Stavanger Bay child of the elder blood

Qilaq hasn’t been able to sleep well the past few nights for one reason or another. The stone den felt crowded and most of the time she felt in the way. Even when they set time aside to give her, it isn’t the same—they’d been there most of the time when she needed them—but now she struggles outside the allotment she’s given each day. Her nightmares being more frequent leave her awake most nights and tired throughout the day, napping for long hours on level ground when no one is looking. She’s taken to sleeping in the family’s old den at times, whether or not anyone else has noticed, and she’d even tucked a few seashells and rocks in the back to remind her of home.

She sleeps lightly on this day so the other’s approach is noticed, but only several seconds after she should have. Her ears twitch at the sound of footfalls and a scent she knows well enough thickening enough to choke her. The girl jerks awake suddenly and shuffles until she’s pressed up against the wall. The smell has only even just been… there but to have it in close proximity feels like an entirely different reality. The smell has never had a face and, though she can’t see him nor can he see her, she lifts her lips up to show her teeth with a low rumbling in her chest.