Heron Lake Plateau I've got my heart set on anywhere but here

Skipping Buck with permission!

It took every ounce of Wildfire's might not to burst into tears when Elwood arrived and simply welcomed her home. "Thank you," she whispered, attention now moving between him and Niamh as the latter puzzled out Bat's whereabouts—or, more accurately, her identity. She wanted to scream when Niamh said there was no one here by that name, though she swallowed it as the woman offered up another and another.

"Rory?" "Rorqual," Wildfire exhaled almost too lowly for anyone to hear, her entire body buzzing with hope and relief. Bat was here. The rest of what Niamh said was almost lost to her, though her brow knitted vaguely when Niamh mentioned sending Bat here with Tegan. She could only laugh weakly, bewildered, when the woman praised Bat's evident natural penchant for scouting. It didn't make sense but they could fuss over the details later. Right now, she only wanted to see her long lost daughter.

"Where is she?" Wildfire's attention shifted more to Elwood. "Could you take me to her? Please?" she begged in a respectful whisper. Attention shifting back to Niamh, she added, "This is Kiwi, Bat's sister, and Sequoia, her cousin. And Buckshot." She didn't actually know the fellow too well, yet the girls were attached to him and Wildfire hadn't seen any reason to deny another able-bodied escort across the wilderness. "We've come to stay," she elaborated on her earlier statement, "if there's room. I'm a master hunter and scout. Kiwi's a hunter as well and Sequoia's been working hard on becoming a scout. We're family," she finished, looking again at her godfather, "but we'll earn our keep too."