[PRP] An open heart (Jezabelle x Wisp)

[Faithofthefallen]

Jezabelle awoke from her deep slumber slowly, her brain reluctantly rising up out of the fog and fumbling for connections. The even sound of her breathing, the chittering clicks and high pitch chirps of Chime, her bat familiar as she hunted for her dinner somewhere nearby. Belle smiled at that and yawned, stretching her shapely limbs and opened her eyes... To blackness. For a moment her brain, still waking up, shuddered, had she gone blind? Then she realized she had fallen asleep with her blindfold still tied over her eyes to protect them from the sun's blinding glare. She shook her head a bit back and forth to loosen the cloth and allow it to slide down her face, her eyes tilted up to take in the starlight as it filtered down beneath the leaves.

Belle smiled, giddy with the night air. Unfolding her limbs she pushed herself up, and winced as the newly formed pink scar tissue on her left side pulled, it was still recently healed and tender. She was careful not to over exert it, she had hopes that the scar would fade with time's passing but if she broke it open again, she was sure it would mar her otherwise flawless coat permanently. Belle wasn't a vain mare, but it upset her that her body had been damaged, the soquili that had attacked her had ripped her open with its teeth before she had been able to chase it away. Feeling the scar also reminded her that Claudette was still missing. The bloody tattered remains of her daughter's scarf was tucked into her saddle bag. Her grandfather Vincento had all of the herd searching but so far there had been no luck, Belle had to swallow the fear that they had found nothing because there was nothing to find.

She shook her head and blinked back tears, as she had been lost in thought her craving had begun to assert itself, her pupils dilated and her breathing became hitched, she needed blood. It had been too long.
She removed the syringe, a gift from her father, from her pack and set out into the night. Her long pale plait shimmered in the cool breeze as she wove skillfully through the familiar foliage in search of prey.

---

Jezabelle knelt over the fallen body of her prey, a deer, carefully avoiding the heavy rack of antlers. Its' sides rose and fell in rhythm with his breathing, she opened her mouth to reveal glistening sharp canines and sunk them into flesh and drank, the blood soothing the ravening thirst. Her pupils retracted, her body relaxed, her cleaver lay a few feet away, stuck point first into the ground in case she needed it. These days she didn't need to kill to satisfy her thirst but there were other threats to be wary of, since her attack she always tried to be prepared.

CitrusCupcake

Editing to add a bit of background, do you mind if this rp takes place quite sometime after the first one? I have a plot going where Belle's daughter went missing and she became injured trying to find her, I was thinking it might spice things up if Wisp had gone to meet her soon after and Belle had never shown up. Then she disappeared because she was healing. Just a little drama if you're interested xD, then we can have them work things out?

 

[CitrusCupcake]

Wisp drifted lazily on the evening breeze, mane and tail fluttering behind and around him as he bobbed and weaved. The day had been fine one, and so therefore he should have felt good, happy to be alive etc, but there was something on his mind and weighing on his heart. He had tried not to let it bother him, after all he'd only met the mare the one time, and although they seemed to have a great deal in common, and got on well (he thought so at any rate), maybe it had just been one of those pleasant meetings that unfortunately were never repeated.

He'd gone to where they had arranged to meet, at the appropiate time, slightly nervous at that because he wasn't a night time traveller and because he knew that another look into her lovely eyes would certainly seal the deal and he would definately find himself on the way to smitten. But she had never shown up that night, nor the consequent ones, and for a time he had kept returning to the spot, figuring that maybe something personal had happened and she hadn't been able to make it.

After a while though, and with resignation he almost gave up his nightly visits and had half decided to just chalk it up to one of those things, but he still was slightly hopeful and now he had ventured out so many times at night was more self assured about doing so. So here he was, drifting slowly back to where they had agreed to meet, aiming for nonchanlant but all the while his ears and eyes scanned the surroundings. As he was almost to the spot, he thought he heard something, leaves rustling maybe? The sound of something, or someone moving and so he stopped, hovvering in his small form, and trying to work out where the sounds had come from.

