Read! FOR GOD SAKE! Read, this is super important tied to the image!

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“Get away from me! I’ll tear you apart!”

The floatzel had happened upon me as I lay dying. She was shocked at first, winged mightyena aren’t exactly normal after all, but seeing the state I was in she immediately tried to help me. I tried to get rid of her, I barked out threats, but she just looked at me… Ferra looked me right in the eyes…

Monster, Abomination

Then she smiled and hefted me upon her back and started carrying me off. I swore I’d kill her, tear her apart. I barked threats and promises of bloody demises, but she still just… smiled. She smiled at me, gave me a sarcastic response and brought me to her home. She tended to me, nursed me back to health, and all the while she talked. At length. About anything. And with nothing else to do, I listened.

Days passed, turning to weeks, into months eventually. I recovered. I never made good on my promises to hurt her, instead I actually started talking to her. I kept to topics that were… less bloody… I was actually surprised how much of my life didn’t involve death and killing. It was actually… nice reminiscing about things like learning to cook and… making a friend. I had forgotten I even had one.

Evil, Vile, Twisted

Eventually though she began to needle me for information about myself.

Murderer, Killer

I hid nothing, I told her all the things I had done. The killing, the dying, the constant attempts to murder my own brother. But she never flinched, she never turned away from me in horror, never called me out for what I had done. Instead, she gave me a sad little look… I didn’t get it then… but she saw something in me as I bitterly recounted my life. When I finished recounting all my evils, all the horrible actions I had committed… she asked me why.

Why did I do it all?

Heartless! Empty! Worthless! Failure!

I explained how I was just a monster. Pure and simple… again she asked why. I told her it was just who I was. And then… she said she didn’t believe that… because when she looked to me… she saw something good.

MONSTER! DEMON! ABOMINATION! HELLSPAWN!

Those words… those words were horrible… I snapped at her. I screamed at her. She knew nothing! She wasn’t there when I was a pup! She had no idea what she was talking about!

“How!? How can you see something in me even my own mother couldn’t see!? What makes you think you know better than her!? She thought I was awful, she never gave a damn about any good I tried to do… I was living a lie and she knew it! She knew I was… a monster… I… I was… what do you… what… what…”

I remember… for the first time since mother died… I was… crying. All I could manage was a whimper.

“What was wrong with me?”

EVIL! VILE! CRUEL! VISCIOUS!

She came next to me, wrapped her paws around my neck… held me tightly as she whispered the answer into my ear. An answer I think I knew all along… an answer I didn’t want to admit…

Nothing.

I had done nothing. My mother just hated me. No reason, no justification… she just despised me because I existed.

Hurting, Afraid

I don’t remember much else from that night. I cried, a lot. And she was there, telling me it would be okay, that I didn’t have to be a monster. That I could make amends and redeem myself. Such a concept is so… foreign to me though… I honestly don’t know if I can ever make up for what I’ve done.

Redemption, Hope
No Hope! Condemned!

From there, things were… normal for a while. She’d bring me swimming with her, we’d talk and eat together. She still wanted to hear more about me, she pressed me for details about my adventures. The people I had met. She had never really seen much or been many places… I was a window to a whole wide world she never imagined. And she… she was my chance to live a normal life. She was my friend. She saw in me something no one else did, least of all myself. She thought I was good. She believed in me.

Hope. Compassion. Kindness

It meant so much to hear that, to know she saw something worthwhile in me. It… I think… I think I was…

Undeserving, Unworthy

…I was more than healthy enough to be able to leave but… I never did. I was… happy. Happy to spend the days with my… friend.

Which meant of course it couldn’t last. One day, my brother and his friends managed to stumble upon my refuge. Unsurprisingly they still hated me and didn’t believe my claims about wanting to change and stop fighting. I was prepared to resign myself to dying again, so long as it was far away from where Ferra could see.

But then I heard her scream… humans… they were abducting her. I tried to save her, but… their machine landed a hard hit, crippled my wings. They took off with her! She was counting on me! But nothing changed!

Hopeless, Failure, Disappointment
Don’t Give Up, Protect, Believe!

I forced myself to my feet and started marching in the direction they had taken my Ferra. In so doing, I found myself falling in with my brother and his group. To say it was teeth-clenched teamwork would not be doing the situation justice, but nothing would stop me from saving her.

And in the end… I guess it was… good.

Forgive. Make amends.

It gave me a chance to… apologize for my actions. For trying to kill my brother’s raichu mate. It also gave me a chance to let him know why I hated him… why part of me still resents him. While I doubt we’ll ever be normal brothers… at least now we have an understanding.

