|
From: 9Natalee9 (#494754) • (love this story ;3) • Made on: 2025-01-13
Hallow never bothered to explain herself. No one ever really asked. She didn’t need their understanding, didn’t want it. Her silence was easier, her distance more comfortable.
She was a lioness of contrasts—her red skin, wild and untamed, marked her for what she was: something beyond the pride. Her eyes, chaos, matched the unrest in her chest, a constant flicker of fire that never quite went out. She’d learned early that the world wasn’t kind to those who stood too tall, who bared their teeth too openly. So, she kept her head down, her lips tight, and her claws sharp.
Her past wasn’t one for stories or songs. It wasn’t tragic—it just was. She didn’t need to narrate every fight, every battle. Every scar on her body was earned, but not for pity. She lived with the weight of them because they were hers. All of it was hers.
The pride? She barely fit in. She wasn’t part of their family, and she knew it. The way they looked at her—too quiet, too calculating, too unpredictable. She wasn’t a lioness that followed orders or played their games. And they saw it in her eyes. They saw that she would never bow her head.
Some days, she stayed by herself. Not out of loneliness, but out of necessity. It was easier that way. Easier to think, easier to breathe without the clamor of others.
The night was her favorite time. There was nothing to prove in the dark, just the cold air and the space to think. And when the moon hung high in the sky, when the wind tugged at her thick mane, Hallow felt like she could finally exhale.
Out there, beyond the pride’s borders, everything was quiet. And in that silence, Hallow could hear herself. Hear the restless energy that always simmered just beneath the surface. She didn’t care to tame it. She didn’t care to control it. It was part of her, and sometimes, it needed to be fed.
One night, as the stars scattered overhead, Hallow found herself standing on the edge of a cliff. The wind tore through her fur, and she stood there—silent, waiting for something, anything to fill the space around her. Below, the river churned.
She didn’t flinch when a shadow appeared behind her. She didn’t need to turn. “You’re a long way from the pride,” came the voice, cautious.
“I don’t belong there,” Hallow muttered. “And I’m not sure I ever will.”
A long pause stretched between them. The voice was softer when it spoke again. “Does that bother you?”
Hallow’s lips quirked into the barest of smiles. “It used to.”
Now, it was enough to simply breathe. To stand on the edge of the world, where no one could see her and yet, in a strange way, she was more herself than she’d ever been.
With one last, quiet whisper, she spoke to no one, but the universe around her: “To stand alone is not to be abandoned. It is to embrace the truth that only in the silence of our own heart, can we truly hear the call of fate.”
|
