image [https://files.catbox.moe/ne9fgg.png]
Day seven.
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Humanus, the being
Anima, the soul
Atrox, the cruel
A tale as old as time,
of unending strife.
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The comfortingly familiar smell of coffee finds its way all throughout the manor. Strangely, though, it’s a fresh batch, as opposed to old, reheated coffee. The steamy brew feels pleasantly warm on Kaira’s face as she sips it, who also has an open book on her other hand for her to read while standing against the kitchen island. “Humanus, the being, Anima, the soul, Atrox, the cruel. A tale as old as time, of unending strife,” is the title and subtitle that can be read from the cover of the book, them being legible enough to make out the words even with Kaira’s fingers covering a few of the letters.
“(...) for they have denied us the freedom to exist in the world which we were born in. To trust a human is to risk losing one’s autonomy, to lose the very thing that sets us apart from things which have not been conceived with the gift of life. What is it that wrought such a twisted force of nature to our path? (...)”
Amongst cryptic passages about the anima condition, there are tidbits of what feels like actual misanthropic propaganda sprinkled in between declarations from a race that hasn’t exactly had it easy for most of its time. What’s this book about, exactly? Kaira can’t tell if it’s 254 pages of what could have been expressed with a simple “humans kind of suck” or if perhaps it’s some sort of philosophical insight she doesn’t have the brain capacity to comprehend – it all really does feel like something only the royal family would read. One specific passage catches her attention, however.
“(...) though divided by time, they shall meet once more. Human and atroxian, to rehearse history until we meet our very end (...)”
“what? what the fuck did i miss?” she says. Atrox? How can you willingly call yourself that?
“... isn’t that a slur?” She visibly winces; this “royal family” only seems to get more unhinged the more she learns about them. “i’m gonna go read something else.”
Taking the book back to where it once was and sighing as she goes, Kaira then stops for a minute as if just having remembered something so vital, something she should have probably thought of way earlier than this very moment.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“...i should put on a shirt. chloe saw me shirtless.” Yes Kaira, you should, and yes, she did.
A familiar creature walks up to the shirtless Kaira in her natural habitat.
“oh hey, buddy. where the hell have you been?”
The bobcat judges her, as if to say “I can't believe you’re still looking like this”. He couldn’t possibly even think of that, being a bobcat, but she can’t help but project her thoughts on the nearest living being.
She looks out the barely open entrance door, checking for any rabbit carcasses lying on the doorstep now that the usual culprit of that crime has now arrived.
“none? that’s new. i thought you were out hunting.” The cat stretches, yawns, and proceeds to lay on its usual sleeping spot: the matted rug near the entrance.
“...wait, you’re not in heat, are you?” And in a final act of projection, she can feel the feline shrugging just by looking her in the eye.
“urgh, god.”
Kaira begrudgingly places the book back on its respective shelf, before walking towards her now clean bedroom. It’s been strange getting used to not living in a filthy environment, sure, but it’s not exactly detrimental to her mental well-being. Maybe a little. It’s all going back to being a mess eventually, and then someone will have to clean that up, right, Kaira?
“it’s… itchy. i can’t even rub it with my thumb anymore.”
She looks through her closet for anything resembling a proper way to cover her upper body, ideally clothing, like a regular person, while also trying not to focus too hard on the itchy wound.
“okay, how about we don’t think of that? for now. yeah.”
Yes, Kaira, clothing. Focus on the clothes. Don’t think about it.
Amongst ruffle dresses and fancy velvet gowns that have clearly not been worn for far too long, a few more casual articles of clothing can be seen in the antique wardrobe, namely, one regular oversized red sweater; it very visibly contrasts with the more expensive-looking outfits, specifically because Kaira placed it there. It’s not like she would ever wear any of these with a sane mind, even if she could – some of them are too small, after all, clearly belonging to a young child. The queen’s child. At a closer look, however, the smaller ones resemble the fashion style of a medieval jester. Why would you dress your own offspring in something so… mocking?
“fucking weirdos.” is the only thing she can bring herself to say.
The fabric feels uncomfortable on Kaira’s furry skin as she clumsily puts the red sweater on. How are people able to wear these all the time instead of only when absolutely necessary?
“...this works, i guess.”
After looking at herself in the mirror for a little longer than usual, she exercised what looked to be a bit of a forced smile, before changing her mind and going back to her usual deadpan look.
Going back to the fancy bookshelf, she finds herself endlessly looking through books and their pages, trying to find something, anything that doesn't remind her of the upcoming end of anima folk as a species. There has to be something, right? There's no way the royal family only reads the most life-draining word salad anyone has to offer. Right?
"no... no... definetely not that one... maybe this one? it doesn't have a title."
Though the leather cover is relatively worn, it's still in better condition than most of the other books. Might this one be more recent? Taking a quick glance at its contents the book looks handwritten, unlike all the other books, and very crudely so. What's even weirder is the fact that it wasn't neatly placed in a row amongst the rest of the library, but instead placed behind the well-organized codices, almost like a child very poorly tried to hide a new toy from their parents.
Kaira sits on the comfy armchair near the bookshelf and begins to pry into the book's contents, not exactly sure what to expect.
"this'll be interesting," she says. That's a bit of an understatement, Kaira.