Gasping for breath, Nzingha stumbled blindly through the night, thick brush and prickers pulling at her and the faeling imagine that each bite at her flesh was teeth instead of prickers. Whimpering, she pulled herself along as quickly as her exhausted body would allow, leaving a steady trail of blood behind her from each of her wounds. Frantically, she strove to walk straight, for in truth she had no idea of where she was, she had no idea of direction. All she knew was that she had to keep going... That she couldn't stop until she was clear of the thicket. Each breath was a wheeze, each step tremored her limbs and threatened to collapse her, and mere perseverance kept her going. But if she could not rest soon, she would die from exhaustion. Nzingha had no idea how long she had been traveling and she could not remember the last time that she slept. But though she could not see the forest before her, blinded by the utter darkness of night and the thick copses of trees... She could see clearly the event that had brought here, for it was rolling on replay in her mind, over and over again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She could not imagine why he had left yet again. Things had been going well between the two of them... Not that there was anything going on. But they had been getting along well since his last disappearance, and they had been inseparable since... That is, until she woke up one morning and found that he was no longer at her side. They had been sleeping together - that is, in the same den, not sexually - and never had she woken to find herself alone. Nzingha had risen to her paws and ran from the den, tracking his scent which she knew only too well, and had not paid attention to where she was going until she finally found him. "Danger, for the love of Tor why are we here? I woke up and you weren't there, you scared me half to death! What were you thinking, you know how I feel about you and I..." Abruptly he shushed her, but the damage was done - her vocals had travelled well far enough to signal their position to the creatures lurking in the shadows.

They were overthrown quickly, before they knew how to respond, a rush of blurs moving through the woods and Danger looked at her - or at least in her direction, given that he was blind - and whispered rushedly at her. 'Run, Nzingha. Run and hide.' She tried to argue him but he had pushed her out of the grove's clearing just in time. The ess turned in time to see him tackle by a group of Arctic wolves, the leader of which had a nasty scar across his muzzle that she recognized all too well from her last conversation with him - Kershov. They questioned Danger about her whereabouts, threatened to kill her should he try to run... And though Nzingha wanted to help him, she knew that there was nothing she could do. What the Ice King wanted with Danger she could not possibly know... But she ran, tears falling from bright yellow pools as she ran. She cried because of her impotence, her inability to save him. She cried because of the torture he would receive. She cried because her heart was breaking.

It was then that she realized she loved him.

They had come after her and nearly caught her, until she had thrown herself off of a cliff into a waterfall, losing them even as the water carried her downstream. It had been the most terrifying choice and experience in her life, especially given her pre-existing fear of water and the last time that she had nearly drowned. But if they caught her, she would be dead anyway, and her will to survive briefly overcame her fear and allowed her to continue her gallop directly off the side of the cliff... But midair she had looked down and wondered if she regretted her decision. The swift current at pulled at her, had slammed her into boulders, and had threatened to drown her when she got caught in fallen trees. Finally, drenched and choking on swallowed water, she had flowed into a calm eddy and dragged her pitiful out of the water, shaking. Looking back up at the cliff, she saw the rogues - far away - started to move toward her once more. And so continued the game of cat and mouse, but Nzingha moved as swiftly as she could in and out of water, taking precious time to cover her tracks... And here she was now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Suddenly, Nzingha fell through the earth, weak soil crumpling beneath her weight and dropped her. She could not help herself - she screamed. She fell perhaps ten to fifteen feet and landed hard on the ground, still in the dark, but now there was a musty scent about her, and she could hear her breathing echoing on the walls around her. And she knew where she was - Cavern of Secrets. Apparently the land she had been running on overlayed the cavern systems. The problem now? It was easy enough to get lost in here if you knew how you came in. How would she ever find her way out? Holding her breath, she calmed herself down and moved forward until she found a wall, and slowly started walking with her shoulder on the wall, hoping that it would lead her out eventually...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

For days, weeks - she had wandered. Time lost all sort of meaning and Nzingha had survived on rats and moles whatever she could find in the darkness. She lost weight to the point of being only skin and bone and muscle - she was trim and lean out of necessity - when at long last she had made her way to the opening, she had no idea of when in time she was. But she continued on as she had been for her time lost in the labyrinth - she ran. Nzingha's feet were strong, now, and led her swiftly home, across the boundary of the pack she once knew well. She ran as far into the center as she could, but deviated from her course as she picked up on her father's scent. Bursting through the pricker's and prior roses, she gasped -though not to catch her breath. "Danger... he is gone." Would they recognize her? She was haggard looking, having rarely slept, and had lost the fat that once had crested her ribcage. Instead, with each breath they would only see the movement of muscle beneath tight flesh. Would they notice that her eyes were shut as she looked about at them, protecting her now delicate eyes from the harsh rays of the sun? And then the scent of blood hit her nares. She cocked her head to the side and inhaled sharply, expecting a meal to be scurrying toward her... but it came instead from her father. "What has happened?"

OOC-