#usually I associate that song with oliver but here it works really well for silvie and her mom

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Been in the mood for angst, so here's a scene from The SOS Chronicles. Takes place pre-story, might come up sometime as a flashback or something. Features one of my main characters, Silvie and her mother.

Deliver Us

            Sasha took several deep breaths, trying to focus.

            The Enforcers were coming.

            They were not coming for her.

            They were coming for her daughter.

            “Silvie, come here, please.”

            Tiny claws pattered on the floor as Silvie appeared, her little furry brown head tilted to one side, her scaly tail swishing behind her.

            Sasha knelt down in front of her. “Silvie, bad people are coming. They are called the Enforcers. They want to take you away from me. You have to run.”

            Silvie blinked at her. “Hide?”             Sasha nodded. “Run first, then hide.”             Silvie took her hand and tugged on her. “Come.”

            Sasha’s heart twisted. “I can’t. I have to stay here.” I have to buy you time to get away.

            Silvie frowned and tugged on her more insistently. “Come.”

            Sasha shook her head. “You run. You hide. I-” she swallowed hard. “If I can, I’ll come find you, later.”

            Silvie’s frown deepened. “Scared?”

            Sasha reached up a hand and squeezed her daughter’s shoulder. “Yes. Mama is scared. And mama needs Silvie to run.”

            She had known, of course, that this day would come eventually. Silvie wasn’t like her. Sasha had learned early that she needed to hide who she was, to hide that she wasn’t under control like everyone else. Making different noises, dancing in the streets, singing and laughing loudly and screaming when she was angry and scared were all things she would be targeted for. She could not be different, so she wasn’t. She molded herself into the perfect Aguithan; obedient, quiet, never questioning orders, never questioning why she had to hide.  

            And then one night she’d been caught in the streets by an Enforcer, only being obedient, only coming home from work a little late…

            And she had been good. She hadn’t fought back, she let him have his way with her.

            She’d been told not to have the child that came from that. To get rid of it before it was born because all it would be was trouble.

            That had been the first time she had fought back since she was a kitten.

            She had kept her child and Silvie was born, small and precious and helpless and perfect.

            And like Sasha, but more. Silvie was louder and more excitable, hard to control, unable to pretend she could be controlled. And at five years old she was happy and full of life and Sasha was grateful every day that she had kept her little one.

            She had hid Silvie’s nonconformities for as long as she could, learning how to help her daughter stay calm and listen and understand.

            But it couldn’t last and she had always known that. And she had made peace with it.

            And if it kept her daughter safe, she would die.

            “No scared, mama,” said Silvie, patting her mother’s face.             Sasha smiled as a tear slipped from her eye. “No scared,” she wrapped her arms around Silvie and squeezed her tightly. Silvie let out a happy little purr.

            “Be brave, Silvie,” she whispered, stroking her kitten’s fur, wrapping her tail tight around them both, just for a moment. “Be brave.”

            “Brave,” Silvie repeated, purring louder.

            Sasha purred back, breathing in her baby’s scent, running her fingers over her daughter’s soft fur. “I love you. More than anything. I love you, Silvie.”

            Silvie’s purring reached a crescendo and she nuzzled Sasha happily.

            Her heart broke, and with a shuddering gasp, she pulled back. The Enforcers would be there any moment, she didn’t have time-

            She reached over and grabbed a little backpack that she had sewn and long kept ready for this day. “Wear this. It has food and water in it,” she said, looping it over her daughter’s back and shoulders.

            Silvie’s ears twitched and her nose scrunched for a moment, then her expression settled as the weight pressed against her back. She had always liked weighted things.

            Sasha pressed their foreheads together. “Run, Silvie. Run, then hide. Run outside the city. Hide there. Stay away from the Enforcers. They are big and mean, with black and red belts. They will hurt you if they find you.”

            “Hurt you?”

            Sasha’s breath hitched and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Don’t worry about mama. Run, Silvie, just run.”

            “You come?”

            Sasha opened her eyes and met her daughter’s bright, yellow-golden gaze. “I promise I will do everything I can to follow you, Silvie. Now run, please, run.”

            Silvie hesitated, then lunged forward and hugged her, tightly. Sasha choked out a sob and hugged her back.

            “Brave, mama,” said Silvie.             “Yes. Be brave my little one,” she pressed a kiss to her daughter’s mop of brown hair. “Now go, run.”

            Silvie pulled back and drew herself up, tiny, fluffy hands curling around the strap of her backpack across her chest, her iridescent tail twitching behind her. “Runhide. Run. Brave, mama.”

            “Brave, Silvie,” Sasha whispered, pulling a smile onto her face.

            Silvie nodded, then turned and dashed to the window. She gave Sasha an excited look. “Window?”

            Sasha’s smile turned real as tears dripped down the fur of her face. Silvie had always wanted to climb out the window for some reason, and often tried. “Yes. Window.”

            Silvie’s eyes lit up. “Window!” she pushed it open and scrambled out. “Bye, mama. Silvie brave!”

            Sasha pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle her sobs. “Silvie brave,” she whispered.

            Then, she took a breath and stood. She pulled on the mask she’d worn since kittenhood, hiding who she was, her emotions and fears. She would be a model citizen, obedient and quiet.

            (She would give Silvie a chance to escape.)

            Not five minutes later as she stood at the sink cleaning dishes, the Enforcers knocked on her door.

            “We’re here for the kitten,” they said.             “What kitten?” she smiled demurely, even as they pushed her away and searched the house.

            Of course they found Silvie’s things, there had been no time or point in hiding them. The Enforcers could smell her anyway. But Silvie was gone, long gone into the city and the night and the myriad of smells there. Her trail would be all but impossible to find. She would be safe.

            “Where are you hiding her?” they demanded, claws glinting in the dim light of her apartment.             “I’m not hiding anyone,” she said, truthfully.

            Their leader, a great brute with white fur and one patch of black on his scarred head, pulled out his gun and pointed it at her head. “Where is the kitten?”

            He was going to kill her, so Sasha smiled and bared her teeth, letting her mask drop. There was no point in hiding anymore. “Right here. I’ve always been right here, hiding under your noses,” she clenched her hands into fists and lunged forward, pushing her face towards his. “You think you can control us but you can’t. For every one you kill or take captive there is one like me who is hiding, ready to rise up and fight back,” her smile turned into a snarl. “You will never see us coming, not until it’s too late.”

            He snarled back. “Ignorant fool. Your rebellion will fall before it ever begins. Any schemes you’ve put in motion are futile,” he pressed the gun to her forehead. “And you will die here tonight.”

            She laughed, her eyes cold as ice. “But my daughter won’t,” she sneered. “You failed. You will always fail.”

            He pulled the trigger. She closed her eyes as the blast traveled through her and smiled as she thought of Silvie in the window.

Be brave, my kitten.

#the sos chronicles #silvie starchaser #silvie the aguithan #sasha the aguithan #my writing #my ocs #character death #is this good? who knows #but I like it #why yes I did listen to deliver us from prince of egypt while writing this #'hiding place' by josh garrels also has the exact right vibes for this and I listened to that too #usually I associate that song with oliver but here it works really well for silvie and her mom