// set after aurum's leaving

A cold quiet was settled in the house. Dim moonlight filtered through the windows, and it was a bit painful to sit there and rest. Her chest, sides, they were still inflamed and achy from being crushed under that house. But, she supposed, it wasn't as bad of a fate as the one that perished. Her eyes slid to the side. The dust that was beginning to settle around the floorboards. Her shoulders stiffened a bit. She looked away. She didn't want to think about it, because it was beginning to dwell on her shoulders, weigh her down.

Gone. That's all she knew. That her parent was gone, taking her older brother with him and selfishly leaving this child behind. Why? A bitter curl of her lips, ears flattening down. Was she not good enough for him? Was she an afterthought? An "oh shit I forgot..?" No. She would never be that. Asvini pushed herself to her paws, whining softly in pain. Luckily no one was truly around to hear her. She slowly wobbled her way outside, the soft squeak of the doors making her tense up just that much more.

She sat down on the porch, her eyes lifting to the sky. Her ears slowly flattened, identifying what constellations she could. It must be so simple, up there. Drifting stars, empty space. No air, no sound. No problems, no drama. It was almost laughable. A soft chuckle as she tilted her head down, then a groan. Her eyes squeezed shut, and her head was struck with a migraine. She cried out, gently reaching up a shaking paw to press to her eyes. Why did it feel like they were lit on fire?

// feel free to find her! she's on the aurum family porch, sitting with her paw to her closed eyes

"speech"

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ALYOSHA, MY DEAR, MY ONLY SON, I'M AFRAID OF IVAN.
I'M MORE AFRAID OF IVAN THAN THE OTHER ONE.

// sorry for the late response!!

Her ears were flat to her head. Slowly, the pain faded, but the intense headache remained. Her eyes slowly blinked, wincing against the sudden light intake. She grumbled something painfully to herself, rubbing at her eyes. A frown crossed her muzzle as she heard someone approach, speaking to her. Idly, she reminded herself who it was- Ivan, right? Moth's child. It was a long few moments before she moved, lowering her paws and raising her head to respond to him.

And her vision swam.

She rolled her head a bit, squeezing her eyes shut. What Ivan had saw, in the brief moment of the half-angel focusing on Ivan, was the intense vision of not two, but four eyes. Before this, she hadn't cared much for help. She hadn't cared much- at least, actively- for the people around her besides her family. But now it was time, perhaps, to making an effort to do that much. "I can.. hear you fine. Why can't.. I see?" She whispered, her body shaking a bit.

"speech"

    Moth's death had seemed to cause more of a quake within those living in Tanglewood than the actual earthquake had. Almost immediately after the death of the former medic, a child of hers had gone missing; while it was possible that her death had not lead directly to Atticus's disappearance, Alaric saw no reason to believe that this was not the case. Ivan had seemed to find an imaginary friend or something of the sort, too, an assumption that Alaric had made after overhearing the child ramble to someone who was not there. Selby had become a reclusive widower, too, and now Aurum was gone as well. The former proxy had even left behind his blood daughter, a fact that saddened Alaric to think about.

    That said daughter was currently located on the porch of Aurum's former home. Ivan was exchanging words with her, and if his expression was to be judged correctly, his speech carried an air of concern. Inquisitively, Alaric approached in time for Asvini to ask why she couldn't see. His metaphorical brow furrowed in confusion. Her not being able to see could probably be attributed to the fact that her eyes were closed, but he figured that showing her some concern right now would be the best thing to do.

    "Asvini, are you alright?" said the tabby, stepping towards the cub.

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Ivan was looking at Asvini very intently, and as described before, his countenance exhibited genuine concern. Being the only person to have spotted her so far, he felt a moral duty. He had difficultly accepting Aurum was an adoptive uncle especially now, but even if Asvini wasn't adoptively related, she was still part of the group.

The young cat started when Asvini revealed herself to him. The dark fur lining his back prickled with unease. He tried to figure out what he saw was a figment of his imagination or reality.

Composing himself quickly, his voice dropped into a hushed whisper. "I don't know, but you've got ..." How to say this? If he was imagining it, he would lose respect or even be perceived as taunting her. "You've got ... four ... four eyes..." He stammered, as his heart hammered relentlessly in his chest.

Alaric nearly scared Ivan out of his mind. The boy jumped up in alarm as the tabby broke into the conversation. "You can help, Alaric? It's her eyes, I-I think ..." He hated the uncertainty of it all. Multiple body parts weren't something entirely uncommon, he was the caretake of a double-headed bird and he himself was born with an extra toe. Once he reminded himself of this fact, he was able to take deeper breaths to soothe his panic.

As Alaric approached, her shuddering, the feeling of pain riddling her body from her head down, slowly froze up. She lifted her head, slowly trying to squint her eyes open. Her vision swam for a moment, but the longer she kept her gaze steady, the steadier her vision got. Her four eyes opened and closed and unison, and as she rose a paw to her face, she grimaced gently. She barely had time to consciously think to herself is she was alright before Ivan confirmed her beliefs. She inhaled deeply, then slowly let her shoulders settle down.

She opened her mouth, shakily speaking to both Alaric and Ivan. "Four eyes." She tried to comprehend for a moment, but the facts wouldn't change. She shook her head a little bit, then groaned, reaching to her head and pawing at her ear as if it would settle the headache. "I'm... not.. super surprised just.. This.. bad headache." She responded, raising her paw to her eye again, squeezing them shut. Her body- of course, as soon as she confirmed it was Alaric, she had returned to the shakes- was slumping and tensed all at once.

"speech"