Ravensblood Forest you can't wake up this is not a dream

the rainy weather had made the ghost pensive. at least, he felt as though he needed a means to justify his quiet reserve. the truth was that he had been hurt by his conversation with firefly. he had been even more sad that maia had vanished from the sound with only a howl on the air to say her goodbye. illidan could not help but to wonder what it was that caused so many of his relationships to suffer. it was almost as though a dark shroud hung over his head. darker than the hood that he already wore – it was fathomless and terrifying. the ghost could not help but to think that he was a curse to others.
 
now, illidan did not typically buy into the idea of superstitions. he was more realist than idealist and more rational than nonsensical. in spite of this, illidan had found that it was incredibly challenging to go through his life experiencing the things that he had, without the faintest idea that there might have been something more at play than it seemed. it was not a religion or the inspiration of one, but the simple curiosity that is bestowed upon everyone.
 
having separated from cadeau, the dark-hooded wildling slunk into the woodland expanse. he lost himself in the forestry, letting the terrain pass beneath his long limbs with ease. the forest was stunning to him. the atmosphere of it was chilling in a way that he could not have explained with words. it was a feeling that had overtaken him, touched him in the marrow of his bones. he was fascinated with the wild wood.
 
it was fortunate that his distraction had slowed his pace to a stop at a curious looking stump. he heard her voice before he saw her, but her voice was enough for him to turn around with a knitted brow and a gaping mouth. it was just as she rounded toward him on unsteady limbs that he saw her eyes roll into the back of her head and her body fell like a rag doll.
 
“shit, shit, shit…” the wildling muttered, darting toward her to inspect what might have happened. the gleaming yellow of his gaze darted from her eyes to her limp frame. she was still breathing, but her features looked wild to him – something had overtaken her, and this is what it had left. he was not a boy who understood the intricacies of a medical mind. he knew that something was wrong, but he would not have the capability of knowing what had happened, or how to assist.
 
“cad… what’s going on?”
 
his voice was tentative. it was like he was fearful that speaking up would harm her more. she had crafted some strange medicinal container for her herbs. he didn’t understand much of that, either, but he wondered if she had eaten something from the satchel that had done this to her. he couldn’t imagine that she would make a mistake like that. it had to have been something else – something in the wood.