Redhawk Caldera Trains and winter rains

She didn't want to relive it but the once, so as soon as Raven settled down to listen, Wildfire said, "You're welcome to tell the others about this. I just want—need to tell someone, in case..." In case the worst happens, she finished mentally, giving her sister a meaningful glance. If Raven had anything to do with it, Wildfire would be back to full health as soon as possible. But she was so sick right now, there was the very real possibility that she would finish wasting away and die. She needed to tell her story before that could happen.

"I was coming down south to visit the caldera. We—my escort, Arlo, and me—weren't very far from here when a wolf approached me asking for my help with his wounded friend. I went with him," Wildfire spoke, voice low and shaking a little as she asked her past self: why didn't you take Arlo with you? "My memories are fuzzy from there but, essentially, he knocked me out somehow and dragged me into a cave, where I was kept for—months, I think." She paused to draw in a shivering breath. "They poisoned me, forcing me to starve myself. They beat me; one of them broke my leg. I was there long enough that it's healed now," she mused in a voice as bleak and miserable as a wasteland. "I was tortured a lot at first, though less as time went on... and, in the end, the very wolf who trapped me simply let me go."

She let her words settle over the medic a moment before peering off into the distance and continuing in a curiously flat voice, "His name is Cicero." And she described him in vivid detail. "There's another reason I wanted to tell someone about this. There's at least one other prisoner there, a girl the same age as my k-kids." Wildfire paused, swallowed, drew in a steadying breath, then continued. "There are probably more. They kept us deep underground in a sort of maze of caves. I hadn't seen the sun or breathed fresh air since before they captured me."

And that was the gist of her tale. Wildfire didn't know whether or not she wanted revenge. She thought the wolves should pay, yet the idea of retribution made her feel so tired. If the Redhawks did decide to take action, Wildfire wouldn't be able to do much herself; it would be a long while yet before she was in any sort of fighting form. But they ought to know, so they could make that decision for themselves. Even if they didn't necessarily want to avenge their prodigal daughter, they should know what kind of neighbors they were keeping.

"Raven," Wildfire said in a slow, conclusive voice, "they're just east of here, in the woods just across the prairie." She had been half out of her mind, as well as dead on her feet, during her flight from its dank borders. Yet she remembered the place from all her wanderings as a youth and knew she could easily lead the Redhawks directly there if it came down to it.