ORIGIN

Today, Envy was brooding. They were angry, angry not at themselves, but at everyone else. Why? How could no-one see how far they'd come, how strong they were for it? why did no one respect or admire them or look up to them (in a ... metaphorical sense.) or worship them? They weren't mean, they were strong. they were doing what they had to do to survive, in a world like this, with a gem like this. The more that Envy felt sorry for themselves, the more bitter they felt towards everything else.

It was far easier to turn one's jealousy into anger; and less painful to blame others than it was to carry any of that burden themselves. Jealousy is nothing more than admitting that I'm weaker than everyone else.

But a little voice whispered;

why then, do you keep this name?

Envy clenched their teeth, seething inside, grappling with themselves as much as everyone else. They were curled up beneath a lantern pinned, far away, to the ceiling of the cave. Their paws covered their face as though they were sleeping, but it was mainly to hide the dampness around their eyes. They kept twisting and thrashing, trying to use physical movement to cull the emotions. Envy can be strong, if it means I have the guts to take what I want- no- what I need. That's what makes me strong. I'm going to be the best. I'll climb to the top, even though I started all the way at the bottom. I'm not weak, I'm not weak, I'm not weak...

Envy raised their head and breathed out a breath. They needed a walk. their skin was crawling, their muscles were tense. The fur around their eyes was still damp. How they craved another taste of the power that they'd felt from Imperia, the self-assuredness- that feeling of knowing the extent of one's power, and knowing that you placed fear in another's heart. Envy didn't think they'd ever seen Mamma- no, Li -look so tense before. And that took a lot.

With their heart clenched in their chest, Envy rolled onto their paws and pattered towards the crystal river.

For what felt like the first time, they felt humiliation raw, as they realized how skinny they were, how short and ungainly their legs, how emaciated and bony and... and... weaselly they were. They tried to block out the thoughts as they slid towards the river, low to the ground. It was then that they heard a yell which caused them to stop. Slowly, but surely, a sly grin crawled over their face. They needed an uplift. Envy hastily dried their face with their paws and hurried towards it. The sound lead them towards the crystal river regardless where they found a large and fluffy creature, tall and covered in mud.

Envy slunk out onto the bank into view, their lithe and emaciated form curling like a snake before they rose up onto their hindpaws to sit and watch. A snicker emerged from their sneering jaws. "Let me guess... trying to hide the ugly?" they chittered, baring pointed fangs and narrowing their eyes. "Don't worry! I hear there was a blind gembound around here somewhere."

They bristled in barely-contained laughter.


"speak."

The llama's indignant response was exactly what Envy needed. The weasel rubbed their tiny paws together in glee, and laughed. "Everyone deserves to look at you, huh? You must really hate company. I wouldn't wish a face like that on my worst enemy," they grinned broadly. "Well, actually... I might. But don't take that as a compliment."

They looked over her again, quivering with mirth at the bedraggled llama. Fur sticking out in every direction, plastered right up to the misshapen teeth, they looked ridiculous. Envy didn't even try to suppress it, clutching their paws to their belly and thrashed with laughter, rolling over onto their back, and cackling. And then the llama took jabs back with an unpracticed silver tongue, with retorts that did nothing to fix her external appearance. But Envy's voice rose slightly, a tone higher in pitch, their eyes showing flashes of anger. So they kept laughing through the retorts, trying to drown it out before finally rising upright and glaring with narrowed eyes, teeth bared in a vicious little grin.

"At least I don't look like a particularly bad bout of shit," they retorted. "I'd rather look all mean and rugged than dirty and stupid like you." The weasel grinned, despite the annoyance brewing in their stomach. "And I hate to break it to ya, but I've been boasting eyes like these for longer than you've been alive! You should really learn to show your elders some respect. "


"speak."

Envy grinned at the llama's silence, watching them bristle, and feeling that they'd struck a nerve. Immediately their chest swelled with malicious pride and they drank up the silence like a cat lapped up milk. Nearly drunk with the feeling of power, they swayed and coiled excitedly on the spot, their tail thrashing with glee. This feeling was what they lived for! They were strong! they were the strongest in the caves! No-one else could master magic like they did! Who cared if some kid called them mean? Who cared if no-one ever followed them? they were strong enough alone!

