Atbash's August CDC Tracker

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

Hurt

    It might seem crazy, but Atbash had dealt with hurt before, although it involved her family. Her biggest feeling of hurt resolved around Caesar and how he destroyed their Home Dimension. Caesar had been a good kid for the majority of their life, and Atbash felt hurt whenever he started to talk about his plans of burning the Dimension whenever a rumor started circulating throughout the Dimension. Atbash had been there for him whenever he got in his moods since Vigenere was doing whatever he was doing in the King's Guard, and she was always trying her best to calm Caesar down. And she thought what she was doing was working; she thought she convinced him that everything was fine, despite how poor they were and how they were treated in the Seventh Tier.

    But she was wrong. Atbash had been horrified whenever Caesar was brought before the family in chains, with Vigenere following suit. Eventually the guards who escorted them home revealed that Caesar had attacked the Shaman, and that their System was Exiled. The guards escorted them to the Outlands, where Vigenere tried to confront them and beg for his position back in the King's Guard, but the two guards only laughed at him and claimed he could not due to being related to Caesar. They barely cast an eye at Atbash, but the she-cat felt a pang of sadness to see Vigenere so upset. He actually had a life in the King's Guard and a girlfriend that loved him very much, and all of that was taken away from him just because of Caesar.

    Atbash's hurt didn't just stop there, though. Soon Caesar started plotting with the other Exiles about killing the King and his Court and she continued to feel hurt. Mostly because she tried to calm Caesar down and now her efforts seemed fruitless, almost like he was never listening to her in the first place. Just like everybody else in the Seventh Tier. Atbash thought Caesar was different, she thought he actually loved her as a sibling, but it seemed like he was just like everybody else in their former Tier: dismissive and only pretended to care. It hurt, feeling like she was being cast aside like that despite her attempts at being a sister. She tried so hard to make it seem like she cared about his feelings and understood, and him going forward with his plans only made it feel like her words were useless, that what she said were just something on paper that he could easily throw away. Atbash thought he had been listening, or was he just using her to get his trust?

    And that hurt extended to the present days, too. Atbash thought she had gotten rid of Caesar when she traveled here with Vigenere, however her oldest brother decided to cast her aside too. Vigenere had claimed he needed time to think, and soon Atbash learned that he joined Tanglewood around the same time she joined Snowbound - about a month after he chased her off. That hurt, too, knowing he just chased her off to be away from her. At least, that's what it felt like. Atbash knew Vigenere hadn't truly meant anything by that and that he was stressed, but she could have been there for him like she had been there for Caesar. Or would he have dismissed her thoughts too?

Word Count: 566