Redhawk Caldera Rosebud

Not only was he interested, he called her a doll. Wildfire felt that fluttering sensation all over her body now. Trying not to grin like an idiot, she faced forward and began loping in the direction of the rendezvous site, as ever unaware that the newcomer wasn't welcome there. She found herself hoping that Raven wasn't around when they got there. She felt less and less like sharing Ashton with her sister in any capacity. She recognized the selfishness of her own thoughts but it wouldn't change her mind.

Fortunately, nobody appeared to be at the rendezvous site when they arrived. "It's this way," she said a bit breathlessly, leading Ashton right across the clearing to the badger den on the far side. "This is the rendezvous site," she informed him absently as they made their way there, glancing over her shoulder to smile shyly at him. Maybe one day, if he proved himself, Ashton could sleep here, beside her...

That thought was as alluring as it was strangely uncomfortable. Wildfire banished it to the back of her mind as they reached the badger den. "This is it. I keep my collection in there," she told him, motioning toward the squat little den, "and here's the garden." The scent of freshly churned earth was thick in her nose as she moved to stand beside the little plot of ground. She had been so proud of her work just an hour ago, though now all she could see were the droopy, uneven, half-dead survivors of the storm. She frowned lightly.

Then she blurted, "Maybe I should start over. Maybe you can suggest some good plants to replant?" Wildfire asked, already beginning to uproot the few pathetic plants in the dirt and toss them onto the compost heap at the corner. She and Raven had done the planting the first time around, a thought which caused a prick of guilt. But then she reminded herself she was about to do the entire thing over with Ashton's help and she only felt fluttery again.