Barrow Fields Karma keeps me cautious and bourbon keeps me brave

Rosalyn only really parted from Erzulie's company when hunting became a necessity, and always they agreed on a place to meet after.  She didn't want them to lose one another in these wilds.

Her strength was nearly recovered, thankfully, and she hunted with more ease than she had previously.  Her headache still lingered at times, though, and it made it hard to focus every so often.  She figured it was the stress of losing their crew and the ever pressing threat of the bear, so she tried to keep this from Erzulie.  There were likely many things they needed to talk about, but it never seemed like the right time.

It was a little while before she realized she was drifting again.  Shit.  She snapped back to present abruptly, casting around to see where she had ended up in her distracted jog.  She hadn't meant to wander so close to Drageda - they were going south, not north - but seemed like her inattentive feet had other ideas.

She couldn't risk hunting here, so she turned, but not before pausing to give the monolithic stones behind her one last glance.  Here was another place she likely would try never to see again.  This entire northern coast was lost to her now.

at some point, the world becomes a blur. she remembers eating with solomon and mali and a huge chunk of regurgitated food.
 
—no, that’s not right. they can eat regular meat. it had definitely been regular meat. mangez. a growl. maybe.
 
she doesn’t realize @Solomon is on her tail when she runs, breaking the border of the sanctuary. farther and farther still. it’s at the base of a peak that she’s able to jolt aware. the sun has long been gone. where are they? they find somewhere to sleep for the night. 

 

---

the next morning, brilliance sets out to get themselves home. she refuses to talk about anything that happened, their travel from yesterday. she insists, instead, she knows what she’s doing and she knows how to get them home. she’s hungry, but her stomach churns in a way that the mere thought of food causes bile to spill up her throat.
 
they are met with unfamiliar terrain of a ridge and thick brush the pair struggle to get through but eventually they break out into the open and brilliance sets distance between them for a little while and wanders the open field. perhaps it is the one near the boulder and their home is on the other side but she does not remember the up and down of uneven terrain. after a few climbs, and exhausted paws, she sees the form of another only to realize she does not recognize it and hesitates any further movement.

When a figure appeared, Rosalyn expected Drageda, and she almost bolted then and there.  Her heart picked up at the thought of it - she couldn't risk injuries again, and if they found her here, likely it wouldn't go her way.  But it wasn't them... the figure was too small, and seems just as frozen.

She should really leave.  She hesitated a minute, torn between simply turning tail and finding out who this was.  Maybe they knew the fate of some of her crew, or maybe they were just a stranger.  The risk though... shit.  She was curious.  She needed to know.  She took a few steps closer, with her ears and posture forward, unthreatening.  She only would go so close as to make her intention to talk obvious... and to see who this might be.  If they looked familiar, then she would be gone in an instant, running for the forests where she and Erzulie were set to meet.

brilliance watches her for a long moment, unsure what to do. does she know where home is? maybe she can help. maybe. does she want to come back home?
 
whoa, whoa, she jerks when the woman takes a few steps toward her. she stumbles back one step before holding her ground. she flashes her sharks teeth. all four deciduous canines hang in there while her permanent ones are halfway grown in. “don’t come closer!” she warns, trying to hide an fearful tremble. “i… i will eat ya f-face!”

Not Drageda... a child.  And alone, it seemed.  Rosalyn looked at her a minute, stopping when the kid backpedalled and gave her a flash of canines.  Not a whole lot of expression, or interest really... her curiosity was sated.  Someone's runaway kid, no doubt.

"Okay," she said, with a small shrug, and with a ghost of a smile she turned, simply walking away in the direction she had come.  She wasn't about to push herself into this kid's space, or risk an encounter with protective parents.  Screw that, she and Erzulie had a bout a million problems and territorial parents didn't need to be added to that list.

the woman accepts her words for what they are. okay. that simple? did she really think brilliance would eat her face? perhaps if solomon were here, or she were closer to home, she’d boast with an aggressive yeah! but here she doesn’t have either of those. 

brilliance bounds a few steps forward. 

“he-hey! wait! i didn’t say leave!!” she bellows after the woman.

she is fat and her sister is hard to keep up with. thankfully, the threat of rosalyn's departure causes her sister to scream. ah. there she is. her chest heaving, she heads in the direction of her sister's cries and then yells, HEY, WAIT UP! her tongue hangs out of her mouth comically, and she huffs and puffs before collapsing onto her bottom. ugh.

Oh?  "Didn't you?"  Rosalyn did turn back, but it was with a more detached amusement than real interest.  "Do tell, what part of getting my face eaten was meant to entice me to stay?"  Her mouth curled into a smile - it felt good to do so again.  

With all the stress, and the travel, she'd gone a while without meeting anyone on her terms.  While this wasn't really the most ideal of places for her, this girl was young, and obviously even more out of place than she was.  That fact brought a measure of her old self back.

brilliance huffs when the woman retorts and she straightens up her shoulders. “no, i didn’t,” she insists with the verbal tone of an oh no you didn’ head swivel. “i said don’t come any closer. you’re a stranger. strangers are dangers,” she adds, certain she’d been taught this at some point in her life. or maybe she likes the rhyme and the logical just happens to be sound. whatever.
 
but then solomon barrels in like she always does and she huffs in displeasure, as if she’s ruining whatever is happening here and not her poor attitude.

Oi.  There were two now.  Rosalyn didn't dislike children.... honestly she didn't really think about them much.  She'd shown some measure of compassion in the past to parents because she knew what it was like to be cast aside, but that compassion did not really manifest into a nurturing instinct.

"You're right.  So why do you want me to stay?"  She took a step forward, and her eyes narrowed.  "How do you know I'm not dangerous?"  A small smile - she wouldn't hurt them, of course, but she wanted to see what this brought.

brilliance narrows her eyes as the stranger steps up. she ignores solomon for the time being aside from the occasional glare to get her to get it together.
 
“that’s why i said don’t come closer,” she repeats. how dumb was this adult? she snorts. probably as dumb as the other puppies mama’s. man, she’s funny. “are you danger?” she asks, licking her lips. “can you… um… help us? we’re—” she looks back at her sister and she shifts a bit, uncertain, but solomon nods a bit. “we’re hungry.” the bigger girl gives her a nudge and she caves, “and lost.”

Oh, yes, stranger danger at it's finest, telling them to stay put.  Well, she'd likely find out sooner or later that sometimes runnin was the only real option out here.

Sorry, I don't have food to spare right now. While her words apologized, her tone didn't.  Feeding these kids would mean she couldn't feed her lover and herself, and in Rosalyn's books, there was no choice there.  Directions I can maybe do though.  You two got parents somewhere out here?

the stranger doesn’t have any food and brilliance looks down at her paws, then over at solomon with a quiet sorry mouthed in her direction. she knows her sister is hungry, too, just as she is, and neither of them can do much about it. but maybe she can help lead them back home, since she knows some directions. “yes,” she says and glances up. “our papa. and our brother,” she explains and licks her dry lips. “and our mama just came back too. she wuz missin’,” she adds, though she still doesn’t know what to make of that. nor does she realize she’d gone off again without a single goodbye to anyone.

ultimately, the stranger isn't helpful. brilliance and solomon don't know where they came from, or where they're going, so they leave the adult just as lost as they had been before.