Verdant Basin ignite

As she traveled, Starbuck grew bolder. Every few days she would go out, leaving behind Donnelaith and her friends to see the land. All of the territory immediately surrounding the Sentinels was now intimately familiar to her. The paths she took around the twisted slough and the pack upon the river felt well trodden to her, so often she had taken them. Further and further she pushed into the depths of the wilderness, and as she grew more confident, her trips grew longer. What were once daytrips had turned into overnights, and now she would spend two nights and return on the eve of the third day.

This was one such trip. Past the forest, the plataeu, and even the gap between the mountains she went. Night came and she slept beneath the boughs of an ancient tree, and as she slept it whispered to her as the old willow had. Onward her legs carried her, until she came upon a body of water so blue she thought she had found herself at the ocean again. Along its shores she came upon a dark smudge of a wolf at rest drinking deeply of the clear water. Hail! she called when still far away.