un: shadowheart | text

[tocastashadow]

I'm looking for a healer. A professional, mind, not an overconfident buffoon with an ice-pick.

There must be medical techniques in other worlds that don't exist in mine.

Comments

[ontologically]

[She smiles. It's not quite a pleasant smile. There's a hint of pride, a slight flash of madness beneath her demure and crabby exterior.]

Just like that.

[She is powerful. One of the most powerful people in her world, technically, if she wanted to be. She doesn't.]

Okay.

Well. Let's not do it in public at least. Too much room for distraction.

[tocastashadow]

[That look certainly catches Shadowheart's attention. Amy, thus far, has seemed professional, but that look borders on... Well, she might go so far as to say madness.

She'll have to keep an eye on this one.]

I know a spot. Secluded. Down by one of the rivers. Scratch and I spend a lot of our time there.

[She whistles for the dog, who comes bounding over from where he'd wandered off to, and starts to lead the way.

cw for mentions of past animal death/animal cruelty, body horror/transformation

[ontologically]

Cute dog.

[In the confines of her own dickhead mind, she remarks on the sheer lack of creativity needed to name a dog "Scratch." But she can be polite. It helps that the dog is actually pretty cute. Not that Amy is any kind of pet person, much more Victoria's thing than hers.

And you remade her skin out of the recycled carcasses of stray cats and dogs. Funny how that works.

She's mostly silent along the rest of the way, a focused and contemplative look in her eyes as she considers what exact she's about to do and how badly it could go. Three times in a row, she'll do exactly what she's asked, three times in a row it could go horribly, horribly wrong.

This is just her fate, apparently, like she isn't doing this all on her own.]

[tocastashadow]

[She makes a vague noise of agreement. Scratch is cute. And a good boy, too.

They arrive at a quiet spot by one of Etraya's rivers, and Scratch runs off on his own once again. This isn't actually the spot she and Scratch usually spend their time, but Shadowheart is hardly going to broadcast her typical whereabouts to someone she only just met. And it's secluded enough to serve the purpose.]

Let's get it over with.

[This is it, then. Shadowheart would hardly style herself an optimist, but it's just possible that she might be free of her unwelcome guest for the first time in what feels like a lifetime.

Or she might die. But 'might' is better odds than 'will,' and at least here death isn't forever.]