BRING IT TO AN END! -- Body Discovery

[Ares]

CARNIVORE, CARNIVORE
WON'T YOU COME AND CHANGE ME!?

// Trigger warning for gore after the first paragraph//

The small feline weaved her way around the swampy mess of Tanglewood's territory. Dainty paws skirting over soaked earth and mud, said mud starting to cake onto her legs. The slight stinging on her back, the scars from her wings still aching, kept her in reality. Soon, something else would keep her stuck in reality. The metal tang of blood hits her nose, and her once stoic expression changes to that of curiosity, and she went to investigate. The sudden scent of Coalition, though muddled with the scent of swamp and Tanglewood, caused the curious expression to become that of mild annoyance. Weren't the two groups in mutual neutrality?

Muddy paws froze at the sight before her. Wordless, she stared upon the corpse of the cheetah, blood soaking into the ground beneath him. It seemed as though he didn't go down without a fight, though, as she stared at the clumps of fur around his own body, and the fading paw and hoof prints leading away. Within her mind, something snipped. A thin thread of hope that someone she loved would stay. Claws unsheathed and she shook violently, biting her lip until it bled, and then her teeth dug deeper, holding back the scream that was sure to be free.

Bones broke and reorganized into a bipedal structure, fur became feathers and scales and paws became killing claws that would rip into those monsters who killed Ximen. The violent start of the shift left lesions and open wounds in the skin, a deep crimson pooling from various small and large wounds on her body. Vibrant black wings sprouted from the raptor's back, leaving blood to flow from the wounds on her back. And she staggered, opened her jaws, raised her head, and screamed.

It was a wild, wordless screech, full of pain and mourning. Foreclaws scored down her own arms, shredding flesh and feathers and leaving them scattered around the ground. A sharp inhale followed, and then she let out another screech, a bright white fire flying from her mouth, a line of it reaching up toward the trees, and then it died out.

Ares breathed heavily, deep, long breaths that shuddered more and more. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes, silvery in color. "Please... please come back, Ximen! Please...!" She sobbed, hugging herself with the killing arms her body wore. And suddenly her body collapsed, wings unfurling and then covering her head and face. There, she quietly sobbed, just like when Ana died.

— Reggan