No.
It had been a rough month, for sure. She knew that. She wouldn't lie to herself.
Did this classify as lying? Tamarin shouldn't be dead. Tamarin couldn't be dead. She had pulled her from the water, she was sure of it. They had flailed together as she dragged her to the surface, and they exploded onto the beach.
But no, she was. And Pike was there instead, like he had been every day of the last month. Talons around Tamarins. Snout buried in hers. Up in Anemone's face, telling her to back off.
Anemone had done the wrong thing, she knew that. She wouldn't lie to herself.
But didn't she deserve some happiness after the, quite frankly, trash last few weeks.
The universe isn't that forgiving, then. Not like she thought.
"What did you do with her?!" Anemone found herself yelling. Pike rolled his eyes, slightly wild and drooping low with exhaustion.
"For once I did nothing. I just let you and the ocean run it's course." His face showed no emotion for the dragon Anemone thought he loved. "Look what you've done now. First you ruined my life and then you ended hers." He cracked his knuckles and positioned his talon in front of her face. "You're nothing but a curse, placed upon every seawing, every tribe even, a princess we never wanted. That I never wanted." He swung his talon into her face, and she screamed with pain as his claws dug into her snout, drawing blood.
"He should've had that statue kill you when he had the chance." Pike spat, swinging his fist back and licking his rotten teeth with satisfaction as the crunch of bones resounded around the beach. Kinkajou and Turtle screamed with Anemone as she flailed against it, beating her wings in the sand. Moon just stared in horror.
"That...may be true." Anemone wheezed. "Even if I am a monster and a curse, I can still...do something good with my life." She said through gritted teeth.
"You wish." He punched her again, harder. Sooner or later he'd go in for the death blow, and it would be all over.
"Moon?" Qibli tumbled into the sand, their dead child laying silently on his back (wtf was that sentence).
"QIBLI?" She screamed desperately, fumbling towards him. Blood ran into Anemone's eyes, but she could just make out their embrace. "Qibli, get out of here! Take her! He's..." Pike lifted his fist again, as Turtle tumbled coward to stop him, fighting against Pike's fist as he shoved it toward Anemone's face. Moon moaned with despair and turned back to the Sandwing. "Just leave!"
"But you..."
"LEAVE! I'm coming!" She sobbed. The pain on her face through Anemone's film of dry and wet blood was evident.
Something good.
I won't be worthless.
Something good.
One thing good...
Her talon scraped through the sand, searching for something. Anything. Her talon enclosed around something sharp and shiny. Good enough.
Something good.
Then, a blast of energy, like the sun and the moon and the stars, before the wind blew and settled the dust, and Anemone's eyes closed as the world went black.