Wild Things

otem You'll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley You can tell the sun in his jealous sky when we walked in fields of gold Otem ran. She didn't care that she should stay with her family, that it was entirely irrational to flee from them given all that had happened, or the fact that she knew nothing and no one in this strange new world. All she knew was the endless anxiety in her chest, the way her lungs never quite seem to be able to take enough oxygen, or the pain she felt upon seeing the fleeting black image of a crow before her eyes. No, not a crow. A raven. Like her mother. With tears streaking from her eyes the girl dashed away from her haphazard family, not even sparing a look back for her twin. She hoped that he would follow, but she couldn't stand to hear her own voice telling him to do so, because she already knew how weak and lost it would sound. Otem hadn't really even noticed that Pandora had entered into the Rift with her until she unceremoniously flapped her wings and began to glide alongside her bonded, hooting forlornly.  Eventually the autumn-child came to a halt, realizing that she was standing in what appeared to be a jungle. It was so unlike anything she'd witnessed before that momentarily her anguish and anger was put on hold as her bi-coloured gaze flitted up and around the bizarre trees and the hushed breeze that billowed between them.

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