Redhawk Caldera In Germany Before the War

How could something so familiar, so mundane, become so difficult? As Towhee attempted to make her usual rounds, she found it almost impossible to focus on the age-old task. She was supposed to be preparing to fight, yet she couldn't eat or sleep, much less concentrate. She swung between feeling horrible impotence and abject misery when she thought of the holes blown wide in the caldera's ranks, none more painful than Phox's. She missed him like a phantom limb.

More than once, she looked skyward, hoping for any sign of X. She hoped he was out there searching for Phox, as commanded. Maybe he would return soon with news of her brother's whereabouts. He couldn't communicate with her like a fellow wolf, but if he knew something about where Phox had gone, Towhee was sure he would figure out some way to tell her.

Her lips drew tight as she finally abandoned her distracted patrol and began climbing the caldera's slope. Pretty little sprinkles of snow dusted her coat, joining the heaps already on the ground. Towhee trudged through it mindlessly, though she paused and let out a long plume of silvery breath when she caught sight of Whip unearthing some frozen meat.