He ventured a small;
"Hello?" figuring that if it was something that could cause him harm he could dart away and hopefully be too small to spot in the shadows.

Faithofthefallen

Sounds fine with me - sorry took so long to reply ^_^;

 

[Faithofthefallen]

Belle's head darted up, her heart galloping in her chest as her eyes darted around the clearing. Was she hearing things now too, she got to her hooves slowly, emerging from the shadows like a wraith. A few beads of bright crimson rolling down her chin to mar the glimmering white expanse of her chest. She tossed her long hair over one shoulder with a flick of her head to protect it. Her bat familiar, Chime, was fluttering around... something Her eyesight was keen in the darkness but she couldn't make any shapes out in the deep shadows at the fringe of the area. She froze in panic, imagining the skinwalker creeping up on her again to finish the job. Her knife lay next to her, within reach, but it might as well not be there. She couldn't move from the grip of her icy panic, flashbacks of how it felt to feel teeth ripping into her flesh, hot fetid breath against her skin, the foul odor of rotting meat. She wasn't like that, she wasn't.

But she might have been, if she wanted. She knew some of her family hunted in that way. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, everything had become more complicated since the attack. She hated and feared skinwalkers now, but how could she say they were evil but she and her family were not? It gave her a headache trying to work through it so for the most part she pushed it from her mind.

My daughter was good, and that thing destroyed her. An inner voice whispered, So it is evil.

Jezabelle took a few soothing breaths, and finally found the strength to speak. "Whose there?" She called cautiously, her voice charged with anxiety. The unconscious deer lay behind her, forgotten and half hidden in shadows. The bite marks on its' neck were no longer bleeding freely, and its chest rose and fell with life.

CitrusCupcake

 

[CitrusCupcake]

"What the..?" Wisp careered to one side, just about avoiding something that was about the same he currently was, and he squinted in the gloom, trying to work out what the winged creature was, having never really had cause to see a bat before.

He managed to right himself in the air and continued onwards, drawn now by further sounds and two scents, one that was unfamiliar to him, and one that during his short time with it, he had committed to memory. Jezabelle.

"Jezabelle?" he called.

"It's me, it's Wisp."
By now he had found her. And with her was an indistinct shape at her hooves. It had bled recently, there was still a faint coppery smell in the air. He hovered, confusion on his face and he repeated her name, unsure what to think right then.

"Jezabelle?"

Faithofthefallen

 

[Faithofthefallen]

Belle shook her head again, trying to clear the replay of the attack from her brain. She was feeling teeth rip into her flesh again, she was gasping in the heady scent of her own blood, her daughter's bloody scarf was being trampled in the scuffle. "No!" She yelped, collapsing to the ground and hiding her eyes beneath one of her forelegs. Her dreams had been horrifying since that terrible night and now they were beginning to intrude on her while she was awake too?

Her heart was hammering and her breath was hitching as though she had just exerted herself. She kept her face hidden, her glistening locks spread around her in a pool. She was not her normal put together self. Her hair was tangled and wild, her eyes were bloodshot and tearstained. Belle had dark bags under her eyes, the few times she had managed to sleep, it had been broken and restless, she woke up screaming Claudette's name more than once. She hadn't returned to her herd since the attack, had been roaming aimlessly. Eating when the hunger struck her, sleeping only when she could move no more. Chime was worried sick and kept begging her to stop, to care for herself, to return home so her family could care for her.

She was rocking a little, self soothing, when a half forgotten voice reached her. Her heart did a little flip, but it was a pleasant feeling, she had almost forgotten what it felt like to have her heart respond to something, it was if someone had cast a ray of light into the swirling darkness within her. "Wisp?" the name drifted to turbulent surface of her mind unbidden, she hadn't realized how deeply he had embedded himself in her thoughts. It felt like forever since the last time they had spoken. Right after, she had discovered Claudette was missing. Then there had been the frantic search, the attack, the healing. She had forgotten to meet him, had forgotten about him entirely in her misery. A stab of guilt pierced her sorrow.

