Bearclaw Valley mesmeric revelation

she went to look for you—

you. you. you. you. you. you.

fever rolls across her mind like a summer storm, lightning searing down in bursts of agony. splits her head; she cannot move without inducing more pain. she lays upon her side, cool soil a blessing against her heaving ribs, her sunken belly.

you you you you you you

she opens her eyes. the earthen roof of a den meets her gaze. 

she closes her eyes. the bucks clash their antlers together, the impact accompanied by ripples of color.

it's all red. fleshy pink to dark crimson, blood under a cold moonless winter's sky.

she reeks. rather, her shoulder reeks. whatever has been done to try and heal her wound has not gone far enough, and now she is lost in the heated nightmares of infection.

and not even her mommy here to take her to her midnight breast.

you you you you you you—

Avicus vomits, the self-inflicted wound of accusation boomeranging through her mind. remnants of rabbit spatter across the ground—she can't even keep her customary pound of flesh down.

backdated to the 21st