backdated for 12/12-ish! few days after arriving in BV — maybe Cen ?
the saatsine did not slow for weakness.
this, fa’liya has known. she learned it first hand during the days of migration—learned it in the way their backs never turned, the way the line of bodies kept moving like a living scar across the land. she followed anyway. leagues behind, a thin shadow stitching herself to their trail, but she followed. every breath scraped and each step burned, but that was the saatsine way of life: be strong or be left.
by the time they crested into the higher passes, her lungs were a warzone. thin air chewed at her from the inside out. coughing fits folded her frame until she had to brace her forelegs in the dirt just to stay upright. she spat red more than once—dark, rusty flecks staining the snow.
they arrived days ago. she is still not right.
she has made the outskirts of camp her nesting place, curled near a rock face that cuts the worst of the wind, far enough from the others that they would have to search if they meant to find her. powder-blue irises watch distant herds out past the forest with half-lidded eyes, chest fluttering like a trapped bird.
this, fa’liya has known. she learned it first hand during the days of migration—learned it in the way their backs never turned, the way the line of bodies kept moving like a living scar across the land. she followed anyway. leagues behind, a thin shadow stitching herself to their trail, but she followed. every breath scraped and each step burned, but that was the saatsine way of life: be strong or be left.
by the time they crested into the higher passes, her lungs were a warzone. thin air chewed at her from the inside out. coughing fits folded her frame until she had to brace her forelegs in the dirt just to stay upright. she spat red more than once—dark, rusty flecks staining the snow.
they arrived days ago. she is still not right.
she has made the outskirts of camp her nesting place, curled near a rock face that cuts the worst of the wind, far enough from the others that they would have to search if they meant to find her. powder-blue irises watch distant herds out past the forest with half-lidded eyes, chest fluttering like a trapped bird.