She could barely summon the strength to open her eyes and face that guilt, but she wanted to look into his face again. Part of her qualed at what she might see in his eyes. He knew she was a hunter, but he had never seen her hunt. Would he think her a monster now? Was she a monster? She whimpered at the phantom flash of fangs and pain, the heat of fetid breath against her flesh. She was not like that.

Belle cast a glance over her shoulder at the buck, at the steady rise and fall of his chest. He was still alive. Her family killed though, she had seen it, accepted it, embraced it because it was part of who they were. Did their prey feel what she had felt when the skinwalker attacked?
"He's still alive..." She murmured tiredly, "Just... Knocked out for the time being. A little numb around the punctures till they heal, but he'll be fine." There would be scars though.

"Wisp, I'm sorry-" She began, but didn't know how to continue. She paused for a few breaths, "I'm sorry I didn't meet you, I wanted to. I did." she finished awkwardly. She should say more, explain why she had missed their rendezvous, but it was if one word would free the dam inside. She didn't want to put that negativity out into the air, didn't want to choke him with it, she could barely shoulder the burden of it, and she cared too much for Wisp to burden him with her troubles.

Jezabelle flinched away from him, waiting for the condemnation, the fury, the disgust. She had misplaced the peace within herself that had rendered her immune to the opinions of others.

CitrusCupcake

Sorry! July was insane for me and now I'm playing catch up x'D

 

[CitrusCupcake]

Knowing and seeing were always two different things, but however Wisp felt being confronted by the scene he would never show it, and least of all to Jezabelle. He was disturbed by it, it was hard to ignore the deer in front of her because of who he was, but there was an air around Jezabelle, her body language was yelling that something was wrong, and so he focused on the mare, taking a moment to land and change his size now that he knew that it was she that he had heard.

Once done, he moved to her side, and taking a small section of her mane in his mouth, he gave it a soft tug and looked directly at her, but it was with soft eyes that he did so, and he hoped she could see nothing but the concern he felt for her.

"Can you tell me what happened? I am not upset with you, I was just worried when you weren't where we had said we would meet." he was sure it was being forward, but she looked like she needed comfort and so he kissed his nose against hers.

Faithofthefallen

No worries ^_^

 

[Faithofthefallen]

Dark bruises under her eyes proclaimed her lack of sleep. Normally slender, Belle was rail thin and trembling. Heat brushed her battered senses, Wisp had moved to her side. So lost in the flashbacks, she hadn't noticed him moving closer. She flinched, and followed the tug on her mane to his warm blue eyes. She wanted to drown herself in those eyes, it was like a gateway to another reality far away from the one she found herself in, the one where her daughter was dead. Ripped to shreds by the same beast that had nearly killed her.

She leaned against him, taking strength from his presence, she had never noticed how tall he was before. Well, now, anyways. Not when he was shrunken, then he was smaller than even Chime. A hysterical giggle bubbled and died in her throat. She closed her eyes, embarrassed by her fragmented self, and then hiccuped as she felt his velvety nose press against hers. Warmth spreading from the site. Her eyes flew open, and for a second, she was who she had been, her gaze was wondering, compassion for the stallion flooding back.

Teeth. Claws. Ripping pain.

Belle his her face in his long mane, choking back sobs.
"She's dead," she wailed, grief making her body shake with dry sobs. "She's dead and I couldn't save her from that... from that thing!"
She knew she wasn't making sense.
"It killed my daughter, it killed Claudette, and I couldn't save her..."
she broke down again, murmuring to herself.
"I'm not like that, I'm not!"

Chime fluttered around the pair's heads, her brow creased with worry.
"She's barely slept, refused to eat unless bullied into it. She's cracked and won't listen to reason. She won't get better if she keeps tormenting herself like this!" the bat peeped softly, hooking her claws in Belle's tousled mane, she hung near Wisp and relaxed a moment. The bat hadn't slept or ate much herself, trying to protect her friend and companion, she had gone without to keep Belle safe. "She needs to slow down enough to rest and heal, much of her behavior is because she's running on fumes and stumbling around half asleep!"

