Lake Rodney forge

for a moment she despaired. and then her ears swung upright. her voice was ringing off somewhere in the darkened distance, and then not so distant. "nala," she greeted when they had come upon each other. 

the other woman was bed-rumpled and wreathed in a bouquet of flowers; she smelled of sleep and florals and the wilderness around the lake.

tavina felt her pulse trip over itself. "it's good to see you, really good," she said, more than a little breathless herself as tail stirred behind her hocks.

for a moment the severity of this visit, lilitu's request to meet nala first; it all hung, suspended.