"Cinder," a voice whispered. "Cinder."
She felt something poke her in the rib and she opened her eyes on instinct, confused and mad to have her side jabbed. She groaned, sitting up, and being momentarily confused at the sight before her. Because there was no sight before her, just a dark grey-blue color. She squinted her eyes and looked behind her.
Her nose crashed against a wall as she turned around and Cinder pulled back, covering her nose with her hand. "Ow," she mumbled, massaging the bone. She stood up-- tried to- and banged her head against a hard solid. She lifted her left hand to massage her head, but the skin-- or more accurate, the missing skin-- caught her attention. It was worse than the night before, seeing as how the flesh had peeled back even more during the night. It was pink, and shiny, and bloody, and plain disgusting. Cinder wrinkled her nose.
She crawled away and stood up, no longer under anything. She placed her hand on the countertop for support, her wooden prosthetic functioning less and less each day. She glanced around as she put a glove on over her severed hand.
The clinic.
Finally the pieces clicked inside her mind. She'd woken up and entered the building, which had been open for some reason. Had she forgotten to lock the door? Probably... She closed her eyes and groaned, leaning on the counter.
"Cinder!"
She let out a yelp- a loud one- and searched around frantically for the source of the voice. She stood on the tips of her toes and looked towards the space in front of the counter, where the customers normally stood. A dirty white lump was lying on the wooden floor.
Iko lifted her head and snorted, before going back to the floor.
Cinder glared at the ground. "I was sleeping, Iko... Under a counter... Then I wake up to an imaginary voice. This is great, right?"
Cinder sighed, pulling her hair into a tail. "Now I'm talking to a horse." She scanned the shop and her eyes widened when they fell on the small aquarium in the corner of the main room. She gasped and turned to Iko, but then groaned. "Iko, we need to go somewhere...," she said, expecting the horse to talk back. "Stay here. Okay, girl? Thanks." She stepped around the counter to gently pet her mane. "Make sure nobody finds out we're in the shop. If anyone comes in, you bite them. Understood?"
Iko kept silent as she rolled around the space.
Cinder hesitated. Surely, Iko would love some fresh air. But maybe she wanted to rest... maybe. She wasn't even sure how she'd managed to get her through the doors the night before. Gnawing on her cheek, she went to the small chest on the floor and picked up her briefcase with the supplies she would need. How exactly did you help a fish, though?
Cinder rolled her eyes but smiled as she walked out of the shop.
The walk to the palace was silent, given it was only six in the morning. What if she woke up the whole family when she knocked? She groaned. "Why did I offer to come instead of accepting his visit to the clinic?" she whispered to herself.
The grand gates towered in front of her and she took in a deep breath before clutching the large iron ring attached to the door, and knocking it against the wood of the gate. A man spoke from the other side of the doors. "State your name and business."
