Challenge [265]

[myrrh-darkwing.livejournal.com]

Challenge: 265- Darkness
Title: Electric Freedom
Word Count: 410
Author's Notes: Yeah, I don't know either. No spoilers.

Running. Aerlen didn’t know how long she had been running, but she knew why, because there was something chasing her, something that wasn’t even one of the human monsters who usually did. Something dark- indeed, the very shadows around her were writhing and bubbling, twisting and warping and… were they following her? Yes, they were following her, and not only following her but they were overtaking her. Claws were sprouting from them, reaching out for her. Yellow eyes gleamed out at her as the shadows began to coalesce into monstrous forms.

And even though she was the fastest person she knew, no matter how fast she ran, the shadows were faster. Yet even though they could easily overtake her if they wished, they seemed to be content with simply flowing along beside her. Almost as if they were playing with her, like a cat did a mouse. Saving her to toy with at their leisure.

Only then the shadows seemed to pick up on her line of thought, because now they were swarming in, reaching out for her. She fell to the ground, overwhelmed by the tide of nightmarish creatures. Aerlen felt claws ripping and tearing at her flesh, pulling her apart (again like a cat with a mouse, an image that would haunt her for the rest of her nonexistence). She screamed, a sound of genuine terror (an emotion she almost never felt, not anymore).

And then the claws were at her chest, plunging themselves inside and scrabbling at her heart. She shrieked again, batting at the creatures, trying desperately to get them off. Her hands simply went through them. She couldn’t hurt these heartless shadows…

A shimmering crystalline heart was floating in the air above her (was that her heart? No, surely not, her heart was rotten and decayed like the human monsters always said). That heart was the last thing she saw before sinking into numb oblivion.

Some time later, a blonde woman awoke in a bloodstained alley. She had a name, she was sure of it, but what was it? Oh, yes, Aerlen… but that name was that of a weak girl. She wasn’t weak anymore, she was certain of it.

Lightning crackled through her veins in an uncontrollable wash of power, making her laugh in sheer delight as she jumped to her feet. The heart that had burdened her for so long was gone, replaced by this delightful power.

Now, the world was truly hers.

Comments

[iki-teru.livejournal.com]

fsdflj

I am always such a sucker for takes on Larxene's beginnings ♥

[manyissuesali.livejournal.com]

I love exploring the beginnings of characters; in fact, one of my favorite things that I've ever written is a Larxene backstory.

I like the beginning, that the idea that being chased isn't new to her, but that this is just a little different. And, of course, the lightning allusions, for obvious reasons.

[wishingdreamer5.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is by far the most awesome story I read with Aerlen/Larxene starring it. The ending is kind of creepy, too, as if Larxene is now planning to kill all those 'human monsters.'