SEEING RED AGAIN // oneshot

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i know i should stop believing
i know there's no retrieving

//No need to reply with the same length!

Everything hurt.

Atbash found herself in the medic den, which she was fairly surprised about. She figured that Stryker and the rest of The Pitt would try keeping her close and refuse her medical aid, but it seemed that they allowed it. Or at least her tribemates did it in secret or something. But that still didn't stop the physical pain she felt right now. Dream demons weren't supposed to feel pain, it was supposed to be numbness, and yet here Atbash was, writhing in pain from how Stryker just ripped her eye out. The socket was closed by now and Atbash could feel a leaf bandage wrapped over that side of her face. It was hard to feel it due to the numbness she did feel over that area, but it was definitely there.

As she tried to move, her body was overcome with a wave of pain and Atbash cried out in alarm as she felt pain flicker through her head and body and collapsed onto her nest again. She hadn't been trying to get up, rather tried to get more comfortable, but it seemed even that wasn't going to be able to happen. The Hailcaller's entire body shook as tears came from her good eye, as if Atbash was trying to release the feeling of pain through her tears. And she was, she really was.

But the tears were also over the worry about her tribe. Because she was so weak, too weak to defend herself, it left Snowbound in an open position for attack. There was no doubt in Atbash's mind that The Pitt would do anything to make Snowbound listen to them, as evident by Stryker ripping her eye out. Atbash was scared for her tribe's safety, and she was the only one to blame. If she hadn't went to The Pitt to talk to Yes Man, whom was their leader, Stryker would have never attacked her. Would have never paralyzed her, and he wouldn't have been striding into camp like he owned the place. But that's exactly what happened and Atbash felt guilty.

I'm sorry. Atbash knew she had telepathy and could call out the apology to her tribe, but right now, she didn't want to. The pain she felt was too much to bear, and it was likely she wouldn't be able to focus properly to send out a broadcasted telepathic message to everyone. The she-cat's teeth were bared as she cried from where she grit them together out of pain, and her claws mindlessly dug into the nest she laid on. There was dried blood on the left side of her face and body still, though it seemed like whomever was taking care of her tried washing it off as much as they could. Atbash was grateful for that, but at this point, she wished she was dead.

Death would be better than laying here, disfigured and in pain. Death would be better than facing Stryker and The Pitt and forcing her tribe to fight for their freedom all because of her. Atbash wished that Stryker had killed her instead of leaving her half-blind, rendering her practically useless. At least, that's how she felt she would be once she finally recovered. If she recovered, assuming Stryker didn't kill her. Because she didn't have shapeshifting or possession, Atbash couldn't find another body to come back if she did die, and she almost wanted that to happen. Anything would be better than what was going on right now.

I'm sorry.

//tl;dr: Atbash is in the medic den with the left side of her face covered, which is where Stryker had pulled out her eye. She's shaking and crying in the den, feeling guilty about everything that's happening.

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[SICARION]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 500px; text-align: justify;"]Floris didn't know what kind of takeover this was supposed to be. Stryker maimed Atbash- and then what? The people from The Pitt seemed to treat this like a move-in that Snowbound was supposed to appreciate, that they were in the wrong for defending themselves. It was fucked, to put it simply. They were undisciplined, seemed to have no real plan of action beyond making themselves pests caught underfoot. They yapped and yapped, incessantly. If Floris' people had infiltrated an enemy camp and took over, it would look a lot different. Everyone would have been rounded up and marched off into one area and kept under guard while they waited for orders to come down the chain; then they'd either kill them or interrogate them. This? There was no point to this, none beyond the ravings of an arrogant prick taking advantage of other, more malleable arrogant pricks.

It did wonders for his temper. By which Floris meant he was ready to implode at any given moment. He hadn't even been certain he was going to stay here, and then the assholes had to drag him into some ridiculous vendetta. Floris couldn't stand by when many of the people in Snowbound were non-combatants. Not that the phrase meant anything to The Pitt.

