Sunspire Mountains the marauder's map

She physically halted when Junior hissed her name into the darkness, wondering for a moment whether or not following the larger adolescent was a good idea... But she stood her ground, and it paid off. Saēna had yet to fully embrace the idea that Junior was no longer going to grind her into the dirt, and so even though she suspected she was safe, her skittishness never left. She crept into the hole, pushing her shoulder against the side of it and answering with a hushed, “makin' sure you're all right.”

She squinted, trying to make out anything beyond the bright glow of Junior's eyes in the beam of light that slanted through the abandoned den, but there was only pitch blackness ahead. Yet there was a soft subterranean “breeze” carrying the scent of old things and mould, and it countered the tangy smell of blood in the den enough that Saēna believed there was something more, even though she couldn't see it.

“I don't think so,” she admitted, having lost her interest in Outriding the second that Junior had gotten swept downriver. She didn't want to share her cousin's fate, nor worry her family the way they'd worried about Junior. There were also carefully hidden doubts in her head that they would care as much as they had when Junior disappeared if it was her, and that part scared Saēna the most. No, she decided, Outriding was not her thing, but... “I'll come with you though,” confirmed her interest in this particular exploration.

Junior took the lead, and Saēna gladly followed behind, flaring her nostrils to follow the scent of her cousin and taking careful, slow steps so as not to hit anything.