Quote:
This time of year, snow is common. What’s uncommon is the single, strange snowfall that glistened like tiny diamonds. Everything about the snow seemed normal—it’s cold, wet, and melts just like any other snow, it just also happens to look like tiny little gems are falling from the sky. Depending on who you’re with, it’s either incredibly strange, or incredibly romantic.
Word count: 526 words
The holidays were Sarabauite's least favorite time of the year.
Her thoughts toward them ran the gamut between a hoarse "Bah-humbug!" to a terrible yearning to celebrate, if only to feel the warmth of family—especially when she was never privy to such closeness with her mother. Worst yet, the holidays made the nega think of her mother, and surged forth a myriad of feelings she tried to keep down. Guilt, anger, disgust; just pain, pain, pain. A pain so sordid and raw it made Sarabauite want to claw out her starseed herself.
Does she even think of me? Think about why I'm gone? Does she even realize I am gone?
The nega shook her head, as if trying to whip away her circulating thoughts. The air blew cold across the rooftop that night, causing Sarabauite to draw her legs closer to her chest. She shivered, but not from the cold; the winter's wind had already numbed her arms and legs, it was from the bestial hunger that ate away at her sensibilities. How long had she been suffering from her addiction? This, in tandem with her already sick feelings of the year, made Sarabauite feel akin to garbage.
She ran fingers through her wiry, matted locks and stood; looking about and not seeing a victim in sight. The thought of going another moment without a starseed made her feel sick. So this night, as it had been every other night of her routine, Sarabauite went on the hunt. Her travels across the rooftops took her to the park—a promising place where many liked to patrol. Hopefully, there was someone about, but Sarabauite found her attention snatched away for a moment when she landed in the snow.
Her boots crunched with her hop down from a tree branch to the floor, and when she looked down to ground her landing, she saw something somewhat odd about the snow. It wasn't fine and flat like previous years; the snow sparkled like diamonds strewn across a blanket of silk. It glistened under the moon's light, and as Sarabauite shifted from leg to leg, sparkled in all colors of the spectrum. The nega would've found this quite odd, but simply looking at the snow doubled the severity of her hunger.
It was simply because the snow shined like a freshly plucked starseed.
Sarabauite's eyes glittered, matching the sparkles in the snow. Suddenly, she found her sour mood dashed away and replaced with... inspiration. Strength. Want. It's as if the snow was a sign—as if saying, "Go forth, soldier of Chaos, and take what is rightfully yours." The glitter of the night glitters for you; sate your hunger, take lives, because the senshi and knights of the war are innumerable.
A chilling smile crept on the white-haired woman's lips as she rushed confidently across the nearby path and beyond. She was suddenly aware of a small blip east of her; a shine bright, but waning—a newborn senshi slowly easing themselves into their powers. Those always tasted the best.
Sarabauite's face rose to the icy winds and she barked out a laugh. Oh, what luck she had tonight!
