you shouldn’t walk where the hemlock grows

Faolain’s sense of what was normal had never exactly settled on any particular requirements, and it was hard to tell if anything would be remotely the same after her battle with Rougaru anyway. But as things quieted down, it did feel as though the days had slipped back to when things were calm, and Faolain supposed that was a kind of normal. She had finally made it back up to her favorite spot at the peak of the Ridge without fear of worsening her injury, an accomplishment that felt like a cornerstone to some kind of change. She didn’t know what was to come, but the climb felt like progress; as did the outcome of the battle. She felt a substantial weight lift off her shoulders (only to be replaced by a new one, but until she sorted out the hierarchy amongst the other Atlantis leaders, it was not a pressing concern).

Though she had made it to the top once, Faolain avoided returning to the gentle spire of the Ridge. Mostly, she stayed in the valley, occasionally assaulting Rivaini with splashes of water from the lake when she got bored. She was considering such trouble when Solomon’s call echoed upward from the beach, and her thoughts of being a nuisance vanished. It took a moment before she realized he had called for Çiçek, and as worry rose in her chest - Çiçek was not here, she was supposed to be with Solomon - she heard her own name called as well.

Abandoning the edge of the lake and ignoring the soreness still lingering in her body, Faolain bounded down the side of the mountain until she nearly crashed into the Cove’s leader some distance below. Faolain hit the brakes hard, sliding to a halt and throwing up clumps of rich black soil. ”Solomon,” she said, wincing at the uncomfortable twinge of pain in her injured leg. Running down had been stupid of her. She intended to withhold her anxiety and ask for an explanation before jumping to conclusions as she had at the top of the path, but she shut right up as she saw the panicked expression on his face. Something was very wrong.

” What is it?” she asked, the words coming out more impatiently than she intended, but she did not bother softening them for fear of wasting time. “What’s wrong? I thought Çiçek was with you?”

When she had first heard Solomon’s call, she had felt a nagging emotion that she could not name, one that grew stronger as she closed the distance between them. Now, she realized it was guilt. She had never gone to see Çiçek as she had promised. What with the conflicts with Nyimara and Rougaru, she simply had not gotten around to it, but surely she could have made time if she had tried harder. Knowing the nature of her golden friend to be plagued with wanderlust, Faolain knew it was entirely possible Çiçek had just adventured away somewhere, and that the chances of Solomon coming looking for her here were not of any real concern outside of simply missing a beloved companion. However, even if that were the case, Faolain still felt terribly that she had not gone to see Çiçek and her child before they moved on. In any case, Solomon’s atmosphere of anxiety made it difficult to imagine anything but the worst.

mare | black | 14hh | akhal-teke