CitrusCupcake

 

[CitrusCupcake]

Wisp was lost, not sure what to do for Belle as she laughed, shook and cried, his ears twitching at the words he could make out between the sobs that wracked her thin body. He wasn't sure what had happened, her daughter had died? How, and she had seen it happen? It seemed like it, and if so, he could see why she was in so much pain, and why she had lost her appetite. He could not know her pain, as he had so far not lost anyone in that way, but he wanted to remove the pain for her, to make the hurt go away, but he knew that it was the one thing he couldn't do. All he could do was look after her, and he made soft, soothing noises in between talking quietly to the mare.

"I'm here for you Jezabelle, I'm not going anywhere." he said, trying to smooth her mane from her face, pressing cheeks and nose against her face, her tear stained cheeks as if he was trying to 'kiss' away her tears, her pain. He curled one of his butterfly wings across her back, and pressed tightly against her.

"Just breathe steady and slow, we're safe here." he continued to move between touching her face, and gently grooming her mane with his teeth, tugging softly on the strands, hoping that the action would calm her in some way.

Faithofthefallen

 

[Faithofthefallen]

Belle took a deep breath.... And another... One more.
Slowly her trembling eased, her breathing steadied, her sobs quieted. Chime nuzzled her face encouragingly. Belle was embarrassed to be seen in such a state. It was one thing to lose herself in hysterics when she was alone with her familiar, it was another when Wisp was holding her. She didn't want him to think she'd lost all her marbles, but she felt like her entire personality had been overwhelmed by fear, depression, and anxiety. His soft face against hers drew her out of her dark thoughts and into the present. She sniffled and burrowed her head further into him, it felt so good to be held. Had she gone home to her family after the attack she would have been taken care of and embraced, but she couldn't handle their grief on top of her own, and she couldn't bear to break their hearts. Saxon would be inconsolable, the rest of her family would be absolutely crushed.

She felt calm, for the first time in ages, it was if Wisp had drawn her into a protective bubble. Hot tears still coursed down her cheeks in a seemingly endless stream, but if she carefully controlled her thoughts, she could manage. She felt herself mentally flinching away from anything concerning her daughter or the attack. It made her feel guilty, but she needed a moment away from that weight.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice rough from crying. "I'm not making any sense..." She pulled away and stared off into the distance, her eyes dull, she kept her mind carefully blank. "Claudette hadn't come home from her walk... I went out to make sure she was okay..." Belle whimpered.
"There was... Evidence, that she wasn;t. I was attacked, skinwalkers in the area... A bearwalker, she gauged me before I could escape. I know what must have happened. I tried to go home for help, but I couldn't make it. There's no way she survived, even if the attack didn't kill her... She would have needed help. And I couldn't get it to her on time."

She squeezed her eyes shut again and rocked a little bit.
Belle didn't know how to deal with this grief. Always, before, when there had been trouble in her life, she had been able to act, to change her circumstances, but this was not something she could change or fight against. This was something that had happened that she was supposed to learn to live with. And she had to, she still had a son. Saxon needed a mother who was whole and he needed her to be able to be strong when he heard the news. Belle gritted her teeth, it was so much easier to fall apart then to put herself back together again, but she had lost herself to grief for long enough. It was time to start working her way back into the world.

"Just having you here... it helps." she murmured, it wasn't quite deep enough to describe the gratitude she felt towards him. She glanced back at the deer.
"Um. I'm sorry you had to see that, It must be... hard, if you can't relate."
She shrugged, "Truly, he will be fine. He will sleep a little longer, and then be perfectly fine." her gaze was questioning, did he fear her now?

Citruscupcake

 

[CitrusCupcake]

Wisp continued to try and soothe Jezabelle, his face furrowed with concern. He hoped that she would be able to explain herself further, when she had calmed down some, and as he pressed into her, kissing her with nose and mouth, all pretence that he had no feelings for her gone because his heart hurt for the state she was in, he felt the trembling slow, but the tears still flowed.

