03-08-2023, 03:13 AM
The room felt so empty.
Corrupttimelines had shifted into his domestic feline form for the time being, desperate to see Aesior. Had he not acted so entitled, he would have seen the former much sooner. Seven had made it clear he could not enter in his primary form, which frustrated the dragon and her he held a strong understanding. His being was too large, too obtuse to simply maneuver its scaly surface through the petite doorframe. His head would burst through the ceiling had he even attempted. As such, he obliged to Seven’s wishes. For the past few days he wandered this plane in a body that was abnormal, and yet home all at once. The last he had seen Aesior, this was the form he had uptaken. The day he had parted ways with the former and his son, he could recall being in this flesh. It felt foreign, everything felt so surreal. After he was entrusted with something so…special, he managed to louse it up. At the time, nothing had seemed more important than finding her. How wrong he was.
She had come to him in a dream, pleading for him to come find her. The softness of her eyes and the stiffness of her fur wavering in the rain, it all had felt so surreal. Everything was coming in flashes, fragmented. Her golden hued fur, strikingly different against his own had dazzled in his eyes as a horrified look up took her face. Blood trickled down her side from a claw mark wound as deep as his claws could have done, and she was sniffling and sobbing in agony. Swiftly, she dropped into the mud beneath her feet before his eyes. Her choking sobs wheezed into the sky as she made her plea.
“Cory! Please, help me! It hurts! It burns!”
When he woke up, Corrupttimelines wasn’t the same. The dream had really unnerved him, and he couldn’t get it out of his head. His brain was tainted with the agony of her cries, and though he could not recognize her, the familiarity was painful. To see her suffer, but not know her name. It was too much for him, and he felt himself sleeping even less than before. How could he, when her face haunted his dreams? How could he, when he wasn’t going after her? She needed his help, and to not give it would be selfish. It was eating him alive.
That was when he made the hardest decision of his entire life.
He invited Aesior over for tea during a stormy day. As usual, he had obliged. The duo spent the entire evening together, reminiscing about the days prior and giggling over Vintara’s antics. Despite the cheerful tone Cory forced upon his voice, his mind was plagued. It was struggling, tormented. Each time the lightning cracked across the sky, he began to feel overwhelmed with the memories of the nameless female upon his brain. The flashes would come back to him, causing his heart to speed up as he tried to repress it.
Crack.
Cory trembled as her face flashed before his eyes, contorted in pain. Her suffering was washing over him, and nausea brimmed in his gut as he forced his breaths to steady, trying not to worry Aesior as he forced the conversation for another ten minutes.
Crack.
He wavered a bit, feeling tears brim his eyes as her screams flooded his head. Relentless, they grew louder and louder in the recesses of his mind. His head hurt, and he felt panic threatening to consume him. Cory repressed it further, his voice lowering to just below a whisper.
Crack.
“Your breathing sounds off. Are you alright?” Aesior scribbled down, shoving his notepad towards Cory. The feline sniffled and clamped his teeth down upon his lip, silencing sobs that threatened to spill past his lips. He shook his head, and then sighed deeply.
“ I ... I need to go in search of someone important. I won't be here for a while, and I don't know when I'll be back. I want you to look after Tanglewood until then,” he pleaded, the tears streaming down his face as he sat. Aesior’s face contorted with shock as he shook his head to and fro. Disappointment and fear encased his expression and body language.
“What do you mean?! I wouldn’t have the first clue what I’m doing,” he asserted, scribbling it upon the notepad before shoving it towards Cory again. The feline glanced over to Aesior and frowned further, clenching his paws as he did so. He should have known Aesior would protest. Why wouldn’t he?
“You will do amazing. You are amazing…I-” he paused, clearing his throat. He’d never said those words before, and saying them now likely wouldn’t make this any easier on Aesior. Instead, he clenched his eyes shut and let a deep breath escape his maw.
“Just…I know you can do it, Aesi. You’re strong-stronger than me. Vintara should stay with you while I’m gone, he doesn’t like to be alone. You know how much he adores you,” he insisted, beating around the bush as he glanced at Aesior. He was hurt, confused, perhaps even afraid. Cory knew him all too well, and the guilt seeping into his brain was rampant. He never wanted to do this to Aesior. He could tell the former was deep in thought, as he didn’t reply for awhile. When he did, it was short but clear.
