|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:46 pm
Diantha watched her mother. She had come here to ask something that had been nagging her more and more lately. It wasn't something she had discussed with her siblings or anyone else, but she could feel the question hanging over the family. It was a dark blot on their identity, on their soul.
"What is it that father hunts for when he leaves for months at a time?" she asked.
Her expression was guarded, her tone betraying nothing. She could have waited until the next time she saw her father. She had even thought about it, too. In the end, she decided this was a question best asked of her mother. While she trusted both of her parents, there was a darkness in Zamiel that couldn't be denied, one that was not simply his eerie physical appearance. Diantha knew that there was something hidden and was tired of the question being dodged and avoided through silence.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:56 pm
Verity didn't move or speak for a long moment. She gathered her thoughts carefully. In some respects, she was surprised this conversation hadn't come earlier. They had known their father for long enough and they were old enough now to be able to start to wonder. She knew she might have to have this talk all over again with the other children, but she couldn't bring herself to call them over. Diantha had asked this, and she deserved the full attention that it merited.
"Come with me," she said simply, beginning to walk. Walking was good for something like this. Walking kept the body occupied so her mind could focus more on what to say. And, it would give an easier way to fill the gaps in conversation if needed.
"Your father cares a lot for you," she said, to start. "And he is not the same stallion as he was when I met him, or as he was when he was younger than that. That is not meant as an excuse, but I hope it helps you understand."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:00 pm
Diantha swallowed a little. With the tip of her tongue, she could feel the edges of the sharp teeth that shared space with her more traditional equine molars. Those were father's teeth. Verity only had the teeth of an herbivore. It was Zamiel and his descendants, including her, that sometimes bared their fangs to flesh. She suddenly felt a small lump of nausea growing in the pit of her stomach. What did Zamiel eat when he was not with them?
"I understand," she said, though she wondered if this was true. Her father was such a mystery, sometimes she'd wondered if she really knew him at all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:03 pm
Verity could sense the trepidation in her daughter and felt nothing but sympathy. This could not have been an easy conversation for her to start. Unfortunately, there was nothing to it but to continue.
"He hunts animals," she said. "He hunts the most dangerous, the most illusive, and the most cunning." It was an obsession that she could not understand, but it was in his blood. The day that Zamiel stopped dreaming of the hunt was the day that he stopped breathing, most likely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:43 pm
Animals. This much Diantha knew, though not in so many words. She had known that her father hunted animals, though not the reason or the dedication he put into it. The idea confused her, though. To hunt for trophies was a foreign concept. Humans did that, but humans often did things for no clear reason. For a soquili to do that felt like something that went against the natural order. She didn't like it, though Verity's answer could have been much worse.
Or was it worse than she was interpreting?
"Animals?" Diantha worked her way around a lump that had formed in her throat. "Not soquili? Or the animals touched by the spirits?" Her whole body grew tense and rigid. It pained her to think that her father was capable of such a thing, but what else could she wonder? She needed to know this for certain before the next time she saw him. She didn't want any sort of doubt left in her mind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:49 pm
There was a question that wearied her. Verity shut her eyes briefly, just a short moment of emotional fatigue. And here was the question that had danced around the family for years. Was it dishonest of her not to tell them more flatly what sort of creature Zamiel had been in his youth? Maybe, but it pained her to think upon it and knew it would pain them to hear. She had wondered if she was betraying some part of herself by being with Zamiel the way that she did. He certainly was no murderer now, but when they had first met... perhaps. The times had been too dire to reject his assistance back during the killing and when she was halfway to death's hearth herself, but now... she had fewer excuses.
Was she excusing his past misdeeds by staying with him regardless of it? Or had she turned his heart away from darkness and helped him find his own redemption?
"Not... anymore." That was what she finally said. "I wish it was not so, but when he was younger, before you were born, your father did hunt soquili and familiars at times." Her voice was distant and touched with an old sort of pain. "He has learned the evil in that now, but those are sins he bears nevertheless."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:54 pm
It was like Diantha's mouth was suddenly coated in oily rot. She smacked her lips in disgust and horror, shaking her head once before she caught herself. She searched for something to say, but her eyes slid downwards to her paws clutching the ground beneath them. Those were features she had gotten from her father, along with her webbed wings. Suddenly, she wished she bore no part of him on herself.
"That is..." She pulled her gaze upwards and met her mother's eyes once more. "You're sure he doesn't do that anymore? At all?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:55 pm
This was something that Verity could answer with less reservation. "I'm sure." She stepped forward and nuzzled her daughter gently. Poor Diantha looked upset, though she was obviously trying to mask it.
"If he had killed since I met him, I would know. I would never let a killer near my children, even if he was the father." And she would feel that it was her responsibility to end his life if he became a monster again, though that was something that Diantha didn't need to know.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
