Gyrfalcon's Keep i'm tired and i'm weak, but i'm strong for you.

Leaves crunched beneath Finley's feet as she strode through the fields. Had she the energy to spare the thought, she might have considered how unwise it was to make so much noise as she moved. Reckless as she was, the Blackthorn typically knew better than to bring so much attention to herself when she wasn't actually looking for trouble. As it was, she didn't even notice the red and gold leaves that littered the ground. She barely even heard the sound they made as she moved. She didn't care. She was too tired.

It had been days since she'd slept. Her mission to find Lucy was turning into an obsession that she could not let go of. Even when she tried to rest, she was kept away by nightmares of finding the red-eyed wolf with her daughter's blood smeared across its jaws. Dreams where she had gotten there only seconds too late; where she could see the life leaving Lucy's eyes just as she spotted her from around a bend. The memories haunted her during the waking hours, leaving her feeling sick and wretched even though she knew they weren't real.

Still, the mother moved. Even with her paws dragging across the ground as though she could barely lift them, she moved. Finley was disheveled and thin, her fur an unkept mess, her eyes dull and watery. But she moved. It was all that mattered.