Ankyra Sound the long way round

"I live here," she replied automatically, mouth still ajar as she regarded her cousin. Her chestnut eyes widened when he explained that he'd done the unthinkable: left the caldera. Wildfire didn't interrupt him as he rushed through a disjointed explanation. It took her a moment to piece together the details—Lagan and Liffey were the newest Blackthorns, if memory served, and the pups in question must be her very own brothers and sisters—but even as everything clicked in her head, she moved forward slowly and made a soothing noise close to his ear.

"You left the caldera?" she asked, even though the answer was pretty clear. It was just so unprecedented that she was having trouble wrapping her head around it. "Is everything okay there—aside from...?" She didn't mean to downplay his troubles. Wildfire just wanted to be sure that something terrible hadn't happened to prompt his departure. It didn't sound like it, though. It sounded like a bit of a personal crisis.

"Where are you going?" she pressed next, now eyeballing him critically. "Eljay, you need food and shelter. You need a pack." Although they hadn't seen one another in a long time, Wildfire cared for him dearly. And if his current appearance was anything to go by, he wouldn't last long if left to his own devices. Having suffered enough losses lately, Wildfire felt a bolt of dread shoot through her at the idea of her cousin joining the growing pile of bodies.