A few marbles short

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Tangled branches snagged at her skirts, scratched red lines into her skin, not quite enough to draw blood but enough to make her wince as she cleared the brambles and stumbled out onto the path beyond. That's what a head start did for you. A little luck, a touch of hope, just to make the pain all the more severe later when it cut for real. Staggering onwards, she looked back to make sure Loren was there, and found... nothing. Chest squeezing painfully tight, Maea stared at the viciously lashing branches, the roots and leaves that closed shut behind her, and her companion was. not. there. and then he suddenly was, flapping back down and shifting back from his goose form. Really? A goose? She'd have guessed at badger, considering his grumpiness, if she'd indeed thought he could shift at all. Apparently everyone and their grandmother was a god-blessed hybrid these days, and Maea was too relieved to see him to even feel pissy about it. "So much for memorizing the way in," she grumbled, but made no move to continue. Over the rustle and groan of shifting hedges, she could hear distant chattering voices, calling "Yes!" and "No!" and "Follow me!" It made the hair at the back of her neck stand on edge, made her want to run blindly along. They were growing closer. But Loren was bleeding. His stumble made her automatically reach for him, to steady if he needed it, but he caught himself before she even came close and Maea let her hands fall uselessly to the sides. "Is it bad? I can take a look..." Not that she knew anything about tending wounds, beyond stopping immediate bleeding. Not that she had anything to stop it with, except her torn skirts and hands that felt rather numb and clumsy. Where would she even begin?