[sup][h1][center][url=https://open.spotify.com/track/4aKKNhuJJ8HYfnFoUcTFzj?si=c7495f5793a048dc][img]https://timelinecovers.pro/facebook-cover/download/dark-forest-facebook-cover.jpg[/img][/url][/center][/h1][/sup]
[indent][sub][COLOR=SILVER][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Debolt - Alberta, Canada[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=SILVER][b]Human #5.091[/b][/COLOR] [I]Fowling[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][color=SILVER][B]Interaction(s): [/B][/COLOR] [I]Haven, [@Skai] || Rory[/I][/sub][/indent]

[indent][color=gray]The cabin was a fine home for two young lovers, but it made for a poor fortress. Haven and Rory defended their erstwhile homestead with level heads and good intentions, but against monsters, more must be brought to bear. Rory still in recovery; Haven still regrowing. It was simply not enough.

This is not to underplay either's effort; make no mistake, neither gave any quarter, fighting with their all to the last. Dahsáni was the first to feel their fury. Haven's muscles, lithe and coiled, brought the cane down upon him in ferocious swings, her agility winding her away from the quills so eager to find flesh and render her aslumber. The hard wood of the rod held firm for at least a half-dozen blows, but it was not meant as a weapon, and as it channeled Haven's heart-born wrath, it began to splinter and crack, splitting along its length before shattering entirely. Dahsáni was stunned and bruised but far from incapacitated, and now stood tall to advance upon his quarry; those barbed hands reached out beneath a wicked, leering smile, the pointless folly of her protest becoming laughable against the sheer inevitability of her capture. It had been so easy. Daedalus would be so plea-

Dahsáni did not register the full-soul war-cry from behind him until he saw the pointed end of the iron fire poker, so hastily exchanged, protruding from his chest, the tine of the tool slick and red in the rising moonlight. He brought his hands back to clutch it, as if in disbelief it was there at all; and then he was falling. Rory had used his strength remaining to launch himself bodily from his chair and leapt upon Haven's foe, using his momentum and weight to drive the poker in and spear him upon its length. He had aimed well, run through Dahsáni's heart; the last thing the hystricidaen man felt was the cabin floor beneath him and the cold iron within him. Blood sputtered from his mouth as he breathed his last.

A bloodcurdling scream erupted from behind the couple as Rory lifted himself carefully, pushing himself to his still-unsteady feet while concentrating. At first, it looked like he had goosebumps, but soon enough browned nibs pushed their way through his pores, continuing to grow. Stood to full height, his newly-quilled body bristled. The mere act was exhausting, but their circumstances were dire beyond exhaustion. There was simply no room for fatigue. 
[color=#ffc725]"You- you [i]HORRID[/i] little wretch!"[/color] Came the outraged screech from Arachne, rising on her myriad limbs and baring fangs. Whatever there was of Mei when Daedalus had begun his terrible work had been truly snuffed out; there was only the beast left, a twisted reflection of the once-was girl. [color=#ffc725]"You and your pathetic little [i]tryst![/i] All you do is [i]ruin. [b]Everything![/b][/i]"[/color]

Rory barely had time to turn and whisper:
[color=04CF3A]"[b]Run[/b], Dove. I love you."[/color]
And then she was charging him, fangs and claws and quills trading blows. Kek sought an angle around the brawl to pursue Haven, their true target, but she was already turning tail, twisting on her heels and pushing herself into a full sprint; a few strong strides and she dived through the window, avoiding the locked and barricaded front door entirely. She brought her arms up to shield her head as glass shattered around her, and then tumbled into a clumsy roll as she hit the grass; she sprung up in an instant and her feet pounded the dirt, the truck in her sights; keys ratted in her pocket as she scrambled to retrieve them. The door was just there, an arm's length at most, and then she could get to town, seek help, maybe even rally others to her side-

Her world was a blur of sound and a feeling of rushing wind; bats swarmed her, their screeching like nails in her ears, tiny claws and needled fangs scratching and biting across her exposed skin. They pushed through and over her and realigned atop the very truck she sought as sanctuary; Camazotz stood in his terrible visage, looking almost bored for the trouble.
[color=white]"There's no need for all of thisss. Come quietly. Make it easssier for yourselves."[/color]
[color=D2B48C]"[i]You[/i] make it easier. Why are you [i]doing[/i] this?! Just tell Daedalus to leave us alone!"[/color]
[color=white]"Father does vell by usss. Ve vill not disappoint him, after all he has done for us. And no longer vill [i]you.[/i]"[/color]
[color=D2B48C]"Fuck you. Kill yourself."[/color] Haven spat, and then she turned and fled again, heaving the truck's keys at Camazotz' head as she went to distract him momentarily. 

The woods thickened quickly once you passed the treeline's threshold, nature un-stymied rooting itself firmly and spreading far and wide in dense brush and fern and serried trees. The ground gave way to incline and Haven's legs burnt as she pushed herself past roughly past trunks and through flourishing bracken, her only thoughts that of putting distance between herself and her hunters, and of Rory; but even those were left half-finished, the myriad potential conclusions of the melee she'd left behind unthinkable. The one she desired most was so improbable she daren't let herself consider any other. 

