Moonspear Come back to me

Although battered and shaken, hunger forced Wildfire out of the small cave. It had rained all night and most of the morning, though now the late afternoon sun began to peek out of the clouds, making the air feel warm and heavy. She moved slowly because of her aches and pains, which prevented her from slipping all over the wet rocks of the mountain. Her stomach pinched painfully as she wandered the slopes, though she soon realized that she couldn't hunt in her current condition. She would have to scavenge.

The air began to cool and darken and still Wildfire hadn't found anything to eat. Another realization began to slowly dawn on her. If she couldn't hunt and she couldn't scrounge up food otherwise, she would starve. She would die. Although she was nowhere near ready to face any of her pack mates, she knew she was stuck between a rock and a hard place here. She could try to continue surviving as a recluse (and most likely die) or go home and accept the help of her pack mates. It would come at a cost, she knew; they would demand to know what was going on with her.

It was the middle of the night by the time Wildfire finally crossed back over into Moonspear territory. She remained high up near the peak for a while, gathering her courage, then slowly began to pick her way the mountain. She made a point to find some standing water—it wasn't difficult, after all that rain—to wash her wounds to the best of her ability. She knew she still looked like she had been in a fight with a bear and Wildfire dimly wondered if that's what she should tell everyone. It might even fly, supposing the pack hadn't magically exterminated the second lingering bear during her hiatus.

Fur damp, Wildfire crept down a bit further and found herself standing over a cache. Her mouth watered as she peered down at the few dead rabbits. It was not without a measure of guilt that she bent over and made quick work of two of them. After she was finished eating, she retreated to sit on a small bluff, sighing and squeezing her eyes shut as did her best to mentally prepare for the inevitable confrontation. She had a reasonable, logical back story (the bear) but Wildfire was still stuck on what she would say to Floki in particular, how she would break the news to him that she—once so affectionately tactile—could no longer stand to be touched? That their happily ever after was already over?