Once healed, Lilitu didn't hesitate to find herself on the outskirts of Sapphique. If the bear came back, it would get her first. She remained out and present, prey for the taking.
She owed it to them. She'd die for them, now.
She prowled the tall trees of the coastal forests, glancing between those shadows and the plains adjacent.
She felt that hot breath on her tailbone at every step. She didn't think that warning would ever cease. It would keep her vigilant, always.
Though far from healed enough for an adequate patrol, Cherub’s Wing could not stand lying in Mossbloom another day while enduring her injury as her only constant companion. Her walk was still a heavy limp, with her hind leg cradled up from the ground for half the journey, but she was still determined to do something other than wither.
Through the trees ahead, she spotted the gunmetal figure of another of the bear’s more recent victims, and she called out to her, lumbering up to greet her. You are Lilitu, yes?
Didn’t everyone know the girl who had (allegedly) drawn the bear to Sapphique? She heaved a big breath, tired from the awkward walk here. I’m Cherub’s Wing of Honor. How are you?
She turned to see the pale woman, who followed up with a question. Instantly, she was wary. Friendly, but wary. Obviously her name had spread throughout the pack—but with what sentiment? She wondered if they all thought her the one who'd brought doom about Sapphique.
Yes,
she said, slowly but kindly. It's nice to meet you—that's a pretty name. Long, though. Can I call you something shorter?
How are you? Gee, what a question.
Instead of saddling the woman with the avalanche of emotion she carried around each day, she merely shrugged and said, Okay. How about you?
*cries in shameful wait time*
Of course,
Cherub’s Wing said, looking somewhat sheepish. It was by habit alone that she continued to introduce herself as such, even though her name constantly elicited all types of criticism (both positive and negative); she was starting to get embarrassed.
Most everyone just calls me Wing.
Okay? Wing’s brows knitted together and her head tilted skeptically at the answer. That couldn’t possibly be true, in the girl’s opinion, and unlike Lilitu, she had no qualms with being honest about how she was doing.
Well, me, I’m a complete mess. This is the furthest I’ve walked in weeks, and it pains me not to be able to run. It feels as if my very spirit is being weighted down, like sinking into mud.
Such candor was customary where she came from.
I’m surprised you’re okay,
she added earnestly, of course having decided to take her word for it.
I’m glad for it, but you must be much more resilient than me. It is making me jealous.