[/html]If she thought too long on it, her own cowardice angered her, maddened her, even. There was no reason for it. Even the worst of outcomes was not something to flee from, and moving up from that... well, she still did not know how an ideal meeting might unfold. She imagined that there wasn't a perfect way for things to happen -- but that was still not reason enough to turn away when she was so close. Ironically, her lack of conviction meant that she had already stayed in the general area for far longer than she originally intended.
What had been the plan? Come, study Inferni for a while, and if her father or sister were there, see them, then leave? (Leave and go where?) It had been near half a year now, and she had known that Myrika was in Inferni for most of that time. It was likely that she was avoiding the decision that needed to come after just as much, if not more, than she was avoiding her sister. After Inferni, after the inevitable meeting, all that awaited her was a fit of directionless existentialism and unanswerable questions.
Even with the cloudy skies, the late summer heat was uncomfortable, pressing down around her like an invisible trap. The trees dotting the rocky hills were sparse, which, despite giving contrast to the smothering feeling, did little to lift her mood. The lithe coywolf moved at an eager pace, always ready to return to the cover of forest.
A spiral of black birds curled out a good distance from its center; she saw them from a half mile out and moved towards them automatically. If she was lucky, they would be circling an abandoned carcass that she could freely claim. If she was less lucky -- and it always seemed to be the case that she was less lucky -- someone was there already, or several someones.
As she neared, Cassandra saw a nervous horse tied to a tree, shifting back and forth on its feet. She studied it a moment, but did not approach. Words she did not recognize came from nearby, as did the protests of several crows. Cautiously, with her cloak draped casually so as to not appear to be hiding anything, the albino woman approached the red-furred stranger and his deer.
| Messages In This Thread |