her fingers brush across the petals of a flower, white now stained red, as she slumps her way against a tree. just a few more hundred yards, she tells herself, but the bleeding from her wound is becoming more pronounced, her breath is getting heavy and her heart is thundering in her ears. she knows if she doesn't make it to kashal's abode, she will likely collapse and wither away in the forest, so she persists.
biting down on a branch of a tree, pieces of bark between her teeth, she winces as she ties the now stained crimson fabric tighter against her arm, watching droplets of blood fall from her fingers like rain.
𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗂𝗍. 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗍.
she says to herself, a mantra worth repeating, at this rate. and so she pushes herself from off the tree and begins trudging through the wood, careful not to jostle her most likely broken arm too much in her steps, and whilst on the lookout for any more men who dare bring harm, those that threaten the area.
part of her repayment to kashal for protecting her when she needed a friend, someone at her back when she first ran from the palace and stumbled into what forever will be known as reality, a situation of life and death she was not used to seeing, is keeping the woods safe from those poachers who want to use the animals for personal gain, rather than sustenance or something similar.
she spots his cottage from a half of a mile away, and it's like he can sense her coming, because she notices the door opening and out comes her friend, broad shouldered and willing to take up her burden.
"𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨."
she says, once he throws an uninjured arm over his shoulder and takes the brunt of her weight onto him, and there's a meek smile that follows her remark. she feels lighter, now, like she can walk for miles, but it's likely due to blood loss. they make it to his home and she passes out almost as soon as they make it across the threshold, into his arms just as dramatic as ever.
it's like she can feel @afuckedtale shaking his head in annoyance at her behavior, even from the realm of the unconscious.