Neela’s most obvious wounds had healed by now, reduced to a series of thin lines hidden by the bountiful fur decorating her body, but there was still a weariness set into her limbs and mind, slowing her movements and dulling her thoughts as she went about her business. Her ribs, which Neela was fairly sure were fractured judging by their slow recovery, were still giving her pain but Neela felt well enough to remove the bandaged, consigning the last visible reminders of her encounter with her son to the waste pile.
However the nonphysical marks were not so easily shed; the twinge of her chest when she moved wrong, the memory of the rage in her son’s eyes as he looked at her, the dull ache that spread through her heart at the thought of Grynn’s death. These marks were still very much with Neela, niggling at her mind at every turn. There was little work left to do on the house that wouldn’t require a major project so Neela had taken to walking to try and occupy her thoughts, though she noticeably stayed within the borders, keeping to herself whenever possible.
She had so far done a good job of this, aside from when Jace had come to visit and managed to find her few that dwelt within Casa were familiar enough with Neela’s scent to track her down reliably when she didn’t wish to be found. She had been intending a day of the same, trekking down along Casa’s stretch of coastline and looking for spots to fish, when she came across a woman sitting on a bench, reading a book.
Neela didn’t particularly want company but it felt rude to just walk past without talking so she trotted to a halt, dipping her head in greeting, ”Hello there,” she said quietly. Neela moved to sit on the opposite end of the bench to the woman but she moved too quickly, jarring her ribs. One hand dropped instantly to Neela’s chest, ”Mierda!” she swore quietly as she finished sitting down, giving a final grimace before she cleared her face and turned to look at the woman.
”What’re ya reading?" Neela asked curiously, resisting from craning her head to see the books title, ”Not seen too many up here that can read.” though admittedly Neela hadn’t particularly been asking much and reading wasn’t something that came up a lot in day to day life for a Luperci.
.risinghope b {font-weight:bold; color:#a38750; letter-spacing:.5px}
.risinghope p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px;}
.risinghope {margin:0 auto; width:600px; background-color:#471e00; background-image:url(http://i43.tinypic.com/1vif8.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:3px double #885004; padding: 330px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#a27e36; letter-spacing:.5px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
[/html]