Sunspire Mountains the marauder's map

There had been a brief time where Saēna followed Junior everywhere she went, whether or not the larger, darker pup was aware of it. The rusty female understood that Junior was lucky to be alive and, being perhaps one of the most intelligent of their crew, also understood that severe harm could have come to the Redleaf-DiSarinno if some sixth sense hadn't led her (abd the adults) directly to the missing child. Although she no longer considered herself a true sibling in light of Kisu's discussion, she retained a sense of responsibility for Junior's life, and so she had become a stalker immediately following her return to the plateau.

In recent days, she had given up this pursuit in favour of relaxing and socializing. It was difficult to interact with the pack when you were preoccupied with stalking, and so she had given up on keeping tabs on Junior. Saēna also had a lot to think about, and had taken to visiting Pied's grave with increasing frequency, where she mulled over her thoughts constantly. That was where she could be found now, studying the packed earth at her feet whilst sprawling in the shade of a particularly tall oak. She couldn't imagine what her real mother looked like, so she imagined herself, only black instead of red, and enjoyed the thought of growing up with someone like herself, even though she could never have that.

She was lying there still when Junior passed by. Saēna lifted her head to observe the chunky pup's passing, then laid it carefully back on her forelegs as Junior disappeared along the mountainside. Yet a niggling curiosity eventually made Saēna rise and pad after her cousin, catching up just in time to see the taller adolescent disappear into a hole.

Sucking in a shocked breath, the Virtùte pup closed the distance between the hole and herself. Where once she would have shied away from it, she boldly plunged into it with a bizarre notion that nothing inside could possibly hurt her. The weird swan creature from her dream would protect her, just as it had from the cougar. She was met with suffocating darkness and, though she instinctively stretched her nose forward and began snuffling along the floor, she couldn't help but call out a soft, “Junior?” to her presently invisible leader.