BURN
BRIGHT
BRIGHT
Ninazu stood before the sea. The harsh winter breeze rolled off the waves and stung her eyes, but the lioness breathed in the cold and loved its sting for anchoring her in the moment. The guru—no, the Kingpin—stared out to the harsh surf beneath the towering cliffs, refusing to look back at Stryker’s body on the tall wooden funeral pyre behind her.
The Coalition gathered before his headless corpse. Their murmurs reached her ears, but she listened to the ocean crash upon the rocks below. She’d put out the word at sunrise the previous morning, but twenty-four hours wasn’t enough to prepare her for what needed to be said, what needed to be burned. No time, no matter how long, was enough for a lover to grieve.
She let go of the hope he would return, and embraced the fear of living on without him. Ninazu accepted the possibility of her death; she would gladly die and battle through the void to return to her children, her friends, and the Coalition, as she had done before. She assumed he would return as she had, and this belief carried her for a while, allowed her to face the Coalition’s sneering enemies in the monthly neutral meeting, but she couldn’t delude herself forever.
In the seven days following the Typhoon’s successful revolt, Ninazu fluttered between denial and rage. His headless corpse, buried in the snow, mocked her as much as the mountain’s blizzards. He had not returned to her, as she had to him. And the new home they’d won refused to thaw enough to bury what remained of her husband.
Ninazu cradled Stryker’s chain earring between her paws. The flames in her mane burned down to embers, then died in a puff of grey smoke. Gritting her teeth, the lioness closed her eyes and held the earring to her forehead, fighting both the desire to sob and the will to burn a firestorm over the whole world. She inhaled.
The lioness turned to the gathered crowd. Her mane flared, dripping green flames down her shoulders and pulsing against her neck. Stryker’s chain earring sparkled in her palm, matching the one worn on her own ear.
“Stryker is dead.” Ninazu searched for their children in the crowd, but maintained eye contact with the group, looking between those gathered. These animals weren’t only Stryker’s followers and friends—they were hers, too.
“He would’ve returned by now, if he weren’t, and it is time for the Coalition—and myself—to accept his passing. He was our Kingpin, the mind behind our successful empire, and the reason why we survived the destruction of our home.” She smiled to herself. “How things change. When I first met him, when we were both nobodies in the Pitt, he had been the brutal one and I the strategist. But, in time, we learned from the other and grew into the conquerors we became.”
She chuckled softly and shook her head. “He never did learn a lick of healing from me, however.” The Kingpin lifted her chin and rubbed an eye with the back of her paw.
“The Coalition will never be the same. Everyone who knew him has changed because of his impact on this world. Our enemies will never forget the days he crushed them under the Coalition’s paws and ruled them, make no mistake. And we will never forget how he led our struggling band to victory after victory.
“For those of you that knew him personally, let’s not forget the time I thwacked you all with flaming coconuts. Him included! That was the sort of leader he was: fearless in battle, a scourge to our enemies, but a friend to everyone on the island.
“I will never be the same. No longer am I your guru, your healer, your unofficial second in command. Today, I will lead you. Just as Stryker and I learned together, I will continue to learn from our successes and failures.
“We may never become the empire we were under his leadership, but, under mine, we will enter a new age. None will dare attack our icy home, and we will be free to take what we need from the world. Why should we care what any of those fools think? We beat them all, and we survived to rub it in their fucking faces.
“Stryker would want us to endure. I want us to endure. For we are the same as the plants we brought with us. Does it boggle anyone else’s mind that our carnivorous plants thrive in colder weather? Make no mistake—they, like us, are adaptable to any environment.
“We can, and we will thrive.”
Ninazu bared her fangs and dipped her head. The green flames leaped from her mane to the funeral pyre, crackling into a roaring bonfire in seconds. The heat rushed from the pyre, but Ninazu stood unmoving next to where Stryker’s head should’ve been. She curled her paw tighter around his earring.
“If anyone else has words to share… now is the time.”
The Coalition gathered before his headless corpse. Their murmurs reached her ears, but she listened to the ocean crash upon the rocks below. She’d put out the word at sunrise the previous morning, but twenty-four hours wasn’t enough to prepare her for what needed to be said, what needed to be burned. No time, no matter how long, was enough for a lover to grieve.
