[PRP] Lost and Found (Bacca and Nomiki)

[Bilious]

Dead. They were all dead.

Gone. All gone.

Baccabollo crouched, picking up a handful of dirt to slowly let it sift through her fingers. Foreign soil, foreign lands.... She had never left their homeland up until now. She was young, she knew, but now.... well.

This was her home now. This smoldering pile of rubble hodge-podged together to call itself the new home of War. She had not helped in the rebuilding so far, lurking amongst the edge of the forest in disgust. This... travesty. This sad excuse for what was once a great land of ancient trees and majestic battle fortresses. This was not HOME.

Dead. Gone. Her sisters. Her mother... With a snarl, she took wing. All dead all gone all gone, the mighty warriors, her bloodline... all dust, burnt down by those wretched humans....

Landing on a branch, she stabbed her dagger in deep, as she had countless times before since their return, clawing away at the bark, peeling away the skin of the tree until the sap flowed, sticky at her feet and under her hands. Humans were filled with their own sort of sap, a crimson tide of sap that filled the air with a coppery edge. One day she would smell it again. Taste it. Maybe through that comfort it would ease the pain of the emptiness.

Her hand reached up to touch the side of her face that was cool to the touch, discolored and corrupted by the human meat scum.

Kill them all. Kill them dead. Maybe leave one alone, to feel what she could not shake, that terrible grip on the pit of your stomach that reminded you daily, whatever had been, was no more.

The Baccabollo she had once been, bright eyed, eager to please her mother, aid her sisters, serve her priestess, was no more. She was dead, another body amongst the rest, leaving nothing but an ache for vengeance.

Patience, patience patience, she told herself, stabbing the knife into the tree one more time to slowly rip it down, imagining the tender human stomach it could be.

Patience. War was brewing, and she would be a willing soldier.  

[bipolar bee]

Nothing was left. Their home, gone. Families, decimated. A once proud and culturally-rich sisterhood, destroyed. Perhaps they had been too proud as a community. Too careless. Too powerful, even. Or perhaps the humans were far more prepared, far more knowledgeable than anyone could have ever imagined.

Borrowed land. Nomiki could appreciate the gesture. A place to rebuild, to recuperate, to regroup as a clan, as a race.

The only time that she could allow herself to pretend things were as they once were was when she took wing. Even then, as she soared over the treetops, forgetting was not so easy. It was never easy when she was constantly reminded by loss.

Deep, aching; it left her feeling hollowed out. Emptied. Nothing left.

Gone forever.

Landing on a low-resting branch, Nomiki leaned against the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes. A strange amalgamation of emotion, and the horsewoman couldn't decide which way to feel. Sadness unending. Red, hot rage. Blurred confusion.

An annoying spray of tree-flesh and bark scattered against her hair. With an annoyed glance, Nomiki turned her attention up - up - up. She couldn't see anything except a hint of color.

"Why do you attack a tree?! Has this tree ever done you harm?"

With a huffy, frustrated sound, the executioner of War dusted the bits of organic matter from her hair before she leaned out from the trunk of the tree in order to catch a better look at the offending tree-attacker.  

[Bilious]

"Quiet your mouth!" The attacker snarled, crouching low with knife ready for attack.

It took a few moments before the surprisingly familiarity of the voice sank in. Her toe-nails dug into bark, her grip on the knife tightening. ".... Nomi?"

Her stomach twisted, breathing quickening. No no no no just a trick, a trick of her brain, there was no one she knew left. All dead. Snarling, her wings flared and she leaped, swooping around the tree for a look, and there, the familiar feathers, the familiar braids but NO! "A human trick!" She landed, and the branch groaned under their combined weight, her expression trembling, hair and feathers askew. She pointed the knife, "Remove that form you disgraceful creature! Sullying her face with your disgusting magic!"  

[bipolar bee]

Nomiki hadn't been expecting the outright show of hostility.

She certainly hadn't been expecting to see her baby-sister Bacca.

"Bacca?!"

Nomiki paled when the thick branch they stood on buckled beneath their weight.

"Bacca, it's me, it's .. it's really me, Bacca! Sister!"

The branch creaked and groaned, and Nomiki readied herself for flight. "It's me, Bacca! Calm yourself!"  

[Bilious]

"LIES," the girl shrieked, eyes wild as she bounded forward, slashing as she went, "They are DEAD, DEAD!! IF YOU WILL NOT REMOVE THIS DISGUISE I WILL REMOVE IT FOR YOU!"  

