If You Behave, She'll Stay Away
"Come on, Dark! Give him back!" The young pegasus colt cried out, flailing his hooves in the air as he attempted to grab his stuffed bear, which was currently held hostage by his older brother.
"What's the matter, Shorty? Can't reach your stupid bear?" The older pegasus mocked. The colt frowned as his brother shoved the teddy bear in his face, then raised it high once he saw the foal reach for it.
"This isn't funny, Dark, you know what mom always says-"
"Do I look like I care what mom says?" The older pegasus spoke with a tight voice, making the colt cower. A chuckle escaped the older pegasi's throat, seeing how vulnerable and helpless his little brother was.
"Dark Style!" A loud feminine voice shouted from behind the older pegasus, making him look back over his shoulder. An elder female pegasus stood in the door frame, glaring at her adolescent colt. "Give it back."
Dark Style snorted, but knew it was best to not argue with his mother. He looked back down at his younger brother and dropped the stuffed bear in front of him, mumbling something that sounded along the lines of 'Twerp'. He turned around, walking towards the door, his mother moving aside as he stepped through.
"Are you okay, Solar?" The elder pegasus spoke with a calming tone as she walked towards her young colt. He nodded in response before picking up the teddy bear, nuzzling into it comfortably.
Dark Style laid on his bed, atop the sheets as he stared at the ceiling of his room. He was still upset about the outcome after he had teased his younger brother. Dark Style didn't think he did anything wrong, he was just messing around and Solar Haze, as well as their mother had taken it too seriously.
"Dark?" A husky voice broke the adolescent pegasus from his thoughts as he looked over at the door. A tall, dark furred pegasus stallion stood in the door frame, his slate blue eyes were filled with concern as he looked at the latter.
"What do you want, Storm?" Dark Style spoke, slightly annoyed. Shadow Storm didn't reply, instead he walked over to his brother's bed, sitting on the floor beside him.
"I'm worried about you, Dark. It doesn't look like you're going down the right path."
"What do you mean, 'the right path'?"
"I'm talking about the way you treat, Solar Haze. I'm concerned about how your teasing and constant mocking will affect your guys relationship. I'm also worried that if it doesn't stop, this'll also affect your future, as well as the way you treat other ponies."
"You're starting to sound a lot like mom." Dark Style scoffed, not bothered to take his brother's word for it.
Shadow Storm's ears lowered after seeing how careless his younger brother was. His worry didn't cease as he thought more about how the pegasi's actions would affect his future. Then an idea struck the older pegasus, something that he knew for years but had accidentally forgotten.
"Say.. Have you ever heard of, Makeldama, Dark Style?" Shadow Storm asked, slight suspicion in his voice.
"No? Why are you asking me this?"
"Well.. you might meet her soon, if your attitude doesn't change."
Dark Style raised a brow, his face looked both annoyed and puzzled. He wanted his brother to leave him alone but he also wanted to know who, or what this 'Makeldama' is.
"Makeldama is a mysterious creature of unknown origin. Some say she used to be a regular mare, living a regular life. As of now though, she lives on as a horrifically disfigured monster, hunting and preying on disobedient teens. She'll give you various warnings to change your attitude before it's too late. However, if you ignore her warnings, she'll give you a visit, and use you as an example to other troublemaker teens, so they'll be aware of what she'll do if you disobey."
Dark Style remained silent as he stared at his brother. Although, by the time he processed everything, he slowly smirked and began to laugh.
"You- you really expect me to believe some monster will get me if I don't stop teasing, Solar?" Dark Style spoke between chuckles, finding all of this laughable.
"Just be careful of what you say. 'cause if you don't, you might regret it later in life." Shadow Storm answered. He stood up and left his brother's room, listening as Dark Style's fit of laughter began to fade as he got further from his room.
Dark Style jolted up as he gasped for air, a few coughs escaping him afterwards. His vision was a little fuzzy and the headache he got was not minor. Even through his slightly blurred eyesight, Dark Style looked around curiously.
He was no longer in his room, in fact, he had no idea where he was. The ground was a dull brown, almost grey looking colour with no grass, plants, or any sign of life on it. The sky was much lighter, but it was no longer blue, now it appeared almost white, as if it was surrounded by clouds or fog. The trees had no leaves or moss on them and were completely black and dead.