No! Hateful! Spiteful! Envious! Weak! Pathetic!

It was strange… being with them… seeing them act like a family. Seeing how the various pairs… loved one another. I… I wonder if…

Unworthy! Do Not Deserve!

Eventually we managed to find where she was imprisoned. She was scared, and she hadn’t had an easy time of her capture, but she wasn’t really hurt. She was so happy to see me too… she called me her…

Hero. Savior. Protector.

I wanted to bring her back home, I didn’t want to endanger her by pursuing the group who abducted her. But Ferra insisted on helping, she wanted to help those she met in captivity. I couldn’t deny her… it’s who she is. I did make her promise to stay close by though, so that I could keep her safe.

The sound of a splash brought me out of my reflections. It’s been… a couple weeks since we saved her. She wanted to get a little swim, and I’m glad she did. The moonlight gently reflects off the water as she swims up to me, the whole scene is peaceful, calm. She asks me what’s on my mind. I tell her I’m reflecting on the past. She giggles. I can’t help myself… my eyes linger on her, drinking in how… beautiful she is.

No

She notices my gaze, smiling she asks if I’ve thought of the future. I tell her I think about just returning home with her, staying around. Then she asks me if I’ve thought about finding a special someone.

No!

I struggle to speak for a few minutes, before I tell her I know love is not something I deserve. I accept that.

But she says I do deserve it. And she says she knows because I’ll always have her.

No! Unworthy! Undeserving!
Hope

I take a few steps back; my breath catches in my throat. My body trembles as my blood runs cold. I wonder why for a brief moment, before realizing that its fear. I’m afraid.

“No… I don’t deserve it… I’m not worthy of it… I’m not worthy of… you”

I’m stuck in place as she slowly moves closer, a paw extended outward.

UNWORTHY! UNDESERVING! UNLOVABLE!
Redemption

I feel tears in my eyes, my vision blurs as she gently places her paw on my cheek.

“You don’t deserve to be alone, Death. You’ve done so much already.”

NO! CAN NOT! MUST NOT!
Let her in. Forgive myself.

She brings her mouth to my ear, as my eyes shut tight. I’m paralyzed to the spot.

“Death…”
Ferra…

MONSTER! EVIL! VILE! DEMON! HATEFUL! SPITEFUL! ABOMINATION! CRUEL! HEARTLESS! WORTHLESS! EMPTY! HATRED! PATHETIC! INSANE! MURDERER! KILLER! FAILURE! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! I AM NOT WORTHY! I DO NOT DESERVE HER!

“…I love you”
…I love you

And she loves me. I can move on. I can fix my life. I want to. I will. Because its what she deserves. Because its what I deserve. I want to be better.

Her words… it’s like a river washing over my whole being. The world seems to vanish around me… and all that’s left is the two of us. I’m powerless to speak, all I can manage are sobs. I can’t move, my body flatly refuses to listen to anything I tell it. But it’s only for a moment.

Suddenly my tentacles wrap around her, pulling her into my body, I force my mouth and lungs to get it out.

“I… I love you too!”

I don’t even recognize my own voice, but she does apparently. I feel her press her head to mine, paw still on my face. She tells me she knows. But she’s so happy to hear me say it all the same. Her voice cracks slightly, and I slowly open an eye to see tears in her own eyes as she smiles, looking into mine. The world is still gone, as I start to laugh, and I hear her melodious own mirth join mine.

I know, I’ve still got a way to go to make up for all the wrongs and evil I’ve committed. But, I will do it. Because, I now know that’s who I really am deep down. I owe it all to my precious Ferra, for showing me that no matter how deep in the dark, there’s always…

Hope
Hope

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I LOVE THIS IMAGE!  xehta13 Did fucking wonderful with it! Gah it's so wonderful!

*ahem* But yeah, this is the sequel image to "Falling in the Dark". If you read the story above I don't need to really explain anything about it. But again, Death is probably my most favorite character I've written, and these images are the best way for me to explain why. This image in particular though is just something I'm SO glad I got done. Like, I can't really properly put it to words how much I love this. Lunis did amazing work bringing what I had envisioned to life.

And again, it just works so well with the story bit I crafted with it. This whole thing has been something I'm just super proud of myself for doing. I put my all into doing these stories right. As such I really hope you took some time to actually read it and let me know what you think.

Seriously though, this is just... I can't even. *chuckles* So hey here's a musical bit for you all. "Undisclosed Desires" by Muse, which I think is a rather well fitting song for the pair on display (a few lyrics maybe not perfect) song from the PoV of Ferra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWTuKd2lTo4