convulsing, and thrashed. But the thrashing translated to twitchy toes and blinking eyelids to her lioness body, as her mind screamed and writhed. The comfort of the numb, where was her cold, how could she be she?

Ninazu gasped and wheezed, sitting up all too suddenly and yet slow as molasses, her jaw working around an object until copper taste drowned out the staleness of her gums. Her tongue, she chewed on her tongue. Her golden eyes opened, blinking rapidly, until she remembered how to see and the world focused.

Home. Her soul managed to navigate home, in the hut she shared with Stryker. How? Her memories blanked after Roxanne killed her serval body. Even the memories in the void faded and blurred to an uncomfortable grey. She chewed on her tongue and shivered, golden eyes closing, swaying on her paws.

Her fire licked down her neck with its comforting warmth. Green and yellow reflected in her golden eyes, and she stared, uncomprehending, at her pawpads beyond the flaming haze.

The fire’s warmth cradled her body. But the cold nestled in her chest and refused to thaw.

© MADI

GASOLINE by I Prevail

Let's burn it fucking down
Yeah
Back from the dead to tell you that I'm alive
Killed the old way but I survived
Fuck the blueprint, I redesign
Death or exile, you decide
Tell 'em all that I made my name
Tell 'em all that I paved my way
Found the fear then went face to face
Now it's mine to send up in flames
'Cause this right here is as far as you go
This right here is where I lose control
This right here is as far as you go
Burn it all down, burn it all down
I don't give a fuck
Burn it all down, burn it to the ground
Feed the flames, go insane
And burn it all down, burn it all down
Fuck what they say, fuck everything
Light the match, gasoline
Kill it all, kill everything
And burn it all down, burn it all down
Nothin' but red inside when I close my eyes
Vision built that you can't deny
Born and bred to take back what's mine
Break or bow down, you decide
Tell 'em all that you can't be saved
Tell 'em all that you dug this grave
Learn to live in this mess you made
Now it's mine to send up in flames
'Cause this right here is as far as you go
This right here is the end of the road
This right here is as far as you go
So burn it all down, burn it all down
I don't give a fuck
Burn it all down, burn it to the ground
Feed the flames, go insane
And burn it all down, burn it all down
The time is up
There's no return
Fuck them all
Watch them burn
Yeah, 'cause I don't give a fuck
Fuck what they say, fuck everything
Light the match, gasoline
Kill it all, kill everything
And burn it all down, burn it all down

｢ BURN IT FUCKING DOWN ｣[div style="width:360px;font-size:8pt;line-height:1.2;color:#000;font-family:arial;margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:5px;letter-spacing:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:justify"]Back from the dead to tell you that I’m alive / Killed the old way but I survived / Fuck the blueprint, I redesign / Death or exile, you decide / Tell ’em all that I made my name / Tell ’em all that I paved my way / Found the fear then went face to face / Now it’s mine to send up in flames / THIS RIGHT HERE IS AS FAR AS YOU GO !  | TAGS & PLAYLIST [color=transparent]-

Ninazu hummed at his words, unable to put thoughts into words. Their imprisonment remained a dark spot in her memory, no matter how many times she meditated. The psychedelics came closest to removing the gunk in her mind from such trauma, but the lioness never liked remembering that time. To remember was to drown in powerlessness.

She threw more gold in her satchel, until Stryker’s comment draws her eye. Eyebrow curling up, she glanced over her shoulder before turning her head. Her golden eyes widened.

“One would look equally good on you, my lightning bug.” She hooked one on a claw, raising her paw until she held it at Stryker’s ear level. Smiling softly, she hummed again, this time in satisfaction. “Quite handsome, indeed. The iridescent metal matches your eyes.”

Her flames licked her cheeks, the mane contracting in size but flickering wildly. Ninazu’s eyes narrowed, before her expression returned to a relaxed grin. “Things did change. Before… that… we were both too wrapped up in our own desires. I we hadn’t gone through that mess together, I doubt either of us could trust the other completely. Ironically, all of that bullshit means you’re the only one I could trust completely.”

She inhaled sharply, the flames expanding, and exhaled a puff of steam through her nostrils. The flame’s edges tinged green. She glanced away from his face, staring at the earring in her paw for a long moment.

“Perhaps it’s time we… show off our bond. And using stolen jewelry to do it is about as us as we can get.”