Dark Style's ears pinned back instinctively. Where was he? Why was he here and not at home? He was confused, and never admittedly fearful.
Suddenly, something ran by in front of him, making the pegasus jump. Dark Style didn't know what to do or think, all he knew was that thing was fast. He barely even caught a glimpse of it when it ran past.
Then, it happened again. Only this time, Dark Style felt the wind of the creature's speed brush past him. It was closer. Now afraid, the pegasus outstretched his wings and lowered his head to the ground. "W-Whoever's out there, show yourself!" He tried to sound tough, but it came out like a cry.
Nothing. No response. No movements. No insanely fast creature running by him. Just, nothing. Dark Style wanted to think he was safe, to believe that thing was gone. But the eerie silence was making him anxious.
Dark Style opened his mouth to take in a breath of air, but an ear-piercing shriek filled what once was silence. The pegasi screamed back from shock and fear, then without a second thought, he turned tail and ran.
He heard his heart begin to beat in his ear as nothing but fear overcame him. It was difficult galloping through this unknown terrain, especially when he couldn't focus properly.
A sudden impact made Dark Style let out a pained yelp, as he then collided into one of the dead trees. He swore he heard a small crunch as a few of his ribs slowly began to ache. He whimpered and shakily stood up, his body screamed at him as he did.
Dark Style looked over his shoulder, staring at the right side of his body to see how much damage the collision with the tree caused. A couple of large bruises roughly the size of a baseball were scattered here and there, but his wing looked fine.
Dark Style exhaled and turned his head to examine his left side. His eyes widened and his breath hitched, as he gazed at the three deep wounds on his torso. As soon as the Pegasus noticed the gashes, the sudden pain began to course through his body, making him scream through gritted teeth.
Tears pecked at the corners of Dark Style's eyes, this pain was unbearable. His once grey fur was now stained and drenched crimson with his own blood. He raised his foreleg and reached towards one of the deep gashes, flinching as he brushed the edge with his hoof experimentally.
A figure ran by the pegasus, making his head shoot up as his eyes darted around hastily. He took a step back, his heart beating in his ear rapidly. A sudden snap made him turn his head, looking behind himself just in time to see a tree creaking as it leaned to the side, beginning to fall.
He gasped and quickly moved out of the way as the tree hit the ground with a mighty thud, right where he was standing. Dark Style took in a few breaths, surprised by how he almost got squashed like a pancake. He went to turn around but bumped into something. It was as hard as a tree but something about it seemed.. off.
Dark Style slowly looked up, and gasped in shock and horror.
A pony, at least, he assumed it was a pony, stood there on its hind-limbs standing tall and mighty as a long tail full of quills on its end thumped against the ground. Its legs were taller than his height, so he assumed it would be taller even if it stood on all fours. It was unhealthily skinny, its ribs showing through its skin and 'fur'. It's forelegs twitched with anticipation, and Dark Style couldn't help but notice the long, sharp claws that replaced its hooves. What spooked Dark Style the most was its face.
It had large, completely black eyes as some type of black liquid spilled out from them, staining its 'fur'. Its snout was long and full of razor sharp teeth, a forked tongue brushed across them every now and then. On its head was a broken horn, which seemed to be snapped in half, as multiple cracks ran along it. Instead of a mane, it had multiple of those quills that were shown on its tail as they covered its head down to its shoulders.
Dark Style's breath caught in his throat. What was this thing?! He didn't know. He opened his mouth, then closed it, repeating this a few times before the latter lowered its head, narrowing its 'eyes' in a glare as it flared its 'wings'. At least, where wings should've been. It was nothing but the bone structure, as if the feathers and muscles were ripped clean off.
"You shall cease your horrid behaviour towards your younger kin." Its voice came out deep and raspy, making Dark Style's throat itchy.
"W-.. What?.." He asked nervously. The latter's eyes narrowed once more as it snorted, swiftly bringing up one of its hind-legs and kicking him to the ground. He went to get back up, but was quickly pinned by the hoof that kicked him down with ease. He noticed blood and gashes covering its flank, both of them. Had it clawed off its own cutie mark? He had no time to ask as it bent down, leaning its head forward, now coming face to face with him.