[Bilious]

internet blorped double post  

[bipolar bee]

Nomi took a swooping leap from the tree, gaining enough altitude to draw even with her maddened, crazed-looking sister.

Her face, distorted. The ambiguous gray hue had tainted her hair, as well.

"Bacca, what.. Bacca, stop!"

Nomiki didn't know what to do. Her sister did not seem herself. For lack of any other option, Nomiki remained in the air, a helpless expression on her face.  

[Bilious]

The girl screamed, using the branch as a spring board to take into the air, "You cannot be her!" She hissed once she had found her voice as a darting attempt to attack missed. Maybe it was a deep routed hope that she was not mad, that this was really her sister, a creature of the same Fear, of the same Blood. "Dukengo's wings were what color?" She flapped, hovering for now as she caught her breath. "Where did his scar come from?"  

[bipolar bee]

"Green with brown flecks that glinted like gold in the sun!" Nomiki darted to the side; her sister had always been smaller, more petite. Agile and swift where Nomiki was not.

"You gave him that scar, Bacca! When you ambushed him from the tree in play - but you did not expect part of the tree to come with you! It lashed across his shoulder, almost cut him to the bone -- I remember!"

Nomiki's voice was desperate yet reasonable. This was not her fiesty, mischievous Bacca! This was someone else, someone else entirely!  

[Bilious]

Bacca seemed taken off guard by this sudden and complete answer, hesitating as she flapped in the air a moment. She blinked several times, the angry, vicious gold sheen to her eyes fading, her face contorting in disbelief, "...Sister?" Her voice was weak. Her wings buckled, her head swimming in a sudden swoon.  

[bipolar bee]

"Yes," Nomiki choked out, tears threatening to spill over. "I thought you dead!"

She swept in close to her sister; thankfully the descent to solid ground was not far, and Nomiki could buffet them both gently there. Strong of wing, Nomiki had great endurance when it came to flying. She might not have been the quickest of her sisters, but there was little doubt that she could outlast them in flight.

"I thought you dead," she repeated, brushing Bacca's hair back from her face. "Am I dreaming again, Bacca? Are you real, standing here before me?"  

[Bilious]

By the time they hit the ground, Bacca came to, still trembling as she shifted to sit, arms thrusting around Nomiki in a tight embrace, "I saw them all die... I saw them all die and scream, Sister, I thought they were all dead... I just want to go hoooome I just... Nomiki... Nomiki I thought... I still hear them, I still hear them..."  

[bipolar bee]

Nomiki bit back a choked noise as her sister fell to pieces in her arms. It was a terrifying sight, far more terrifying than believing her sister dead and gone. Lifting a hand, Nomiki cupped Bacca's cheek, ran her fingers through the colorless bits of hair.

"What has happened to you, little sister? My little Bacca.. little sister, we are home now. I am here, Bacca. I am here and I will never let anything happen to you, do you understand?"

She wasn't alone. She wasn't alone - she had her baby sister Bacca... but somehow, it didn't soothe Nomiki's worried mind. Bacca was here, yes, but.. not as Nomiki remembered her.  

[Bilious]

When Bacca looked up, her face had turned vicious, expression contorted with rage, "No. No our home is gone, Sister. Destroyed. Torn apart by those human scum but we will have our vengeance," Her grip was tight on Nomiki's arms now, her sharp nails threatening to break skin, "This camp... this HOVEL they have forced us into is just a base of action. The battle is just beginning, Sister. Their blood will spill and stain the countryside and it will be US victorious over their lamenting masses! And then... and... and..." And then what? The hesitation showed on her face, and after a few moments, the anger faded, replaced by remorse, "You are alive... you are real you are alive I am not alone..."  

[bipolar bee]

Nomiki didn't wince when she felt the bite of her sister's claws on her arms. She kept her face even and steady; if she found herself frantic, it would not bode well for Bacca, who already seemed to be more than a little on edge.

"We will rebuild, sister," Nomiki said softly, tilting her head to the side.

Her poor, poor sister. At least now Nomiki felt filled with purpose; before she'd felt useless, wandering, alone. Solitary. Now there was Bacca.. sweet, little Bacca.

Broken Bacca.

They would pay for this.

"I am alive. I am here, and you are not alone. You are never alone, little Bacca."