Bramblepoint I won't stumble back

Her vision blurred as a fresh wave of tears shimmered in her eyes. Wildfire angled her snout downward, letting them drip along her tapered nose and fall to the forest floor. The light snow on the ground melted under the deluge of hot saltwater and she stared, transfixed, at the puddle forming between her little red toes.

Then a noise drew her attention upward. Blinking the tears from her amber eyes, her lips already began to shape her Aunt Finley's name when she realized what was not looking at the caldera's new Alpha female, after all. This must be one of this season's Blackthorn pups. For a beat, the Bandrona simply stared, feeling awkward about meeting in these circumstances. Then she nodded quietly in reply to the young girl's question.

In contrast to this gesture, Wildfire said, "I'm having a hard time with—with what's happened at the caldera." Before she could manage to say anything else, another youth appeared on the scene. Whip? she thought, having heard he'd disappeared. She realized her mistake right away, though, and quickly recognized the grownup Jackrabbit. She didn't say a word as he plodded closer and slumped solemnly at her feet.

There was a mutual feeling of melancholy in the air as Wildfire peered down at the top of his head, then bent down to nudge the tip of one cinnamon ear before she looked to Finley's mini-me again. "I'm Wildfire," she introduced, "one of Perry and Fox's older kids." That would not only explain who she was but also why she was here, moping. "How, um..." she tried to ask, only for her voice to catch around a lump in her throat before she managed to croak, "how are the pups?"