Wapun Meadow thus always to tyrants

for @Val!

phaedra paused at the mouth of the tree cave, blinking into the dimness. her curiosity was almost painful in its insistence. where did it lead to? the yearning to know was heady stuff. her rabbit had darted there, disappearing down a wider corridor. the flirtatiousness of fate was difficult to reject to an increasing extent.

she was less sure that whatever crouched on the other side of the ingress wasn’t even redder in tooth and claw, though. 

it was comforting not to hear a struggle or the cottontail’s horrible bawl, and a wolverine hadn't instantly maimed her, which agreed with phaedra notably. morale never flew high when you had to search the ground for your teeth, but weasel propaganda never tells you that. 

she scented the outgoing breeze, which reassured her further that no such grot-devil waited in the dark. but while she contemplated these next life choices, a loud and sudden noise came from behind, startling her headfirst into the embrace of cool darkness. ready or not.

heart racing, phaedra hid protectively in shadow. owlish eyes peered up from the passage to prod the daylight outside, looking for her scaremonger.

val was the scaremonger; through him came a great crashing noise as he disturbed a roost of ptarmigan. they were quick to take wing, leaving val with nothing but airy feathers in which to console his gurgling stomach.

he was unaware that mere feet away, in the tangle of roots under an old tree, a wolf lingered; not just any wolf, but a wolf his subconscious would have instantly knew.

he paused, scenting the breeze. he was too close to ursus to let his guard down, and while he had yet to place two and two together, he'd noticed scents that suggested that there was another predator in the area.

her pulse strove like a snared animal and a furious embarrassment leaped into the breach between panic and her unhesitating run for it. phaedra clenched her jaw and stamped. 

nice job mastering your fear. idiot.

she held her breath to listen and watched as her destiny transmuted into a shifting, hunching shadow. unconsciously she took a step back, hugging the friend she found in sudden darkness. 

bear. grizzly sow? the girl glanced about her feet, dread like cold water, staggering her momentarily at the realization that this might be a bear's wintering den. she may even have cubs around.

a few heartbeats passed. this was the world's stealthiest bear, for she could hear no huffing or jaw popping. there may have been a scuffle of feet or something else earthborn, but she struggled to hear anything at all. and the longer she hid in the grotto the more cowardly she felt, and the madder she grew. 

no! you're trapped here with me!

phaedra heaved herself into the light: some freshly accomplished mephistophelian horror springing from the soil. in was easy -- climbing out was trickier. she bellowed an unladylike curse, arms clinging to some roots a whisker away from val.

midsniff something broke from the heather to his right; a round, bright shape which awoke in val the urgent imperative to R-U-N-N-O-F-T.

he sprung back with bladed fur at edge. already his legs were in motion, but mid stride he caught the figure was no beast, but the thin and appealing form of a canid.

pandora? he stupidly paused, turning around to glance at the shape now several meters behind him.

she saw also that he was no beast. and that he was already stealing away. 

she meant to pop out and enforce her fury, chase him further from her presence, but in the effort to climb out phaedra lost all gusto to follow through on punishing measures. 

a final tug of her foot freed her from the cave's access and she glanced where the shadow had fled to, expecting— not green eyes staring back at her. a momentary intrigue transported her from the moment until she remembered herself with a start, and the fur of her nape blazed up like pale flames. 

“who are you? have you been spying on me?”

regardless of having not bid them do so, her legs moved her with a leery air toward the tall fellow.

not pandora.

val's shoulders fell in visible relief -- until he was accused of spying.

his brow furrowed in a deep line. who was she, why was she so close to bearclaw? did she even know?

moreover, why was he so close?

what?! no. val huffed. a furtive glance about them assured him they were at least visibly alone.. all the same, he remembered how good aventus had been at sneaking. who are you? have you seen a red puppy?

he was annoyed at her charge. she’d erred, but the embarrassment from before still shed its glow. and he’d not even given his name. 

“i asked you first,” she huffed back. faint scents of bear musk and dried clover clung to her senses. when had she gotten within sniffing distance? phaedra willed this unconscious impetus to stop! by firmly planting her feet. but the vespers of her stare lingered on the stripling, the grim set to his mouth.

a red child. his? what did it matter? phaedra blinked. lifting her leg to look beneath herself, eyes ran down the length of her body as if she might find a little fugitive crouching there. 

“no,” she answered, unduly defensive of her honor as if she had been caught in a lie. but he could describe indra from her coloring down to her instep and phaedra would still not appreciate them as details belonging to the daughter of laurel.

recognizing how on-edge she felt, she took a breath, restoring her presence of mind. pale ears repositioned themselves sensibly. “unless by red you mean ‘red like a white rabbit’ in which case, they jumped into that hole”—she gestured at the tree cave from which her re-birth had taken place—“i'm sure it's fine.”

not my problem. now turn.

turn, bestie. 

turn your body and walk away.

turn. around. and….

“though if you're playing a game, i believe your question qualifies as cheating, pal,” she smirked, clearly removed from the gravity of his situation. 

phaedra turned to look under herself. a stippling of doubt affixed itself to val’s conscience.

had she asked him first? val tried to think about the mere seconds earlier and got nothing. his mind was racing too fast.

oh. she had asked him first. his brow furrowed once more, a deep trench of confusion consuming his dark face.

compounded then by the mention of rabbits, games, and cheating.

a new thoughtform tugged gently at his mind, as if a persistent but out-of-place child. he tried to form words and none came.

this had happened before.

hadn’t it?

a sense of deja vu rose like a sparkling blue wave beneath him. i’m val. he didn’t have the presence of mind to address her implication of cheating or games. he was too focused on indra.

tug, tug. val looked to phaedra in open bewilderment. ..do i know you?

she looked at him squint-eyed from a different angle, searching the secret places behind his eyes. 

the boy from the riverside? he’d slapped her with a dead bird, the rat bastard! phaedra felt her gorge rise recalling it.

ah, but no— that boy had indelible fretfulness of spirit. different eyes, and more than just the color. but a wisp of deja vu nonetheless rose as smoke up the banks of her memory. she retired a step as though to retreat from his ivy-clinging gaze; his obvious bewilderment felt like a near accusation.

some latent memory, fluttering; insect wings beating against warm skin. she blinked uncertainly at val. 

what made her unsure, even though she was certain they’d never met! 

…was she certain? 

certain that she’d never heard his name before: without question.

“nope,” she decided dismissively, trotting away from him to linger at the mouth of the cave again. her stare hunted after interesting forms in the dark. only a dank emptiness stared back. 

“i’m phaedra. shall we investigate, val?” she stepped halfway across the ingress and looked back to the dusky boy with mischief written on her face.

val was too naive to life's uncertainties to press the issue. she'd dismissed him with the confidence of someone who knew they were right -- or at least, val thought so.

the uncertain flutter behind phaedra's gaze remained undetected as she turned away. val glanced behind him. he felt the pressing need to stay on his guard, but again came that whisper of self doubt.

when val turned back to phaedra she was already at the tangle's lip - her gaze sharp with a mischief that invited a sense of curiosity in the boy. indra remained on his mind, but he carefully padded after with his voice quiet. investigate.. what? the rabbit?