slow dancing in the wild / TERRITORY MOVE

[Jiyu Simul Stamus]

Protecting that clearing was one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life, mostly because of how little she actually felt like she did. Normally? She was the one using her powers to do the things she had asked Rizer to do, the one rushing back in how she had let Prestige rush back in, the one keeping a sharp eye on things like she had asked Talyn to do. Jiyu was always the last one barking orders unless it was organizing guard or violence related things, and she certainly was never the one worrying about comforting everyone, making sure they actually felt safe or secure. In the end, the calico had pulled through that night, excusing herself for a patrol around their destroyed territory nearly soon as Prestige had shown up the next morning. Yet, the effects of being forced into a task she would normally never willingly take on, being pushed into showing herself that she was capable of more than mindless loyalty and physical protection? Lingered long after the flames, embers, and smoke had faded.

Jiyu had been doing her part, but it was odd because she went even further than normal to make sure she was doing her part entirely or mostly alone. Normally, she would at least sit with everyone occasionally, but since the fire she had not even stayed in the clearing, guarding it from several meters away on the branch of a dead tree. She needed to get back to being who she had always been, not what Prestige had unintentionally shown her she could be.  "I'll go with him" sure she would have to be with Talyn for a while as they went ahead of the others, but it was better than being with everyone else, risking taking action to try emotionally comfort them and screwing everything up. Heck, if she got lucky? She would be able to seperate from Talyn eventually before coming back to report in to Prestige at a later time.

Plus, she had no reason to stay here, every good memory she ever had in this place had been burned by the flames, and she hadn't seen her mother's ghost since. Perhaps when the mansion burned down the other calicos connection to the world of the living had broken? Jiyu didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think about how if her siblings ever came back they'd never be able to find her now, that everything she had been clinging to was gone except for a few scrap items she had managed to recover. "I don't have any more things to collect, my room went up entirely and everything-" there was nothing else she could save, sure she found a few scraps of numerous sentimental scarves and other half destroyed items, taken those, but there was nothing she could really save. All the calico had left of everything she had ever been through? Was destroyed remnants stashed in the piece of what looked like a half burned out cat pelt tied around her neck, laying between her shoulder blades so she could keep what little she did have safe. "I can't do anything here." she couldn't stand to be here, she wasn't reliable, the only thing Jiyu knew was that she wanted the pain to stop.

Staying here another moment? Wouldn't make her bruises, scratches or her missing fangs hurt any less, all she needed was to get away, without running away. Jiyu didn't run away from her own demons, she lived by pushing through them, the only thing that would make her feel better, the only thing she could see, was moving forward again.