The Heartwood From the ashes

Sorry for the huge delay.

Though the skin on the back of her neck prickled, unsettled, Mitanni continued to wander the burned and broken Heartwood. As much it spooked her the same way that the Phantom Hollow had, there was something distinctly saddening about seeing this place and knowing that her home, just on the other side of the border, had been spared. This place must have looked like that at some point, the amber-eyed female realized, and she felt lucky that the territory Malice had picked out was so lively and habitable in comparison.

Most of the scents of the territory were dulled, covered somewhat by the smells of ash and charred remains of wood and timber. She found it difficult to make anything out beneath that, and considering she was still needing much work in the department of scenting tracks she couldn't yet pick up anything distinctively canine to alert her to other presences in the wood.

But as she continued to move about, she thought she smelled it. A faint whiff, just the suggestion of someone's passage before she'd arrived. Mitanni stopped and lowered her head to more closely inspect the trail, failing to judge how old it was and whether the individual might still be about. Her gaze lifted and looked about curiously, but as her unknown company remained immobile and hidden, she saw nothing telling. Mindful of the scent, alert now to the possible presence of another wolf, the Moonlit Hills member tread further into the Heartwood as she explored, unknowingly nearing the hidden stranger and her log perch.