Nocturne Summit I wish you

On her way home from the caldera, Wildfire took a detour, heading toward the foot of Nocturne Summit. The instant her little red feet began to climb, she felt a calm come over her. Her mind emptied and she simply relished in the exertion of the ascent. Soon enough, she found one of the many hidden, shadowy plateaus draped in hazy gray shadows. She slipped into the gloom, walked a few yards, then abruptly stopped and slid onto her belly with a sigh.

She couldn't help but fret about her family at the caldera, particularly her little brothers and sisters who weren't even born. But the weight of the past day or so was becoming a bit much, so Wildfire made a conscientious effort to focus on something more positive. Of course, Floki's face swam into view in her mind's eye and she smiled, the expression lingering on her mouth even as she drifted off to sleep.

Wildfire didn't dream often but a vivid nightmare came to her now. Floki was blind, deaf and dumb. He couldn't taste or feel either. He was sitting there, alive, but there was no way she could get through to him. No matter how loud she screamed or how hard she pushed... Floki couldn't sense a damned thing. He was dead to the world. He was dead to her.

She woke with a muffled shout.