Sawtooth Spire racing in my mind, doing 100 in a 60

AW, tags for ref, coinciding w/ and approx 15 mins after wylla leaves in this thread. absolutely no need to match length <3 track no. 80 something to the beat of i don't know how to write short posts :} 

ever the early riser, it would come as no surprise that as soon as the sun first flashed her garter to the world, phaedra would awaken and ask for breakfast so she could sally forth and consume all hours of the day leisuring with @Stag, holding secret playmeets with caintigern, and, if nothing else interested her, tussling with the boys. this was her least favorite activity because she needed a challenge to keep from climbing the walls from boredom and beating up boys wasn't all that difficult or entertaining once you had learned the art of jukes. play them too often and they didn't work anymore, so phaedra mostly kept to her other activities.   
also, without father around as much, she needed such beaucoup distractions to keep her psyche properly ballasted and not behaving like a broken metronome whirring out of control between the extremes of anger and melancholia. 
origamied in the labyrinthine roots, practically sprouting them herself after being in deep sleep for once and not moving much, she sleepily lifted her head and yawned, fluttering the soot of slumber off her lashes and rubbing the crusties from her eyes against the knob of her wrist. immediately, her mind was on track with the important stuff. "ma? i'ms hungry," she clucked, voice groggy and compelling another yawn mid-sentence. the sun was hidden behind a cloud deck that morning, leaving their small glade suffused in a muted haze of peachy light, and a chill in the air. little lamb unfurled herself and languidly slumped over the roots, batting at a ladybug crawling up the centuries-old trunk. 
absently phaedra did this as she reflected on last night's dreams. she couldn't, even by the narrowest of margins, understand the experience herself enough to barely reflect at all. she'd been asleep, but awake, in her body cradled in the roots of the tree ... and she could hear talking; not from her mother, or thade, or astraeus. father wasn't present. it was a deeper, more ancient voice, and that voice was holding a conversation with other ancient things. it was unlike any dream she'd ever had before, and it only lasted what felt like a minute before the dream destabilized and she was palmed off into some other nondescript dreamscape. nothing exciting, mostly because she could not usually recall her dreams.
as she lay there thinking, moments ticked by and she became aware of the fact that she could not hear her mother's snores. "mama?" she propped herself up on an elbow and squinted through the dusky rays acting as a veil between her eyes and her mother's sleeping form.
the girl's eyes widened with mild alarm. she was not in her usual spot, and it was unlike her to leave so early in the day, and most certainly not before her daughter had awoken. it was their (read: phaedra's) favorite part of the day! the part where she jumped on mama until she woke up and taught her new four-letter words! phaedra swiveled her head, looking all around their sleeping dwellings for any sight of her. so far, she could only see astraeus sprawled out asleep. 
it felt like her stomach was biting its nails, if stomachs were capable. "thade!" she whisper-shouted to her brother, disentangling herself from the cottonwood in such clumsy haste that her rear left foot caught in the latticework and twisted in a way that caused her to stifle a yelp. she wanted to cry, but instead drew her lids and bit down on her lip so hard the taste of blood trickled onto her tongue. no response from her brother. "thade!" she said again, this time gritting her teeth to restrain herself from yelling at him in a tear-wobbly cry.
still no response.
she didn't bother stirring astraeus. he sailed under his own flag and had made as much clear in more instances than she had conciliations for. maybe part of that was phaedra mirroring her mother's rejection of him as her adopted son. he was milk-kin only, not in bond, but because he had suckled at the same breast as she. whatever the reason, she was neither in the mood to deal with his pseud nor was she willing to grin and bear his company which would simply amount to him pouring oil on already troubled waters.
some other sitter could preside over him in the meantime.
on the quiet pads of her feet she searched the immediate area, "thade? if yow messin with me imma sdick yow head in a antdhill an' then imma pud snells ON YOW FACE WHILE YOU SEEPIN!" she hissed, looking down any and all cavities he could've maybe rolled into mid-sleep. alas, no thade in any of those either. her face painted a beautiful mosaic of complete and utter annoyance. the first thought that came to mind was that not only did mama take thade on an awayday without her (nevermind that wylla had done the same with her daughter, but let bygones be bygones, etc and all the other revised contexts of phrases re being wronged), but they left without kicking her a tray of brekky! of all the barbaric absences of courtesy—
just then, another thought occurred to her. one that made a mother-and-son dayspring picnic feel like a trivial molehill to die on. 
she thought back to her conversation with caintigern, and how he'd mentioned his mother had said something along the lines of ... he and his sister were ready to be on their own. dread's clammy hands squeezed her senses into nonsense. was that happening? did mother think she was ready to be alone? phaedra didn't even know how to hunt for her own food ... mostly (hunting for berries counted. it did), much less pronounce the word hunt in the first goddamn place. she suddenly felt very small in a very big world.
the shoddy carpentry of her chest gave way to panic and every single ensuing step she took felt like walking down the stairs and missing the bottom step as she followed the scent of her mother out until she was lamely running to the end of her invisible chain and wailed, "mama! i'm nod ready fow you do go!" thade clearly fuckin' was. have fun playing for the eagles. "i'm nod— i'm swear id i'm nod— don' leave me, not yed!

nod like papa ..." she whispered the last two words. fear was a locket around her neck, choking the breath from her as tears blurred her vision. what was she to do, now? find caintigern, live in the trees, it's fine her mind immediately answered. however, she was conflicted. she could go find @Mahler, and swear to him that she would be good and perfectly behaved and delightful in every way if he came back to her. she would promise not to care if he didn't kiss her brow every night and bid her beautiful dreams in their secret language. no, she would be good! she wouldn't ever court tears in his presence, not ever, not a single drop! if he just came back for good. if it made him proud enough to be there.
upon further thinking, reflecting, huddling brows, an unrealized felling of tears;
we don't need him all the time. with that mantra like petrous, headstrong phaedra made a decision. if he wanted to be with his new family, then he could have it, and welcome. the lily of sawtooth mountain began her limping walk towards the pinewood with a summons on winged lips.