Redhawk Caldera When the summer ends.

Wrapping for us!

Ceara's trailing remark brought a grim smile to Towhee's lips. She hoped she remembered that comment for later, when she could laugh about this situation; she had a feeling she would find it a lot more hilarious later. For now, she simply fell into a stony silence as Ceara departed to gather some herbs. She glanced at Tegan but did not make conversation.

When the fiery she-wolf eventually returned, Towhee maintained her silence throughout the application. She stood when cued, nodding at Tegan's remark. "Let's see how well I do on my own first," she said, finally breaking the long, pensive silence. Moving painstakingly slowly, she began to shuffle downhill, shifting her weight to stay balanced on her three good legs.

It wasn't long before she incidentally tried to put weight on her left hind limb, causing her to lose her balance and topple hard onto her left hip. "The good news is," Towhee observed in a very dry voice, "I didn't feel that at all. Or maybe that's the bad news." With a grunt, she climbed back onto all fours threes and tried again.

Eventually, she would have to seek her companions' support if they wanted to get back to the caldera before next spring. But Towhee had a feeling she would need to adapt to this new reality very rapidly, that there was no going back. Speaking of which, Towhee once more did not spare the caldera even a single parting glance as she walked away from it once and for all, even knowing that she would never again lay eyes on it.