Blackfeather Woods and then one day you find ten years have got behind you

420 posts blaze it Maegi. j/k this is a serious post

She couldn't stop. It was some sort of sickness, some sort of disease. Something more insidious than the unnatural twist of her paw. She couldn't stop.

Never again would she take so many poppies that Reed and her mother would have to come rescue her; no, she knew her limits now. Five or six, that seemed right. Enough to dull everything, round the sharp edges of pain and regret, anger, frustration. Enough to make everything feel fine, when in reality it was far from fine.

The woods had brought to life once more every bad memory that lingered in the back of her mind. Miraak's death. Her abandonment of her brothers. Potema's wrath. She loved this place so much, but it had brought her so much sorrow. And would only continue to do so--such was life.

One poppy, then two, three,

four

five. . .

. . .six. . .

A big cloak fell over her world, calm and dark. Everything moved slower. Her heart steadied. Her mind calmed. She walked in silence through the woods, stumbling slightly over roots, the outlines of trees blurred. Her eyes glazed, a slack-jawed expression painting her face.

She was dead to the world. But it was better than being alive.