took the stars from our eyes
#1
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Thread Information
This is for the Major Rockslide and a Mystery! snowstorm plot.

Date: Backdated to Feb. 09, 2011.

Setting: Goldsglen Peak; The Fornholdt.

Time: Morning

Character Form: Optime
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359←Word Count :: Derp, crap post. I suck at starting! @_@
A bit of PP with China; lemme know if you want any of this changed Alaine... <33 Oh, and I'm planning on having Sage get hurt in this thread, too. :3 Maybe a broken arm or something.


It had been with a heavy heart that Sage had restrained from her search for so long. The storm had simply been to strong, it had forced her to keep indoors for fear of serious injury. But now, the wind and snow had mostly died down, and it was her mission to find her father today.


The tawny girl rose blearily, having slept unfortunately fitfully the night before. China, her pretty sister, lay serenely beside her. It took Sage several minutes, sitting there lost in silent pondering, before she moved to wake the pale girl ever so gently. This was their mission.


Since her return, Sage had not seen nor heard anything of her father, or his presence. She'd been told, though, that he liked to make camp on the mountain. It was an unpleasant additional circumstance that the very same mountain had been crushed by terrible rockslides and avalanches of snow. If Daddy had been on that mountain, he could be in danger but if they went looking for him, so could they.


"China," she breathed softly, her melodic voice carrying gently to her sister's nearby ear. "Wake up, sweetie..." she cooed, hoping that she would not wake her sister unhappily. "Let's go find Daddy, now." she added, her voice a bit stronger as China stirred.


They would need to move quickly, for the search could take all day, and even well into the night. Sage only hoped that Clover was around; Sage was certain that her lovely hazel sister would want to join in on this hunt, too. At the thought, the tawny Lykoi girl stepped outside and lifted her head to the sky, calling out for her Clover; a short message, to say they were on the move. With a shiver, she pulled the blanket around her to buffer the mild but chilling morning breeze and turned back to quickly grab her satchel.


Sage took China's small hand in her own and together they began towards Goldsglen Peak, determined and sure. Surely they would find him. Find something of him. Right? The girl could only hope, and even that was growing faint.


table by kiki. image credit here.

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#2
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3+←Word Count :: all good, my love Big Grin

She'd been having the most peculiar dream.


It had involved ravens - many, many ravens. They had been circling the mountains like a swarm of buzzards, but for some reason, she had not been afraid. She had called to them, called them to her, embraced the feathery ink and the gaping red beaks. There had been no pain as they had pulled her to pieces, but that was not a surprise, for dreams never involved pain.


At last minute, she had pulled back from the hungry crows. There was something she was supposed to be doing, and this made the creatures angry. They wanted her, but China's euphoria at the presence was fast fading, being replaced instead with a heavy feeling of impending doom. Eyes haunted the recesses of her mind; one pair were deep crimson, and the other were spun corn gold. They were luminous and beautiful, and the gold eyes were beseeching her. They needed her yet.


Sage's soft voice was what pulled the silvery girl into consciousness. For a moment, she blinked drowsily, the haunting remnants of flapping ebony wings still dancing before sleep-glazed Lapis Lazuli. But slowly, her mind emerged from the husky shell of dreamtime, and she smiled with recognition at the form of her sister. "Sage?" Came the soft voice, and the smile grew sweetly as her beautiful tawny sister spoke words of finding their sister, and she nodded mutely.


Long limbs stretched with delicate grace as her beloved company stepped outside to call absently for the third circlet of the hippie trio. With Clover at their side, the sisters were almost an impenetrable force of love and peace.


Sage grabbed her satchel and China pulled on her denim skirt, settling the impractical but flattering clothing firmly on her young curved hips before settling her blushing palm snugly into that of her sister's. By now, the silvery Lykoi princess was fully awake, and well aware of the conflicting emotions of her sweetest sibling. She squeezed slightly on Sage's hand as they walked, and offered her a reassuring smile. "I can't wait to see him at last, love - it's been so long!" Her sharp white teeth glinted in the fragile dawn light. The possibility of failure on this self-set mission was not even mentioned. Trying to irgnore the biting cold and the brittle snow underfoot, she huddled closer to Sage as the pair pressed on.