"You shall cease your atrocious actions towards your younger kin-" It bared its sharp teeth, showing off its fangs in a snarl. "-Or there WILL be dire consequences." Its hoof pressed harder down on his torso, making him let out a wheezing cough. He opened his mouth to object, but its head shot down immediately, and dug its teeth deep into his throat.
Dark Style's eyes widened in fear and agony and he opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Only a small, inaudible whimper of pain. He began coughing up blood as tears ran down the sides of his face. The latter loosened its jaws slightly before pulling its head back, ripping Dark Style's throat as it did so. He held a hoof up to his neck as the metallic liquid covered his hoof instantly.
He looked up at the latter, his eyes wide with pure fear and shock. The 'pony' glared down at him, licking its jaws which were covered in his blood.
"Don't take thy warning as a joke, child. This is your final warning before I come after thee." It growled lowly, then disappeared into thin air, as if it never existed.
Dark Style's vision became increasingly blurry with every second. His head fell to the ground with a 'thump' as black began clouding his eyesight. He knew he was dying, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He slowly closed his eyes and accepted his fate.
Dark Style awoke with a gasp, shooting up from his bed as his wings unfurled frantically. He flapped them slowly a few times as he panted, quickly taking in his surroundings. He was back home, back in his room, back in his bed. He sighed and fell back onto the pillow.
"It was just a dream.. nothing to worry about.." He told himself, closing his eyes as he tried going back to sleep, even though he was still on edge. It felt so.. real. The pain, the gashes, everything. He tried his best to ignore it, and assure himself it was only a dream, no matter how terrifyingly real the pain was.. but then something else kept him awake. A word, or was it a name? It kept flashing through his tired mind, and sometimes a low, nearly inaudible voice spoke it.
The name, 'Makeldama'.
You Chose The Wrong Path, Now Face Her Wrath
Dark Style walked through the town of Ponyville, keeping his head low with a glare plastered on his face. Ponies stopped and asked him if he was alright, but he only answered with a scoff and continued walking. He was busy with his own thoughts to pay any attention towards anypony else.
Who was 'Makeldama'? Was that the name of the beast in his dreams? Why was it tormenting him like this? Is it even real, or is he just paranoid?
So many questions were left unanswered. He remembered Shadow Storm's warning, but that wasn't real.. right? It was nothing but empty words, 'Makeldama' didn't exist. It was just a creature his mind made up after listening to his older brother's dumb story.
As he kept his eyes pinned to the ground with a glare, he didn't notice the figure in front of him. He ran right into them, making an 'oof' sound in response. He snorted and looked up, only to see his friend, Mystic Beat, looking back down at him.
"Whoa, are you alright?" The latter asked, slight concern in his tone. Dark Style sighed.
"I'm fine, just.. thinking." He answered, his eyes focusing on the ground once more. Mystic Beat lowered his ears, clearly worried for his friend. He opened his mouth to say something, but Dark Style spoke first. "You know what, go get Scarlet and meet me by Everfree forest. I need to talk."
Mystic Beat didn't even get to respond before Dark Style unfurled his wings and took off like a rocket.
The Earth Pony had an annoyed look on his face as he walked across Ponyville, looking for his and Dark Style's friend, Scarlet Spice, and judging by the time of day, she would be in her house making goodies like always.
Mystic Beat and Dark Style loved Scarlet's food, she put a lot of love into this hobby, she always added the right amount of spice, and always knew how much time each dish she made needed to be prepared, Mystic Beat was sure that she could even make a lemon taste heavenly.
Before he knew it, he reached the house of his unicorn friend. He gently knocked on the door, patiently waiting for a response. When nopony answered, he was thinking of leaving and explaining to Dark Style that Scarlet was either not home or was still in bed. He turned to leave and walk away, but then.
"Ugh! C-Come in!" Mystic Beat stopped, that was unmistakably Scarlet's voice, meaning she was home and awake. He carefully opened the door and walked inside, closing the door behind him. He stepped through the house, listening to his hoof steps clop against the wooden floor.
He reached the kitchen, looking inside, he raised a hoof to his mouth, chuckling at the scene in front of him.
There was Scarlet Spice, standing on her hind-legs in front of the oven, holding multiple ingredients with her magic, while also holding her little sister in her hooves. It didn't take long for her to notice Mystic Beat, making her set the ingredients down on the counter and putting her little sister down, she let her front weight fall, returning back to standing on all fours.
