Wild Berry Meadow we are not the weight of all our memories.

Invades!

It was supposed to be a day trip, just him and his friend Lagan, in and out of the Bramblewood. The very idea that he'd been picked for this totally cool adventure - and not his siblings - flew right over his head. The boy wanted to show off to his older guardian; he wanted to take the same path through the trees as he had before, when he'd met the runty stranger in the dark. So when Lagan's back was turned, Titmouse bolted. It wasn't a smart move. It was a half-baked idea more than anything, as was every thought that crossed through his little mind; however, the fallout would be epic.

The trees were a-maze-ing. But really, they were a mess of twisting paths and jutting roots, of dark patches of heavy bough and whispering gaps; Titmouse became so fixated on chasing shadows, or bugs, or the sounds of birds, that he lost track of his original goal. The wolf he had encountered wasn't here anymore - and apparently neither was Lagan! A momentary panic tried to correct Titmouse's judgement call, to reel him in towards the Caldera and out of the forest, but he was all turned around. When he finally found his way out of the fern-infested mess of murk and newness, the open air yawned around him.

And there was no Lagan. Or so he thought, as he took on an erratic twisting-turning-spinning-searching routine. Titmouse bolted around the last remaining trees, climbed over a big stupid log which sat distended from the forest, and finally came to a halt when there was nothing but field around him - because in the distance he could see the silver body of the boy! His friend! How had he gotten that far away so fast? But the child's concern was short-lived. He was too enamored by the sight of the familiar wolf to really care about the order of events; and thus Titmouse went charging after that silhouette, filled with vim and vigor, and came crashing on to the scene.

It wasn't until after he'd collided with Liffey's slim legs that he recognized her as separate from her brother - but that didn't matter either, because Liffey still smelled like home, still meant Caldera to little Titty, who was as dumb as the stump he had left behind.