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#3
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401←Word Count :: Mmkay, I figure Anna is away, so I'm just gunna have her assume Clover is already looking or something. And Anna, if you wanna join at any point, feel free. <3 I also assume they're climbing to find him, since the path isn't usable. Lemme know if you think this is wrong at all, derrrpp. Oh, and I'll have her get hurt in the next post, I'm thinking. I think I'll just badly sprain or fracture it, instead of breaking it completely.

The Lykoi child's call had gone up, dissipating quickly in the frigid air, leaving a hollow silence behind. And nothing came in return, either. Sage frowned, wondering just where Clover might be. Sage couldn't help but hope that she was already on that mountain, a one woman search party ahead of the solitary pair.


As China pressed close to Sage, expressing words of hope, yellow eyes were cast aside, brow slightly furrowed, fearful. She wouldn't let her own concern spread to the mind of her cheerful and optimistic sister, but couldn't help but let it effect her. Of course she would press on, and keep whatever vague hope still might linger after hours of searching, but that itch at the back of her mind did not disappear as they began their ascent.


The path was destroyed. Any other way through would need to be forged. The snow was thick and unforgiving, but they could walk through it, at least. In some places it came up to Sage's waist, and she began to feel the weight of this task and the near impossibility of it. Yellow eyes stared up the blanketed mountainside; large boulders and debris littered the area, and not a single sign of life stirred. Sage glanced to her sister, wondering what thoughts darted through her mind as they climbed, no end of this search in sight.


"Daddy?!" she called out, as loudly as her voice could go, hoping the echoes might reach him, if he was there. But once again, no sound was returned.


If they could find just one single shred of evidence of Razekiel's presence, Sage's troubled head might find rest, if only for a while.


With a heavy heart she continued climbing, finding the steep slope difficult to traverse, her limbs already beginning to ache from the cold and the physical strain. She tried to ignore the pain, her mind determined on their task, but the winter's frost bit at her body and mind, tempting her to abandon this mission.


The earth child had come to Inferni filled with hope, knowing she would see her Father here. She had been sure of it, then. But months had passed, without sign or sight or even a single word from anyone else. It seemed no one knew exactly where Daddy was; perhaps least of all his two vigilant, shivering daughters.


table by kiki. image credit here.

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#4
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3+←Word Count :: okee. ilu <3

The ground was treacherous and cold, and no sweet call from their missing sister arched high through the sullen winter air. It felt like an omen - a bad one. China refused to let herself be gulled by such things - The earth mother was not so specific as to hinder their search on this day. It would take a lot more than the absent of birdsong, the absence of Clover, and the absence of their father to turn away the two sisters.


They had travelled a long way, both physically and mentally, to reach this point. China had come to Inferni once before, and had been driven away by the metallic bite of war before she had had a chance to meet with the father they so craved. But now, she was back, and with Sage's hand held so firmly in her own it seemed impossible that their mission could fail.


Or so her feebly hopeful heart would like to think.


The higher they climbed, the less forgiving the terrain became. The cold snow seeped at the warmth of her blood, and often it would cave out from beneath the two sisters, plunging them up to their waists in the cold wet. It was as if the land itself was urging them back, back to the tainted soil of middle Inferni, where their blue blood assured them fake safety and love. No! They had come for their father, and the Earthmother could not keep him from them! Surprised at this though, which had slashes its way unbidden to her mind, China found her eggshell blue gaze sliding guiltily to her sister. Oh, if only Sage knew how much she had let herself go, how her soul had wandered from the teachings of Juniper Peace...


When Sage's voice rang out, China joined her, tilting her head back and cupping her hands around pixie maw. "Dad? Papa?!" The mountain mocked them with sullen echoes. The two girls trudged on.


table by kiki. image credit here.
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#5
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Oh hayyy, don't mind me showing up a bajillion years later. :3 +5


Curled beneath the frayed edges of the purple tapestry, Clover attempted to keep the warmth trapped with her. The storm had been relentless, and the young hippie child had sought refuge in the mansion along with a handful of Inferni’s other members. Upstairs there had been catastrophe, as the walls of the building had caved in on some of the rooms. Clover had been fortunate enough as her room had been spared. Still, she had had to suffer through the bitter cold along with everyone else. The past few days had been spent curled by the fire the clan had kept burning in one of the main rooms of D’Neville.