She let go of the hope he would return, and embraced the fear of living on without him. Ninazu accepted the possibility of her death; she would gladly die and battle through the void to return to her children, her friends, and the Coalition, as she had done before. She assumed he would return as she had, and this belief carried her for a while, allowed her to face the Coalition’s sneering enemies in the monthly neutral meeting, but she couldn’t delude herself forever.
In the seven days following the Typhoon’s successful revolt, Ninazu fluttered between denial and rage. His headless corpse, buried in the snow, mocked her as much as the mountain’s blizzards. He had not returned to her, as she had to him. And the new home they’d won refused to thaw enough to bury what remained of her husband.
Ninazu cradled Stryker’s chain earring between her paws. The flames in her mane burned down to embers, then died in a puff of grey smoke. Gritting her teeth, the lioness closed her eyes and held the earring to her forehead, fighting both the desire to sob and the will to burn a firestorm over the whole world. She inhaled.
The lioness turned to the gathered crowd. Her mane flared, dripping green flames down her shoulders and pulsing against her neck. Stryker’s chain earring sparkled in her palm, matching the one worn on her own ear.
“Stryker is dead.” Ninazu searched for their children in the crowd, but maintained eye contact with the group, looking between those gathered. These animals weren’t only Stryker’s followers and friends—they were hers, too.
“He would’ve returned by now, if he weren’t, and it is time for the Coalition—and myself—to accept his passing. He was our Kingpin, the mind behind our successful empire, and the reason why we survived the destruction of our home.” She smiled to herself. “How things change. When I first met him, when we were both nobodies in the Pitt, he had been the brutal one and I the strategist. But, in time, we learned from the other and grew into the conquerors we became.”
She chuckled softly and shook her head. “He never did learn a lick of healing from me, however.” The Kingpin lifted her chin and rubbed an eye with the back of her paw.
“The Coalition will never be the same. Everyone who knew him has changed because of his impact on this world. Our enemies will never forget the days he crushed them under the Coalition’s paws and ruled them, make no mistake. And we will never forget how he led our struggling band to victory after victory.
“For those of you that knew him personally, let’s not forget the time I thwacked you all with flaming coconuts. Him included! That was the sort of leader he was: fearless in battle, a scourge to our enemies, but a friend to everyone on the island.
“I will never be the same. No longer am I your guru, your healer, your unofficial second in command. Today, I will lead you. Just as Stryker and I learned together, I will continue to learn from our successes and failures.
“We may never become the empire we were under his leadership, but, under mine, we will enter a new age. None will dare attack our icy home, and we will be free to take what we need from the world. Why should we care what any of those fools think? We beat them all, and we survived to rub it in their fucking faces.
“Stryker would want us to endure. I want us to endure. For we are the same as the plants we brought with us. Does it boggle anyone else’s mind that our carnivorous plants thrive in colder weather? Make no mistake—they, like us, are adaptable to any environment.
“We can, and we will thrive.”
Ninazu bared her fangs and dipped her head. The green flames leaped from her mane to the funeral pyre, crackling into a roaring bonfire in seconds. The heat rushed from the pyre, but Ninazu stood unmoving next to where Stryker’s head should’ve been. She curled her paw tighter around his earring.
“If anyone else has words to share… now is the time.”
© MADI
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｢ BURN IT FUCKING DOWN ｣[div style="width:360px;font-size:8pt;line-height:1.2;color:#000;font-family:arial;margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:5px;letter-spacing:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:justify"]Back from the dead to tell you that I’m alive / Killed the old way but I survived / Fuck the blueprint, I redesign / Death or exile, you decide / Tell ’em all that I made my name / Tell ’em all that I paved my way / Found the fear then went face to face / Now it’s mine to send up in flames / THIS RIGHT HERE IS AS FAR AS YOU GO ! | TAGS & PLAYLIST [color=transparent]-
![[Image: 47407915_RucwlSELKxeGt9A.png]](https://f2.toyhou.se/file/f2-toyhou-se/images/47407915_RucwlSELKxeGt9A.png)
[div style="font-size:20pt;line-height:.9;color:#000;font-family:impact;padding:8px;letter-spacing:1.2px"]｢ THIS IS WHERE I LOSE CONTROL ｣