Noctisardor Bypass calling out faker, only get me rattled

tagging @Anathema for visibility - if she is coming back plz feel free to hop in <3

ava slipped back into rivenwood at dusk. hunger, combined with the prying intensity of her headaches forced her home, without having found @Dinah.

what little voice she ever owned died on the mountain.

failure hung ava's neck like a torc. she met @Fiona along the trail and offered her pelt to be sniffed, so the healer might know of where she'd been. of @Glaukos, Anselm, and @Etienne, ava did not see.

the hollow was eerily quiet.

she made for @Heda's den after eating a small meal at one of the many caches. pausing at the entrance, ava breathed in deep, listening to those little lives in there. when she duck her head inside and her eyes adjusted to the dark, her fur rippled.  @Druid was visibly hurt -- though the fistful of puppies at her belly spoke of her attendance to them. heda did not appear inside. her scent clung to the area suggesting she had only recently departed.

@Goldfinch, @Averie, and @Artio were given a precursory glance by the Other-sister. their bellies were round and bodies squirming. despite their movement, they seemed an unending tessellation of body parts, the energy around them a unified glow. ava's brow furrowed to see @Kikimora grouped with @Ezra and @Gideon, the trio of which seemed to separate themselves by one of druid's forelegs.

ava lowered her head with a soft chuff, gaze inquisitively upon the den mother as the room seemed to swim around them.