“Okay. You better come back, then.”
Cory sniffled and nodded his head. “Of course I will, I would never leave you guys,” he told him.
The two sat there for awhile, taking in each other’s presence, and Corrupttimelines left that same night.
As Cory emerged from his resting quarters, something felt off. His heart was aching, and his brain was wrapped in torment as he recalled the night that sealed their fates. Would Aesior be disgusted with him? He hoped not, after all, he had kept his word. However, he had been gone for so long he partially wondered if Aesior would recognize him. Since he had another child, he figured Aesior moved on. Maybe he wouldn’t even accept Cory here anymore.
As Cory traveled the lands, he struggled to find the spot in which she laid. No matter where he went, he could not find the precise location that haunted his dreams. Just as he was going to give up, he stumbled across a ditch in an area unknown to him prior to these dreams. The memories came flooding back, and Cory was unprepared for what he remembered.
———
“Rej! Rej no!” cried Corrupttimelines, scampering towards his sister as she fought against the enemy dragon. He towered over her, slamming her claws into her side as she screamed and wailed. Cory let out a fierce hiss, flinging mud into the dragon’s eyes as he flung himself forwards, latching into its nose and scraping his claws against his face. This caused the dragon to shift away, repulsed. It flung Cory a few feet away and let out a mighty roar, soaring off in the opposing direction. Cory’s body hit a nearby tree, causing him to collapse. He glanced up, and then what happened in his dreams followed.
———
When he got down to the spot, he was trembling horrifically. Tears rolled down his cheeks as the dragon sat beside a grave he had dug with one paw. Atop of it was an old necklace he had left. He was hurt. The sobs that escaped his maw were incomprehensible. Remembering this changed Cory in ways no one would yet know.
As he rounded the corner to Seven’s door, he heard movement and coughs. It took a moment for him to process it, but swiftly he realized that the noises he had heard did not come from Seven. The feline’s eyes widened, and immediately he rushed up to the door. Pressing his ear against it, he gasped. He breathed shakily, trying to compose himself as he rasped on the door.
“Is…everything okay?”
Corrupttimelines had shifted into his domestic feline form for the time being, desperate to see Aesior. Had he not acted so entitled, he would have seen the former much sooner. Seven had made it clear he could not enter in his primary form, which frustrated the dragon and her he held a strong understanding. His being was too large, too obtuse to simply maneuver its scaly surface through the petite doorframe. His head would burst through the ceiling had he even attempted. As such, he obliged to Seven’s wishes. For the past few days he wandered this plane in a body that was abnormal, and yet home all at once. The last he had seen Aesior, this was the form he had uptaken. The day he had parted ways with the former and his son, he could recall being in this flesh. It felt foreign, everything felt so surreal. After he was entrusted with something so…special, he managed to louse it up. At the time, nothing had seemed more important than finding her. How wrong he was.
She had come to him in a dream, pleading for him to come find her. The softness of her eyes and the stiffness of her fur wavering in the rain, it all had felt so surreal. Everything was coming in flashes, fragmented. Her golden hued fur, strikingly different against his own had dazzled in his eyes as a horrified look up took her face. Blood trickled down her side from a claw mark wound as deep as his claws could have done, and she was sniffling and sobbing in agony. Swiftly, she dropped into the mud beneath her feet before his eyes. Her choking sobs wheezed into the sky as she made her plea.
“Cory! Please, help me! It hurts! It burns!”
When he woke up, Corrupttimelines wasn’t the same. The dream had really unnerved him, and he couldn’t get it out of his head. His brain was tainted with the agony of her cries, and though he could not recognize her, the familiarity was painful. To see her suffer, but not know her name. It was too much for him, and he felt himself sleeping even less than before. How could he, when her face haunted his dreams? How could he, when he wasn’t going after her? She needed his help, and to not give it would be selfish. It was eating him alive.
That was when he made the hardest decision of his entire life.
He invited Aesior over for tea during a stormy day. As usual, he had obliged. The duo spent the entire evening together, reminiscing about the days prior and giggling over Vintara’s antics. Despite the cheerful tone Cory forced upon his voice, his mind was plagued. It was struggling, tormented. Each time the lightning cracked across the sky, he began to feel overwhelmed with the memories of the nameless female upon his brain. The flashes would come back to him, causing his heart to speed up as he tried to repress it.
