Firefly Ravine I thought we got each other's hearts

The crying spell wore itself out, eventually. The sounds caught in her throat, the tears dried in her fur, and soon enough Saena was staring silently out across the ravine, bleary-eyed and heaving in deep breaths but no longer wailing. The other side was a sheer cliff that went on for miles north and south and the chances of crossing it anywhere near here were slim to none for the injured leader. At the bottom was a river with rocky banks. The longer she studied the ravine, the more hopeless she felt, but before she could lapse into another bout of self-pity, movement in her periphery made her freeze and slowly turn her head.

She recognized Sebastian long before he opened his mouth. To say she wasn't afraid would be a lie, but it had nothing to do with him specifically and everything to do with her vulnerable condition. He was large but being large meant next to nothing—her pack had kicked his ass once before he'd somehow escaped from the dead end grotto, so there was nothing intimidating about him by himself. No, Saena was most afraid of her disadvantage. She was in no position to be fighting anyone today and she had no doubt that was the first thing he would do, given their last encounter had been her pack attempting to tear him to shreds. Unlike that time, she had no pack to summon this time and had to face him alone.

She took to her feet, doing her very best not to wince and betray her injury, and began to sidestep with her head slung low as he spoke. She pricked her ears forward, kept her eyes on him, and began a wide circle away from him. It would make her journey even longer, but Saena was in full avoidance mode, a desperate animal verging on fight or flight, and so her only response was to snap her jaws at the air between them in wild warning whilst stepping slowly away. It was all about fear, truthfully, but it wasn't like she had any other choice. She wouldn't stand a chance if he got close, desperate or not.