It was the call of her sister that stirred her awake, and at first Clover wasn’t sure if it had been a part of her dream or not. Straw was veiled at intervals as the young girl blinked away the evidence of sleep in her eyes, peeling back the blanket and stretching lithe limbs. As the cloudiness of sleep left her mind, the tawny girl decided that she had not been dreaming – her sisters really were out there in the cold on a search mission. It only took a moment for the girl to hop to her feet and decide she too would help with their mission. After all, it was their father they were looking for.

She draped the tapestry over her shoulders, wrapping it effectively around her torso as she made her way out into the deep snow. It took her quite some while to maneuver away from the mansion, for the snow often gave way under her slight weight. It was frustrating work, and Clover wondered if it might be easier done on four legs, but decided against it, since her lupus form was one that had seemingly grown unfamiliar in its disuse.

A jumble of thoughts swirled in the youth’s mid as she made her way towards her father’s camp. She had not seen him since her initial arrival here, and she wondered what he might say when he realized all of his daughters were home. Even though they were all a part of Inferni, it seemed as if Razekiel lead his own life up in his camp. Despite being a clan member, he had his own way of life. Clover respected that, but she still had some lingering doubts in the back of her mind. Dadddy wasn’t capable of murder, was he? Those terrible thoughts had been what had put strain on their relationship in the first place. She had loved seeing him when she had first arrived, but he had warned her about Inferni; he knew the dangers it held in its constant conflict with neighbors. Still, he stayed here. Perhaps that was because he too was capable of violence. She did not want to believe so. Clover didn’t want to think that anyone of her blood was capable of violence. They could not defy the principles of Mother Earth. They knew better.

Though she could not see them, as Clover trudged further towards the Fornholdt, she could hear the sounds of her sisters’ voices calling for their father. With renewed enthusiasm, the young Discens pushed forward so that she might meet up with the rest of the search party.


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#6
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401←Word Count :: HOORAY WC: 431

As China's calls joined Sage's own, the tan girl couldn't help but become tainted with denial, her heart heavier with every echo returned. Her trudging slowed, and she paused for a moment, scanning the endless landscape, sun-colored eyes reflecting nothing but the blankets of white she saw. With a heavy sigh, the girl glanced back at her silvery sister, whose frame became harder to see with a sudden burst of windy snowfall.


"China, I..." she started, swallowing several gulps of air. "I don't... I don't see him." It was obvious, so why did she even need to say it? But still, that faintly glowing ember of hope still lingered. "Let's, ah..." another breath, "let's go this way." And with that, she turned in another direction, hoping that the fresh path would bring about some comfort, some sign of their wandering Father.


The next several hundred feet they plowed through gave little more hope to the two young sisters, and yet something kept them going. A breeze passed by and through the frosty bite, the tanned hippie girl thought she smelled something, or someone familiar. A flutter in her heart, and her speed increased, eyes wide and hopeful as she searched the snow blasted landscape. Several more steps later and the light snowfall finished, revealing to her in the near distance not an haggard man who lived alone and traveled when he pleased, but a young, beautiful sister Clover, trudging through the snow just as they were. Her silhouette was unmistakable, her golden hair glowing even in the pale light. Though this wasn't who Sage and China sought, the third girl-child of Razekiel was a more than welcome sight for their nearly moist and tiring eyes.


"Clover! Oh, Clover!" she said excitedly, rushing forward to close the gap between them.


As she ran, though, her exuberance perhaps got the best of her, for her sunlit eyes were staring straight ahead. Debris strewn across the path as it was, it was no surprise that someone would be hurt. Her foot caught carelessly on a fallen log, and her body was hurled into the air, outstretching an arm to catch her fall. She failed, though, and instead her arm was thrust into a jagged, fallen boulder with the weight of her own body crushing up against it. With a loud moan of pain she crumpled, her body forming into a tight ball as she held her arm to herself as if protecting it from further harm. For once, the Earth had betrayed her.


table by kiki. image credit here.

