[img=http://i.imgur.com/eeX4Zmf.png] Selan finally pulled the comforter off of her body and crawled across the bed to kneel at the end of it. She wore a nightdress made of fine chiffon that was a bit too big for her, and her legs and feet were bare. Looking out the window, she could see thick forest surrounding the small castle, and the sea beyond it. Boats skimmed back and forth over the water, and she could count at least three different colored flags among them. She did not know what the flags meant. She turned her head. The golden antique mirror on her side reflected a younger Selan, with a sheet of long black hair nearly reaching her waist. A beautiful girl, nearly engulfed by beautiful clothes and beautiful sheets and blankets. The lock on the door clicked from the outside and slowly opened, revealing a tall, handsome man with copper-colored hair and dark, amber eyes. From his worn leather jacket and boots, she guessed that he had just returned from working. He shut the door behind him. [img=http://i.imgur.com/VuxHcrL.png] "Selah," he said, calling her by a name she hadn't heard in years. He took long strides toward the bed and bent down, nearly towering over her. He was blocking the window. He lingered there with his face just inches from hers, waiting. Selan shyly turned her head up to give him a light kiss on the cheek, but he roughly cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on her mouth instead. When he pulled away, he smiled wider, and said something that she could not understand. She looked at his hand instead and took it in her own, noticing that there were fresh cuts and bruises on his knuckles. She tried to ask what was wrong. "[i]Cen loth o cian ar cis[/i]?" she asked, finding herself unable to speak the common tongue. He followed her gaze and grinned, saying something that was probably an explanation, but he wasn't talking for very long. He sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her, staring out the window. Selan leaned her head against his arm, trying to find some comfort against the hard leather of his sleeve even despite the angle hurting her neck. She had to. He was her husband, after all. --- [img=http://i.imgur.com/aBIXoi8.png] Lisette awoke in a lush green forest, with sunlight streaming through the leaves and leaving a fascinating and beautiful lacy pattern of shadows on the grass. She turned her palm upward, studying each little dot of sunlight. [I]I know this place...[/i] A strong breeze rustled her pigtails and skirt, and suddenly black, angry-looking clouds pushed away the blue sky, coloring everything a dull grey. The trees stretched higher and higher into the sky, and the leaves slowly turned brown, falling and crumbling to dust before they hit the ground. Lisette felt drops of rain hit her head and shoulders, and before she knew it, the clouds poured down on the forest. Whispers filled her ears like crackling static, loud enough to nearly drown out the rumbles of thunder above. "Lisette!" Lisette whirled around, recognizing the woman's cold voice. "Miss Amy...?" "Look what you've done!" she hissed, thrusting her staff behind her. Amy was shaking with anger, and there was nothing but hatred in her green eyes. [I]No... NO...!![/I] Estelle was collapsed in tears over Marcus's lifeless form. His body, or what was left of it, was completely covered in blood, and his eyes were glazed over, staring up at the sky but at the same time, nothing at all. "I didn't... I didn't mean to... I..." Lisette stammered, backing away from the Pride. "You know what has to happen now, don't you?" Amy said, this time looking in a different direction. "No, please don't leave, I don't want to be alone, I... Huh...?" Lisette followed Amy's gaze and saw Moira standing in front of a nearby tree, thrusting her greatsword downward and freeing it from something. There was blood on the end of her blade. A forceful gale picked up the raincoat near Moira's feet and whipped it through the air. "K... Kapi...!" Lisette choked out, falling to her knees. "How c-could you...?" "A life for a life." Estelle spat bitterly, tearing herself away from Marcus to face Lisette. "But Kapi's life would [i]never[/i] equal Marcus's. I need [i]yours[/i] too." "I promise you, I didn't mean to! Estelle, [i]please![/i]" Lisette pleaded, unable to look at the fury and anguish on her best friend's face. "Prepare yourself, Lisette." Estelle unsheathed her sword. Behind her, all of the Pride watched with solemn expressions, their weapons at the ready. --- [img=http://i.imgur.com/9AVqdzv.png] A ring of capybaras crowded around a much bigger one in a shallow river. Kapi, the smallest of the six, squeaked contentedly at being so close to his brothers and sisters and mother. They had just finished their usual afternoon soak, and were about to start their midday swim. Kapi waded through the stream, wiggling his ears and following his siblings, making sure that none of them strayed too far from their mother. Just moments before, the water was nearly deep enough to swim in, but it was now halfway up his body. How strange. Now, the river was just a muddy puddle. Still fun. There was no river anymore. Wooden stakes emerged from the ground, fencing in the small family of capybaras. There were walls now, and hard floors that were uncomfortably cold and slippery on Kapi's feet. No sunlight, only a small opening in the door that allowed a thin beam of light through. [I]Creeeaaaak.[/I] The door opened, and a faceless man reached forward, picking up the mother capybara. She thrashed and bit, but the man did not flinch. She was still kicking even when the door closed again, leaving the capybaras in near total darkness once again.