A dark shape hovered over her, dark, but light, and Cricket wasn't sure if the lights that twinkled in and out were genuine or some sort of stress response to the deep burn on her leg and the throbbing in her skull... and why was everything... wet? The scent of coppery blood filled the air and she struggled to hold onto consciousness, gritting her teeth as the earth beneath her seemed to heave and sway. She could feel bile burning at the back of her throat, why did she wander so far away from the Dancefloor? Was she going to die here? It certainly felt like it, no matter how the cloaked stranger tried to lull her off to sleep.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

It's time to raise the curtain

Cricket had been gone a little too long for his liking. As the sky waned from blue to black, he paced. Mac tried to console him, but he couldn't be calmed. Something was wrong. So, so wrong. She was too small. What if someone had attacked her? Worry creased his expression as he continued to pace. Back and forth through the shared den until he began to dig a rut where he walked. It felt like hours passed into the night until he couldn't handle it any longer. Promising Mac he would be back soon, he went to borrow a satchel of supplies from Widow before taking off out of the lands. Thankful that there was a faint scent trail to follow, Ghoul moved as fast as his sore legs would take him. Eating up grass and mud, he ran through the hills until the grove of willows loomed ahead of him. Suddenly, her scent was stronger here than it had been moments before. Exerting his last bit of energy, he doesn't slow until he is pushing through the hanging branches. It is the strong tinge of copper that has him worried. Then the sight of her, laying on the ground bloodied and injured, has him doubly worried. "Cricket!" His voice is hoarse as he moves to lay beside her. "Cricket, please, wake up," Ghoul ushers her to come back as he digs through the satchel to find something, anything, that will save her.

Clearly the lulling had worked at some point because the next voice to wake her was familiar. She shivered and scrunched her eyes, fighting back the wooze that wanted to pull her under again. Her head stung and throbbed all at once and she wasn't even sure her left leg was still there. Only the painful pull of burnt skin and the lingering smell of singed fur reminded her there was an injury there at all. Small blessings, she supposed.

Taking a deep inhale, she opened her eyes and attempted a lopsided smile for Ghoul, though the pain clearly showed in her clenched teeth. "Yeh, yeah, I'm awake..." Her head rolled as she tried to push herself up onto her elbows, the rolling of the ground beneath her bringing bile to the back of her throat. "I've prolly had worse..." Clearly, she hadn't, but she didn't need the big lug panicking on her behalf. A heavy headed scan of the surroundings revealed no sign of the fireflies, or the big black wolfdog.

"speech"