Word Count :: 460
It felt like she was in a bad dream. Just hours ago her plans for the next frew years of her life had been laid out before her like a spring of hope, and in the span of one conversation it had all come toppling down. Now, as she walked through this strange territory following a shade, she felt more like she was in a bad dream than anything. She wanted nothing more than to have somebody to blame for it all. It was her dottering old mother's fault for wandering off when she was just supposed to be collecting firewood. If it wasn't for the coyote-woman Liliya would be fine.
No, it was her own fault for bringing them here in the first place. Liliya had insisted upon boating around the peninsula and starting the search for her Russo family in the north; this was the very decision that landed them in the pack's territory. If it wasn't for her, Verusha would be fine. Now she had to do anything she could to make sure that her mother was alright. Liliya had no idea what would happen from here, but the longer she followed Eris with her eyes cast to the ground, she started to get a clearer idea with each passing step.
It didn't matter... she had to keep telling herself it didn't matter. Assigning blame was a moot point that wouldn't make her feel any better. All that she should be concerned about now was making sure that Verusha really was okay. Although she had just met the woman Eris and spoke with her for a short time, she had the strange feeling that she could trust the woman's word. Even if she did not favor suddenly being brought to the pack, something told her that Verusha would be alright, just like Eris promised. Then again, maybe they had different definitions of alright...
Her fingers laced through the strap of the backpack she carried. All of her worldly possessions fit in the pack on her back, and very soon she would have to use those to the pack's advantage. She had promised this to Eris. Thankfully, since they had just come off a sailboat, most of her gear was for fishing; the very talent she had tried so hard to sell to her new leader.
“This is nice land,” she braved a glance around, but kept her eyes from trailing above Eris's shoulders. She made the mistake of meeting the woman's eyes once before. Though Eris forgave the error and did not punish her for it, there was a power in those eyes that Liliya was not ready to face down. “Is different from much of Russia. Good river for fishing, there is bounty here.”
Image courtesy of 24730945@Flickr; table by the Mentors!
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