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#7
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3+←Word Count :: buh buh buuuuuh!

Although she didn't wish to admit it to herself, China found it a relief when Sage stopped. She sucked deep lungfuls of air into her lungs - The silvery songbird felt peculiarly feint, as though her chest was held in the fist of a giant. A menacing wind whipped between her and her tawny sister, causing the other girl's darker waves to leap about her face, caught like tiny banners in the cool fingers of the zephyr that bellowed down from the mountain. The miserable weather did nothing but darken her sister's miserable voice. "Oh, Sage..." Don't give up hope, she wanted to say, but the sentiment caught in her constricted throat.


Her sister seemed to sense that their path was faltering, and so she changed it. On an angle to their original direction, the two coyote girls trudged on, their bodies bent like hapless twigs against the relentless weather. When a familiar scent reached Sage, China was oblivious - The pain in her chest had now inflamed a dull ache in her brain, a strange feeling that made black dots dance tauntingly at the corners of her vision. However, her mind did not settle on this disturbing physical impairment for long, as she heard the name that pulled from her sister's maw, and excitedly looked up to see the new girl approaching.


Clover's gold hair and lavender tapestry made her clearly visible against the blistering snow. Following in the deep sockets of Sage's footsteps, China was nearing to Clover when Sage fell.


It was in slow-motion. The black dots at the edge of her eyes danced menacingly, seemingly excited by the imminent danger that the tawny girl was in. A sharp shriek echoed across the landscape - It took a moment for China to realize that it had been torn from her own throat. "SAGE!" The snow hindered her footsteps - Earthmother, be damned! Be DAMNED! There would be no Razekiel in this blasted desolation, and now her Sage had come to harm.


Finally, she floundered the distance between herself and the wounded girl, her silvery body flopping into the snow beside Sage's curled form. She was too breathless for another scream of alarm, but looked to Clover with wide, scared eyes of softest eggshell blue.


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#8
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Big Grin +3


Though she had heard the voices and known already that it was her sisters out in the snow along with her, there was a feeling of relief and ecstasy all rolled into one that immediately flooded the girl’s system as soon as straw colored eyes located them. As her sisters worked towards her, Sage taking the lead, Clover changed her course of direction and headed right for the girls. It was difficult work, and perhaps draping the tapestry around her had not been smart and merely hindering, but the young flower child was determined to make her way to them. Despite all of the negative feelings everything about the day should have elicited, the girl’s tawny muzzle parted into a thin grin – she still found joy in the simple fact that her sisters were here in Inferni with her, and she was no longer the sole Juniper Peace child.

But just as quickly as the smile had formed, Mother Earth robbed it. Sage had been pushing her way closer and closer, until some unseen force had yanked her to the earth. It was painful to watch, her sister fighting to find stable footing, and Clover could easily see that her sister’s spill had not been the least bit graceful (which was unusual for any of them). There was only a split second of hesitation, where Clover paused in dumbfoundedness, before she instantly raced towards her sister. Her firm grip on the tapestry loosened and the fabric slipped from one hand, so that it waved behind her like a tattered banner. No doubt she would feel extreme fatigue from the exertion it took to propel her towards her injured sister, but none of that even crossed her mind. Her thoughts were solely on Sage.

"SAGE!" Her anguish mirrored China’s as they both rushed to the tawny colored girl. Upon making it to her side, Clover flung herself into the snow, reaching out a hand to find Sage’s back and assure herself that she was alright. For a moment, the girl did not respond, and straw colored eyes connected with Lapis Lazuli infected with worry. There was a terrible emptiness in Clover’s stomach and a strange sour taste found its way to her tongue. She quickly lifted the tapestry from the ground and threw it over her sister’s frame, before palms found her sister’s torso and guided her upward from the ground so that they might see what damage Mother Earth had been cruel enough to inflict.



