Nova Peak i have been known to misplace my hope in the way things fall

@Wylla for when you're back, no rush!

she strode angrily along the ridge, glancing searchingly for the hollow that acted as an infirmary for her bedridden father, a virid purse clutched gently between her jaws. 

phaedra's stomach was made into a ball as the breeze bruited about the scent of cruor. mother had explained that her father was recovering from some wounds and she was not to call round, but phaedra didn't understand why she wasn't welcome to visit. she'd been turned away once already, to her immense frustration. on the second time 'round she'd procured an excuse—she had bid caintigern get more healing salves from his reticent source (she now owed the marten two rabbits from their cache, but nobody would notice, right?).

how could mother turn her away now? she was a bonafide medicine woman!
b-o-n-a-f-i-d-e!

as she came upon the sedgy hillside, her muddied paws trod meekly over the groundcover. she didn't see mother, she could just go in! her breath caught in her throat, and, not paying attention, one of her paws slew from her leg, weight yielding under the earthslip. her legs buckled into a kneel, swathing her in watery mud and leaf.

she looked down the steep slope and shuddered with relief, then realized her maw no longer cradled the parcel of herbs. "no!" she said a little louder than intended, eyes hectically looking all about until her gaze settled on the unmolested bundle of leaves, like last time lashed tightly together by pliable strips of treetwine (probably specifically for clumsy children). phaedra shouldered herself up and extended her neck, lipping at the parcel until it inched back into her possession. 

she rose carefully to her feet but took no lesson from her near miss as she hastened towards the seeming-pregnable hollow (had she considered the simple explanation that her mother had gone inside to canoodle with her father? nein).

the rain's drizzle made her lope reckless as she verged on the threshold—