Redhawk Caldera But you've got to come back a star

Fox quickly struck down much of Saena's story. Naturally, Wildfire was inclined to believe her mother over an estranged elder sister with a bone to pick. But that didn't settle the matter completely. Why would Saena twist the details like that? Wildfire and even Fox could only make guesses. Perhaps she had just taken everything the wrong way, taken things personally when they weren't meant to be. Maybe Junior's death and being chased away from the caldera made her so angry she was now telling outright lies about Peregrine and Fox out of anger and indignation. Or maybe she truly felt things had happened as she'd described them. Wildfire could ask her parents and even Saena for every last detail and it would remain impossible to ever know the objective truth without having been there.

So she had learned a difficult but valuable lesson: two different people could tell entirely different stories about the same person or situation. She would just have to use her best judgment to decide what to believe. That's what she had been doing so far in life. Her parents taught her things but she didn't necessarily believe in every last thing they did. For instance, she knew that neither of them saw a lot of value in Outriders, yet she aspired to travel far and wide. She knew for a fact not all wolves from the north treated her like an enemy, either. Hell, even Saena hadn't harmed a hair on her head, even if she had bled wrath like poison.

Wildfire didn't necessarily understand Fox's issue with bastards, either, though she knew better than to say anything about it just now. Anyway, her mother's remark about Saena left her so surprised she was momentarily speechless, though after a moment she did find her voice to ask, "You're not going to ground me? You don't care if I see her again?" Not that Wildfire necessarily wanted to see Saena again. The entire encounter had been less than pleasant. But there was part of her that was curious about her half-sister and why she insisted on believing the worst of Peregrine and Fox. The child was biased, though she still wanted to understand both sides of the story.