He listened quietly as she managed to speak, picking out what had happened between the halting words and the continued quiet crying. He shuddered inadvertantly, unable to hold his own emotion in at what she was saying. To lose your child. He couldn't imagine the pain, and would not wish it to happen to his worst enemy, let alone someone that he had come to think dearly of.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. That's..well, it's beyond awful and it's okay to cry. I'll be here for you, I promise I won't go anywhere, if you need me, for as long as you need me." he repeated, giving his tail a gentle flick, curling the soft waves of it over her back. He was determined that she wouldn't feel alone, wasn't to feel alone whilst she grieved, and it was with an unusual dismissiveness that he looked at the deer.

"If you say it's okay, I believe you." he said, meeting her gaze with his own, but his was full of the feelings he had for her, and there was no fear, no judgment. He..he loved her, and whilst now wasn't a good time to say the words, he wanted to show it in his every action and look.

Faithofthefallen

 

[Faithofthefallen]

Despite her exhaustion, Belle felt a warm glow spread through her limbs, her blood sang in response to Wisp's compassion and she returned his affections with equal fervor. She was shocked, and felt a little guilty to find that she was still capable of emotions that didn't tear her apart, but for the first time in what felt like ages she felt a kernel of hope blossom within her chest. She hadn't thought she could make it when she was ostracized by other soquili, but she had found her family and brought them together to a place where they could be safe and happy. She had thought she could hold it together after her failed lifemating had also shattered something within her, but she realized now that she wasn't broken any more from Laertes leaving with Desdemona, she regretted the loss of her other daughter with an aching fierceness, but she was still alive. When horrible things in her life had happened before, she had lost herself for a while, but she had come together stronger and more self aware after them. She would never 'get over' Claudette's death, but she suddenly became sure she would learn to live with the pain, for her family, for her son, and... Perhaps for Wisp as well.

"I'll be okay," she murmured into his mane, "Not right now, but someday." she reassured him, suddenly worried about the distress she may be causing him with her own heartache.

Belle was exhausted, every fiber of her body longed for sleep, but she feared the dreams. She was calm now, she didn't want to have to relive her nightmare and wake up in pieces again. She would wait until she was too tired to dream to go to sleep. She smiled into his eyes, grateful for the acceptance and warmth she saw there. Another piece inside her shifted back to where it was supposed to be. She took a deep breath and let it out again, her eyes were still red rimmed and bruised with fatigue but her eyes glimmered with a hint of her actual self instead of a hollow despair.

"So..." she trailed off, searching for something safe and normal to discuss. "What... What have you been up to. Since I saw you last?" she smiled weakly, but her eyes were filled with emotion as they hungrily examined his features. She had missed him.

CitrusCupcake

 

[CitrusCupcake]

Wisp's only distress right then was that she had been alone until now. He wished with all his flutter might that he found her earlier or searched harder for the mare but their relationship had still been in its infancy and he hadn't wanted to seem pushy or overbearing. Now he wished he had done more. It was a regret, but he didn't want to dwell on the thread of guilt he felt at this moment, this time was all about looking after Jezabelle. His beauty. The fierceness of his feelings surprised even him and he continued to press against the mare.

"I'll be here." he repeated.
"You take your time. You can be upset, you can cry and mourn for as long as you need and longer. There's nothing you can do that will make me leave your side." he lipped at her mane again, trying to give her all the comfort he could. When she looked up at him, he could see the jumble of emotions spread across her face and his heart tugged for her.

"Oh this and that. I've been here and there. Being the butterfly that I am, hoping for spring and all the flowers." he missed the flowers, but even more so now. He would bring her a new bloom every day when they emerged, brush the petals against her face and dare to kiss her fragrant cheek.

Faithofthefallen

Ahh, Wisp is such the romantic, I forgot how he was with a lady love heh

 

[Faithofthefallen]

Belle took his words and held them tightly within her heart, Wisp was there for her. More than professions of the heady feelings swirling between them, more than love, or lust, or anything, she just needed someone to stand as a calm rock in the eye of this storm. She pressed her forehead against his chest and sighed, feeling some more of the tension leave her body with each breath.

