Lunette Vuesain

I’ve got my love stuck in my head

She hadn't known much about fire before she came here. She was dimly aware of having been told about it, maybe in late summer, and that it could happen if it was dry outside and lightning struck a tree, or the ground itself. She had seen lightning, a fair few times, for bad weather was common on the mountain, but she had never seen more than some sparks when it hit. She had never seen actual flames, and still hadn't, but until she saw the Wildwood, she had never understood just how destructive it could be.


For that had been the purpose of those stories about lightning—to tell her that fire was dangerous, and not just sprain-your-ankle dangerous, but turn-you-into-a-charred-mess-of-flesh dangerous. Whatever she had pictured, though, was nothing like it was when she saw it. It had been years ago, now, that the fire had ravaged the Wildwood, but the signs of it was everywhere. No tall, thick trees reached for the sky—just saplings, many still soft and pliable. Here and there some of the first trees to shoot up from the ashy soil had become firm, looking more like trees, albeit very small trees.


And interspersed among them where the burnt-out husks of the trees from before the fire. Blackened stumps and trunks, hollows where flames had licked through.. gray and dead and brittle. Lunette swallowed as she arced around the territory's border, heading for nowhere in particular. Despite the tragedy of this place—she didn't know the details, though, just that the fire had been devastating—it had a certain kind of beauty. A dark, broken beauty, and one that spoke to her soul. One that she could emphasize with. She, too, was dark and broken, though not burned, just..flawed. An anxious wreck.


But something about this place had made it better. Something about the world down here, the distance from her family, had made it bearable. She couldn't always stop herself from being twitchy, from being jumpy or nervous or stuttering or trembling, but there weren't any expectations on her, aside from 'grow stronger, so you can go home'. It had taken a while, though—after her first week in the Draw, she had developed a bad cough and a running nose. She was better now, though, but it had been a setback, and she hadn't been able to go fish for herself or start wandering to build her strength up, until just a week ago or so. It was a long way to go still, but...


As she stared at the soft trunk of a sapling not much higher than twice of her, she realized that.. some pains had dulled. No longer afraid and thinking she'd die, Fallen Tree Cove did not hurt so much to think about anymore. She missed Mama and Papa, of course, and she missed Kajika, but she did not miss the constant tension in her. Here, in the forest where things regrew but nothing quite blotted out the sky, she could breathe. Here, she felt as if no one looked askance at her for trying to take care of herself.


She drew in a deep breath, and stared to the east. The sun was setting to the west, painting the distant mountain peaks, barely visible, in hues of blood red and burnished orange. Bright patches of snow reflected the light. It was home, though, right? She had to go home, because.. because no one knew where she was. They didn't know if she was still alive.


She wondered what kind of reception she'd get.