Emberwood You crawled out of the sea.

Open for 1 of the tagged toons!

Sleep was hard to come by now that she was awake. Whatever natural rhythm Ibis had before had been shattered by those many days of slumber; she could not shake the hunger now, could not see through her body's need for calories over everything.

When @Reiko visited her she would bring flowers or small morsels to ease Ibis back in to the swing of things. Too much too fast meant Ibis would be sick, and certain foods were outright foul to her senses even in her starved state - fish, for instance, curdled her stomach.

Dark circles formed around her eyes with each hour that passed. She watched the snow fall, or the songbirds flit about in the trees, and listened for the passing of beasts as they patrolled. Sometimes Ibis would pick up the scent of @Awol or @Kavik; more and more she came to notice the absence of particular wolves. Bhediya had not come to see her. Pygmalion and his sister Lolita were absent too, or too busy to visit.

With a deep sigh Ibis tucked her thinned body in to a tighter circle. Her head nested against the dirt and she tried to curl her tail over her nose but, as willowy as she has become, her little tail is more like a coarse brush than any sort of comfort. She huffs around it, uncoils, adjusts, and finally gives up the chase for sleep.

The soft whistles of the wind eluded his senses amongst the apsen crown;
the fallen searching, prying whatever was left of the dear cerulean-eyed, soft spoken fae. His greedy occupation let him wander — rendered forlorn, traversing somewhat familiar relaxtion spots. A sweet, familiar memory of her touched a wilted nose, and he hurried for it. Yearned for it. The sun was kind enough on the quieter, snowsaken eve to cats it's radiant light to aid his watering eyes.

She was perceieved as lovely as she had been when she had left for involuntary repose, sleep refusing to sell himself to her.

No need for it — the archdruid had tears to marvel at as they kissed and cascasded down ashen cheeks. ❝Ibis,❞ he spoke with wavering, sincere tones to the women. a name he had not beared to utter outwrdly to the the crisp air for days. ❝You're awake. How are you feeling? We've missed you so much.❞

❝I've missed you so much.❞

A familiar voice called out to her - this time it was not Kukulkan, but it was equally emotional. Perhaps more-so than what she received from the pirate boy. Awol lingered just outside of the den mouth and as Ibis took notice of him, and the shimmering of his cheek fur, she realized he was crying. Her little face frowned for a second or two; when it became too much of an effort to hold that expression, it melted from her features. But she was still concerned. A sense of guilt rose up to rival her starvation before being dwarfed by that hunger. It was almost like nothing could contend with the demands of her body.

Awol, she murmurs, licking her lips and nose in a desperate little attempt to whet her tongue.

he'll return in the next post!

He watched with momentary confusion as the small lady preformed attemtps to wet the dry inner of her maw. ❝You're thristy, aren't you. I'll get you food and water, just wait a few moments,❞ he sang softly to the woodsparrow colored girl, as he ran fleetfooted to the caches, and to gather soft wads of mads to dip water in. 

Within moments he was gone again, and Ibis felt that absence through the grogginess of everything else; it hurt, more-so than seeing any tears, more-so than her own starvation. Perhaps she was more sensitive to such things as absence in her weakened state - or it brought to mind thoughts of her friends and family who had all, somehow, faded from her life. She soon found herself pining for home; not for the Emberwood, not for her father, but for her mothers and for Elysium, as if it were possible to step back in time and return to such a place. With a sigh she nested against the dirt of the den, waiting, full of dread and sadness, as if she might not see Awol again.

The man returned, holding a queer clump of soaked moss rubbed and dipped in layers of snow. He attemtped not to gag on the amount of items he held gingerly in his maw, including a small rabbit tha would fill the lady's belly at least for awhile. 

He dropped them as carefully as he could at her feet, not speaking, as he rose again and sat, blocking the sunlight into her resting, to let her know she was warm and safe. While his back reeked of the cold, a small smile creased his lips. 

He came to her and carried with him a gift, and while she was so very, very hungry it wasn't the collection of offerings that she affixed her gaze to, but to his eyes. As Awol carefully placed his gifts by the den mouth she watched his movements, swift, bird-like almost, until he settled by the entry to her little hollow, as Kukulkan had previously. How many people had visited her while she had been asleep? How many of her wolves truly cared that she had been in a state of suspended life? She wondered to herself as she gathered the rabbit to her breast, and began to pluck at it in silence; had anyone alerted the pack of her living? Perhaps not. It would be better to keep it secret until she was stronger, she thought. With the boys both tending to her - and with Reiko visiting on occasion with medicines and flowers - it would not be long before Ibis was back to her normal self. Or, so she hoped.

She could not eat much of the rabbit though. Try as she might, she could not pull it apart enough and found her jaws aching after only a few moments, and her neck was stiff. The taste of the creature's flesh made her salivate and her head pound with a sickening insistence; but she tried again, and again, nibbling at the bits she could access until her stomach churned and she knew she could not eat any more. There was plenty left - it would take hours.

Thank you Awol, she calls to the boy, her voice still frail but trying so hard to sound stable and strong.

❝Don't talk if it hurts, alright?❞ he enters quickly. ❝Just rest. I'll be gone for a while, just going to talk a walk along the river, yeah?❞

He then nuzzles her neck and blows playfully in her ear before leaving her to rest and contemplate the day. It was the last she would see him, reality-wise.