Phoenix Maplewood But I'm here to remind you what's lost is never gone

Saena's ears pricked up at the distinctive gurgle of nearby water, and as she rounded a final bend, she spotted the brook. It was unassuming, with wide muddy banks, shallow fords and deceptive deep spots. Saena had been across this brook hundreds if not thousands of times, but she looked at it as if it was her very first time seeing it. Sentimentality welled up in her, along with the prickle of tears at the corners of her eyes, and she shook her head in a futile effort to squash it down. She couldn't afford that right now. She had things to do that were far more important than sobbing over what was lost.

She turned in an effort to find composure in looking away, but instead, she found a ginger-furred wolf approaching. Her moist zeroed in on Wildfire at nearly the same instant the yearling whoofed to her, and Saena's similarly coloured ears twisted forward with interest. Saena might have forgotten a great many things, but she knew who Wildfire was. She hadn't seen the girl in... god, months? It'd been a long time, long enough that she couldn't remember whether their last meeting had been a good one or a bad one. The two had their ups and downs, usually due to Saena's flair for the dramatic.

"Hey," she called out, "long time no see." What hadn't happened to Saena? She thought it was a rather long talk to have, and so instead she picked her way along the shore, hoping to close the distance so they could talk without speaking over the babbling brook.