Blackfeather Woods Once I was afraid, I was petrified

Tis the end of the road

She didn't have enough herbs to care for the sick. She had only meant to leave and come back shortly with what was needed. She left the borders, wandering till she found the herbs nescessary and then all too quick a shadow was upon her. She turned and bit at the man but he was too big, much too big. He shredded her, violated her bleeding body and then let her lay there in shock. "Tell Sithis that im waiting to be struck dead" the words confused her and scared her and she began to crawl away. 

The herbs...

The dim thought grounded her and she picked them up in her maw, the blood she coughed up soaking them. Then she made the agonizing crawl back to the woods, the one place she'd ever felt at home. When at the borders she lay bleeding and broken, dropping the herbs. She called weakly for @Maegi, having nobody else who she really wanted to say goodbye to. The kind woman who had let her in, who she had failed to realise wasn't pregnant, but sick.  She wanted to give her the herbs to treat the worms, wanted to do one meaningful thing before she died.

Oh....that's what this is isn't it?

The realisation hurt more than the wounds themselves. She had lived a life failing those around her. Grayson, The sweet mute little Grey and Maegi. She hadn't done anything for herself either..her newfound freedom wasted. She keened softly as her eyes brimmed with tears, wishing she hadn't called anyone. She wished she had lain alone where her death wouldn't affect others.

At first, she thought the summons was part of a dream. She was lost in them, anyway—no, nightmares. Nightmares. Dreams were what you had when times were good, and times were certainly not good. Mou was gone, and this voice calling to her—Lilah's voice—was much too weak and frail to be real.

But she went, anyway. . .and a good thing she did, too. Sort of.

Lilah, Maegi gasped, breath suddenly stolen from her. She stumbled close, crouching low, examining the woman's many injuries. Her nostrils flared as she took in the scent of blood—and him.

Anger, hot and heavy, coursed through her, filling up her veins and her stomach and her throat like burning bile. Her brows knitted tight; her vision blurred with tears of rage. She looked away for a long moment, unable to see Lilah, sweet Lilah, pulled apart before her by the very man she hated most. She couldn't stand it.

I need to get you moss, Lilah, she said, her voice at once both icy and heated. I need to stop the bleeding. But you have to tell me. . .is he nearby? Is he a danger to the rest of our pack?

She was so happy to see Maegi yet she wished once again, even more so, that she had not come back. She looked up at the woman her eyes warm as her tail gave the smallest thump against the dirt, jaws opening to drop the blood soaked herbs at her paws. She watched Maegi look away, saw the tears swell into her eyes and felt loved for the first time. She hadn't realised that the kind woman had cared so much about her. Her own tears swam and fell and the poignant sadness was almost enough to make her want to fight against the growing weakness she felt. "He said to tell...to tell Sithis he's waiting to be struck dead. Then left" she said in between deep breaths as she tried to hold on long enough to make sure Maegi knew she welcomed death.


"Please don't..just stay" she requested when the woman said she would try to stop the bleeding, knowing instinctively it wouldn't work and it would only upset the poor girl more. "I only wanted a home...you gave one. I wanted to do good...let me go now while I've succeeded" she said and nosed at the herbs. Her body quivered and blood leaked from her nostrils, the pain fading and leaving her numb "eat those. Anyone else who's sick...Memorize what they look like" she whispered and strained her neck, reaching for the woman and touching her nose at the point where her scarring began. She couldn't feel anything anymore her mouth opened to speak, to say so much more but instead she licked Maegi, a gesture of gratitude


"Thank you" and her head fell, the ground beneath her stained red, purple eyes wide and staring up at the leader of the woods.

He left. But for how long? And how far had he gone? Maegi was anything but put at ease by the information Lilah sent her; it would almost be better if he was here, so at least she could start looking for him. Now he could be anywhere. He could be long, long gone. She couldn't stand it.

Lilah, she said again, choked. She looked back and the image of her packmate so broken, so bloodied. . . She didn't know whether it was anger or sadness she felt. Both. But which, more?

Maegi, however, heeded the healer's words, bending to lap up the herbs—but not before she had memorized the greenery before her, so that she may remember. So that Lilah's errand would not be in vain. She swallowed through the bile, even though her stomach threatened to reject anything that touched it. She kept it down. For Lilah's sake.

I'm so sorry, the Melonii whispered, beginning to tremble as the woman touched her. She collapsed along with Lilah's head, falling in a semblance of grace to the ground, the blood seeping into her ivory fur. She shook, the sobs coming—but silent and tearless, this time.

If Molag Bal hid in the shadows, he would not see nor hear her cry. He deserved no tears on his behalf—only fangs.