Jade Fern Grove Searching, searching

She intended to pass over (or through) the mountains and begin the journey home. It felt like she had been on the road for weeks, even if it had only been a handful of days. Wildfire felt a tug in her heart every time Floki's face floated across her mind's eye, which was quite often. She loved traveling but, she decided, she loved him more. She couldn't wait to go home and see him.

But she had been sidetracked slightly the previous evening and it turned out she couldn't resist the siren call of the lands further to the east despite the Floki-shaped hole in her heart. With the morning sun shining on her back, Wildfire made a detour between a marsh and a small lake, heading toward a pleasantly hilly plain. Then woods opened up on her left and her stomach growled nearly simultaneously. You just late last night! Wildfire chided her stomach, yet she decided to try her hand at hunting anyway.

Nearly as soon as Wildfire ducked into the thousand shades of green, her eyes clapped upon another wolf. She slowed to a stop, the stranger's appearance immediately making her think of her father. Of course, it wasn't Peregrine. For starters, he would never venture this far from the caldera, and for another thing, this wolf was female.

"Hello there," Wildfire called softly, suddenly noticing the bundle in the stranger's mouth. Would she even be able to respond?