Blacktail Deer Plateau i can't fit the feelings in

anxiety grips scarab like the sharp, unrelenting pierce of demon teeth and he takes a small, shallow breath, focusing on the icy sting of it as it lingers in his lungs in an effort to ground himself as he waits nervously at maegi's side. in the future, he might look back at his anxiety at the moment and feel that it was ridiculous — this was his family — but scarab carries with him a dark secret that refuses to be forgotten and battles against any form of forgiveness he tries to banish it with. it was only survival.

but i'd do it again...

and on, and on.

scarab! a familiar voice gasps out his name and his ears cup forth to flutter back against his skull as nieve comes rushing towards him. his heart hammers in his chest, feeling relief and joy and fortune as his worries temporarily melt away as his sister leaps towards him, her body colliding against his in an embrace. hey nieve. he greets her thickly, tail swaying furiously behind him.

you're alive! his own astonishment hitches his voice into a higher pitch than he'd have liked as the shock of seeing her wanes — only to be overcome with sheepish apology as maegi speaks, asking if their parents or leadership was nearby. his concern about rusalka's leadership ( at least the leadership he remembered them having last ) was shaky at best, admittedly, his concern lay more present in the whereabouts and wellbeing of erzulie and their siblings. is mama and the others ok? scarab stage-asks.

nanowrimo: 273