Dawnlark Plains heavy-sighed and open-eyed I heard him speak

---

the howl went up, polite, searching, a single haunting call across the plains before it faded. she would have ignored it, should the attentive part of her mind listening keenly allowed the name to slip by unnoticed. as such, it took her a delayed moment to realize that a foreign voice inquired after Easy. surely that carried implications, but she did not dwell on those as she turned heel and made haste to the source of the call. 

she paused only when she'd reached a few tail-lengths distance from the male, fiery furred and completely alien. she did not bother with polite greeting, only a hopeful, "you know Easy?" perhaps it was nothing; perhaps, he was simply someone she'd met in the time before she'd gone missing, like that weirdo right around when they'd found the campsite. swallowing, she deflated slightly, already feeling tired after the flash of excitement had roused her from numbness. she'd yet to answer his question, and did so after a beat, mind already falling back from its brief high of excitement and hope.  "she's been missing. it's been - three months, now." ears flicked, thinking back to her sudden departure with the redhawk boy.