backdated forrrr approx. oct 24th?
The days pull onward. Each one more monotonous than the rest; each one more numb, more miserly. Mama still isn't here. She keeps to Ava and avoids John as if he were a plague upon the consciousness. She does what is necessary; she hunts what she can. She bathes. And for more hours than not, she watches the foam roll over the bank of the sea.
Her eyelids sag; her chest heaves.
She wonders if there is a worse agony that could be felt.
Briar's pace was brisk across the coastal sands. There was much relief in that he was not stricken with heat with each footfall. Although a part of him still anticipated it.
His thoughts drifted occasionally to the raven cloaked woman in the fields. Even now, as he trotted across the beach, he was in far less of a hurry to leave. Clenched in his jaw was a freshly poached fish. Scavenged from the beach, where it was washed up, before the sea birds could claim it. Not that he didn't turn a wary eye over his shoulder for any followers.
It was when he set his gaze forward again that he paused.
A small cinnamon figure was resting on the beach. Was— Was that a kid?
Eyes narrowed he took a wide sweep of his periphery. Head cranking from left to right to left.
Yeah. Definitely a kid. Alone at that.
A grumble rose in his throat as Briar prepared to turn inland. Some stray runt was not his problem. Hell, its parents would probably skin him for coming close. Let sleeping dogs lie. Leave it alone.
Just leave.
Don't turn around!
He hadn't completely turned his head before he proceeded forward. Pace slower as each step was made with extreme caution. Several strides away, he cleared his throat, dropping his prize at his feet.
Ahem! Hey, kid! You uh,
a frown pulled at his lips, you okay?
Man. Stranger; a man.
The scarlet of Dinah's nape bristles as her head snaps up to assess the stranger now approaching her. Yes,
she retorts sharply, a strain tucked into the edges of a tired voice. I'm fine. My family is nearby.
they are coming back; mama will come back;
My dad and brother won't.
Stiffly, she shuffles backward as her tail floats into a tuck between her thighs. He is waifish, not much taller than her; but her youth overrides any possible threat she could pose. And to make matters worse, Ava, her only form of protection, is with John. Fuck. What do you want?
She strikes a stern tone yet visibly cowers at his approach. Who was he to blame her? He was a stranger. His ears splayed, now seeing small traces of pup coat as she puffed up at him. She was still quite young. God above, why didn't he just leave?
He dared not press closer, instead taking a step back. His gaze drifted across the open beach. Not a single soul that he could see. A part of him hoped that nearby meant within earshot. Not that it would make him look any better if she started crying her head off for her parents.
Sucking in his cheeks as his mind churned, trying to imagine how to remotely salvage this situation he put himself in. Want? Wanted to check that you weren't lost or something, I suppose. Damned conscience and all that.
He sat back stiffly, leaning away from her. How did you talk to kids? If your family's close you should probably go back to them or something. There might still be some bears walking around. Unless you think a bear'd be nicer than your folks, then I guess I wouldn't blame you.
Lost? Lost. If only. I know exactly where I am,
Dinah hisses. I'm not a baby. I can handle myself, mister.
Who did he think he was? Who did she have to go back to?
Bears. For all she knew, that was merely a ploy; a ruse in order to get her to go back to her parents. As if the one wasn't dead. As if the other wasn't nearly there. As if she didn't have a job to do here.
Acid burns at the back of her throat; the whites of her eyes flash wildly as she takes another few steps back. I'm fine. You can leave now.
Hey, I get it! I get it!
Had he possessed hands, they would have been facing palms out to ward away the vitriol the girl had to throw at him. Who was he to think he could have been a good Samaritan? Taking a few steps back himself, Briar heaved a sigh.
Whale eyed and shrinking away, he only stirred trouble in the quiet little world the girl had on the sand bank. Were she truthful that her family remained close, he was on the path to bring trouble to himself now too.
I'll piss off and leave you alone, alright?
He leaned down and collected his fish. A small part of him suggested to leave it for her. The part of him that considered himself a man. The hungrier, beastly part of him quickly tore the notion to shreds. He would not continue to stave off hunger for a girl that would certainly waste the gift as she did his concern.
Multicolored eyes narrowed, harboring the bitterness such a thought produced in his head. Clouding the concern, the guilt, from his conscious. Only allowing it to escape in a muffled, Be well,
before he turned on his heel and left the girl to be alone again.