The thought of flowers made her smile again, "I've missed the spring. The sky has been overcast for what feels like years. The night is just darkness without the moon and stars... I've missed them. I'd like to go out in the daylight again once it warms up too..."

Her eyes fluttered closed against him. As a foal, she had felt alone in the world, rejected because of her darkness. As an adult, she had survived by surrounding herself with her family and those she could relate to. Wisp was so different, but he seemed to represent warmth, and fun, and happiness. He brought out the light in her, and he accepted her darkness without question. "I'm sorry again, that I didn't find you, and tell you what happened." She glanced back at the slumbering deer. "He'll wake up soon." She mentioned with a crease of her forehead, "We should probably move somewhere else. I'm pretty sure he would be distressed to wake and find me here." She pulled away to gave him an apologetic smile, "I'm sure you have... Questions. I didn't really go into depth about this when we first met. You're taking it surprisingly well, considering."

CitrusCupcake

 

[CitrusCupcake]

"It will be beautiful, spring always has such promise and the slowly warming days will bring forth such pretty foliage. None of it will compare to you though." Wisp said quietly, not wanting to make light of what she had gone through, but to gently show her that there would be something beyond this moment, this horror that she was going through.

"Please don't apologise, I completely understand. I wish I had been there for you earlier of course I do, but I don't tell you to make you feel guilty for not searching me out, I just hate that you were alone at all at any point during this." he nuzzled her again.

"We can move if you like." he said, he had almost forgotten the sleeping deer and he gave it a quick glance before turning his attention back to Jezabelle. Maybe it was a good time to say it.

"I don't judge, especially not those who I love. And what I don't fully understand, I trust that you will explain in your own time."

Faithofthefallen

 

[Faithofthefallen]

A blush warmed her face, she wasn't used to such forwardness, truth be told, she wasn't used to being courted at all. When she had met Laertes, there had been attraction but it had been tinged with a hint of a challenge from the very beginning. They were so different, their relationship had been passionately loving and passionately destructive at the same time. They had been too young to think about what their lifemating would mean, too young to really know what they wanted out of life. She knew it was possible to find love in your youth, she had seen it happen, but she thought it had a lot to do with luck. With Wisp it was different, there was passion yes but there was also this warm, steady, safe feeling that engulfed her heart in his proximity. He made her want to sing and dance and run off into the sunset. That scared her a little.

And with one single moment, that fateful L word crossed the few breaths between them. Her heart began to hammer against her breast, did she love Wisp? Yes, but part of her was too scared to admit it, to be vulnerable, to give her sometimes traitorous heart free reign again. Her heart was damaged, she could still feel the wounds on her soul with every ginger movement, could she trust what it was telling her? She had loved Laertes too and he had broken her heart. truly, she had broken his as well, but it hadn't been on purpose. He wanted to change her, she could not change, and in the depths of her being she had come to the painful realization that Laertes had not loved her enough to accept her as she was, no more, no less. But Wisp didn't seem to care that she drank blood, he accepted it as readily as he accepted her white hair and red eyes, as simply a part of her being. Which it was, and he didn't label her evil simply because of that pivotal difference.

She wanted this, she wanted him, even if it tore her to pieces, what did it matter? She was already torn asunder by the loss of her daughter, strangely breaking down into that primal vulnerable state had made her realize that there was still strength there, that she could survive when she was down. She had done it time and again, if there had ever been anybody worth the risk, it was this stallion standing before her. She leaned into him, "I don't judge those who I love, either." she replied her smile suddenly blissful as she met his gaze, "Lets go find somewhere peaceful to spend the rest of this night, my love."

CitrusCupcake

Sorry for the wait! I couldn't for the life of me hammer out what her reaction to the L word would be at this point and with all our plotting I wanted to make sure it was authentic to their situation! Do you perchance want to end here and move on to maybe her revealing she's pregnant or something?