Envy's own goading inner voice brought their insides to a simmer, and they spat a laugh the llama's way. "What? Did the little weasel get your tongue?"

When the llama did finally speak, Envy dropped to all fours in preparation of the storm they knew was coming... only to be delighted as, in their rage, they only succeeded in humiliating themselves further. Envy didn't get up. They just stared for a while. And then they started to laugh, bouncing and thrashing and twisting on the spot with sheer mirth, and finally rolling over onto their back, spine arching and little legs kicking as they clutched at their stomach and howled an endless chittering cackle. They had to strain to stop the fur around their eyes growing damp.

"Ahaha-! Well-- heh-ha- ... you werent lying!" they managed to choke out, before collapsing into another fit of laughter, rolling around on their back.

"speak."

Envy could hardly contain their laughter, even as the llama's barely-legible insults reached their ears- and then suddenly, there was something hitting them- something that clung and stuck, and got right into their handsome fur. "Aargh! that's disgusting!" they squalled, on their feet in an instant, retching and gagging as they shook their limbs and aggressively flexed the mud and spittle off of their lithe form. Still, they felt it itching disgustingly, and made them feel awfully slimy, and as they stood upright, twitching with face twisted into one of pure revulsion, they narrowed their eyes.

Their expression was one of pure disdain. "I never thought I'd ever see anyone stoop that low. Congratulations! That's a new record!" they growled, slow-clapping their small paws soundlessly. "Any lower and I'll have to dig just to catch a glimpse of you." they waved a paw dismissively, and a look of sudden elation crossed their face as an idea struck them.

"Not only that, I can do it better anyway. Ready to see something cool?" They puffed out their chest and placed their paws on the ground, coiling their spine above them. Their stomach tightened, and they felt a familiar burning in their throat. Then, with a short choking noise, the weasel jetted out an impressive stream of bile, for one so small. The fluid glowed red with heat, and bubbled and hissed, aiming right for the llama- even if the most it could probably do was burn through a patch of fur or two, and maybe make some nasty blisters.

With that done, Envy rose up and smugly wiped their mouth with the back of a paw.

"How's that for a spit? You disgusting creature."


"speak."

The weasel smirked with satisfaction as their fire magic hit the llama right on the mark, even though they'd not particularly tried to aim at them. "Yeah, try washing that one off, assho-" they started, reveling in their visible fear only to be cut off as the animal began to scream. And not just scream, scream loud.

The guttural noise found Envy coiling and bristling in pain, their small but sensitive ears flattened to their head. They twitched and growled, and when they finally stopped, it left the weasel's ears ringing. "Finished?" they muttered snidely, more to make sure they hadn't gone deaf than anything else.

Through the muffle of noise they barely caught the llama's words. "I'm a weasel, dumbass. And Envy's the name, in case you want to go sniveling back to your mamma about me later," they retorted, though they were aware of the irony of that statement. Their gaze lingered on the llama, the other's shaking helping to soothe their wounded ego. Envy bared their teeth in a smug grin at their question. "Jealous, huh? Makes a change. That's usually my specialty." They grinned. "So you want to know? Oh, but it's soo hard. I don't think someone like you has it in them. But maybe with a teacher like me, you'd have a teeny chance... But oh! you called me a shit-face, and spat mud all over my wonderfully handsome fur. So I guess you'll never know." They crossed their paws over their chest, and then turned away as though deep in consideration.

"Unless..."

There was a long, long pause, as though Envy was making the hardest decision of their life. "unless you were to get down on your knees and beg. Then I might think about it. Might."

Envy was feeling particularly vengeful today, and it felt so good to be the subject of one's envy, rather than the bearer of it. How they'd turned the tables, huh? Envy grinned, elated with power and giddy with glee. Their innumerable woes were pressed to the back of their mind.


"speak."