She knew the dangers of coming to this place. It was no less dangerous than home, though, and so she wandered. With her head low and kelly-green eyes wide, she walked with the inate caution that had become her nature as a young child. She was still young now, more relatable to a teenager than a grown adult, and the tall grasses sweeping her legs reached high enough to tickle her belly.
With the listless manners of a wild being, a creature born in the woods and never venturing far from them, she grazed idly in the grasses. Her dark nose brushed over the tops of them, alert gaze always turned outward and watchful.
"Hello?"
She froze, her dark face jerking upright and ears pushed forward. Normally, she would've sensed him, or smelled him, or heard him. She hadn't this time and that worried her. For now, she set it aside, recognizing that it was a boy's voice and not an adult. Not dangerous? She could never be too certain. Everyone was dangerous.
Her steps were placed carefully, deliberate and quiet just as she knew to do. For all her life, she had been prey, and though the wings at her side were clutched tightly, it would only take a heartbeat for them to spread. She would be gone as swift as a startled robin. He was here, though, and perhaps he was too young to be alone. She wouldn't know such things.
Her curiosity might get her killed one day, and yet her feet still eased her stubbornly forward until her dark chocolate face peered around the thick body of a tree.
She said nothing, only a soft breath of surprise to find him alone.
Immediately, her eyes were darting to the shadows around them, searching for a hidden angry mother to chase her off as the bears did. They never seemed to smell her father bear or baby brother bear on her. Their scents have been gone from her too long. Their faces have been lost for so long, though she knew her brother was nearby. He had a new family now, and she didn't feel right to confuse him. He wouldn't remember her, being as young as he was. She settled with watching him from afar and hoping for her daddy's return.
When finally she was satisfied they were alone, she took a single hesitant step forward, bright eyes flitting from him and to their surroundings and back again repeatedly. Always watchful. It wasn't uncommon for her to remain entirely silent, yet this time as the shadows of the canopy crossed her roan middle, she gave him a quiet word of warning, her voice as soft as a whispered breeze through the forest.
"Dangerous."
It wasn't safe here. He should be in one of the lands not susceptible to the plague that strikes them, claims so many lives with its torturous death. She waited, watching earnestly for his recognition, to know that he understood he shouldn't be here. It wasn't safe. He could get sick and die too, like the others.
tell me what your heart wants, such a simple thing
my heart is like paper; yours is like a flame