Welcome to Gaia! ::

Karloff was standing in the open meadow. It wasn't something he usually did. But since...Ailbhe, things had changed. He wasn't shunning himself to the darkness anymore. She was light, and he could bask it. Enjoy things he had long denied himself.

The cool breeze blowed through the field. He could feel it drying the dripping blood on his neck. It would always be there to remind him of what he would have become had she not saved him. It was something worth being reminded of.

Lowering his muzzle to a small stream, he drank deeply. No longer did he have to keep his eyes shut to drink, he could face himself now.

It seemed there was a whisper of movement in the soft grass behind him.

In his peripheral vision, he viewed something orange to the side of him. A tabby? He kept drinking, not trying to startle or alarm the other feline. Her ears were laid back trying and she was almost to the water.

Shifting his weight, he spoke gently. "I don't bite."

He blinked, it was always the same question. Why did he take on this mask? Why did he want such a horrible charade? Taking another sip of water, he spoke. "I...was scarred as a child. At first I wanted to be a skinwalker, to forget...to feel nothing. Then I realized I couldn't live that life. So I...kept the mask. It protects the one I love. It's worth it for that. It's part of who I am."

He leaned down and licked his paw.

"Are you okay?" He looked at her, and the pain that flashed across her face. "Is there something...wrong?" His voice was low like normal, but he tried to make it sound more friendly and open. "Yes, worth everything."

"Yes, my Ailbhe." He could feel the blood rush to his cheeks. Her name always invoked it, always made his heart flutter with joy. "I love her, and for some reason. She loves me, despite myself. But she makes me better. "And you?"