Swiftcurrent Creek Why can't I get just one kiss

The journey back to the valley was one she made in silence. 

It was too late by the time Cygnet realized that she had grabbed hold of the pelt, not the girl who had come to slay Mae in her sleep. She'd grabbed it with every ounce of the ferocity she could muster, and had shaken it- and after one savage shake, she realized that the skin had no blood. The skin was not connected to muscle, did not cover bone, and that her teeth caused no pain. It was nothing more than a pelt- but more significant yet was the fact that it was a seal skin. 

The very same one that Sobeille had brought, and had offered as a gift. 

And Sobeille- the masked viper- struck at Cygnet. Before the pelt hit the ground it would be spattered with blood. She shrieked in agony as her world went dark, consumed with a pain so keen that it only persisted a moment and then the shock set in. She shook her head again, sending droplets of blood and goo flying from beneath her furrowed brow. A glob of jelly slid down her cheek, clinging to her fur, finding its way past the corner of her mouth an unheard [i]plop on the seal skin. 

On the right side of her face brow to cheekbone was one clean cut, puncturing deep when it reached the soft orb of her eye. From jaw to upper lip, two lines; a signature scrawled in skin and tissue that could belong to no other, but Sobeille. 

On the left side- from a blow meant purely to deflect- one single line, trailing from her brow and disappearing just at her cheekbone. Blood poured into her eye. The flesh swelled. Blindness ensued- temporary, but terrifying. 

Whatever had happened afterwards, she wasn't sure. She ambled back, swayed slightly, and then dropped to the ground.[/i]

"Mae?" The one question she asked as she was being treated. She was told that Mae would stay in Moonglow- and that she would be returned to the creek. Separated. Cygnet loathed the Moonwoman, but was too groggy from medicines and too vulnerable to lash out. She could only hope that Mae might be alright; and that she might find the precious little Ajei that had started all of this, and smother her in her sleep.

She requested the seal skin- the one Sobeille had brought- and carried it across her shoulders the entire journey home. She did not clean the blood from it. She couldn't see it, anyway- not with her right eye completely eviscerated and her left beginning to heal shut. 

She kept herself as sharp as possible, only taking medicines when the fever made her weak. Once she arrived back in her den, she slept for three entire days- waking only when prompted, to drink or eat. 

On the fourth day, she emerged from her den to feel the sunlight on her shoulders. 

She heard a twig snap; her ears perked, and she felt the skin pull tight on her face where the flesh healed. 

Through a tiny gap in the eyelids that had begun to heal together, she saw a glimmer of light; the first sign that she might one day see again.