Closed RP Once Upon A Dream

[Phoenix]

The buildings seemed to blur together as Sam moved as quickly as she could down never ending alleys. There were no breaks in the buildings, which were all taller than she could scale. No fire escapes to jump up to, no ledges outside windows to climb, nothing. She had yet to see a road as she ran, leaning into walls where she could to take weight off her leg. Every time she tried to fly, her heat sputtered out mere feet above the ground. And with an already broken knee, she couldn’t afford another fall.

Falling hadn’t been what had broken her leg, though, not at all. That had been something else entirely. Something far more terrifying than a fall, and far more deadly. It had been the most beautiful thing she’d ever laid eyes on, the most horribly wonderful thing she’d ever known. And it was somewhere behind her, chasing her. She couldn’t look back to see where it was, to see how close it had gotten in the last few turns. She needed to keep moving, even as the ground faded from asphalt to gravel to dirt and back again. She needed to keep moving, even as it started to get so dark that she could barely see where she was even going.

If she didn’t, the Hunt Song would catch her.

The Hunt Song, with its beautiful smile and its soft calls. The faint and happy laughter that seemed to echo through the alleyways to fall on her ears. She could hear it, somewhere behind her, though the distance was ever-changing. Calling her Sammy, calling her Songbird, calling her Apple Pie. Telling her that he was looking for her, that he was going to find her, to come out and come back to him.

“Don’t you want me to touch you? Don’t you want me to hold you? Weren’t you just asking?” His voice carried through the air, soft and gentle and almost sing-song in tone.

A violent shiver ran through her body. Sam wanted to turn around, to have him take her into his arms. She wanted that happiness and that joy to be focused on her. But she couldn’t. That happiness and joy only led to terrible things, things she promised Todd she wouldn’t let happen. She couldn’t give in, no matter how badly her chest ached for it. No matter the shaking in her core, the longing that ran through her, she had to keep running.

The Hunt Song couldn’t have her.

She turned a corner again, pushing herself to keep running even as she leaned into the wall and used it to support her weight for brief moments. Her knee screamed, and she continuously stumbled forward. She could barely move. The pain was radiating up through her thigh and down through her shin, and her knee kept collapsing under her weight. Sam was nothing if not stubborn, however, so she pushed on, trying her best to keep up speed. Her and Todd were evenly matched on speed on a good day, which meant the Hunt Song had an advantage here if it really wanted to catch up to her.

It was just a matter of time.​

 

[Wendigo]

The buildings were as clear and familiar to Todd as if he’d spent his whole life walking down this street – these streets – the neverending twist of alley and forest that blurred together in this perfect world. Nowhere for his little bird to fly off; nowhere for her to climb up, as fun as that chase would be. It’d been too long since he’d had a proper rooftop chase. They used to be his favorites, and sometimes he even dreamed that she’d made it to the top of one of the buildings, only to find the expanse even more endless from above.

But now his bird’s wings were clipped, and the chase, while boring, was building up the ache of hunger under his skin. The drag of her foot behind her, the uneven steps, the labored panting, they were all exquisite details in the otherwise quiet night.

He knew what had broken her leg. He remembered the crack under his foot as if it were yesterday – and, well, maybe it was. It could’ve been yesterday. It could’ve been a year ago, and yet it wouldn’t matter, because he had her now. She was his, she’d just forgotten her little promise.

When she remembered, his hunting song would catch up to her.

It was beautiful, the time that beat out with the sound of his heartbeat matching each shallow breath, each slow drag of her body against a building or the gravel or a tree. She was slowing down, and he knew that his words were resonating not just in the space between them, but in her heart and her mind and her soul, so intricately tied to his.

His perfect prey.

“Come on now, Sammy,” he called, in the deepest sweetness his voice could manage with its harsh edge; “Come on, where’re you going? You want everything I can give you, right? To be with me forever?”

She did. And she didn’t. And she did. His mouth watered as he caught her scent, thick drool that he had to swallow back as he slowly but inevitably closed the distance. She wanted him with almost as much animal ferocity as he wanted her – just a very different flavor, one that tainted her cinnamon-sweet apple pie scent and sent his mind reeling. She wanted him, of course. But she was a stubborn little bird. She’d keep flying until her wings gave out, and she’d still sing even when his teeth found her pretty throat. Just the idea of her flavor put a little more pep in his step, the warmth of her under his lips. She was so close now, and he could almost taste her again as he had so often. He would taste her again.

It was just a matter of time.

 

[Phoenix]

With her wings clipped, there was only so far that she could go. With her leg crumpling beneath her, dragging behind her, she had to stop. There was nothing else that she could do. She needed to run, but the pain was too much. With a shuddering breath, she leaned against a tree at the edge of the alleyway, clinging to it for dear life. What else was there for her to do, after all, other than give in to her fate?

She was his, now and forever.

Her breath was coming in short bursts, panicked almost. Erratic. She reached a hand down and touched the broken knee, feeling a sharp throb radiate through her leg. With every step, it hurt more. She looked behind her, and just as she did, she saw him. Unlike the earliest times she could remember, the last times he had caught her, he wasn’t in the mask and the coat. He was dressed in the clothes she had bought him. The long sleeved shirt and the jeans, with his hiking boots on. His face was visible, with the longer curls and the scruff coming in along his jaw.

And oh, those eyes. Those blue eyes that she couldn’t bear to look away from, the eyes that changed everything about her life. She loved those eyes. Those blue, blue eyes. They were lit up with joy as he looked at her, as she came into view.

She pushed herself up and tried to run, tried to keep moving so that her soulmate couldn’t kill her. And how he would, he would tear her apart if he got his hands on her. Those hands that had held her so gently just a few hours before would rip her apart. Her soulmate, her lover, her wonderful Todd was going to end her life once again.

She ran, as fast as she could, as the buildings melted into trees. Then, she was running along a dirt path, with a canopy of trees overhead. The forest spread endlessly around her, and the minimal light she had been getting was gone.

That was when she tripped over the root sticking out of the ground.

She hit, hands first, then knees, then with a scream of pain she collapsed on her side. She wanted to hold her knee, to cradle the broken joint, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have time. He was gaining. She could hear how close he was now. On instinct, she tried to push herself up and off the path and into the trees. The path seemed to twist though, and follow her. Follow her around the tree, through the underbrush that slowed her down, and deep into the winding darkness.

She couldn’t do it. Her heart was thundering, ready to burst out her chest. Her leg was shaking, and even the adrenaline wasn’t enough. Her body ached and shook and she slowed. She almost tripped again, falling against a tree. She slid down it.

It was just too much.​