Dawnlark Plains 'cause you're my present, my future, my lesson, my teacher

i'm so sorry for the wait on this!

blodreina tries to tell herself that her claustrophobia is easily dealt with — she has a better chance of surviving it than she had trying not to freeze to death in the snow squall. she knows that the walls of the earth are not closing in on her and that facing her fears head on is the best way of defeating them. still, there's a moment where her breath is a struggled gasp and her ears buzz, a tight feeling in her head as she tries to shake it off. she takes a deep breath and then another, making an effort to be discreet. trying to calm herself works. she focuses on his silhouette as he wiggles towards the edge of the cave.

she shifts against the jagged rock pressed against her side, as if the pierce of the earthstone pressing against her flesh might somehow stifle the heat beneath her pelage and all that comes with her estrus cycle. it works for but a small second. there was nothing she fears that's going to distract her from what her body wants, what her body tells her it's time for. it is almost aggressive as if either siphoning the worst of blodreina's personality or trying to make up for the lack of a estrus cycle last year. either way, it's not so convenient as to have an off switch. she watches as he drops the rabbit he'd been holding and pushes it towards her.

for a moment, so caught up in her internal war with herself, she is surprised by the gesture and then her surprise deepens. they are strangers and the fact that he's willing to share with her is touching. this feeling doesn't last long though as something akin to embarrassment washes over her at the thought of having to explain why she had been so fiercely staring at the rabbit. her ears splay back against her skull as she mulls over the words. blodreina's never been shy and so the sudden reluctance she feels to be transparent is new. and startling to her. i'm not actually all that hungry, she admits. but thanks. she adds not wanting him to think she didn't appreciate the offer.

she studies him again in the shadows of the caves and wonders if he'd be insulted if she told him that she thought his scars were beautiful. she doesn't know him and doesn't know the circumstances of how they came to be; but to her scars are a mark of a warrior and as many scars as he has? she assumes he is a great warrior. a legendary one, perhaps. and she suspects it is a large part of why she's drawn to him. i'm blodreina. she offers as she realizes that they had yet to exchange names.