Alpine Lake i'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love.

Liffey sighed gently and nodded, agreeing with her mate's decision to keep going. She had really hoped he would recommend they stop for a while, but it did make sense to keep going. She was just tired, physically and, if she were being honest, emotionally. Their flight from the Hollow had been unpleasant enough with the bad blood they were leaving behind, but it was painful still to see the unhappy looks on the faces of their kids--all of their kids--as they traveled. She had thought the older two at least would be pleased. They knew the Redhawks and loved their grandparents and cousins and everyone else. She had clearly been naive in thinking that it would've been enough to overshadow what they were leaving behind, which had apparently run far deeper in her children than it ever had in her.

"Okay, you're right," Liffey said, turning to head back, "But let's at least walk back to the kids real slow so they can have a little extra time before they have to start again." She smiled faintly, thinking of them. Always, always, always, thinking of them, but still messing it up...

She froze when she heard the howl. It was weak, faint, in a tone and pitch she'd never before heard of that voice, but still instantly recognizable. It was irrevocably ingrained upon her heart, and no passage of time could ever make it fade. Liffey stared blankly ahead, shocked and overwhelmed as memories and emotions blurred past her. "Wisp..?" she murmured softly, a question she knew the answer to. Then she moved, following the source of the call, her eyes darting frantically as she searched for the face she had longed for so desperately for so long.