not maybe, definitely

She returned to her daily life however different that was without her husband. He had been gone for far too long for her to remain as if she were in a daze. Venom didn’t feel like she had recovered, but her body had fallen back into old habits as much as she had formed new ones. Life went on and nothing stopped the unending march of time. She either had to get moving or get run over. It felt like whenever she woke in the morning it was the latter. Nothing felt right anymore.

Venom kept up with her habit of exploring the lands around Ashen. She still hadn’t seen everything her world had to offer. Her trips were short but they got her away from the dark memories that haunted Ashen’s borders. The Empress made her way towards the gully, keeping to the ridge the best that she could as she paced through the lush lands. Even in the fall season greenery remained thick.

Thick enough to obscure her path. Venom felt herself falling, her paw going to step and she not realizing there was no earth to take her weight. There was no backpedaling though she tried, and Venom went tumbling down the side of the bank with a startled whine. She pulled her limbs into her torso and tumbled hard down the sheer ravine and landed in a heap at the bottom. The air rushed from her lungs and as the world stopped spinning pain laced through her body. She landed on her hip, reminding her of a wound she thought was long healed.

Venom gasped for breath, unable to guess she wouldn’t even be able to get to her paws once she did inflate her lungs. Really, she was lucky to have consciousness, her head missed the jagged rocks by the stream by mere inches.


"Venom"