Phoenix Maplewood But I'm here to remind you what's lost is never gone

What force drove Saena to return? She wondered that as she approached the edge of the maple forest and drew up, hesitating. It was no longer home. It no longer felt like home. Yet the draw that the fragrant woods had on her whenever she so much as looked at it was inexorable, and she was helpless to fight it. It was surely how Warbone must feel whenever he beheld his former claim, thought Saena, as she plunged into the shadow of her former abode.

It was just as she had left it, and even more pristine without the memory of Grace tainting the experience. She strode slowly along game trails, towpaths, and wider swaths of wild forest, drinking in the scent of her former home. She knew she came for the last time. Even if Saena wanted to leave the mountains and visit her former home each and every day, dark thoughts lay in wait here. The maplewood was poisoned by the pain of her past. She could never return to it again, not without weakening her claim on the vale or further dredging up a past she was trying to leave behind, so she spent some time in it now, to say her final farewells.

She didn't go to the den she'd left behind as she had last time. Instead, Saena sought a narrow brook near the center of the woods. It held no significance to her personally, but was a landmark she'd passed many a time when she'd lived here. It would serve as a good place to be alone with her thoughts, without being too sentimental or emotional, until she was ready to bid the maplewood adieu for the last time.

She thought of her recent conversation with Freyja as she crossed the river and loped westward, teeth chattering from the chilly dampness of her fur. There was nothing particularly compelling about the maple forest, yet Wildfire headed there all the same. Leaves crunched underfoot as she weaved between the trees, their boughs nearly bare as November already waned toward December. She dropped her smudged snout to sniff along the carpet of detritus and found several promising scents. She sifted through them, trying to pinpoint the most favorable one even as her gut grumbled hungrily. She hadn't eaten a square meal in days.

Wildfire decided to pursue the trail of an old groundhog, which led her deeper into the woods. She heard running water long before the stream came into view. She paused, considering a drink, when a spot of white caught her eye. She blinked in surprise when she realized she wasn't looking at an early snowdrift but her own wayward half-sister. Even in repose, Saena looked somehow more aloof than Wildfire remembered. That made sense, all things considered, their location particularly. The Bandrona's still-damp fur prickled slightly.

Moving slowly along the bank, the yearling woofed lowly to announce her presence. They were actually on opposite sides of the winding brook, Wildfire rooted to a spot perhaps fifty feet upstream of Saena's position. She decided against coming any closer, just in case, even as she called, "I'd been wondering whatever happened to you..." Although she didn't say it, the tilt of her head seemed to add, What brings you back here, of all things?

Saena's ears pricked up at the distinctive gurgle of nearby water, and as she rounded a final bend, she spotted the brook. It was unassuming, with wide muddy banks, shallow fords and deceptive deep spots. Saena had been across this brook hundreds if not thousands of times, but she looked at it as if it was her very first time seeing it. Sentimentality welled up in her, along with the prickle of tears at the corners of her eyes, and she shook her head in a futile effort to squash it down. She couldn't afford that right now. She had things to do that were far more important than sobbing over what was lost.

She turned in an effort to find composure in looking away, but instead, she found a ginger-furred wolf approaching. Her moist zeroed in on Wildfire at nearly the same instant the yearling whoofed to her, and Saena's similarly coloured ears twisted forward with interest. Saena might have forgotten a great many things, but she knew who Wildfire was. She hadn't seen the girl in... god, months? It'd been a long time, long enough that she couldn't remember whether their last meeting had been a good one or a bad one. The two had their ups and downs, usually due to Saena's flair for the dramatic.

"Hey," she called out, "long time no see." What hadn't happened to Saena? She thought it was a rather long talk to have, and so instead she picked her way along the shore, hoping to close the distance so they could talk without speaking over the babbling brook.

She truly wasn't sure what kind of reaction to expect, though there was no animosity in Saena's voice when she responded. Encouraged by this, Wildfire moved closer, offering her half-sister a tentative smile and wave of her black tail. She looked older and slimmer than that last time they'd crossed paths, which made sense considering she (Saena) had been with child at the time. Wildfire briefly wondered about those pups. She wanted to ask about them, find out where Saena had gone and how she was doing, though there was actually a more pressing matter that kept her still slightly damp fur slightly ruffled.

"You look well," the Bandrona said, not wanting to appear overly defensive right off the bat. Her slight smile genuinely grew a few watts. "But I have to ask: what brings you here?" There was something in Wildfire's tone that clearly relayed the message, I don't think it's a very good idea. She didn't say that outright, though there was a slight tightening of her chestnut eyes as she regarded the other she-wolf across the waterway.

Saena left only a slight distance, plus the brook, between them when she finally stopped moving. She'd never had to fear anything from Wildfire, and her half-sister need fear nothing from her, so remaining cautious seemed silly to her. Her defenses were dropped readily. "So do you," she rejoined, pleased to know that her half-sister was at least surviving, and probably prospering. Unlike Wildfire, Saena didn't stop to wonder what the red-haired wolf was doing in the area. She'd known Wildfire was a scout, so it simply made sense that she continued to wander about.

For that reason, Wildfire's question hit Saena the wrong way. She quirked a brow as she drew her head back slightly and answered, "this was my home for a long time. Why wouldn't I visit it?" But almost as if to cut any possible conversation short, a sudden gust of wind rustled through the woods, passed by Wildfire and then swept by Saena, and with it came a distinct and fearsome odour that she hadn't smelled in a long while: smoke.

