Twisted Slough And hooked a berry to a thread

A maze of scents criss-crossed the muggy floor of the bog, but all of them belonged to creatures that were swift in these conditions. A variety of amphibians and reptiles. Hares. Mice. Nothing that Saena, a cumbersome wolf, would have much luck with. She pursed her lips into a frustrated scowl as she rounded a thick tree of some variety or another, and came almost face-to-face with Brooklyn.

Her surprise showed in the widening of her eyes and the pop of her ears atop her head, but even more surprised was she that Brooklyn didn't seem startled to have found her. Saena's blue eyes narrowed a smidgen when Brooklyn stammered out a greeting, but her suspicion was short-lived in light of the other woman's perceived nervousness, and she shook her coat out and smoothed her ears down to appear more inviting.

"I'm well," said Saena, although really at the root of things, she wasn't well at all. A good half of her memories were less clear than mud. Her home was calling to her and yet she hesitated to return, afraid of what she would find there, and afraid that she would be turned away from the very legacy she had built. And she was hungry enough to look for food in a place that was unlikely to yield any. She wasn't well, all things considered, but there was no sense being awkward about it by mentioning any of that to a total stranger.

"How are you?" she returned politely, not doing much to mask the incredulously unspoken what can I do for you that her tone suggested.