Broken Antler Fen Dead girl!

She sprawled there until she caught her breath, then rose on shaky legs. Both women's voices fell on deaf ears, of course. Towhee did spare them a glance, though her eyes were abruptly too blurred with tears to make out anything they might've said. And they were strangers, so she didn't want to be around them while she continued falling apart.

She might've muttered an apology or maybe she only thought it. On legs that felt like they belonged to someone else, Towhee hastened away from the fen, back toward the caldera. She didn't feel her small wounds, not right at the moment. She didn't even feel it when her blurred vision caused her to stumble, tumbling partly to the ground and breaking her fall with her fucking face of all things. None of that could possibly compare to the psychic pain of having yet another lifelong thread of friendship so abruptly and cruelly cut short.