Almost like a cliche flashback in a movie, Saena's brain skipped a few beats, during which the fog over some of her memory parted. She suddenly remembered a dark-furred wolf on the bank of a much wider river, and threats exchanged, with that smell in the background. Fast forward a few seconds and she recalled Esaro, a wolf she hoped to never see again, and remembered the acrid smell of smoke on him along with his wounds, and the promise that war was coming. The last thing she recalled was moving her pack out, and the fear that came with it... and she remembered with a start that it wasn't Reek who had chased the Phoenix pack away, but wolves who smelled of smoke and ash and stone, and her eyes narrowed to slits when she realized that Wildfire veritably reeked of it.

"You," breathed Saena, taking a step backc as though she feared Wildfire would call flames down on her head. But it wasn't really fear. In some part it was, but mostly, it was hatred and betrayal for the pack that had forced her from her home, and by extension Wildfire, lest her children be killed. She seethed, bristling and drawing to her fullest height. "YOU took my home from me?!"

Saena countered with cool logic. Wildfire's lips parted as she struggled to come up with a response to that. She understood the sentimental value this place must bear for her half-sister but there was a very good reason why she and her wolves no longer lived here. The Bandrona knew the commander wouldn't appreciate Saena's presence back in this woodland, even if she was just here for a visit. Wildfire didn't want Saena hurt any more than she wanted Thuringwethil upset. All she wanted to do was avoid conflict.

Before she could gather the words to explain this, Saena's entire tone and demeanor rapidly shifted. There was an accusation in her voice and hatred in her eyes. Unaware of the other female's faulty memory, Wildfire could only blink in bewilderment. In a way, she supposed Saena wasn't wrong. Wildfire had been part of Sleeping Dragon at the time, just barely. But Drageda hadn't taken anything, per se, and the Bandrona herself wasn't guilty of any wrongdoing.

"I came with them to talk about a peaceful solution," the yearling defended hastily, "that morning. But you and your wolves were already gone. I was grateful to avoid a war, though I worried about you and your pups, Saena," she said, a little hurt now that Saena's accusation had sunk in to her psyche. "And I'm worried about you being here now. You're possibly putting yourself in danger and starting a conflict with Drageda all over again. I don't really even know the details about what happened—I joined right as they were planning to attack—but just like back then, I don't want a fight."

"Arrogant," snapped Saena as she lurched into motion, splashing across the brook with the intent to put Wildfire in her place, like one of her own subordinates. Her ears pressed up on her head and she bore down on the other wolf with all the mean intent she could muster. "You—they—don't own this place. It's miles from that stinking mountain. You don't get to tell me whether I can be here or not. I've more right than you." Maybe she'd have left it at that, but Wildfire's reasonable attempts at conveying her concern came to Saena like physical threats, and soon enough she was consumed by sickening fury enough to match the day she'd suddenly remembered. So-called Drageda was easily twenty miles from the maple wood, so what she perceived as a threat in Wildfire's concern was so stupidly unnecessary to her that it put Saena into such a blind rage, she went for Wildfire without even thinking about it.

It took only three seconds for her to lunge and connect with the younger wolf's shoulder, and then both went tumbling to the ground when Wildfire whipped her head around to retaliate in defense. Saena broke away with a stinging slash across her cheek, and roared, "let them come, then! Let them feel my teeth." Saena did not have vulnerable young to worry about this time. If the wolf from the river wanted to come find her, crossing a hundred miles to seek her in her new home, Saena welcomed her with open arms. She would feel the ferocity of the Redleaf bitch, and all of Duskvale, at long last.

With that thought, she lunged again, and tore into her half-sibling with a ferocity born of rage and fear both. The smell of smoke on Wildfire sent her natural anxiety skyrocketing, and soon she was attacking ruthlessly. It was the black wolf at the river who threatened Phoenix Maplewood, and it was Esaro who was too stupid to follow orders who precipitated the war, but it was unfortunate Wildfire who took the brunt of Saena's anger from all those months ago. Being an adept hunter, Wildfire fought back, and fought back well, but when it was over, it was the more experienced Saena who was still standing, albeit shakily. She breathed raggedly, and she hurt all over, but she kept her feet for now. She bled from nearly a dozen places, the worst being a wide, deep gash near her belly that freely dripped blood down her side, and it would take months for her to fully heal from it, but by some miracle—adrenaline, maybe, or sheer stubbornness—she did not fall.

Saena didn't take time to examine the damage she'd done to Wildfire, though, for she needed to be away from here before her strength did give out. She spat blood from a bitten tongue into the brook, lifted a leg to urinate alongside Wildfire as if to leave a signature, (cut short by a dizzy spell that made her stumble), then turned and limped slowly away, leaving her half-sibling behind to serve as a warning.

Have permission to powerplay hits.

In hindsight, she should have anticipated such a severe reaction, considering the 180° change in Saena's demeanor. But she was too busy trying to play the diplomat, attempting to warn her half-sister without escalating it into a fight, to recognize the red flag. So when the first hit came, the Bandrona went down like a sack of potatoes. She did fight back—angrily, even—but she hadn't trained as a warrior in over a year. Her small size and lack of experience kept her on the ground, the unwitting victim of Saena's pure, unbridled fury.

At some point, the assault ended and the battered Wildfire was left groaning beside the water. For a long time, she just lay there, trying to catch her breath and will away the worst edge of the pain. Eventually, she managed to push herself upright and painstakingly assess the damage. Blood flowed freely from what looked and felt like a hundred different contusions—both teeth and claw marks—all over her body. There were no broken bones as far as she could tell and only one particularly worrisome wound on her left thigh where it appeared Saena had torn off an entire mouthful of flesh and fur. At least, that's what she could tell with only one eye, as the right was swollen shut.

Wildfire felt incredibly weak and shaky but she somehow managed to drag herself into the water. She hissed at its icy touch on her dozens of cuts and scrapes, though the water's low temperature quickly numbed her. She watched threads of red turn pink and wash away downstream, then managed to clamber back onto the shore and begin dragging her sorry carcass back in the direction of Drageda.