The Bracken Woods [m] marrow sliver

time for the delulu

a flesh-eater can still your breath with a single look
red leaf feels a sickening feeling crawl from her belly and up into her throat. she knew the flesh-eaters well, even without having seen the face of one; cen's words bring her back to the way she would curl at her mother's breast while aapa wove tales of gristle and grit and ash, pointing out each scar upon his limbs. the enigmatic sea-hunters. the bloodletting, the yellow eyes, the feverish, curdling howls.
every sharadoii held the fear of them deep within their core.
she shivers, eyes growing wider at each thump of her flickering heart. you will not expose our children to them, it came more from fear than anger, but for the first time, her voice raises. your children. your sons, and your daughters.
a time ago, she would have trusted him plainly, openly, willingly; what was so different now? why had she begun to question him, question the sincerity that spills from the slate of his gaze? and we are not weak, what if he had said that to her father? her ears flatten, and slowly she begins to peel herself out from beneath him. we are only strong in a different way.