The Darkness Within

01 - The Storm and the Pup

Staring out over a cliff's edge, crisp wind ruffling the furs that made up her clothing, a girl stood surveying the valley below. The wind was cold as it brushed past her face and caused the hairs on her neck to stand on end, a sure indicator that winter was starting and would soon be in full swing. She didn't particularly care about the coming mountain cold. She'd long ago given up caring about much of anything.

The valley below was filled with the pine and fir trees of the mountains, a river dividing it in half. Soon it would be frozen over, but for now, it rushed through violently, sweeping away the clear mountain water. A few hawks could be seen flying in the sky above, looking for their next meal, not unlike how Ciara had been searching throughout the day for her own prey, only stopping to admire the view below. Not that she cared about the beauty of it, really; it was alive, it existed, she was here in it, and that was the extent of her thoughts on the matter.

She had cared too much in the past and been too hurt by it to bother attempting to care anymore.

Losing the minute interest she had for the view, she turned back to the forest behind her, the shadows and foliage of the underbrush masking her movements as she continued on her hunt. She had been tracking down a small herd of deer for the past few days, just as most of her days were spent. After the people of her town, the people who she had loved and cared for so fiercely, had hurt her, broken her, she had walked into the wilds and taught herself how to survive in the forest. She had starved, burned, and bruised herself throughout the experience, but now she was likely the fiercest predator in the forest.

The tracks of the deer told her that she was close, and would likely find them before sundown. Judging by the sun, it was likely around three in the afternoon. Enough time for her to track, kill, and butcher her next meal before having to settle down for the night.

With practiced ease, she walked through the forest on silent feet. Sometimes she could swear she felt the wind caressing her face like her mother used to, heard creeks and rivers calling to her long before she could see them, and felt the shadows of the forest covering her like a deadly cloak. Likely, she was going insane, and the idea wasn't entirely impossible. She was depressed, traumatized, and spent all her time alone and providing for herself. The people of her town certainly would agree with the idea, some already thought so, even. When, on a rare occasion, she returned to visit her mother– the only person she bothered to see anymore, and even then she barely talked to her– she would hear people's whispers of how insane they thought her to be, how the devil whispered in her ears and she listened, how she had lost her way after all she'd been through and was now just as bad as the person who had hurt her.

She wasn't entirely sure she could remember the last time she spoke to anyone and she certainly didn't have anyone to talk to out in the wilderness for weeks on end.

Spotting a berry bush, likely one of the last at this time of year, she set her self-made pack down and gathered them up, setting them aside for later. She had a handful of berries left from the last ones she saw, along with a number of nuts that she knew were edible, and the small package of salt her mother had given her the last time she went home. Meat that she had hunted or fished for made up the majority of her diet, sustaining her ravenous hunger that came with constantly being on the move.

After packing up the berries that were good, she continued to track the herd. It wasn't long until she spotted the first deer, her body tensing and slowing. She moved slowly, extra careful to be absolutely silent, despite the fact that her footfalls and breaths were already quiet.

The herd was a small group of eight deer who were calmly stripping branches of their remaining green leaves. Knowing that even one deer would have more meat than she could carry, she picked a doe on the smaller side. She didn't like waste, and despite knowing that scavengers or wolves would likely finish off the caraccas, she still was careful in her consideration.