Barrier Gulch [m] Asp

qiao is now the disinterred flower; see here the petal turn, the edges rimed with sand.

she stepped back as hell broke loose. the jodai's words a blade wedged to the secret lover's back. 

only the woman at the floor earned her sympathy: the rest earned a strange brand of contempt.

the man with the flower -- he was interesting -- loose cannon, maybe, but worth seeking out later. he was seized and wrestled free, aiming an unnecessary bite at the woman whose body could not take much more grievance.

for now, qiao does as old women do, who have seen much of the world and become less and less impressed with its occupants. impatient, the crone sets upon the sand and counts the seconds, wondering when eset would bleed out and their bickering would be for naught.

the moss ball collects dust.

the seconds pass.

and she can see in the woman's gaze a gradual fading of light.