Ravensblood Forest seraphim weeping

when ava awoke, it was to headsplitting confusion. 

the noises - the scents - why were the birds so loud? why was the sun so AGGRESSIVE?

she followed bleakly, head down. but more than once she paused there on the trail while heda blazed ahead —

and not until she was urged did she move off again, her ears and eyes searching;

where’s daddy? communicated the wide, doleful eyes to their miserable procession — where is daddy?

nestled in the crook of heda’s arms, ava’s head bobbed. the vision was blurry — at first she mistook dinah’s face for that of her father’s and her expression brightened — but upon realizing it was her sister, ava’s tongue danced across her nostrils and her muzzle wrinkled in an unhappy, cornered snarl.