Serpent Lake longing for a place

dated c. 01/31/2021 - 02/01/2021.

the northron healer knew a sense of relief as her footsteps led her south again with no outward change in her gait or pace, yet an inward hesitancy that could have been taken for unspoken fear. for the first couple of days, her quartz gaze continously darted towards the grey skies as thin clouds -- like wisps of smoke -- danced in the winds which still threatened of violence. 

before long though, the sylph had let go of the fear that the blizzard would blow back in and embraced her silent glee to be free of the dark, little den where she'd been trapped with her demons -- though the sainte's joy was still tempered by the sorrow of her discovery in the canyon. 

there were many small moments of great happiness for the healing sighthound as she traveled: the sunset she'd seen from the mountains, the sight of songbirds and small creatures creeping forth from their own burrows, the morning she'd watched a small band of deer emerge from the forest. 

and moments of pain, too: the screams that burst from her lips with breathless, wordless terror in her sleep. the nights, oft spent out in the open, wrapped around herself because she could not make herself go into the dark alone again -- not without the threat of a natural disaster. the occasional strike of a cursed memory flitting through her mind, one she thought almost blessedly forgotten. the flares of grief that stabbed at her battered heart, which aerin diligently smothered as she forced herself to keep moving. 

her next stop was in the far south of the flatlands. it was more populated than the seelie originally thought, as she'd seen signs of other rogues in the area. the lake, however, was remote. secluded. 

the waters were only half-frozen, frosty white clinging to the banks while a bottomless pit of blue blackened into a void in its center. but the cascading spray of cataracts tumbling from the steppes overhead was completely suspended in hard beams of white. 

the sun still managed to weakly warm the gentle, sloping pathways that led her down into the valley and were welcome against her scarred, numb pawpads. a faint ghost of a smile curved across her lips as stormy opalites drunk in the small glen surrounding the lake. 

upon reaching the shores of serpent lake, the saluki dipped graciously and nosed at the ice until her pale muzzle had broken through its thin crust. she drank deeply of the refreshing, bitterly cold water and straightened -- feeling as though winter itself were coursing through her veins.

the elven fae cast another, speculating glance about the territory. her porcelain diadem bobbed once, almost as if in determination. 

this would make for a good home she'd decided. all it needed now was people.