Atbash had somehow managed to irk the wrong person, though, despite her general friendliness, so now she was in the medical area with a missing eye. Well, if there was anything Floris could understand, it was being short one eye. Fire had taken his, not claws, but he was a soldier. As far as he could tell, Atbash wasn't, especially not by mentality. "Haven't seen Stryker around since the hall. Most of the other people only crawl out of the woodwork when I cause trouble, so it's been mostly quiet." He figured it was only proper to update her on the goings on, and if he were better with emotions, he might've offered her something comforting, but it wouldn't do anything. "You need food? Water?"

[Stryker]

[align=center][div style="width: 60%; text-align: justify; font-size: 11pt; font-family: georgia;"]☣ — With other plans in mind, Stryker had allowed the Hailcaller to go the medics den to get that stench off her rancid pelt. He didn't want her dead... yet.

//track

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i know i should stop believing
i know there's no retrieving

Despite the takeover being practically her fault, Atbash didn't understand why The Pitt had taken over. Or rather, why it wasn't just Stryker. Although then again, she supposed, it would be hard to fight against a whole tribe of people by yourself, even if you were a giant lion with hella mutations. Atbash was lucky Stryker didn't kill her outright, even if she felt like she deserved it.


The Hailcaller's ears pricked as she heard movement coming towards the den and her good eye looked to the door with fear, though she visibly relaxed upon realizing it was only Sicarion. He gave her an update on the situation, but that honestly didn't help with her feelings of guilt. They were still here. Atbash blinked tears away as Sicarion spoke to her and she closed her good eye for a moment before trying to give a small nod to him, though it was possible that it wasn't very noticeable due to her not wanting to move too much. "W-water would be nice, actually," Her throat hurt as she talked, but at least it didn't cause a whole lot of pain, to the point where she had to use telepathy to talk. That actually wouldn't be a bad idea, if only she wouldn't be too distracted by the feeling of an eye being lost and the pain with it.

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[Dimitri]

[table][tr][td]

Dagon had already considered leaving altogether. That’s just... what they did. It was selfish, to keep themselves safe to run away, but honorable? No. Delta had already had that discussion with him.
They couldn’t find Dimitri. They figured he may be hiding in the city, but to go in there? Dimitri was too afraid to, right?

Maybe he was just running from his problem out here- Atbash- and Desdemona. Maybe it was better if Dimitri stayed dormant until this takeover passed. He wouldn’t want to remember it.

"Hey, Lizard.” It wasn’t a slur as much as it was the fact Dagon didn’t know the dragon’s name. He could faintly smell old blood and the scent of Atbash. He thought about leaving for a moment.

Dagon, with pupiless black eyes, looked up at the dragon with a lashing tail. "Next time I fucking tell you to cut it out, you better do it. You do not need to fight every battle here and you do not need to be getting yourself hurt. Am. I. Clear?” Dagon knew about picking battles and the one with the fucking soup hadn’t been fucking worth it. They were higher rank than the dragon and his current sobriety gave him the will to lash out more than normal.

With that done, he finally turned to Atbash, looking her sad self up and down.
"What’s up Atbash? Healing okay?”

[/td][td]

[/td][/tr][/table]

© LEXASPERATED

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i know i should stop believing
i know there's no retrieving

If Atbash felt any better than she currently did, she may have scolded Dagon for talking to Sicarion in such a way. But honestly? Dagon had a point, even if Atbash didn't entirely know what the alter was referring to. She thought he was referring to Sicarion lashing out at Stryker after she passed out, which was not the case. Sicarion - no, everybody - needed to be smart about this takeover. If they wanted to defeat and chase away The Pitt, they had to work together and carefully. They couldn't just let themselves be injured by breaking out into random fights. Atbash understood the whole point of honor, especially when it came to your clan, but now wasn't the time to prove that.

"I'm..." Atbash wanted to lie about how she was feeling, she really did. But Sicarion and Dagon didn't deserve that. She was their leader, she was expected to be honest, was she not? But then again, She reminded herself. Admitting how much pain you're in shows weakness... That was the whole reason Stryker and The Pitt took over, was over how weak she presented herself. And how weak she really was; Atbash didn't know how to fight, that was her brothers Vigenere was trained to fight, Caesar was just a warmonger in general. "I survived, I guess." She gave a shrug, closing her good eye and laying her head on her paws.

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi