[PRP] The Insomnia Cure [ Sleepless / Bitter End ]

[Jun D]

Most mornings were rather nice in Sleepless' solitary bower, that little stretch of misty marsh where she hid alone to study all she could of the Motherfather's bountiful treasures, but this morning was particularly nice. Her carefully dissected (no mean feat for an ungulate, but a sharpened shell carefully held between teeth could do wonders if you knew where to cut) and preserved specimen seemed to bid her good morn as she checked upon their condition in turn, and her sprawling herb (well, mostly herbs...) garden was lush and spilling, almost eager to be plucked.

Ah, yes, it was a glorious morning indeed, nice and quiet, not the cry of a Kin about for miles. The sort of morning that heralded a day filled with much progress in her never-ending research.

The sort of morning that Sleepless verily lived for.

Wonderful.  

[Maxx D]

"HEY," a harsh, ringing voice rang out of the marsh, followed by the meaningful stomping through the cushion of green. Bitter Gaze had arrived, head high and breathing heavily, clearly unhappy to be here again. She shook off a muddy hoof, tossing her hair.

"HE DID NOT DIE." She declared with purpose, lowering her head to her eye-level to stare straight into Sleepless' soul.  

[Jun D]

”Oh, cripes,” she muttered, skittering back from her garden. Abort, abort, this was all wrong, it was not a nice morning, it was the worst morning. The doe was back.

”He’ll die someday,” she shouted across the marsh, trying very hard to get into her tree-cave bower before the doe caught up.  

[Maxx D]

"SOMEDAY," her pace quickened, sleek locks pulled back by the wind of her hooves, "IS NOT FAST ENOUGH!" As she galloped across the beauty of her lush garden, trampling the unfortunate ground-plants underfoot, Bitter End bellowed, "I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG. VENGEANCE DOES NOT WAIT THAT LONG. I WANT HIM TO DIE NOW."  

[Jun D]

Something inside Sleepless died in a silent scream as she watched her poor garden trampled underfoot. The water-mint! The bog sage! With a rumble in her stomach that felt suspiciously like rage, she abandoned her escape plan and strode forward to meet the plant-murderer: “Well, then you’ll just have to kill him yourself!”  

[Maxx D]

"HA!" She screamed, sharply pressed up to her now, ready to go. "HA! Ha. Ha ha." She reduced her rage to, decisively. "Very funny." Bitter End now shook the remains of her garden off her hooves, sullenly scraping the lingering leaves off another foot. "Look, I came to you to finish this. I need you to do better than that."  

[Jun D]

For the first time in her life, Sleepless exploded, albeit not very effectually.

”WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT?!!?”  

[Maxx D]

Bitter End looked at her like she was an idiot, with the most self-righteous-customer look. "Well, you said so, didn't you?" She reminded, hissing quietly to her, as if it was a secret, and still as if she was an idiot. "That the one-of-a-kind, Swamp Witch root," she said, thoroughly unironically, "would make your hex stronger?"  

[Jun D]

”What?” Sleepless said, with a sudden, hollow blankness, tinged with the impending doom of a person whose lies were coming home to roost.  

[Maxx D]

"So the solution is simple." She nodded, with determination in her stare. "You just have to get that root, and make a stronger hex. So he dies, not someday," she corrected before she could get to it, "but now."  

[Jun D]

The space in her stomach that had been so briefly occupied by rage was quickly filling up with a dread, cold fear, seasoned with copious regret.

”I - I can’t do that, it doesn’t -” she tried, gulping.  

[Maxx D]

The conviction turned to incredulity - a poisonous incredulity, and her eyes narrowed with dangerous intent. "Are you telling me..." voice low, words extended with deliberation. "That you are a FRAUD?" The last word rose to a shocking crescendo in a matter of seconds, just as she reared back in disgust.  

[Jun D]

Sleepless opened her mouth - but she wasn’t sure whether to protest or confirm. All she knew was that she had talked herself into a very bad situation and this was just one of many, many reasons why she didn’t talk to people. This was bad.  

[Maxx D]

She turned dramatically, looking over her shoulder with a hiss, and a snarl, and every other sound that was applicable for a bitter, vindictive doe like her, standing tall with hooves ready to strike. "You're a FAKE WITCH?" It was a loud whisper, and the rest of her speech was spat out just in the same manner, with dangerous eyes. "This whole thing is FAKE? You tricked me? Hoodwinked me? BAMBOOZLED ME? So now he's not the only one I've got to kill?!" Her mouth opened in an ugly scream, and she promised - "MISSY I TELL YOU, IT'S A LOT EASIER FOR ME TO KILL YOU -"  

[Jun D]

Sleepless, knees knocking as she cowered, staring up, pale, at the rearing doe of vengeance and blood (foam) river hair, reacted the way most people would react when confronted with death by a known murderer:

”THE SWAMP WITCH ROOT DOESN’T - LET ITSELF BE FOUND EASILY,” yes, by talking her way into further inevitable trouble, ”there’s...only one. It’s...very powerful - nobody knows where it is!”