Jade Fern Grove All the small things

"I hope that they do. When we parted, they were on the safe side of the forest," Sarah replied after a brief moment of contemplation. "The fire spread rapidly and it destroyed any scents or footprints. I am not even sure, if I looked for them at the place, where I left them or it was somewhere else," she added, sounding apologetic for her failure. 

"I have faith in Coriander - he is much like Terance - and Cass too that they brought others to safety, even if I did not," she said quietly, looking down at her paws. Her words were laced with shame and regret. She still could not forgive herself for leaving, for not knowing about their fate now. 

"Maia, you... I want you to know that... we... did not leave parents behind willingly," she said after a while. Even if her sister did not want to hear it, Sarah wanted her to know, to understand, why things had come to, what they had. "Mom had been very sick before the fire, she was dying and... dad... they convinced us to go and that they would follow," and it had been a weak attempt to lie, because Osprey would not have been able to walk anywhere. 

"I split from the group, convinced that I could still bring them with us. We had reached the safety so easily," she said, lost in memories of that fateful day. "And... when I found them, they were already dead, looked as if fast asleep, side by side... I think it was the smoke from the fire that... well, it... never mind," she looked up at Maia again. There was the sadness of the world in Sarah's eyes. 

"I am sorry, I could not save them," she told her, hoping for Maia's forgiveness. Something she had not been able to ask from Terance. She believed he still held her responsible for all that had happened. Even if he had not said it so.