Swiftcurrent Creek spools

she's looking for @Mae but aw!

larders teemed with gleaming fish, and she had dug a new cache beside the stream for frogs alone. when she did not hunt the waters, muskrat foraged the birch forests, learning the weeds, the flowers, the creeping vines. she caught birds here and there as her legs grew stronger, and today she put it to the test for a run along the creek.

it hurt to start, but once her gait had smoothed, muskrat reluctantly slowed her pace a little. the wind was in her teeth, her eyes; she heard the hum of insects and sighed out a harsh, loud sound of pleasure to be on the move again.

her eyes searched as she went for the shadow from that first failed raid.

Mae was not difficult to find. She spent much of her time by the creek these days; distant from @Akavir in the aftermath of the trespasser's acceptance into Swiftcurrent Creek, distant from @Arric as his children came into the world. There was no place for her here.

But she'd left once already, and what had it given her? Nothing but scars to mar a reflection she could no longer see. The blur of her vision had cleared, just a little, in recent days. It made hunting an easier task. But she would never again have the freedom to pass the borders without a single glance back.

So she remained. She hunted. She walked the borders. She spoke to none. The shadow of Swiftcurrent Creek; she would remain long after the others had gone. It was with this detachment that she regarded the Omega now, glancing up at the sound of approaching footsteps not to look but to acknowledge. To remind the trespasser that though she was blind, very little slipped past her.

Mae said nothing.

injured steps halted as the pointed face came up directly. there would be no outward recognition, but muskrat knew that she had been sensed. after all, the first injuries had not stopped this mae from being the first upon her.

the sharp citrus eyes flicked to the ear her own teeth had torn. "your father, he tell me to come and see how i can help."

they had both become shades in their own right. muskrat was bound here by her own decree. what kept the girl from the center of her own world.

akavir had not seen fit to treat her as a slave. perhaps mae would not be the same in this.

Up to you whether she succeeds!

Your father.

In the manner of a coiled snake Mae lashed out. She rose and whipped toward the woman in a single fluid motion, teeth seeking her scruff — or a rough approximation of it. What she wanted was to pin her. What she wanted was to feel the woman's bones pressed beneath her and into the dirt and creaking under the crushing weight upon her.

If it took a little wrestling to get there, so be it.

how great the desire now, to drive a hard paw into that toothed face. muskrat's lip curled as she took the blow she might have otherwise avoided, letting no sound escape her as she submitted to the girl.

it chafed her belly, scorched her blood, to be handled in such a way. but this was how things must be.

for now.

Fur and flesh between her teeth, then; the pulse of blood under skin; the tang of it on her tongue, just a touch, just enough to remind her of her place. A low growl simmered in her throat, flaring to a snarl as they both hit the ground. For a moment Mae only held her there.

Abruptly she stood. You want to help? She spat, bristling all over. Fight back. Fuck me up. Unless you don't think you can.

Did the coywolf understand what was asked of her?

Mae would learn to fight past her blindness, or die trying.

a fight she wanted. muskrat's ears flicked, surprise overtaking whatever irritation had begun its reeking spring in her chest. her nape stung.

she was being recognized as a teacher? no. only a slave. muskrat fought the mocking jeer which rose to her lips and instead studied the girl. "i show fighting to you, black knife. to tumi yana, but only if you tell your night man father not to punish me for it."

the sharks'-teeth shone in a grin, one mae could feel even if she could not see it. "deal?"