rain drizzles down at a lazy pace, slowly collecting between their fur and softening the ground beneath their feet. each step is a squelch, and Araneae pulls a disgusted face as mud collects between their toes. it’s been a dreary day, and as such it’s turned into a dreary evening - one plagued by snatches of Her face flashing uninvited through their mind. on some days their thoughts don’t even touch Her; skirting the shape of Her with steadfast
determination. other days, however…other days That Woman is all they can seem to think of. stay here, Spider. goodbye.

a leaf dips beneath the weight of the rain and expels a cold trickle of water onto their head, making them wince and jump back. cursing beneath their breath, Araneae stomps further into the woods and kicks a rock viciously with one forepaw.

"Speech"

Morganna loved rainy days. She trounced along quite happily, bounding from one puddle to the next. Her mother would fuss and scold when she returned home, and in the coming days, if things became humid, mushroom growths would explode over the parts of her fur that had been the dampest, up in the pits of her arms and down between her toes. For now she was only sporting a few small growths at the right corner of her lips and out of her left ear. It made hearing hard, but there wasn't much new in that.

The way the trees twisted almost seemed to make a staircase to the sky... And while climbing wet trees probably wasn't advised for grip reasons alone, the girl with her ravens leading the way wouldn't be deterred. She managed to follow their hopping up at least three branches before disaster struck, a slight patch of slime sending her careening forward, overbalanced and down, down to the ground. She yelped as she made contact with the ground, she hadn't fallen from a great height, but the force of her fall had been enough to knock the mushroom loose from her ear. The glowing green ooze started to trickle from where the growth had been, and her ear burned, and rang and throbbed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. But she shouldn't cry. She mustn't. She isn't a baby anymore.

The child grits her teeth. At least the falling rain provides some cover for her tears.

"speech"

at first, they think it the slap of their paws against wet earth, the squelching cadence of each heavy, frustrated step. the splash of a body hitting the soggy ground doesn’t even occur to them as anything but their own footsteps. but then a figure emerges through the drizzle, a bundle of rain-speckled fur amidst the brown and greys of a miserable evening. curiosity and unease pinprick their pelt, driving them forward until they come to a stop by the huddled creature’s head. brows pinching together, Araneae leans down and peers unabashedly into the thing’s face - then withdraws abruptly as they realise what they’re looking at. a girl. there’s a girl lying at the base of this tree, looking miserable…and is that a mushroom? crap, is she bleeding? panic sweeps through Araneae, and they hop awkwardly from foot to foot, wishing they knew what to do, or had some medical training, or…or something! “shit,” Araneae hisses, another word curtesy of That Woman- and then, because it feels so good to say: “shit!”

for a moment they pace, glaring at the ground and wishing they weren’t so useless. then they return to the girl’s side and try to nudge her cheek with their nose, hoping to gauge her level of consciousness. “er…hey,” they whisper, lips pressed to the girl’s ear like they’re sharing a secret. “psst…are you okay??” they fight down an irritated snort - they’re awful at this! - and try again. “listen, can you stand? we need to get you out of this rain.”

"Speech"

Morganna scrunches her face for force back the tears that want to come for the sharp, throbbing ache of her ear, for the bruised shoulder and the tender spot on her leg where her quills pushed back jarringly to bruise her flesh, but she won't let herself be seen like that. Gritting her teeth, she pushes herself up and tried to offer what she hopes is a reassuring smile to the tiny dark wolf that had found her. "Ha! S'not th' first time an it won't be th' last." She says with false bravado, limping a few steps away to shake some of the mud from her pelt. "Rain's not gonna do you any good either, let's find somewhere dry." She was only a visitor here, so didn't know the best places to escape the weather, so she held back for a moment, hoping her new companion would lead the way.

"speech"

to Araneae’s surprise - and respect, if they’re being honest - the girl gets to her feet with little fuss and all but shrugs their concern off, even smiling through the obvious pain. “does this happen a lot, then?” they ask blithely, without an ounce of tact. they stare unabashedly at the leaking wound in the girl’s ear, gaze repeatedly darting to the mushroom. and though their curiosity reeks of ill-manners, at the very least there is no pity in their face - only nosiness and a touch of concern. “oh, of course! i know just the place!” tail wagging eagerly, they set off through the forest, slowing occasionally to wait for the girl’s limping pace, should she need the time. provided the girl keeps up the whole way, Araneae skips along beside her until Bas and Hazel’s treehouse comes into view. “ta-da! i live here.” their chest puffs out with pride as they dart intermittent glances at the girl’s face, seeking her reaction.

"Speech"