"Ah, Mystic Beat, how are you?" She asked calmly, as if she wasn't just holding back chaos. Mystic Beat smiled and walked into the kitchen.
"I'm good, Scarlet, It seems like you were busy though." He laughed a little, Scarlet Spice sighed, almost dramatically, turning back towards the oven.
"I'll say.. You try making double chocolate muffins while fighting back your sister, who isn't only trying to eat all the chocolate ingredients but thinks she can cook the muffins faster with her magic.." She turned her head towards her little sister, who smiled innocently, and then left the kitchen, giggling happily. He expected Scarlet to be mad at her, but was almost surprised to see the crimson unicorn smile affectionately before turning her head towards the ingredients, picking them up with magic and putting them away neatly.
"So, what do you need? Here to be a taste tester I didn't want?" She teased, Mystic Beat snorted, but then chuckled.
"No, Dark wanted me to get you, so we could all meet at.. the Everfree forest" He whispered the last bit, just in case Scarlet's little sister was secretly listening.
"Oh? What for?" Her voice was lower, he knew Scarlet didn't like the Everfree forest, sneaking there once as a filly and returning traumatised and covered in scratches. Mystic Beat shrugged his shoulders.
"He didn't say, but it seemed urgent." Scarlet Spice sighed, resting her head on the counter while going deep into thought, Mystic Beat stood there awkwardly, for a moment so quiet, everything seemed so loud. Then, Scarlet lifted her head, let out an annoyed sigh and turned her head towards Mystic Beat, her eyes narrowed.
"Fine. But only because you said it seemed urgent. If this is something dumb and unimportant I will beat you both with a wooden spoon and whisk." She spoke sternly, Mystic Beat thought about how hard that would hurt, he pushed that thought to the back of his mind and nodded, making the unicorn snort and give a singular nod in return.
"Good. Now let me finish my muffins first."
Dark Style paced back and forth in front of the Everfree forest, his mind running like a freight train. His mind only stopped when he heard hoof steps in the near distance, he stopped and looked over, seeing the shape of an Earth Pony and Unicorn walking towards him.
"Took you long enough." Dark Style spoke lowly, sounding a little more harsh than he intended. Scarlet Spice wrinkled her snout, and then smirked.
"Sorry, I wasn't sure how urgent this was to you, besides, I was in the middle of making muffins when you needed me." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, making Dark Style roll his eyes, but he decided to ignore it overall.
"I had a dream last night-.. well, a nightmare, actually.." Both Mystic Beat and Scarlet Spice looked at each other in confusion, then looked at Dark Style, waiting for him to continue.
"I woke up in this strange, unrecognisable forest, something ran by me a few times, then something shrieked, I couldn't even tell where it came from because I immediately ran away in fear.. long story short this thing began attacking me, it told me to start being nicer to my little brother, then it killed me.. that's when I woke up, but when I tried going back to sleep, the name 'Makeldama' kept coming up.. It was freaky."
Scarlet took a step forward, placing her hoof on Dark Style's shoulder as she looked at him like a mother looking at her foal.
"That sounds like quite the dream, but that's all it is, and all it ever will be, a dream.. I'm glad you talked to us, I'll be here if you need or want to talk more about this, I'll always be here for you." She spoke calmly, Dark Style smiled at her, then looked at Mystic Beat, who smiled at him and nodded, basically saying he would be there for him as well.
"Thanks guys.. I felt like I would've exploded if I didn't say anything about it." Dark Style smirked slightly, trying to lighten the mood even by a little. Scarlet and Mystic both chuckled faintly, able to tell that it was meant as a joke. He opened his mouth to speak, but went silent as he heard the sound of hoof steps. Quick hoof steps.
He slowly turned his head towards the Everfree forest, eyes wide with fear. Those sounded as quick as the ones in his dream, made but it couldn't be this.. 'Makeldama' could it? It doesn't exist. They don't exist. He's paranoid, that's it. As he turned to look at his friends, every thought that he had about being paranoid ceased to exist. Both Scarlet Spice and Mystic Beat were looking at the forests' direction, their expressions full of confusion.
"Did.. Did you both hear that too?" Dark Style felt dumb asking the question, the answer felt obvious as both his friends turned to look at him. Scarlet's expression calmed and she slowly nodded her head, meanwhile, Mystic looked back towards the forest, as if he would scare away whatever ran past with his gaze alone.
Dark Style took a cautious step away from the forest, a headache beginning to form in his mind, making him grunt in pain. This was the worst headache he's ever gotten. Scarlet took a step towards him, her expression full of unmistakable concern.
"Hey, are you alright?" She asked with a soft tone, her voice sounded motherly, and it comforted him, but his headache began pounding as if his brain was trying to escape his skull.
"Ugh, i don't know.. I have a really bad headache." Dark Style spoke, a low groan escaping him at the end. Scarlet put a hoof on his forehead, then took it away, it didn't feel like he was coming down with something, but it was quite warm.
"Mystic Beat, let's go, we're all going back to my house so Dark Style can have some water and lay down." Scarlet spoke with pure authority in her voice, which told the two adolescent stallions that she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.
Dark Style and Mystic Beat didn't argue with her, they all began walking away, Scarlet Spice remained by Dark's side, just in case he felt faint and needed somepony to rest on. But as they all walked away, something stopped all of them in their tracks.
"Somepony! Please help!" A voice shouted from the depths of the Everfree forest, all three adolescents turned their heads towards the dense woods, then they looked at each other. What was that? Was that really a voice? Were they lost? Were they hurt? "Please! Please.. help me!" The voice called out again, a type of sob escaping it at the end, the voice was unmistakably female and she sounded stressed and scared.
"We have to do something." Dark Style was the first to speak between the three, he didn't know what made him say that, it just came out, but he didn't regret saying it. Mystic Beat immediately nodded in agreement, but Scarlet Spice hesitated, it was clear that she really didn't want to go in there. She sighed, and then slowly nodded, her face becoming serious, no signs of hesitation as they all sprinted into the forest.
It seemed like forever since they entered the Everfree, and now, they were all lost, and none of them could hear the mare and her cries anymore.
"Dark, we've been walking forever, we don't know where we are, and we can't even hear that voice anymore.. what do we do?" Scarlet asked, pure distress in her voice as she kept looking in every direction possible, just in case something would pop out and attack them.
Dark Style didn't know how to respond. He didn't even know where they were. He stopped in his tracks, looking at the ground as he began thinking. 'How did we manage to get lost so easily? Why can we no longer hear that mare? Did she just give up?.. was she even real in the first place?.. No, she had to be real, we all heard her shout for help, it wasn't imaginary, those screams were too real to be fake.'
His thoughts were abruptly stopped by the sound of a horrifying, ear-bleeding shriek.
The three adolescents screamed and covered their ears. Dark Style looked back at his friends, Scarlet Spice was lying on the ground, whimpering as she covered her ears with her eyes shut. Mystic Beat was looking down at her, one of his eyes closed with his hooves over his ears, he slowly looked back at Dark Style, with a look on his face reading 'What do we do?'
As the shrieking stopped, Dark Style lowered his hooves and looked at his friends with determination.
"We have to go, now!" Scarlet opened her eyes and looked at him, a look of worry and fear on her face. "I know you're scared, but we have to go, we don't want that thing to get us." Dark Style attempted to speak calmly, but it sounded embarrassingly desperate. Scarlet Spice looked down at the ground, thinking about her words, then she looked back up at Dark Style, standing up as she nodded slowly. "Okay, follow me!" He shouted.
Dark Style chose a random direction and ran, going as fast as he could, he heard friends not far behind him. He kept running in random directions, hoping to lose that creature in the dense woods. Scarlet Spice kept checking behind her every now and then, she thought she could hear something following them, but every time she looked, she saw nothing. She looked back ahead, trying to focus on her speed, then she saw something, right ahead of her and her friends. Something large and fast.
"Wait!" She shouted, stopping abruptly and almost tripping. Dark Style and Mystic Beat stopped in their tracks, looking back at Scarlet as they began panting and gasping for air.
"Wha-.. What's wrong?" Mystic Beat asked through his panting, but before Scarlet could respond, a creature burst out from the forest, roaring at a blaring volume. Dark Style's eyes widened in fear. No, it can't be, the creature in his dreams isn't real!
Scarlet took a few steps back, cowering away from the massive being. It growled deeply, snarling at Mystic Beat and Dark Style, as if it didn't notice Scarlet at all. The bones on its back unfurled like wings as it opened its jaws, letting out a mighty roar before charging at Mystic Beat.
The earth pony tried moving out of the way, but the creature was too fast. Its head lowered and it head-butted Mystic Beat, making him crash into a nearby tree. A loud, sickening crunch could be heard as Mystic Beat fell to the ground, gasping in shock. The creature growled as it stalked towards him and leaned its head down, coming face-to-face with the earth pony. It hissed and opened its jaws, revealing rows of sharp, knife-like teeth. Mystic Beat whimpered, trying to crawl away, but it was too late.
The creature striked fast, digging its teeth deep into Mystic Beat's neck and throat. Mystic tried screaming, but all that came out was a low wheeze. He spat at blood and visible tears fell down the sides of his face. Scarlet wanted to scream, but she remained silent. Why couldn't she scream? She wanted to run, why couldn't she run? There was danger. This thing was dangerous.
Dark Style was breathing quickly and irregularly, he ran over to Scarlet, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.
"We gotta go! We don't wanna be next!" There was pure pain and worry in the pegasi's voice. He didn't want to leave Mystic Beat, he wanted to at least try to save him, but deep inside, he knew it was too late for him.
Scarlet looked between Dark Style, and the beast, who had let go of Mystic Beat's throat. Watching the earth ponies body thump to the ground lifelessly broke her. She began to cry, but she looked back at Dark Style and nodded as they both ran off in the opposite direction.
The creature roared furiously, and immediately ran after them, catching up quite easily. Scarlet Spice tried to focus the best she could. If she got distracted, even once, she would fall victim to that monster.
Dark Style panted as he ran, he unfurled his wings and flapped them a few times, but he was too scared to fly. The thought of flight didn't even cross his mind, his wings unfurled purely due to the adrenaline coursing through him.
Another loud roar echoed close behind the adolescent ponies. Dark Style whimpered in fear, why was this happening? What was this thing? Why did it want them dead? He was confused, but he didn't have the time to think about it.
The creature growled loudly, then pounced, digging its claws deep into Dark Styles back and pinning him onto the ground. The pegasus screamed in pain and began sobbing fearfully.
Scarlet gasped and stopped, sliding on the ground slightly before turning around and facing the beast. She looked all around her frantically, trying to find something that would keep the monster away and get it off her friend. She spotted a few small rocks and branches, they didn't seem like they would work, but she had to try.
Her horn glowed with magic, its aura surrounding the rocks and twigs, making them levitate off the ground. Scarlet huffed, then ran to the monsters side, trying to stay out of its line of sight before throwing the rocks and branches at it. The creature snorted annoyingly as the rocks and branches simply bounced off of its hide. Its tail swayed around quickly, hitting Scarlet and throwing her on the ground.
The creature reverted its focus back on Dark Style, staring down its long snout at him. Dark Style whined and sobbed with fear. He didn't wanna die, but everything seemed so hopeless.
"Please.. just leave me alone.." It seemed so dumb, but he felt the need to at least try and reason with the beast.
"... You're too late.. too late now.. thou should have heeded thy warning.. I tried giving thee a chance.. but it was disregarded.. thou shall face thy wrath of, Makeldama."
Dark Style gasped as Makeldama bit the back of his neck, biting down so hard that she felt her rows of teeth touch each other. She swiftly threw her head back, taking Dark Styles head with her. Blood splattered everywhere before she dropped the bloody, adolescent head.
Makeldama snorted, and growled before averting her gaze over to the unicorn, who was still laying on the ground after being hit by her tail. There were visible spikes sticking out from her side and flank. Makeldama's ears flattened as she stepped toward the latter cautiously.
"... Thou.. thou are good.. thy companions, were not.. thou is good-hearted." Makeldama spoke, her voice carrying a deep, and obvious rasp. She lowered her head, and stretched out her arm, carefully placing her talons over the unicorns back. The unicorn was surrounded by a black aura of magic, then vanished. If Makeldama did it right, Scarlet would be outside of the everfree forest, where a pony would find her and bring her to a hospital to heal.
She huffed, then turned around, walking over the deceased body of the adolescent pegasus. Her job was done..
For now.
She went back to her hidden den, falling back asleep. How many years would it take this time? 5? 10? 20, even? It didn't matter. If she sensed another disobedient adolescent, she would wake, and take care of it.
