Redhawk Caldera When the summer ends.

Towhee rolled her eyes at Tegan but said nothing as the three continued climbing. Soon they reached the dead volcano's rim and found themselves peering down at the placid lake. Towhee felt the nostalgia well up inside her again. She glanced at her comrades, watching as Tegan presumably began leading Ceara downward to the water's edge. But she didn't follow.

"Keep up the good work, tour guide," she called to Tegan. "I'm gonna head this way. I'll meet you back here in a few." If either of her companions protested Towhee's solo side trip, their refutes fell on deaf ears; she turned even as she spoke, trotting along the volcano's old, familiar lip.

She roamed close to the outer edge, enjoying the sweeping views off to her left. Heron Lake Plateau also afforded the Redhawks some incredible panoramas, so it was difficult to decide which territory won in that arena. Before she could delve too deeply into comparing and contrasting them, something darted past her feet, causing Towhee to instinctively jerk to the side.

She never saw what it was, as her inborn sideways leap caused her to teeter on the ledge. The dirt was dry here, baked for months in the summer heat, and it crumbled loosely. Towhee lost purchase and began tumbling down the slope. It was almost as if history was repeating itself, though there was no ice to make her fall all the more treacherous. And unlike Fox, she didn't even fall that far; a bent and gnarled tree halfway down abruptly halted her descent with a loud thwack!