Redhawk Caldera Trains and winter rains

Raven's voice calmed her, as did the familiarity of terms Wildfire hadn't heard since their childhood, when she had dabbled in naturalism and often helped Raven tend her garden. She still felt queasy and very, very weak, yet she managed a smile and a small dip of her smudged muzzle when the medic said she would be right back. "Okay."

She watched her sister go, then drew in several long, steadying breaths. Wildfire then allowed herself to slump over in the grass. Her chestnut eyes rolled toward the sky as she focused on her breathing. It was something she had begun to do near the end of her captivity in the cave. It helped stave off panic. It hadn't really relaxed her, not back then, but now it helped slow a heart she hadn't even been aware was racing.

A swarm of thoughts crowded in at the edges of her mind, yet Wildfire tried to keep them in the shadows for now. Right now, she just needed to focus on her physical well-being. She could sort out the tangle of her emotions later, when she didn't feel like she was still flirting with death.