HOME | DD

Description
Despite the number of chambers scattered around the castle – all of which were in similar states of disrepair and ruin – she often found that, when lost in thought, her path would lead her to the same room each time. It must have been beautiful once, she mused. Elegant… exquisite… magnificent… It must have been…

There was a truth to her words: silk hangings lined the walls, and though most of them had been shredded, faded traces of color could still be found between the gashes. A large bed stood against a wall next to a broad window; it was covered in thick, dusty blankets which had more holes than fabric. Piled up against the headboard were enough pillows to cover most of the bed. Curtains, one torn much like most of the room, limply attempted to protect the room's privacy from the window's shamelessness; however, they failed to completely cover it, and through the space between them a sliver of light found its way inside.

The beast hesitated in the doorway, steel-colored eyes unable to leave that bright spot revealed by the window's stubborn intent to let light in. Eyes flickered upward – temptation burst inside her as she studied the light's path. The sun was not something she appreciated often, but something felt as though she meant for it to happen – whatever did happen, at least.

One of the curtains, in so many pieces it was a wonder it had lasted for any period of time, lost the bottom part of itself at the beast's soft touch. She stared at the pile of fabric, and though she couldn't bring herself to think much of it, something in the back of her mind was bothered by this. Like an itch she couldn't scratch, it niggled there until she turned away from the disintegrated pile on the floor and promptly forgot it was there.

Sun. Normally the beast ignored its presence, only acknowledging it when she needed to hunt in order to determine where she could find prey. Prey? Perhaps not the proper word, one might think. Food, game, the hunted… but then, prey might be correct for a beast's meal, after all.

The remnants of the curtain frustrated her, and soon they joined the other pieces on the floor; they'd begun as scraps of cloth desperately clinging to one another, and became nothing more than shreds that the beast dropped onto the floor one by one.

Freed from the oppressors, the window flooded the room with sunlight in gratitude. The beast glanced around her, taking in the shapes caused by sunlight through broken glass, until she grew bored of those and pushed them from her mind. With that disregarded, she approached the window.

Though there were many windows in the castle, she found that once her eyes were drawn to it, she had trouble turning her gaze away. Why did it fascinate her so? The beast couldn't answer, nor did she care. She wasn't even positive that what she felt was fascination; though she would not think of it herself, the words for various emotions had no meaning for a beast that lived alone.

Snow… beyond the shards of glass was a world that she rarely visited, and when she did it was only for a short time and with a definite purpose to be completed as quickly as possible. It hadn't ever occurred to her that it might stir up...

The itch that she could not scratch was growing bothersome again. The beast chose to ignore it in favor of peering through the window.

But… there… in the snow…

It passed by the castle, unaware of the beast high above. Its clumsy gait kept it from moving very quickly, and so she had plenty of time to place her hands on the windowsill and delicately lean over the broken glass in order to see it more clearly.

…The high pitched shrieks that must have been laughter, however desperate and crazed…

The beast stumbled backwards, away from the window, with a muffled gasp. Her breath stopped in her lungs as if it had no intention of leaving; her heart pounded so hard that it ached. A single word escaped her lips as the sound echoed in her mind over and over…

"You…!"

The remnants of what had once been curtains became tangled, but with a forceful kick of her paws, they were free to return to the floor.

And the beast?

Naught left of her presence but the imperceptible rustling of fabric settling and the echoes of that single word…

Description
Despite the number of chambers scattered around the castle – all of which were in similar states of disrepair and ruin – she often found that, when lost in thought, her path would lead her to the same room each time. It must have been beautiful once, she mused. Elegant… exquisite… magnificent… It must have been…

There was a truth to her words: silk hangings lined the walls, and though most of them had been shredded, faded traces of color could still be found between the gashes. A large bed stood against a wall next to a broad window; it was covered in thick, dusty blankets which had more holes than fabric. Piled up against the headboard were enough pillows to cover most of the bed. Curtains, one torn much like most of the room, limply attempted to protect the room's privacy from the window's shamelessness; however, they failed to completely cover it, and through the space between them a sliver of light found its way inside.

The beast hesitated in the doorway, steel-colored eyes unable to leave that bright spot revealed by the window's stubborn intent to let light in. Eyes flickered upward – temptation burst inside her as she studied the light's path. The sun was not something she appreciated often, but something felt as though she meant for it to happen – whatever did happen, at least.

One of the curtains, in so many pieces it was a wonder it had lasted for any period of time, lost the bottom part of itself at the beast's soft touch. She stared at the pile of fabric, and though she couldn't bring herself to think much of it, something in the back of her mind was bothered by this. Like an itch she couldn't scratch, it niggled there until she turned away from the disintegrated pile on the floor and promptly forgot it was there.

Sun. Normally the beast ignored its presence, only acknowledging it when she needed to hunt in order to determine where she could find prey. Prey? Perhaps not the proper word, one might think. Food, game, the hunted… but then, prey might be correct for a beast's meal, after all.

The remnants of the curtain frustrated her, and soon they joined the other pieces on the floor; they'd begun as scraps of cloth desperately clinging to one another, and became nothing more than shreds that the beast dropped onto the floor one by one.

Freed from the oppressors, the window flooded the room with sunlight in gratitude. The beast glanced around her, taking in the shapes caused by sunlight through broken glass, until she grew bored of those and pushed them from her mind. With that disregarded, she approached the window.

Though there were many windows in the castle, she found that once her eyes were drawn to it, she had trouble turning her gaze away. Why did it fascinate her so? The beast couldn't answer, nor did she care. She wasn't even positive that what she felt was fascination; though she would not think of it herself, the words for various emotions had no meaning for a beast that lived alone.

Snow… beyond the shards of glass was a world that she rarely visited, and when she did it was only for a short time and with a definite purpose to be completed as quickly as possible. It hadn't ever occurred to her that it might stir up...

The itch that she could not scratch was growing bothersome again. The beast chose to ignore it in favor of peering through the window.

But… there… in the snow…

It passed by the castle, unaware of the beast high above. Its clumsy gait kept it from moving very quickly, and so she had plenty of time to place her hands on the windowsill and delicately lean over the broken glass in order to see it more clearly.

…The high pitched shrieks that must have been laughter, however desperate and crazed…

The beast stumbled backwards, away from the window, with a muffled gasp. Her breath stopped in her lungs as if it had no intention of leaving; her heart pounded so hard that it ached. A single word escaped her lips as the sound echoed in her mind over and over…

"You…!"

The remnants of what had once been curtains became tangled, but with a forceful kick of her paws, they were free to return to the floor.

And the beast?

Naught left of her presence but the imperceptible rustling of fabric settling and the echoes of that single word…