She clung to her mother's side as they left the battleground behind. Hazy with exhaustion and overwhelmed by all that had transpired - the things she had seen, what she had done. The Blackbird was blissfully silent, absorbed in her own thoughts. Erthë had expected a sermon, endless monologues about obedience, self-preservation and ones place in the scheme of things...

But it seemed as though the mare was too tired. Her stride was uneven and strained, the inky coat had been etched away by sizzling blood and if the child looked closely she could see the pink flesh beneath, reddened by beading blood.

Erthë felt guilty. Maybe if she hadn't run off, mother wouldn't have been hurt. If she had stayed beneath the shelter of a black wing, perhaps they wouldn't have been dragged along with the chaos and madness, escaped the swirling shadows and withdrawn to elsewhere.

Maybe... if they hadn't been there, the wolf wouldn't have died.

But even as the child thought that, the fear came crawling back and dragged icy claws down her spine, so that the breath caught in frail lungs and tiny cloves tripped over themselves. Simply thinking about the snarling, drooling monsters amidst the labyrinthine paths made her tremble in fright. It was as though she could still feel the searing hot, putrid breath wash over her, as though the feral growls still would rumble in her ears if she just grew quiet enough to listen.

The battle with the Bear God had left her shocked and ill at ease, but this time the child had learned what fear and hatred based on prejudice was. In the coils of her slender tail a token dangled back and forth in pace with her strides, the bronze chain jangling softly for every bounce and jerk it made.

A piece of a god. One single, jet black fang, cruel and still dangerous even though it had been parted from its original owner. The chain was long enough to fit around her neck twice over, yet even though Erthë was both happy and proud to have received such a thing from the wonderful Moon lady, she couldn't quite swallow the lump of unease in her throat.

This was the second time she had witnessed someone being butchered, and the taste of doubt was foul upon the tongue.

"We'll stop here" mother suddenly said and stopped, quite at random it seemed.

Erthë blinked and looked around, but saw nothing except a small opening in the bamboo where the narrow path met with another. There was a shallow pool of water hidden amongst the fern, and she could hear the faint murmur that suggested a stream was winding its way to or from it, as of yet unseen.

Half hidden amidst the underbrush lay the striped mare with wings on her head that had saved Erthë once. The child eyed her curiously as she made to follow her mom to the water, but as she passed the stranger whispered something, which made the filly stop.

she asked, the finely chiseled head tilting curiously. Believing it was her the lady had addressed she hovered indecisively, torn between wanting to say thank you and a reluctance at getting separated from her mother again.

Shadow saved her by pausing only a few strides away, the expression that had been lined with pain easing into a faint smile as she regarded the two.

"Well met, Maren" she said quietly. Erthë blinked and looked amazed - did mother know this person? "Please don't let my daughter bother you."

the filly objected and ruffled her downy feathers indignantly.
The pale half-blind eyes suddenly grew uncertain as she hastily checked back with this Maren - well aware that if she had been wrong, mother might actually start that telling-off she had withheld until now.