There was crashing and screeching behind her, and she did not need to look back to know the bat-creature was in fast pursuit. Up ahead, the moon shined in its full strength now, risen and hanging in the sky as the horrors pushed through the evening and into the night proper; somewhere below, down the hill trail, the dull electric lights of the town winked out as the people finished their days, entirely unaware of what had befallen the new couple who'd moved into Miller's cabin. Perhaps they'd be remembered. Perhaps not. 

The trees thinned out as the incline began to plateau, and Haven realised she was cresting what formed the main ridgeline across this side of the ravine. Some scores of feet below, the river gushed softly through the terrain, but atop this precipice she had limited options. Diving back into the thicket would just run her into her pursuer; descending the valley was of dubious safety in the daylight, and out of the question under night's shroud. Her only real path was to navigate along the spine itself, though she'd be slowed having to watch her footing, and she no longer had a destination to reach - she was simply running mindlessly. 

A thought - a terrible, irresponsible, foolish thought - crossed her mind. 
[color=white]"Stop this game, child."[/color] Camazotz hissed, rapidly approaching from the forest. [color=white]"You vill only hurt yourssself. And Father vould hate his favourite toy be returned broken."[/color]
[color=D2B48C]"Ah, fuck it,"[/color] she whispered to herself, tearing off her hoodie and throwing herself over the edge into the open-air abyss.

The wind whipping past her ears and eyes felt blissfully familiar, but this was a far sharper descent that Haven was used to; fledgling wings flexed and spread as far as they could but they were still young and ill-prepared for true flight. Instead, Haven caught the night air amidst her ruffling feathers and tried to level herself out. Her fall slowed, but didn't stop, and she settled into a fast glide, not entirely controlled but still an escape into the valley below and one that wouldn't do too much damage on impact - providing she got that far.

She wouldn't.

There was a short laugh from the ridge she'd left behind and then the night sky was filled with the sounds of leather as Camazotz lifted off effortlessly from the edge of the ravine and pursued her through the air. He caught up to her easily, strong wings pushing him through the air with haste Haven wasn't capable of; in a last-ditch effort, she folded her wings up completely, holding them tight to her back and allowing herself to plummet into the trees below, arms outstretched to seize upon a branch or trunk to catch her fall. Even this was forbidden by her hunter - Camazotz simply dove after her, taking her arms in his flipping her over, using the momentum of her fall to turn and toss her back skyward, laughing as he went.
[color=white]"Your tenacity isss to be commended, child!"[/color] He taunted, his face and voice filled with loathsome amusement at Haven's struggle. [color=white]"But enough playing. Ve grow tired of your anticsss."[/color]
He seized her once more, holding fast as they twisted mid-air and returned to the ridge. Kek was waiting, tongue lolling from his mouth and venom dripping from the slick muscle onto the forest floor. Camazotz released Haven above his comrade, dropping her roughly in the dirt before him.

[color=white]"Father,"[/color] Kek growled as he advanced, his repulsive tongue sliding across her face and shoulders, [color=white]"she's finally coming home."[/color]

[center][b]- - -[/b][/center]

The ground was cold and the air was still and everything smelled like stone and stale earth and Haven couldn't see. Even feeling her blurred vision and woozy head, the darkness was so full and impenetrable that it felt suffocating; she could feel the shadows coiling around her limbs and joints so vividly that when she moved her arm it shot forwards rapidly and surprised her. Her muscles were tense and laboring against restraints that simply were not there. Carefully, slowly, she sat up, then pulled herself to her knees and eventually her feet proper. Not once did the darkness shift or swell; not once did she hear anything other than the stiff and scraping noise of her own aching movements. She shuffled a few steps forward, arms stretched out into the dark, never lifting her feet from the ground but instead sliding them forward inch by inch, feeling for a drop or a step, half-expecting at any moment to be sent plummeting into a never-ending abyss. Instead, her fingers brushed something - cool metal, quickly found to be cylindrical as she wrapped her hand around it and the felt out with the other. An identical bar was only a few centimetres apart, and she gently ran her palm across a long series of repeated poles. 

Caged. She was caged.

The sudden spotlights blinded her at first, blasting her face with powerful light that dazed and disoriented; she threw her hands across her brow and as her vision adjusted, she blinked away white spots in her gaze and saw she was ensnared. Thick and heavy iron bars boxed her in. There was a stained cot against the wall and a hole in the floor in the far corner; beyond that, the cell was bare but for bloodstains and fingernail-carved pleas. 

There was more silence; long, stretching moments of it where all Haven could hear were her own heartbeats rushing in her ears; and then a short and subtle intake of breath that seemed to suck all air and atmosphere from the room and leave naught but a vacuum of tension in its wake.

And then, ever-so-softly:
[color=white]"Haaaaaaa-veeeeeeen...welcome home, Haven...welcome to where we keep misbehaving children, Haven..."[/color]

Around her, more spotlights shone on more cells. 
[color=white]"Welcome...to your first proper day...of [i]discipline.[/i]"[/color]
[/color][/indent]