She didn't know many things. She didn't know basic things, like how to write or read or even hunt, or much of anything else. It embarrassed her, knowing that everyone else knew how to do things but her. They were all so smart, so skilled and aware. They were strong, stronger than her in many ways. She had always been weak, and it had been naive of her to momentarily forget that. She would always be that slave, that one who cowered and obeyed, not a mind to call it's own. She always lived to serve.

But there was one thing that she was good at, one thing that reminded her that she was free. She loved to make and fix jewelry, ever since her mother had shown her how. It wasn't everything, of course, and the majority of what she learned had been through trial and error. She had followed in her mother's steps, after all, a thief that had been beaten for her crimes against her masters. It had been a long while since she had done what she loved.

Cosette, still not wanting to use precious resources or get yelled at for taking things that didn't belong to her, had settled with natural resources she found around the territory. Leaves from plants, flowers from cacti, the like. All of them were strung along cheap scratchy wire and whatever else she found, arranged to the best of her ability to make them look at least decent. If only she had better things.

Breathing out through her nose, she went to making her third necklace, using sharp-edged wire to make it. It wasn't what she would usually use, as the ends were much too sharp, but she wasn't thinking about giving these away, either. It was just to keep herself busy, to rekindle her art. Concentrated, her tongue peeked out from the corner of her lips.

Then it's broken, her trance of attention snapped as a sting went through her paw, a small one but still there. She looks down, quickly realizing that she had pricked the pads of her paw, which now oozed a single trail of red. It slid down and wet her fur. But she made no motion to stop it, only watching in odd fascination, face blank.

It was supposed to hurt, wasn't it? Yet she felt nothing, not even a dull sting. She found herself reaching up with her other paw, her mind fogged as she poked at the wound, digging at it with a claw until blood streamed down more and more, both paws now tainted with the warm fluid. Maybe she was just used to it, the pain and the sight of blood. It was nothing new to her. Even before her days in the Pitt, she saw it time and time again.

Reality seemed to slam back into her then, blinking her eyes as she looked around, then back down at what she had done. There was a hole in her paw now, the material of her paw-pad torn away to reveal fresh skin, bloody and mangled. Cosette couldn't help panicking, muttering under her breath in frustration at herself. She had really done it now.

//here u go have this shitty thing ig alsdghf