Crack.
Cory trembled as her face flashed before his eyes, contorted in pain. Her suffering was washing over him, and nausea brimmed in his gut as he forced his breaths to steady, trying not to worry Aesior as he forced the conversation for another ten minutes.
Crack.
He wavered a bit, feeling tears brim his eyes as her screams flooded his head. Relentless, they grew louder and louder in the recesses of his mind. His head hurt, and he felt panic threatening to consume him. Cory repressed it further, his voice lowering to just below a whisper.
Crack.
“Your breathing sounds off. Are you alright?” Aesior scribbled down, shoving his notepad towards Cory. The feline sniffled and clamped his teeth down upon his lip, silencing sobs that threatened to spill past his lips. He shook his head, and then sighed deeply.
“ I ... I need to go in search of someone important. I won't be here for a while, and I don't know when I'll be back. I want you to look after Tanglewood until then,” he pleaded, the tears streaming down his face as he sat. Aesior’s face contorted with shock as he shook his head to and fro. Disappointment and fear encased his expression and body language.
“What do you mean?! I wouldn’t have the first clue what I’m doing,” he asserted, scribbling it upon the notepad before shoving it towards Cory again. The feline glanced over to Aesior and frowned further, clenching his paws as he did so. He should have known Aesior would protest. Why wouldn’t he?
“You will do amazing. You are amazing…I-” he paused, clearing his throat. He’d never said those words before, and saying them now likely wouldn’t make this any easier on Aesior. Instead, he clenched his eyes shut and let a deep breath escape his maw.
“Just…I know you can do it, Aesi. You’re strong-stronger than me. Vintara should stay with you while I’m gone, he doesn’t like to be alone. You know how much he adores you,” he insisted, beating around the bush as he glanced at Aesior. He was hurt, confused, perhaps even afraid. Cory knew him all too well, and the guilt seeping into his brain was rampant. He never wanted to do this to Aesior. He could tell the former was deep in thought, as he didn’t reply for awhile. When he did, it was short but clear.
“Okay. You better come back, then.”
Cory sniffled and nodded his head. “Of course I will, I would never leave you guys,” he told him.
The two sat there for awhile, taking in each other’s presence, and Corrupttimelines left that same night.
As Cory emerged from his resting quarters, something felt off. His heart was aching, and his brain was wrapped in torment as he recalled the night that sealed their fates. Would Aesior be disgusted with him? He hoped not, after all, he had kept his word. However, he had been gone for so long he partially wondered if Aesior would recognize him. Since he had another child, he figured Aesior moved on. Maybe he wouldn’t even accept Cory here anymore.
As Cory traveled the lands, he struggled to find the spot in which she laid. No matter where he went, he could not find the precise location that haunted his dreams. Just as he was going to give up, he stumbled across a ditch in an area unknown to him prior to these dreams. The memories came flooding back, and Cory was unprepared for what he remembered.
———
“Rej! Rej no!” cried Corrupttimelines, scampering towards his sister as she fought against the enemy dragon. He towered over her, slamming her claws into her side as she screamed and wailed. Cory let out a fierce hiss, flinging mud into the dragon’s eyes as he flung himself forwards, latching into its nose and scraping his claws against his face. This caused the dragon to shift away, repulsed. It flung Cory a few feet away and let out a mighty roar, soaring off in the opposing direction. Cory’s body hit a nearby tree, causing him to collapse. He glanced up, and then what happened in his dreams followed.
———
When he got down to the spot, he was trembling horrifically. Tears rolled down his cheeks as the dragon sat beside a grave he had dug with one paw. Atop of it was an old necklace he had left. He was hurt. The sobs that escaped his maw were incomprehensible. Remembering this changed Cory in ways no one would yet know.
As he rounded the corner to Seven’s door, he heard movement and coughs. It took a moment for him to process it, but swiftly he realized that the noises he had heard did not come from Seven. The feline’s eyes widened, and immediately he rushed up to the door. Pressing his ear against it, he gasped. He breathed shakily, trying to compose himself as he rasped on the door.
“Is…everything okay?”
code by spacexual
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DON'T WANNA WAKE UP