The Tangle [M] compelled

the time would come that sulukinak could not move as easily as she'd wish. that her freedom would be locked down to a haven of her choosing—in so far as she had chosen this, the maze of forest, stone, and winding river between—and as the days wore on she found herself unsettled, roaming deep within the weald.
it was a labyrinth.
the urge to go north brought her out of the forest, somewhat, to where the water flowed around broken stone and cracked earth. she wanted to climb the stones; but her belly dragged, it anchored her in a way she was unaccustomed to.
hunger gnawed from the pit of her stomach.
inside of sulukinak, something moved.

He stood at the western foot of the rise, face blank as his two-toned eyes combed over the Redtails’ old stomping grounds. Cambria’s history here—and in the Teekon Wilds in general—felt like it belonged to a previous life. In the intervening months, he had severed all emotional ties to this place and its inhabitants, even his beloved @Etienne.

There was only one creature the Dragonling let himself care about anymore. He looked skyward just in time to catch a glimpse of her winging northward, toward a tangle of trees. He puffed out a breath, shooting Redtail Rise a last lingering glance before he swiveled to lope in the nighthawk’s shadow.

He vaguely remembered this place and how difficult it was to navigate. Cambria had barely breached the treeline when he stopped to listen. He stared ahead into the gloomy, shadowy undergrowth, ears straining forward, until he caught the familiar sound in the distance, followed by a couple of trills.

Somehow, he got turned around and emerged back at the edge of the tangled maze. But when Cambria registered his surroundings with a loud blink, he realized this was not where he’d entered. His head reared slightly, seconds before he spotted a dark figure.

she wanted a better vantage point, whether sedna agreed or not. whether gravity, or gravidity, refused her.
a ghost lingered near.
she roused, unaware. lifting and kicking, climbing up the stone escarpment as a maggot might curl along a crooked tooth.
climbing, hugging the stone—
a slip —!
the scramble of claws !!
down again, careening awkwardly with limbs splayed, sulukinak feels her stomach smash against a lower ledge, then her head, the crack of neck and crush of spine as consciousness was revoked.

in the stillness — where mist roiled from the tree line as if extending a cautious hand to where her broken body lay — again, the twitch and struggle of her belly.

and finally, a bloodied gasp as sulukinak woke in stunned horror.

His eyes climbed along with the distant silhouette, brow knitting slightly at her haste. Why was she rushing upward so carelessly? Dread pooled in his stomach. He wanted to look away. He found he couldn’t.

Then another trill sounded, directly overhead. Cambria glanced up at Wyvern winging past. As her shadow flitted over his pale face, he heard a distant thud. His two-toned gaze immediately dropped to the promontory again, where there was no sign of the climber.

He resisted an impulse to rush forward. If she had fallen, she was either horribly injured or dead. Either way, there was nothing Cambria could do for her. Yet another shriek from Wyvern rang in his ears as he began to turn back toward the tangled undergrowth.

But as much as the Dragonling tried to quit caring about anyone but the bird, he couldn’t help it. Gritting his teeth, he pivoted again. Wyvern flew ahead, leading him toward the slumped figure at the foot of the rockery. There was blood everywhere, the smell of it so thick it coated his nose and mouth.

He froze, heart pounding as he stared at her broken body in horror. He didn’t move even when the nightjar alighted on the slope of his spine. Cambria just stared at the splattered corpse, regretting his decision to come here, especially when it slowly dawned on him that her scent beneath the gore was familiar.

When she suddenly gasped and lurched, Cambria did the very same. Wyvern launched off his back with a squawk. His bladder loosed its contents, hot urine running down his inner leg.

Will move on to a new thread for birth!

it hurt, and then it didn't. but she didn't end, and as the moments moved forward Sulukinak's horror only deepend in to something unfathomable and black.

awareness of her limbs and the fresh bruise bludgeoning of the stone, ebbed from her periphery. she became only a drowning face. gasping.

the ghost, presumably present to ferry her soul on to sedna's hungry belly, lingered and observed; she sensed eyes, unaware it was a man and his companion animal.

somehow clinging to consciousness - until her breaths were not air but clotted blood and rancid salt, and then she was quiet.

only the faintest shudder of autonomic breathing came after, somewhere between dead and alive.

The acrid smell hit his nose, only slightly preferable to the thick tang of blood. Cambria never took his eyes off her—he couldn’t recall her name, if she’d offered it—but he also didn’t come any closer.

There was nothing he or anyone could do for her, except provide comfort or mercy. Cambria couldn’t bring himself to offer either. But he also found he couldn’t turn his back, much as he wished to vanish from this grisly scene.

He quickly cleaned himself, then backed up a few paces. He sat. Wyvern’s wings brushed his neck as she settled on his shoulder. Cambria and his companion would keep vigil until she passed away, which he assumed wouldn’t take long.

He would end up sitting there for five days.

Okay! I’ll archive this here, though please don’t hesitate to tap me if I should make any edits to this post.