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#9
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472←Word Count ::

Where she lay, the tawny girl twisted and rolled with the intense pain, eyes seized shut and every muscle tense as she let out a muffled, pained and frustrated scream, as if it would make her feel less. It didn't. She felt it all. Almost instantly, as her sisters flocked to her side, tears welled in her eyes. Had she failed them? Had she failed herself? Would they lose faith in her, in him, in the world? A low, sad whine flew from her lips as Clover helped her rise, slow and careful. Sage's head hung low, cradling the arm which burned and throbbed with an intense pain like she'd never felt. Her sobs were slow and quiet; she felt defeated, but wanted so badly to not give up hope.


Sun-colored eyes flickered to her arm, and she tried to straighten it carefully to asses the damage. At mid-angle, she was unable to suppress it and let out another groan of pain, teeth. Sage could already feel and see the swelling starting; another throb and a rush of blood to the site caused her to wince again. At the same time, she felt a pain on her knee, and looked down at it, seeing open and raw scrapes from the cold, hard ground. She closed her eyes, leaning over and forcing her body into a ball, fractured arm held limply to the side.


Sage's head lay between her knees, and her eyes opened to stare at the ground enclosed by her feet. With the heaviest of sighs, she rallied all of her emotional and bodily strength, wanting to be the one to keep them going, when all seemed so lost, so hopeless. "We..." she started, choking on her words, heavy with the lost hope that was being nearly overthrown by despair. She couldn't let it be. "We need to move on; he...he's got to be here..." she managed, feeling warm salty tears overflowing from her eyes again. "We just can't stop now!" she cried, desperate to keep their hope alive.


"I-I can walk, I think..." she said, using her good arm to pull the tapestry that Clover had place over her closer to herself, weakened legs shaking as she rose. She was sure her knees would be badly bruised from this, but she managed a wobbly few steps, more off-balance from shock and emotion than anything else. She tried so hard to ignore the pain in her arm; how could it even be so painful? Why was everything suddenly so painful? Blinking, she wiped away the pooling water in her eyes, trying not to look into her sisters' eyes for fear that her failure would be reflected.


table by kiki. image credit here.

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#10
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3+←Word Count :: china being the devil's advocate :| PARTY POOPER ALERT.

Within a moment, Clover was by the girl's fallen side also, and the two uninjured sisters seemed to share a mental horror as they gazed back at the fallen angel. The other sister helped Sage rise slightly; China, still numb with shock, looked on in teary terror at the horrendous angle and increasing swelling of Sage's arm. She knew nothing about healing, but the jackal - What was his name... Enkiel? - he was the pack's healer, and he would fix Sage. Surely, he would fix her.


She couldn't lose anyone else, not ever.


While such dramatic and useless thoughts went through the silver girl's head, Sage was beginning to move again. A shift in her frame revealed a knee oozing with blood - China nearly gagged at the sight of it. How could this have happened? How could this have happened to Sage, of all people? How had Mother Earth allowed this? A deep pool of anger and resentment that she had hidden well began to bubble again.


There were a few more beats of silence, as age seemed to pull everything within her together. A deep love for her sisters bloomed - They were so strong, so strong when she was so weak. Sage began to speak, and China clutched at her good arm, feeling a similar wetness beneath her own eyes as she could see within the tawny girl's. But even as Sage was protesting against the hesitation, the silver songbird felt it - Deep inside of her, the futility of this plight. The horrible emptiness where Razekiel should have been yawned widely and threatened to swallow her. Sage and Clover had been strong for so long - Now it was her turn to do the unfavourable thing.


"No." Her voice sounded small, eyes turned a light icy blue as they watched her sister take staggering steps. "No, Sage." This time, her voice was stronger, and it carried over the snow. Her hand moved to rest on the other girl's shoulder. "It's over. No more; The mountain does not want us here." Razekiel does not want us here. If her father was dead, then it was foolish to risk Sage's life trying to find him. Her heavy eyes looked to Clover for support.


table by kiki. image credit here.
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#11
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Word Count → 443 :: I had written a reply to this while somehow failing to read China's reply. It was really funny, because I essentially had written the same dialogue for her. Lol, slow Anna is slow. <3

It pained the girl to see her own sister in such agony, but there was not much Clover could do for her right here. It was clear by the way Sage cradled her arm that her fall had caused injury, and Clover desperately wished D’Neville was closer so that she might whisk her sister inside and look at her arm. Though Clover wasn’t as skilled in medicinal knowledge as some in Inferni were, such as Enkiel, she had learned a few things. Depending on what had gone wrong for her Sage, treatment could be a easy as a sling.

