the end of the world as you know it

She dreamed of the bay that night, waves lapping the shore in a gentle rhythm that matched her breathing as she lay upon the sand. There was no one around but her and the sea. Not even the shriek of gulls disturbed her island of peace, for perhaps they could sense what was coming.

Slowly, the water began to rise and roil until it bubbled beneath her snout, the waves growing in strength until they tugged at her fur as the wind howled across the shore. A storm was coming.

Rising to her feet, she waded into the shallows, feeling the familiar pull of the ocean. The promise of new life she carried was not a promise anymore but a curse.

The herbs were bitter in her mouth, tears tracking down her feather-white face until they mixed with the salt below. And then the pain came in waves and did not subside, not until the sea foamed red and Seele drifted off into a dreamless sleep...



...and awoke to darkness.

Well, not quite. Once her eyes had adjusted, she could make out shapes illuminated by the soft glow of mushrooms. Shapes of trees and of rocks, of the subtle roundness of her belly.

"No no no," she muttered, propping herself up and running a paw down her ribcage."You should be gone!" A blood-curdling shriek interrupted the night's silence.

It was odd; she could not recall where she was, nor how she got here. But she could not forget what he had done. She could not forget the immense and overwhelming sense of wrongness - of hate - for herself and whatever grew within. It did not cross her mind in that moment that her body was deceiving her.

The tears streamed silently as she managed to coordinate herself enough to drink from a nearby creek, her reflection a dull rippled image. How could she call herself a doctor if she could not even fix herself?
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Here was a woman.

Alone, small, petite.

Hyla felt a bloom of jealousy where she should not have. @Vengeance had kept her close, had tended to her, she had no reason to feel anything bad. She was so fixed on her own petty woes that she missed the stranger's tragedies. The shriek was a sound hardly misplaced this close to Nightwalker territory — Hyla had grown used to it.

But why was this woman here? She did not smell of rot or the blood of the pack. She seemed misplaced in such a world.

“Do you need something?” Her voice came out hoarse and soft, a whisper. She had imagined she might have had more confidence but instead she was still just her. Small and feeble. Even when faced with a stranger so close to her.

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Through deep, shaking breaths Seele tried her best to sooth her racing mind and to see herself as just another patient that needed her care and attention. She was no stranger to keeping her emotions suppressed while she worked, but it was a whole other beast when it was you lying on the proverbial stretcher. Wiping the wetness from her eyes, she coaxed herself to focus on the small, more immediate things that she could fix in this very moment to ground herself in this new sense of reality.

Drink, eat, rest.

Drink, eat, rest. She could do that. She knew how to do that.

Her actions were automatic and almost robotic as she repeated those three words over and over in a low muttering croon. It was as she drew her tongue across her lips to wipe any remaining droplets that a diminutive voice broke her rut and she turned to see a woman, small and brown and easily overlooked had it not been for the scent of decay that hung heavy around her.

But she was not him. He would not have spared a second glance to her wellbeing unlike this kindly stranger. "A meal is all," Seele felt herself relax as her gaze fell on the woman's rotund physique. "And then I must rest." And when she would awake the next day, perhaps this nightmare would be over.
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Cameo; feel free to ignore

The pale ghost slunk after the brown girl, staying back in the shadows, always at a distance. There were reasons for her trailing her, though Vengeance topped that list. She didn’t trust the rotten smelling wolf; why she lingered in the pack, she didn’t know, but she did nonetheless. Perhaps it was because nothing better had come along.

Whatever the reason, Alina knew that the mousey girl was too soft. Far too soft to stick near Vengeance without any sort of protection.

So she followed her. Never seen. Always seeing. She watched as she approached the pregnant woman, red eyes narrowing as she waited for the unexpected.
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Simple things. Simple needs.

Hyla was torn between helping here or perhaps ushering the woman away somewhere safer. Hyla was safe, wasn't she? But she did not want to share the safety she had found beneath the big beast within the reach.

She, herself, was not much of a provider. Not with meals but she knew things to make rest...easier. Better. Self-conscious feelings bloomed in the back of her mind. It had been so long since she had actually used herbs. Nowadays she only collected them idly. They seemed more like pretty decorations than anything useful.

Another thing for her to wallow on.

“Do you belong to some place? Is anyone...looking for you?”

Hyla knew red eyes looked for her always. What eyes looked for this wayward mother-to-be?

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Relief washed over her as the woman did not run at her request, though it was quickly replaced by a tightness in her chest as she thought of all there was to say. She did belong, she used to, however that door had closed the moment she had set foot on the beach and ended up... here. The memory of how exactly that had happened was fuzzy, unclear - it hurt to think about, but Seele, trusting as she was, would explain it the best she could.

"There is a beach, and on that beach lives a man," she began, "but I do not belong there - to him - anymore." Would he search for her? Given the nature of that night, he would likely have assumed her death, but he was not a man to give up so easily. Not when she carried his children. "Though he may want to find me, I do not think he knows where I am." Nor did she. 

A blessing in disguise to wake up in a world where she may never see his face again.

Seele was unaware of the wraith that watched from the shadows as she drew closer to the woman. How had someone so soft and so gentle come to carry the stench of death? What devils lay behind closed doors? But this was her lifeline - to rest and recover until she could try again. Blue eyes met hazel with a forlorn expression. "Can you take me somewhere safe?"
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A man, left behind on a beach. Hyla was not certain she had ever seen a beach. Surely such a place must be...far, far from here.

Had she hands, they would have clasped one another tightly. Instead only her lips pulled together firm and thin. Somewhere safe. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she wondered what this woman thought was safe. What she wanted for her and those unborn.

“I shouldn't go far...” She confessed softly. She didn't want to go far. Why would she? Then Vengeance would wonder and she'd have no good explanation. Hyla was not made to be a body guard to another. “But...but I'm safe. I'm a healer and you should —”

Be careful. Be looked after. She knew expecting mothers often received earful of unwanted words.

“What's safety for you?”

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