Dawnlark Plains the pit and the pendulum

Teeth clicked against teeth, against fur, against skin. Grazing, raking. Her teeth, Indra's teeth; it all became a blur for Laurel. There was smarting pain in her face, her shoulder. Her whole body was aching and the growls rumbling in both their throats replaced the missing rain and thunder of their encounter.

Finally Laurel felt herself lose footing. They disconnected and Laurel grabbed onto the land beneath her hind legs for dear life. Feet slipped but she somehow managed to use the adrenaline still rushing through her veins to grab onto the edge of the plains. While the echoes of the shrieks of Merrick's daughter seemed to surround her Laurel finally managed to hoist herself up onto the ledge. Her body hurt, blood marred the ground where she had come up.

She collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. The shriek stopped, and Laurel felt tears at the corners of her eyes. Finally, she had managed, and she'd done it alone. She didn't need a man by her side to achieve what she needed to.

Laurel covered her painful face with her paws and cried to herself. Relief and joy, this time, but a part of her also wept over the grief that she had never been able to express, the grief of being turned away by Mahler, who was supposed to be her last chance, her last stop. A stark reminder that such a thing simply did not exist. Not for her, anyway.

She cried until she ran out of tears and then, finally, she took a sharp inhale and rose to her feet. With a slight limp in her step Laurel started to head back towards Rivenwood. She hadn't intended to return at all, but now she knew that she needed to grab this second chance with both her paws, for the blood that tainted her lips was the same blood that would be born from her womb.

She just knew it.