BLACK SEA // Crow

[Pastel]

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PASTEL ROUX !

We are the weirdos mister.

Six months.

She’d left at that age and been gone just a little over that same amount.

Her reason for leaving was her father, Crow, who for as long as she could remember had an affliction. It caused him to throw up black ooze due to stress, anxiety and sometimes his insomnia. Later on, they’d found out the ooze was his soul, and if he did not put it back, he would eventually become soulless.

It became a routine of hers to collect it in a bucket for later, helping her father the few times he accidentally aspirated it into his lungs (a simple floating spell). However, since they’d gotten closer to Tanglewood, and eventually moved in, his condition had worsened. The expulsions became more frequent, even on the most relaxed of his days. She had had enough of his fragility, mostly due to her own concern for his health and the fear that her father might one day be an empty husk. It was in all, too much for a kit to handle, and so she impulsively decided that she would find a cure for the illness.

She packed her bag while Crow was out with Morgan, much to Selby’s curiosity. Her hat was stuffed in her suitcase, along with a few snacks, books she felt she needed, a few potions and some knives(two were strapped to her sides). It was, an interesting array of items to say the least, but she didn’t have many belongings to begin with. With her suitcase ready, she had left in the cover of night.

It was the same cover that she came home under. She’d grown ever so slightly, but to her disappointment, she still looked very much like a child. Unlike herself, Tanglewood was much changed since her departure. It looked more lonely, though the buildings were fixed up. Perhaps it was just the night, maybe they were sleeping. Though somehow, she knew one would not be sleeping at this hour as his cottage came into view. 

Taking her broom and suitcase in for a landing, Pastel pushed back her hood and pulled on her hat. She had no need to hide her occupation now that she was back. With a swift paws she went to the door and gave a few knocks. A pattern that Crow would know too well.

.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-

Penned by Elumina - "SPEECH"

＃forsaken

[Crow Roux]

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Pastel was entirely correct. Crow, in fact, was not sleeping, as he spent most of his nights. He did not have a particular reason to not sleep, for his mood was in a stable place this month, but still he wasted nights staring at the ceiling from the corner where he placed his bed, so instead he opted to busy himself. The forest had a strange allure at night he discovered, with the faint cries of the creatures of the swamp at night echoing between the houses, so he often took walks all around to completely lose himself and his sense of time until he became too tired to do so. It was better that way when the majority of his days blurred into an endless cycle of sunrise and sunset.

He hummed to himself softly as he watered his many plants residing in the likes of decorated pots and large jars when a muffled knock sounded from his door, and his satellite dish-like ears swiveled to listen more closely. There was a pause, then a series of taps began on his door, short, short, long, and so on, and Crow would recognize it, his jade eyes widening with bewilderment. Could it be?

The feline's clumsy movements toppled several books as he dashed to the door and opened it in a haste, then pulled his daughter into a tight embrace without much of a warning. She looked different perhaps, maybe the look in her eyes or the way her fur shone, and despite being small she looked more... grown up. But whatever it was, she was still his Pastel, and he couldn't possibly be angry at her right now for disappearing. Hell, he was just happy she was alive and well.

"Where did you go?!"

- ★ -

[Pastel]

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PASTEL ROUX !

We are the weirdos mister.

There was the startling wind of the door opening, and then her face was buried in fur. She noted that some places felt pointy, possibly soul that had dried after one of his fits. His scent was comforting and familiar, enough to make her eyes water and her nose turn strawberry. There were new wisps tied into it, but it was still his own.

"To look for a cure."

She had found eons of information in her short travels, but yet no cure made itself apparent at present. Crow's condition was an enigma few had interacted with, and even fewer were willing to share what they'd learned without payment of some kind. In the end, most instances of those with it died or disappeared without a trace.

The house's interior had changed minimally, a Wendigo mask hung on the wall over the mantle with two other hooks beside it. She didn't want to ask about them, lest her father speak the name of the creature and slowly doom them all.

Penned by Elumina - "SPEECH"

＃forsaken

[Crow Roux]

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In the comfort of his daughter's embrace, unsightly tears slipped from his eyes as his arms wrapped tighter around her. Should she have not come home, nights spent awake awaiting her return would have turned into weeks, those weeks into months and into years and into centuries sat on his lonesome pondering where she had gone and if she would ever come back, a hollow shell of himself with but a singular purpose, patiently waiting. The guilt from not being able to keep her safe would have become too great for Crow to bear—after all, he had made a promise to Ben, a promise to not let anything happen to her so long as he could help it, one he did not intend to sever for a long time.

The feline's grip loosened, and he leaned back to take a good look at her, afraid if he let her out of his sight once more she would vanish... "You didn't have to do that for me." Then his eyes found her paws, an alarming sight, patchy fur and obvious scarring revealing an apparent conflict. "W-what happened out there..?" he questioned with an eyebrow raised in a conspicuous manner, fully stepping back now to allow her room to breathe.