Phoenix Maplewood Distant stars

It was with some dawning realization that she is perhaps the furthest from home than she has ever been. This isn't the first realization of such a thing, but it came upon her like a wave in the depths of this relative unknown. At least this time, it wasn't quite like fighting a rising tide over and over, ever fearing the sensation of drowning and being lost in some unfathomable depth.

Everything is different, Phoebe decided.

She would be different then, too.

Even the spread of the night sky, though not truly that different, somehow seems different. It's clear enough that the moon cast just the right amount of light to illuminate her way, though she is by no means night-blind. The old forest has a history to it that she will possibly never know, and she does not consider it even when her eyes alight on another. Like her, young, but perhaps grown enough; his head craned back, peering through an opening, and she followed his line of sight until her brow furrowed in questioning.

She was feeling bolder now, but perhaps it would come to pass swiftly.

Perhaps this encounter would go better than the rest.

Her voice was gentle and hushed over the din of late summer: "What is it that you see?"