The Heartwood you dream of some epiphany

The woman did not like being separated from her children but at the same time, felt like she needed the space to properly grieve the loss of her aunt. It was more than that; @Akavir had been cold since his return, @Teya had been vanishing for days at a time, and more and more, Ibis felt the stirrings of familiar wanderlust.

It was not loss that drove her away from Brecheliant. It was not heartache, familiar as it might have been to experience, that sparked the need for distance from the fen.

Ibis had left her children in the care of @Maia and @Eljay, but beyond the two new parents she did not inform anyone where she was going.

Not far, was the only answer she would give.

By the time she reached the Heartwood the sun was just starting to set. It was the longest day of the year; the heat had been oppressive — partway across the fields, she had felt ill enough to vomit her breakfast. Ibis' dry tongue lay garishly unfurled from her mouth as she openly panted, finding some comfort in the growing shade. Her head ached a little bit, throbbing behind her eyes.

When she contemplated whether or not she should hunt for dinner before bed, the thought only turned her stomach — and the next thing Ibis knew, she was vomiting again. She didn't think to move away from the puddle of bile as it sank in to the forest floor. In fact, she felt agitated — angry at the bitter taste hanging in the back of her throat.

A meal could wait, she thought. Sleep might be better. So she curled up where she sat, not bothering to clear the debris or do the usual pirouette routine to wedge herself down. Her chest hurt — but her heart hadn't stopped thumping all day, it had only gotten faster and now drummed incessantly in her chest.

Soon enough Ibis could not keep her eyes open. She coils herself tightly so that her tail touches at her nose, and begins to drift to sleep. In her addled state of mind she would not recognize when the drifting stopped. In her addled dream she was running from point to point (face to face), always away from something.

In the waking world, what began as a twitch of a foot and an almost cute unfurling as she began to run in her sleep, transitioned to a full-body clonic spasm. Automatic movements soon overwhelmed her. The first seizure lasted only thirty seconds; perhaps it would have been enough to rouse her from the clenches of sleep, but before that could happen another came, and another.

While in Ibis' mind, she was roaming Elysium. Willows decorated the expanse of her two mothers' home, resplendent as they reached out to her. She could hear singing on the wind; there was laughter, boorish and deep, which drew her eye. Terance was there, laughing with Seabreeze. Olive too, and all the children. Okeanos beaming her way. All of them waiting for her.

Seven minutes later, the seizing stopped... along with everything else.

it was from one of these excursions that teya returned, enlivened. she felt as though she might have shed the spell of kynareth in a secret trysting she did not intend to share with a soul. it had been for her alone. knowing she had not lost her desirability outside of what she already shared with bridget, teya came back to brecheliant, to the strange smooth stillness. insects trilled and whirred along the sedges, dragonflies lifting from their holdings, stirred by the passing raven.
overhead, the summertime air was filled with the sound of birds. she heard the splash of otters nearby, the shear of troutfin through water. brecheliant was beautiful, and the violet felt rather renewed.
rather ready to march madly to ibis' den and tell the woman that she did not intend to be akavir, or intend to wait for him. that she wished to be more, and wished to explain this.
passing thought that she had not seen arcturus in quite some time.
dutifully she took fish as before to where she had last scented eljay. along the trail, she came across the scent of the auspex' children. while teya did not concern herself with the notion of who was sitting for whom, she stepped in where able. today was not one of these days.
she found the mother's den empty, and frowned, sniffing at the entrance with a wary curiosity. had she taken the babies elsewhere?
some hours later, teya headed from brecheliant, lips rigid and legs stiff. she forced herself into a canter as she left the fen behind.
ibis had left a small trail, but it faded and faded the more that teya grasped for any strands of it. dawn on the second day, rising quickly. teya refused to return to brecheliant, refused to sleep more than a fitful snatching of moments before she was off again.
a wrong turn and she was near the caldera. she skirted the redhawks and shivered, losing ibis' trail along the waterway. this time she did force herself to halt, to pant, to curse and throw herself against the ground. the next hours sent her upon a failed hunt, and then one more successful; she chewed as she walked, choosing to follow where she felt ibis might have been heading.
the days blended now.
the heat tore at the girl.
she did not know how long she had been gone from brecheliant.
the soured smell of vomit had led her to ibis once more, and all teya could think was that she had been far too late, gone long enough for the beautiful limbs to begin their trajectory into death. uncomprehendingly she stared, too exhausted to do more than sink down beside ibis on shaking legs and nose the ruff that no longer held the fragrance of the woman she had loved, dearly and desperately and dangerously.
cicadas, chirring in the deep and cursed forest.
teya passed into darkness and when she woke, she found it was no heat-dream.
she had no strength to bring ibis home, and cried bitterly against the earth.
time went on.
eventually she would return.
"i love you," she whispered instead, voice faint and lost beneath the weight of summer and her own swollen eyes.