Blackfeather Woods bitter pill

He came to her, strides more fluid then they were when the two had first met. Then he was burying his face into her pelt, saying her name, and the tide of emotion threatened to drag her downward, deeper and deeper into some chasm of comfort and vulnerability. She let herself relax, pressing back, her breath coming fast and sobbing, her heart much the same.

"This is my home," Maegi responded, an incredulous laugh bubbling from her lips. She pulled back, blinking at him, as if now she could not believe the sight of him, though they both knew the other was solid. "This is where I was born. What are you doing here?" she shot back, tilting her head with a smile that could single-handedly light up the forest--if she wanted it to.

The woods suited him better than the pristine beaches of Undersea, much like they suited her. They were broken, marred creatures, chewed up and spit out still living by the cruel forces of the world. Blackfeather was made for wolves like them, the twisted and the damned. Now, they could live out their existences side-by-side.

She hadn't thought, when he'd washed up on the beach, that he'd be anything of significance to her. How time had proved her wrong.