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

Saena left only a slight distance, plus the brook, between them when she finally stopped moving. She'd never had to fear anything from Wildfire, and her half-sister need fear nothing from her, so remaining cautious seemed silly to her. Her defenses were dropped readily. "So do you," she rejoined, pleased to know that her half-sister was at least surviving, and probably prospering. Unlike Wildfire, Saena didn't stop to wonder what the red-haired wolf was doing in the area. She'd known Wildfire was a scout, so it simply made sense that she continued to wander about.

For that reason, Wildfire's question hit Saena the wrong way. She quirked a brow as she drew her head back slightly and answered, "this was my home for a long time. Why wouldn't I visit it?" But almost as if to cut any possible conversation short, a sudden gust of wind rustled through the woods, passed by Wildfire and then swept by Saena, and with it came a distinct and fearsome odour that she hadn't smelled in a long while: smoke.

Almost like a cliche flashback in a movie, Saena's brain skipped a few beats, during which the fog over some of her memory parted. She suddenly remembered a dark-furred wolf on the bank of a much wider river, and threats exchanged, with that smell in the background. Fast forward a few seconds and she recalled Esaro, a wolf she hoped to never see again, and remembered the acrid smell of smoke on him along with his wounds, and the promise that war was coming. The last thing she recalled was moving her pack out, and the fear that came with it... and she remembered with a start that it wasn't Reek who had chased the Phoenix pack away, but wolves who smelled of smoke and ash and stone, and her eyes narrowed to slits when she realized that Wildfire veritably reeked of it.

"You," breathed Saena, taking a step backc as though she feared Wildfire would call flames down on her head. But it wasn't really fear. In some part it was, but mostly, it was hatred and betrayal for the pack that had forced her from her home, and by extension Wildfire, lest her children be killed. She seethed, bristling and drawing to her fullest height. "YOU took my home from me?!"