Northstar Vale Lost but not forgotten.

@Raheerah

The trees had settled hours ago, when the sky was streaked with pale light and stringy clouds. Days, maybe. The earth was no longer a monumental beast unto itself. It rested with baited breath across the once proud trees; with reaching arms they held the mountain firmly in place. The new mountain. Branches twined between the trunks of some growths or were forced headlong in to the mud, where they stuck out awkward and irregular. Ice and snow had settled too. Streaked with grime and debris, sinking in some places and hardening in others. But she was oblivious to all of this. The body amongst the ruins. The lamb who had escaped slaughter.

Beneath the ruins of wherever-this-was, lost in the stark black of the darkness and desperate for air. This was what she woke up to. The only difference between the darkness now and the darkness before the mountain collapsed was the air flow; there was no breeze here. No room to move. Pieces of debris held Dawa in place, and the touch was constant. The pain that thrilled her skin was endless fire, but she could barely catch enough air to breathe let alone alert any other survivors.

Was that what she was? A survivor.

The mountain had come down. It was a kingdom in ruins. A haven which attacked it's own inhabitants. Somehow the delicate woman had survived it all - and she thought about this while sitting in the dark, while waves of pain caused her to meekly wretch and gasp.

Hours? Days. Hunger buried beneath the angry nerves within her skin.

The ice melted slowly, but this was to be her saving grace. A chunk of it fell through the gaps of her prison and slid like a calming tongue upon her back. The hole left behind brought in fresh air and a sense of peace. I will die here, finally, the woman thought - unaware of how dire her situation truly was, and simply hoping for a logical conclusion. I will die here and everything will be over.

Dawa would go in to the darkness and be at peace. It was all she thought of - and for once, her imagination did come alive. The darkness began to seep around her. Like the murk of a great lake, it swap to the opening above her head - so far away, too far to climb, she would muse before laying prone again - and the darkness blocked out the light. As the girl slipped in to a dangerous unconscious state her face gave a twist, a twitch, and she smiled.