Rising Sun Valley A few levels up

Saena's brain was slow to recover following her collapse on the moraine, but eventually the sense of paranoia dissipated. Having resumed her patrols of the pack territory that week, the alpha felt better and better, though still she found herself questioning things. She dreamed still of fire. She thought still of the names of her alleged relatives. Neither of these had become clearer, though lately a third question had joined the others: were the wolves that passed by Phoenix Maplewood real or false?

Never one to ponder the abstract without reason, the female excused herself from the confines of the maplewood to clear her head. She let her closest subordinates and Reek know she was heading south past Jade Fern Grove so that she was easy to find in the event of another episode. With that, she departed and spent the better part of the day skirting Jade Fern Grove's western edge and then walking directly south.

She never intended to go far, so when she ended up in an area rich with large boulders and stacks of stone, the female stopped. She twitched her ears and nose and looked around herself. She'd relinquished her outrider duties when she became a leader, though suddenly she yearned to make a job of it again. There was nothing quite like exploring, familiarizing oneself with new ground and making discoveries, and she caught herself wondering which of her trades was least necessary.

Her thoughts returned to the present when amongst the stones a spark of white drew her gaze. Her eyes clapped onto Scarlett and, like any typical wolf faced with a stranger, Saena grew rigid. Her tail lifted stiffly behind her until she held it out straight, with only the slightest wave indicating that, while wary, she was not aggressive. She flared her nostrils and sucked in a deep breath, but the wind didn't betray the white wolf's allegiance to Saena. Too bad; a Jade Fern Grover would immediately meet with relaxation, while any other wolf would find her outwardly cold, especially since her last visit to the plateau.