10/26/2026, 12:46 PM
iglux̂ comes to her before fa’liya realizes that she needs catching. the silver's shoulder settles beneath her own, warm and solid, and the relief of having something to lean against is so immediate that she nearly weeps for it. embarrassment follows a moment later. she ought to straighten, to offer some proper acknowledgment of the journey and those who had completed it before her, but her legs seem to their primary function of standing properly. instead, she allows herself to rest against iglux̂, blinking slowly as the woman's praise reaches her through the persistent rushing in her ears.
the gray girl's question takes longer to understand. fa’liya turns her head toward tatsaaye', regarding her through eyes that seem reluctant to settle upon any one thing. hurt? yes, she supposes. her chest aches terribly, and her throat burns with every breath. there is a dull, sickening pressure behind her eyes that makes the entire grove sway whenever she moves her head.
determinedly and suddenly renewed, she lifts her muzzle again, searching the breeze. the movement brings another faint darkness across her vision, and she leans a little more heavily against iglux̂ until it passes. there had been something there, she was certain! something unfamiliar beneath the abundance of saatsine, something that had stirred the same peculiar apprehension she remembered from her slumber. she could almost feel it at her back again, its attention travelling along the hollows of her spine.
yet the wind has shifted. what little she had caught of it has scattered among the grasses, leaving her with nothing but the uneasy certainty that it had been there at all. fa’liya's ears turn toward the distant treeline. she searches between the trunks, then along the water, where evening shadows have begun to gather beneath the reeds. there was nothing. why was there nothing?
thank you,she murmurs, though it comes out rather poorly. her tongue feels thick against her teeth. she has not eaten properly in some time, and the emptiness beneath her ribs has become almost as uncomfortable as the frantic beating above it.
the gray girl's question takes longer to understand. fa’liya turns her head toward tatsaaye', regarding her through eyes that seem reluctant to settle upon any one thing. hurt? yes, she supposes. her chest aches terribly, and her throat burns with every breath. there is a dull, sickening pressure behind her eyes that makes the entire grove sway whenever she moves her head.
only tired,she answers eventually. her mind remains elsewhere.
determinedly and suddenly renewed, she lifts her muzzle again, searching the breeze. the movement brings another faint darkness across her vision, and she leans a little more heavily against iglux̂ until it passes. there had been something there, she was certain! something unfamiliar beneath the abundance of saatsine, something that had stirred the same peculiar apprehension she remembered from her slumber. she could almost feel it at her back again, its attention travelling along the hollows of her spine.
yet the wind has shifted. what little she had caught of it has scattered among the grasses, leaving her with nothing but the uneasy certainty that it had been there at all. fa’liya's ears turn toward the distant treeline. she searches between the trunks, then along the water, where evening shadows have begun to gather beneath the reeds. there was nothing. why was there nothing?
iglux̂,she begins again, softer this time. a pause follows while she gathers enough breath to continue.
do you smell that?
sorry for the delay ;_;