Wapun Meadow thus always to tyrants

for @Val!

phaedra paused at the mouth of the tree cave, blinking into the dimness. her curiosity was almost painful in its insistence. where did it lead to? the yearning to know was heady stuff. her rabbit had darted there, disappearing down a wider corridor. the flirtatiousness of fate was difficult to reject to an increasing extent.

she was less sure that whatever crouched on the other side of the ingress wasn’t even redder in tooth and claw, though. 

it was comforting not to hear a struggle or the cottontail’s horrible bawl, and a wolverine hadn't instantly maimed her, which agreed with phaedra notably. morale never flew high when you had to search the ground for your teeth, but weasel propaganda never tells you that. 

she scented the outgoing breeze, which reassured her further that no such grot-devil waited in the dark. but while she contemplated these next life choices, a loud and sudden noise came from behind, startling her headfirst into the embrace of cool darkness. ready or not.

heart racing, phaedra hid protectively in shadow. owlish eyes peered up from the passage to prod the daylight outside, looking for her scaremonger.