Falls of the Hinterlands Brightest Dark

It was easy — perhaps too easy — for the inky Groenendael cross to settle into a pattern of familiarity and intimacy. Driven by her feelings and highly sensitive to the feelings of others, she was too often prone to letting logic be blown away by the upwelling of an idea or an emotion.

A change, subtle and difficult to explain, came over the Depths female; the quickening of her heartbeat and the quickening pace of her roughened breaths coaxed a toneless whine of worry from Coelacanth’s muzzle. She was immediately contrite; had she grown comfortable too quickly? It would not have been the first time, as even Kailani had been somewhat taken aback by the kittenish melt of affection from her niece. Tufted ears fanned abashedly back against Seelie’s nape as she anxiously gazed upon the nameless girl’s clouded eyes — and the spell was over, having lasted only a few seconds altogether despite the eternities that had ticked by.

“Shadow,” the girl said, and Coelacanth’s tail flicked beneath the surface of the forest pool, causing a ripple to swell outward. She was still Shadow — she was still someone to someone in this somewhere she had found. The quick swipe of the Witch Doctor’s tongue upon Coelacanth’s cheek was received with a soft, eager to please whine — but it felt like a farewell all in all.

If I belong there, Coelacanth mused to herself. How could that be, when she knew herself to belong nowhere? She held onto the notion that perhaps she would see the cream and grey female again, hopeful as ever, as she too rose from the sparkling pool to seek solace in the waterfall itself.