"Shh," she murmured in response to her sister’s sobs, a small hand tracing Sage’s good arm in attempts to comfort her. However, when Sage attempted to move her injured arm and was greeted only by pain, Clover watched as her sister curled into herself. She could not bear to see her sister carry such agony and defeat, and tears began to fill her own eyes.

When her sister rose wobbly to her feet, Clover’s straw gaze assessed Sage’s lithe frame. It wasn’t until then that she noticed the blood along her sister’s knee, and quickly rose to her own feet. "No, Sage," Clover forced her words out, mirroring China, though they were somewhat distorted as she attempted to keep a sob from choking out. She wasn’t sure why she had grown so upset over this whole ordeal, for she was not facing nearly as much pain as her tawny counterpart, but she couldn’t help it. Clover had always been a sensitive spirit. "We need to go home," her words trailed away, while pale yellow flashed to find those always calming blue eyes. She didn’t want to abandon their search for Razekiel, but Clover feared that if they did not get home now, it would be impossible down the line. Sage’s arm needed proper care, and they would not be able to help her stuck out in the snow like this.

Though delicate features had been contorted with sympathy and hurt, they now fell into a hard stare that did not often surface. There was going to be no objections to their ruling, she had decided. "We need to get you bandaged up, Sage. Daddy has to wait." There was some pain in her eyes as she said this, a fear that their father didn’t have time to wait, but the girl had her jaw locked firmly and looked to China in support. Right now, it was more important to make sure the three of them got home safe. Though perhaps Sage's injury was not serious, Clover could not risk losing another of her sisters.


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#12
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390←Word Count ::

We can wrap this up whenever you guys like. <33



She refused to believe it was over. The girl wanted to keep going, wanted so desperately for everything to be right. Sage wanted her sisters to be happy, she wanted Razekiel to be alive. Daddy needed to be here. For them. For her. But he wasn't.


Sage thought of Mother, and more tears poured from her eyes, but she tried to hide her face. The tan girl ignored the pain as much as she could, but her legs felt weakened and sore. She heard them as they told her they had to go back. She heard them as they denounced the Earth. She didn't want to hear it, though. As China took Sage's arm in her own, Sage continued to be defiant, trying furiously, anxiously, to pull out of her sister's grasp. Clover came to assist, and she struggled again. "No, no..." she said, eyes moist, trembling as she held them shut, voice muffled through her teeth. She couldn't give up. Not now.


"No!" she screamed, her body finally collapsing, the pain engulfing her and her legs weakened, forcing her down. Sobs heaved through her chest, and her whole body shook with more emotion than she'd felt in a while. It all came rushing out, and she couldn't stop it. Now, Sage let her sisters guide her, defeated and drained. Her head felt fuzzy, and for once it wasn't the drugs. Her arm was searing and every little movement hurt. The girl felt as if she'd be betraying him, betraying the forest, if she left. She knew that this had been her own fault; she should have been watching her steps. It didn't matter, now, and she felt nothing but pain. She just wanted to go home.


After a very long moment, Sage gathered what little composure she had left, bracing herself as she straightened, the nerves in her arm firing at an unhealthy rate. Straw eyes glanced to it, but quickly looked away; her arm was swollen and misshapen. Her body listless, she allowed her sisters now to guide her, shaky legs barely able to carry her still. Surrendering, she turned sad eyes upward. Had she failed them? The Earth Mother? Had she failed herself? A heavy, shaky sigh rattled out of her throat, and she looked ahead, though her head hung low.


"Okay..." she whispered, "Let's go home..."


table by kiki. image credit here.

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