H O L Y F L Y I N G B U R R I T E SAella watched the group from the safety of a tree, once again. Hidden. She liked the trees, the way they whispered with hesitation when she approached, before realizing she wouldn't hurt them. Or maybe it was the voices. She would never know.
She watched the group like a predator watching its prey, a pale shadow amidst the leaves. She watched as they weaved amongst each other, talking in hushed whispers, and healing one another. Watching them, she saw who knew who. Who disliked who and which people favored one another. They worked almost like a chess game.
The pawns, weak by themselves, but strong in their numbers. The knights and bishops, powerful but few. The queens, which their seemed to be a few, incredibly powerful but seemingly not important, for the game could continue without her. And the king, the most important but quite weak. But so important, for if the king is gone, then the game ceases to play. That man and his cat...
Aella gave a frown, watching everyone still. Everyone seemed to know somebody, one way or another. She was, once again, the outcast. The freak. When aren't I?
Her eyes flickered closed, listening for the voices. They came like hallucinations, whispering and fluttering, wrapping her in a sweet embrace. Not coherent persay, but promising she wasn't crazy, that they just didn't understand.
She lids snapped open, her fingers curling protectively around a small flame sprouting in her palm, crackling with hunger. "I know," she whispered, and as if it were living, the flame crackled at her voice. She curled her other hand over the flame carefully, shading it from the breeze. Across the path, something stared at her from the trees, yellow eyes like shards of topaz against the shadows. Her head dipped slowly, watching it.
It blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
And it was gone without a sound, swallowed by the infinite darkness.
THIS WOMAN'S D E E P