”And don't presume to know who needs who,” Arric’s voice rang in her ears. It took everything in her to keep herself composed. To not let on that she was spiraling again.

”I wont have you putting yourself in danger to fulfill a dream.” Her heart raced, her stomach churned; his criticism ran on a loop in her mind. It’d been a few days since she’d last worried about their conversation.

What made it all worse was the realization that his words had done more damage than the incident the preceded it. That seeing Moss’s dead body hadn’t phased her. She thought about this, too—when she wasn’t busying herself with her chores or her packmates.

Currently, she explored Duck Lake and what laid to the east. She traveled south, towards the meadow, but she figured the change in scenery would be good for her. The plant life here was sub-par, but she knew she’d been spoiled elsewhere. But, hopefully, she’d discover something interesting along the way.

Eventually—and unexpectedly—something caught her attention. Vartry’s voice lifted, inviting Eshe to meet him. She responded with a howl of her own: ”I’ll be there as soon as I can!”

She ran as fast as she could, stopping intermittently to fall into a trot and catch her breath, and after some time she spotted him on a hill. ”Vartry!” she hollered as she bolted towards him and raced past the butterflies. Once she was in range, she leapt to draw him into her arms—it was so  good to see him!