(se) into the woods, the time is now

When we can’t control fire,

we name it “wild”

When Alina got the last of the fingers off of her ankle, she tore a strip of cloth off her shirt. Wrapping the end of the branch that was leaking sap, she looked between it and Juniper. "Safrin asked for a branch. This is a branch." The huntress shrugged.

Looking down at the still writhing creature, then in the direction Delah had disappeared in, Alina shivered. "Let's get out of here." Her eyes darted around the forest. Although they'd only been out a short while, the shadows seemed to have lengthened. Gripping the branch in one hand, the huntress rested her other on the hilt of her knife. She wouldn't release it until they'd made their way back to the Sidhe Viallge.

when we can’t control God,

we name it “war”

ALINA

Base Code by Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper nodded. "All right."

As for leaving, Alina didn't have to tell her twice. That encounter with Delah had been unsettling enough to make the simple, straightforward danger of the Wicker Woman almost a relief. What if Delah was still out there, alive, or ... something else? Previously, Juniper would have said that she didn't believe in ghosts, but now she had the evidence of her own eyes. And if Delah was a ghost, why appear to them? Was she trying to tell them something?

Of course, the possibility that Delah might be alive was nearly as disturbing ... Best to take this as a mistake, a hallucination perhaps. Of one thing Juniper was certain: she didn't intend to mention the sighting to anyone else.

{FIN}

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark