When I'm alone.

[Arun Riverdance]

The sun always seemed to slow down as it got closer to setting. So sunsets lasted forever. To the otter, they were the quiet before the storm. During the day she was usually alright. She could do something to keep the dead at bay. But during the night there were no barriers. She was on her own. Darkness brought no relief, only a reminder.

Arun sat on the bed with her head buried in her paws. Her shoulders shook, but she was silent. Suddenly she looked up, her dry, bloodshot eyes staring out onto the grounds. She stood up, going to the window. Her movements were those of someone who knew they could do anything. But she stumbled as if blind. The otter took a deep breath of the warm night air and closed her eyes. But they flew open again, the darkness of her own mind wasn't safe either.

Arun's left paw clutched at the windowsill, the knuckles turning white. Her right paw was heavily bandaged and hung limply at her side. Arun looked at it angrily, the bandages wrapped around her ribs were annoying. But the beating wouldn't have made a difference to her. Except that her paw was as good as useless now. The sun had really set now and the deep shadows sharpened her features. Arun was really shaking now, and she turned sharply away from the window. She stood for a moment, then turned back to the wall and closed her eyes.

Arun cocked her right paw behind her head and took a deep breath, then she drove the broken bones into the wall. The young otters spine stiffened as agony raced up her arm, but she ignored the pain. Again and again she hit the wall, keeping silent as the broken knuckles hitting the wood scraped against each other. I've caused so much more pain then this. She screamed at herself over and over, punctuating the pouding she was giving the wall.

Suddently Arun fell to her knees. Her shoulders heaved and she threw up, pain and fear seeming to squeaze her stomach several times. Arun was really crying now, her tears running down the grove in her cheeck. The otter maid rolled away from her vomit and colapsed ontot he ground.

[Catriona Greenstick]

Catriona made her way towards the infirmary, having gone to the Kitchen to get some dinner for herself, and a bit extra for the young otter that was currently the only patient within it. As she drew closer, she heard pounding on the wall, along with screaming. She broke into a run, and arrived just in time to see Arun collapse on the ground. Setting the tray down swiftly, she hurried over to her side.

"Oh, Arun," She said, wondering what had happened to the girl. She hoisted the small otter up onto the bed, then turned to mop up the vomit. When she was through, she quickly washed off her hands and turned back to Arun.

She wondered what had happened to the otter that made her act in such a way. She took hold of her right paw, and started to unbandadge it. She needed to make sure the bones were set properly, or else her paw wouldn't heal properly.

[Arun Riverdance]

The young otter was close to passing out and didn't even try to shake the paws guiding her to one of the beds off. Arun lay on the bed, fighting to stay concious and not scream. Arun's paw was shooting icey needles of pain through her whole body, refusing to be ignorred or drowned out. Trying to force a coherent thought through her brain proved impossible, only fragments of images showed themselves. Bloody images, death, killing. She felt someone touch her paw and tensed.

The young otter automatically jumped to her feet, landing across the bed from the squirl. No longer thinking, lost in her own memories, she backed away, grabbing the knife from the tray Catriona had left on a table. Holding it out infront of her with her left paw, she was shaking so badly now that she was as likely to take her own eye out as anyone elses.

They walked closer to her, an army of bloody animals. All of them were supposed to be dead, but they weren't. Arun backed away, but the tide of those she'd killed followed her, all of them. A slow laugh echoed around the room, then a small fox cub steeped out and stood in front of her. "Times up, Arun." He turned and looked at her, and his eyes were blood red. She screamed.

[Catriona Greenstick]

Catriona watched, only half surprised, as Arun leapt up and away from her. What surprised her, and worried her, was that she also grabbed hold of a knife from the tray of food. "Arun," She said, her voice very quiet and gentle, "Put the knife down, Arun. I'm not here to hurt you, I don't want you hurting yourself, I only want to help..."

Her attempts to calm the girl down were interrupted by a scream from the otter. It only made Ona pity her more, want to help her even more desperately. She just didn't know what to do with her. This was a sickness of the mind, one she didn't know how to heal. The reasons for what brought it on were a great mystery to her. She could only hope that one day, Arun would start to talk, explain what happened to her, even just bit by bit.

[Arun Riverdance]

Arun backed up, her tail hitting the wall with a solid 'thunk' and she felt her heart jump. She was trapped, the hunter was the hunted. "No!" She said desperately, shouting the words at the hoard of bloody beasts in front of her. She waved her knife in front of her, but they stayed where they were. The little fox, his grin bloody, looked up at her.

"Oh, yes. Did you really think you could run from the dead Arun?" He said, voice silky soft. Blood started bubbling out of his mouth, but he didn't seem to notice.


Arun's breath was coming in gasps, and her powerful limbs were shaking violently. It almost looked like she was having a seizure. Suddently she whipped her head back, cracking her scull on the solid stone wall. She collapsed into a heap on the ground, eyes flickering as she passed out. She woke up again seconds later, not even bothering to sit up. The dead animals were gone, and she found herself staring at the squirl healer.

Arun's knife had fallen out of her hand, and she thought about going for it. But didn't. "The dead never go away. You can't fight the dead."