Dated on the day it was posted, for once. Midnight..
Word Count → 418
Neela leant back against the tree and let the soft gurgling of the brook calm her thoughts and drown out the sounds of the festival drifting over from behind her. As much as the collie was enjoying the festival she found the constant noise a little overwhelming at times, especially compared to the peace and serenity of Ichika no Ho-en where she now dwelt. She had moved away from the main party for a bit and had absconded to a clearing along a small brook some 50 feet out from the festival.
Neela's guitar lay on the ground at her side but for once the collie didn’t feel like playing, instead she was content to just sit back and look at the stars, peeking lazily out from behind the tree canopy above her. Unfortunately, as was inevitable when Neela was left unoccupied with little to keep her busy, Neela's mind began to wander and, as was typical for recent times, it began to wander down to her arm.
While the collie didn’t like to admit it, internally she recognised the fact that she was a fairly vain dog. Neela was blessed by the fact that the thick fur on her body typically hid what scars she had received, with the only scar she had to date which fell entirely out of her thicker fur being small and easily missed.
Until now. While her stomach had healed cleanly the wound sustained to her arm during her fight with the blonde dog was still clearly visible. The wound had closed but, even in the decreased light offered by the moon, a strip of livid red flesh was still visible, a raw strip tracing its way up her left arm. Even when the wound died down the pink of a scar would be easily visible against her brown arm fur.
Neela raised her right arm, running the fingertips of that hand down the scar, wincing lightly as the still-sore skin twinged slightly at the touch. It wasn't so much the effect on her appearance, Neela mused as she mulled the mark over, but what it represented. Neela had been fighting to avenge Kiara, to drive the attacker away from her home and defend her friend. She had failed, and now bore this mark, a permanent reminder of her failure.
Neela sighed and leant her head back, trying to lose herself once more in the stars, but even as her eyes wandered her fingers traced the path up and down her arm.
