Dawnlark Plains nothing good ever happens at the goddamn thirsty crow

didn't he understand? it was his way out, they could stop, together. ears flickered back, and the yearling watched him and realized this time was not like the others. laughs fell like punches, words battering against her auds. and then he was leaning in close, spitting words at her like bullets. her breath hitched in her throat, and here was not the fire of grief but the rising of floodwaters that crushed her airway and made breath suddenly impossible. 

it didn't make sense. but it did, and she deserved it. for a moment, she did not move, but it was far more than a moment when finally she shifted, gaze moving to find the man that had long since receded to nothing, somewhere on the plains. she understood, then, that she had finally broken what couldn't be fixed. perhaps she was more like her father than she'd know.