The weight of her sodden coat hung heavily as she stood there, anchoring her paws to the earth for now. She feels his eyes being drawn upon her, it’s that eerie sensation of knowing that you are being watched. She’s aware of his attention but makes no effort to meet his gaze. She is lost in the current, searching for something that likely cannot be found.

Between the howling wind and the heavily beating rain his simple response was lost to her ears, merely coming out as a muffled sound more than a formed word. His voice comes again but louder this time. ”Hm,” she utters in response. Someone not unlike herself has managed to find their way here; and for what? She seriously doubts that she can provide appropriate companionship or support. Her views are distorted and she has yet to build a positive connection with anyone her entire life. What could she offer this poor fellow other than to be the misery to his company?

His question causes a broken smile to crack briefly upon her facade. ”Hmph... “ a slight chuckle leads before her reply. ”You don’t,” she answers grimly as her eyes are cast upward to look at him, her head turning to actually view him in full now. He was dark just like her, not only in appearance but in the depths of his gem-like eyes. She knew that look well.

”You see...” she pauses as a strong gust of wind threatens to throw her off balance. ”There’s beauty in letting go.” Her voice is strong against the storm but there’s no covering up the true nature in her words. She is broken and bleeding; she has been for a while. Is this stranger insightful enough to notice? Is he empathetic enough to care? Renja could take him or leave him either way.

As the water level continues to slowly rise she finds the answer that she’s been waiting for since her company found her standing here. A large dead and hollowed tree sinks into the raging river at last, bending to the will of the water and being swept downstream. The rocks that are now barely peeking over the river’s surface roughly catch the old tree. Some would see it as fortunate that this tree has created a bridge for which she can cross, but Renja knows it to be nothing other than another challenge for death to try and take her.

In her particularly numb state she couldn’t care less about the risk and only sees a way out and across the river. The angle of the tree isn’t ideal, but she’s always been able to devise a way around problematic situations before. She casts a glance back to her tragic friend for a moment before sliding down the embankment and carefully stepping onto the gnarled end of the stymied tree. The current barrels into the side of it as she throws caution to the wind and looks to the stranger behind her. ”Once you stop breathing you find a new way to live,” she shouts to him through the wind and rain before turning back to the tree and crosses it in a few strides, leaping from the end to make the gap between it and the other embankment.

Death did not want her today.