embrace my lungs -

tldr:: storm wakes mer up, she starts to smell smoke. outsiders can see her house is catching fire fast. she is slowly realizing her house is on fire, and tries to escape only to almost be hit by a fallen burning beam, shapeshifting into a cream tabby body and collapsing outside of the fire's range while breaking down over memories. the fire she produced has burned the building down and is now extinguished on her pelt as the storm becomes stronger//

it all went wrong in the middle of a storm the first time, and that's where it began to go wrong a second time.

the brightness of lightning flashing came through the window of her home reached her through closed eyes, the booming crash of thunder causing her fur to lift and her eyes to fly open. damnit. she'd just been trying to catch up on sleep after endless days of solitary patrols. she couldn't rest easy, even with the matter of ximen's murder being handled. sitting up from the tattered nest of rags she called her bed for the time being, jaws spread in a huge yawn before dragging herself to her weary paws.

nose twitching, the scent of smoke reaching her. blearily, she turned her head around the old house she'd decided to call home as of recent, Atbash's home still too painful to live within. dimly, her ears picked up on the pattering of rain upon the old falling apart roof, the hiss of fire being lashed by rain beginning to fill her ears with it's ghostly whispers. there, she stood for a moment or so, registering what she was hearing. turning her head to the fireplace, blinking slowly at the grate of the house, expecting to see a fire being rained upon. no. what she saw was far worse.

to those of tanglewood that were perhaps awake, or were awoken by the storm, the thick billowing smoke of old decayed wood, would be visible. it was as much a warning as anything as orange and red began to lick and eagerly swallow the rotten dry wood. it wouldn't be long until flame began to climb from the open shutters and windows, before it an eerie sight of a lioness's bedraggled form alight in the gloom of the house before fire consumed it with an endless hunger, flame blazing up around her outline.

gaze falling to her paws just as swiftly as she had looked to the walls, she saw burning sections of ash being whipped up by the breeze that accompanied the storm, her ears swiveling to lay flat as she watched the flakes of ash falling at her paws and catching the rags on fire. "f-fire!", her voice was quiet, shock filling her as everything clicked into place. her home was on fire, and she was in danger, let alone those of her group. noise sent her scrambling as the creak and snap! of a beam over her head came crashing down, sending up a plume of love cinders and coals as it collapsed upon itself and the old flooring. looking around as smoke began to tear at her eyes, lungs filling with harsh air permeated with the devil's whispers of ash and death, looking for a way out of the inferno that was swallowing every semblance of any kind of fuel for the blaze.

between pillars of smoke and quickly digesting fire, would she spot an opening. her paws moved without her, sending the lioness scrambling for it, the sword Amaltheia an after thought when she was passing by where she'd lain it the last time she'd worn it. Deep breath building in her lungs, lunging for the straps of the sword and diving for the opening she'd seen. with a loud pop! and shattering of glass, her sword was thrown from the burning building. a huge beam from the roof came crashing down towards her at that moment, her gaze flying up at the beam that would surely be her maker, when a strange sensation overcame her. the lioness' body shrank, every facet of her being changing quickly and painfully, prompting an agonized scream to leave her as the beam finished it's descent.

there, she lay beneath it in a pile of limbs and wings, panting as she lay flat to her belly, her ears pulled back as she took stock of her situation. hot embers and coals were spilling onto her, leaving burns in their wake and causing whimpers to build in her throat as memories of a time long-forgotten flooded her mind, leaving her trembling. the beam that should have been her end had lodged itself in it's fall against another not yet devoured post of wood, leaving her just enough space to lay flat without danger of being crushed.

mixed in with these memories were the images of a unicorn and a dragon, the feeling of fire licking against her filling her every sensation, body and mind overloading with the memories. the fire that had consumed her home had come fast, and she had yet to realize that her own body was the cause of it. there, before her in the swirling fire of the present formed the face of a unicorn, a cry only she could hear piercing her ears in the thunderous roar of a man she knew, hearing the words, "GET UP!" as loud as a dragon's roar. eyes fixing through the flame on the distant exit to cleaner air and safety, she would struggle to find the strength to drag herself to her paws. there, everything came back to her, the life she had once lived and the man she had once loved so dearly that when he had been severely injured, she had given everything up to fight for him until she was accused of being a witch and put to death by fire. sobs built in her aching lungs, her throat tight and screaming at her for each sharp inhale. these were the memories that she couldn't recall, or showed up in her dreams in a faceless effigy that haunted her. a frustrated scream built silently, until she finally had enough rage and pain within herself to claw her way from the burning structure that was on the verge of collapse.

from the smoke, would a small feline appear, face soaked in tears as fire roared around her body, from her body. she didn't know that she was the cause of this fire, stirred by the storm and the nightmares that haunted her every night. she couldn't know that they would have resulted in the formation of such powerful flames, or that the pain of a past she didn't want to remember would be cause for this result. barely staggering clear of the furnace of flames, the cream tabby would all but collapse in a pile of limbs, pain riccocheting through her as the fire that she produced upon her pelt raged on even hotter than before, taking on a blue tint from the concentrated heat. was this all real? an anguished wail would leave the she-cat, shifted into a body in the chaos of it all, an instinctual thing to avoid the chance of death. the flames would burn and burn until they died out, steam and smoke rising from her pelt instead as the storm wreaked its chaos upon the settlement of Tanglewood and the burnt collapsed building that she had called home.

- your breath i keep

IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT, BUT MINE!

The storm was a soothing thing for the tiger, laying in the medical bedroom that Seven had given him. A kind woman, he'd have to thank her later. thunder rolling across the sky, however, startled him from his bed and sent him staggering onto the floor. he felt bare, naked, without his armor, but the blue tigress encouraged him that it was safe, and that he needed to be out of it to rest easier.

Dragging himself out of the house, the scent of smoke was almost drowned out by the storm. Almost. eyes scanning the area, he spotted the rising smoke and fire, and his paws found strength to move. though achey, the tiger managed to arrive rather quickly to the house. NPCs were watching and trying to make sure nothing else was set aflame, but Gawain was the only one, it seemed, who approached Merlin.

Though he did not entirely recognize her, Merlin's form was familiar. Gently, though his heart ached to wrap his forelegs around her in a crushing hug, he stepped over her and let his body act as a shield against the elements. He rumbled gently, hoping that she would calm down. For a moment, he felt as though he was comforting someone else. But only for a moment.

AND IT WAS YOUR HEART ON THE LINE!