Bitterroot Valley heaven's light / hellfire

Mother was gone. 

Sesi had woken one morning to the gentle hints of early dawn as rays of sunshine poked into the cavern that she and Mother shared. It had been nearly a year since Sesi had been whisked away from the Teekons and things seemed to be looking up for her finally. Though the Shadow King's presence lingered, she felt safe with the dark-coated female that had taken her in. The promise of keeping him at bay had been fulfilled when she obeyed the amber-eyed woman, and Sesi soon found herself as a compliant shadow at Mother's side. 

But now? 

Still waking, Sesi turned towards the older as she did every morning, greeting her sunnily, despite her fear that Mother would bring the Shadow King upon her for being woken. "M-Mother," stammered Sesi,  clenching her bladder as she reached a fragile paw towards her Mother's flank. It had been quite some time since Mother had accompanied her outside to relieve herself and Sesi was pressed to get the day going. Mother had always been a light sleeper, as she regularly begrudged Sesi of the noises she made when in the midst of a nightmare, and her not waking quickly indicated that something was wrong. With Sesi's heartbeat racing at this, the frail woman pulled herself from her curled position to a stand above her once-breathing caretaker. With both the urgency of needing to use the restroom and the fear that she held for Mother, Sesi acted boldly and drew forward a shaky forelimb once more to prod at the lifeless flank. This touch, unlike the previous one, delivered the gravity of the situation. What little sanity that had reconstructed in the past year imploded violently and Sesi back peddled at what her mind had finally grasped: Mother, like all the creatures that she had killed to feed them, was as still as could be. She was gone. 

She had nothing. 

With her world crumbling around her, Sesi stood, her eyes wide and maw agape. With little comprehension on anything, as she was still trying to grasp what had happened, a pitiful whine seeped from her mouth as urine flowed freely down her leg. She stood where she was for quite some time, frozen in time, as she attempted to tread the dangerous seas in her mind. Struggling with such emotions an unprecedented amount of time, Sesi resurfaced in a daze with a feeling in her heart that she had not experienced since Scarlett's death. She was now just as vulnerable as she had been that fateful day that she learned of her mother's passing, but now, Sesi found herself alone. 

She was nothing. 

Days had passed since Mother's death, and she found herself still within the quarters of the cave she had shared with Mother. The moon was high, illuminating both their home and the still figure that had been pushed towards the rear of the cave. Mother was beginning to decay, and Sesi knew that she could not stay much longer as the weight of the situation and the smell that filled the cave were both too much to bare. Sleep had not come easily to the pale-eyed woman, and she found herself napping in short intervals, waking to the harsh reality of what had happened. In time, Sesi blamed the Shadow King for her plight, as she did for everything. Though she was unsure of how he had gotten a hold of Mother, Sesi knew that lingering put her in danger. With this in mind, and with a heavy stone in the pit of her stomach, Sesi fled into the night, leaving behind all that she had been acquainted with for the past year. 

She didn't stop. 

Running until she had nothing left in her, Sesi blindly navigated through the tangle of the woods and back into the open wilderness of the Teekon. Day and night become one in the same as she ran, only keeping the occasional glance over her shoulder to see if she was being chased or not. Thankfully, it didn't seem as though the Shadow King was following and Sesi wondered naively if he had stayed within his sanctuary in the woods.

She couldn't stop. 

Even when she was nearly running on fumes, Sesi did not cease her escape. It was only when she broke down, from hunger, exhaustion, and dehydration, that she stopped. Crumpled beside the Qeya River, Sesi's breath turned ragged, her pale eyes beholding the water source before her. Knowing she needed something, Sesi pulled herself weakly to the shore. Pulling herself just out of reach, Sesi lapped helplessly at the mud upon the coast, getting all she could get from what the ground offered.