Grouse Thicket all i want is a night of sleep

@Marruz - tracker specialty 4/10

It was growing dark, but still the empress failed to return to the keep - she wanted to inhale as much of the crisp, untouched air as she could before returning to where shadows seemed to leap at her from behind every step. The air there was thick with unspoken emotion, and she had no desire to wrap herself in the cold of the night's watching eyes; so out she stayed, weaving swiftly between the naked trees.

She thought of Raziel's face, so torn by guilt, anger, loathing... hurt. It was her fault, the very wind whispered it so - but he'd hurt her, too. There was no doubting the sharp sting lodged deep into her chest, where her heart seemed dusted in cobwebs and spiders. Love - so terribly bittersweet.

Now she watched the stars as they became masked by clouds, dissolving into the night just as her plush figure did, white blending into the darkest of blues; following the rabbits as they twitched and grazed and hopped. Would the world speak to her in the blackest of days, or would she be left in her solemn isolation, alone to rot in self-pity?

At least hunting provided her with an outlet of which to cast her wasted energy.