Blackfeather Woods passing by the hills, 'til i hear the name

@Averna  backdated <3

for a day, @Relmyna's body was left where the listener had meted out her last breath. astara had stayed loyal as a shadow to her mother's gradually-colder body, until at last dawn broke and she jolted awake. almost instantly, it hit -- her mother was dead.

she sucked in a shaky breath, and with misery pooling her subconsciously like a freshly undammed reservoir, the girl set her teeth to her mother's scruff. between choked back sobs, she wrenched her mother's neck back and forth. when that yielded no movement from her dam, astara began to claw at her shoulders in desperation.

still, relmyna did not stir.

wake up,  the nightcub pleaded, pressing her cheek into the cold forehead of her mother. don't leave me. relyman remained motionless, her head slumping back to the ground as astara pulled away. she drew another shaky breath, tilting her head skyward. above her the canopy rustled, and she saw she had drawn the eyes of several carrion hunters. they stepped from branch to branch, tilting their heads this way and that, their beaks clacking. she heard a chatter rise up among them and her hackles lifted as a crow landed mere feet from her mother's inert form.

she stiffened, her head lowered as the bird stepped close. a low growl sounded from the girl's tight throat, and she charged belligerently at the corvid with a snarl.