Sweet Among the Bitter

Asylums | Characters | Prequel | Companion One-shot | Extra
"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day... Lilith you have never sung that before?"
"Of course not. It is childish." the older girl replied. She liked to believe everything was childish, Nyssa thought. Maybe Lilith believed that she would be more mature if she avoided anything remotely uplifting. The girl was like a gloomy day, her mood never soaring in the clouds. She always had to be down to earth and terrifying.
The rain beat down on the treetops and the escapees battered the young growth on the forest floor. Something about the rain was calming to Nyssa, yet she could not help but sing the quiet song like her mother once did. It made her feel almost happy despite the creatures the lie dormant in the daytime. They deserved a rest, though. They deserved something to ground them to reality, as disgusting as it was.
"Lilith, you must have heard it once, right? You must have been treated with some sort of fairytale or quiet song." Nyssa murmured. She took a bright green leaf in her hand then set it in a large puddle for it to float. She smiled to herself and turned back to the older girl. "Childish." Lilith replied and shot an arrow at a tree some yards away. It gathered leaves and twigs as it met its mark. "Everything about my past is childish and stupid." She scowled at the ground then stood up when the rain started to settle down. "We have to move; these beasts could very well be following us." she commanded and put her bow over her shoulder along with her makeshift quiver of arrows. Her clothing was torn and filthy like Nyssa's, but it was noticeable that she spent a fair amount of time in streets. Nyssa had not known much of the older girl's past but assumed that Lilith would have been too proud to beg for food. She must have gone scavenging in the trash or maybe even in the forest. Maybe an older family would have been kind enough to give her food; however, most people didn't give the abandoned on the streets a second glance. Most didn't have much food to begin with and could not waste it on the abandoned. They would rather stay selfish and live to see another day. If Nyssa spoke against it, she would have been a hypocrite; she and her father were the same way.
The ground was muddy under their feet as they walked, their boots quickly becoming caked with mud. The light slowly started to dim from above, signaling sunset. They had rested too long; they should have been on the move a while ago.
The plants parted as they walked through the forest and the birds sang songs above them. Squirrels scrambled in the branches as if they knew the beasts were close. Nyssa clenched her dagger in her right hand nervously as if she thought a beast would jump out at her any time. She could never be truly comfortable in this environment while the beasts were watching them through the branches and leaves. Even if they had not existed she would still be wary of whatever might lie beneath the darkness.
"Nyssa, come on! You must go faster!" Lilith hissed and moved faster in the hopes Nyssa would too. The younger girl sighed and picked up the pace, her heart beating faster when she heard a loud crack! behind her. Lilith swore and broke into a run, Nyssa following her lead.
The trees seemed to block her way and create difficulties as they ran through the forest, the sun slipping behind them. If the beasts were anywhere nearby they would be able to smell the fear that rolled off their bodies. They needed to get out in the open where they could run freely.
The sickening squelch of the mud sounded a few yards behind Nyssa. She tensed and felt the memories of her mother and father appear to her. Their smiling faces reflected like a mirror of glass in her mind. Suddenly, she wished she had not taken everything for granted.
Lilith roughly pulled on her arm and they both were flung into the open fields. The grass was almost as high as Nyssa and it was a blue-ish color near the base. The sun was sinking quickly and the scene could have been beautiful had there not been creatures trying to kill them. Lilith shot like a dart in front of her, and Nyssa felt stronger as well. She would not have to duck under branches or jump over fallen logs like they would have to in the forest. Then again, it was also easier for the creatures to catch up with them.
She felt a rock beneath her feet and tumbled into the sea of grass. She rolled on her back and struggled to escape from the weeds that were tangled around her feet. In the distance she saw five beasts walking towards her on four limbs. They were disgustedly terrifying and even from where she lay she could smell the scent of blood, disease, and smoke from their bodies. She stood up and watches them, memorized for a second, then took off running in the opposite direction. She leaped over the boulders that blocked her path but heard the creatures sprinting towards her. She had to go faster, she had to confuse them in some way. She veered to the left as she followed Lilith and heard the break of the wind as an arrow split the air close to her. She dared a glance behind her and saw the beast in the lead with an arrow sprouting out of its chest. The others became enraged at the sight of the fallen leader and leaped towards Nyssa. For a moment, the girl recalled the situation of the two people and the bear. The bear would get to the slowest person first.
In this case, the creatures from the asylum were the bears, and she was the slowest. There was no doubt she would die here unless she could think of something to use against them.
Lilith's voice came in a frustrated shout. "Throw something at them or they'll kill you!" Her voice was like a sudden explosion of fireworks. Nyssa frantically searched for something she could throw and her fingers found the hilt of the dagger Lilith had gave her. She could throw this and lose her only weapon or she could keep it and risk dying. And suddenly dying felt more peaceful than running in circles to avoid an enemy that would always catch up.
Another arrow flew passed her and struck another in the knee, causing it shriek and barrel into the one in front. Nyssa's eyes widened and she took a chance and threw the dagger at them. She sped up and crushed the weeds with her feet for a few minutes before she finally looked back to see if she hit her target. She saw the creatures lagging behind slightly but none of them showed off a dagger. She had missed. Of course she had missed.
Lilith suddenly made a sharp right turn and Nyssa made a move to follow her but Lilith looked back and shook her head. "Go!" she ordered and Nyssa obeyed, running straight ahead then making a sharp left. She knew what Lilith was doing--it was obvious--but part of her worried about the consequences. What if they couldn't find each other? What if one of them was killed? Considering her past, Lilith had a higher chance of surviving than Nyssa did. She couldn't even throw a dagger. Perhaps it was partly a survival tactic and it was partly a way to be alone. If Nyssa stepped in Lilith's shoes for a second, she finally realized how utterly helpless she was. She was like a puppy who was too young to do much without a mother. Maybe that what she became when this all happened. A lost puppy. Maybe everyone was a lost puppy at some point, and she just happened to wait for the worst possible situation.
Category:Leafwhisker
Category:One-shot