Wheeling Gull Isle white noise

dated....well, actually right around now. AW

Crossing the land bridge before had seemed fun and exciting; now, it was with a sense of relief, with some shame mixed in, that she padded along the sandbar back to the island. Her encounter with Vaati had made her incredibly homesick, but the run-in with Iliksis had put more fear into her than she'd ever admit. He was out there--still sick, still hungry. And he knew she was alive, now. She knew it would not be the last she would see of the dark wolf.

As for Vaati, well. . .there was no doubt that the war had changed him. Maegi didn't know whether their paths would cross again, or if she even necessarily wanted them to. He would always be her brother, but she chose to remember him as he was, not for the rogue he had become. The noble Dark Master--not the solitary savage. They were, perhaps, better off without each other.

Her paws reached the isle, and she went a little farther before collapsing in the shade of the treeline, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the events of the past days. Her bicolored eyes watched the waves, trying to find peace within the gently rolling shapes. When that failed, she looked at the sand, focusing on the intricacies of each grain. And when that, too, did not bring her comfort. . .she stared blankly ahead. She dare not close her eyes, for the nightmares she would find in the darkness were worse still than the bleakness of this summer day.

What came next? Maegi had always planned to return to the dark woods when her body and mind had healed from Skullchaser's attack. And she knew she must, eventually.

But why leave behind a good life here, throw caution to the wind and risk a poor reception at the place that was once home? Iliksis lurked on the mainland; he would find her again. And as for the Blackfeather wolves. . .none but Moonshadow had come to find her, not even Kove, who she thought loved her unconditionally. Nor Nyx, or Relmyna, whose pups must be old enough to fend for themselves now. No one she considered family had cared enough to search. The bald fact prickled at her, disturbed her memories of the place.

Coelacanth loved her, she knew. So did Venninne, even though she was away, and Mou, too. She had friends--Reed, Droman, Driftwood, Rokig. . . And even though the incident with Lainie had tainted this place, slightly, the horrors on the isle paled in comparison to what she had seen and experienced in the woods and the mountains.

No, perhaps it was better to accept that the sea was her home now. But it was a hard truth to swallow, and tears came to her eyes as Maegi thought of it, staring blankly ahead. All had changed--and she was powerless to reverse the effects of time.