Sun Mote Copse Let this moment be the first chapter: where you decide to stay

@Wraen and other like @Niamh and @Bronco :)

Yeah, the Frosthawks had been cool and stuff, but Nellie was finally over being a little brat and returned home with her tail between her legs. She was afraid her family, all of the Firebirds even, wouldn't recognize her anymore - which was crazy talk because she was the spitting image of her mother and her spunk gave away that she had some Blackthorn in her too. She'd grown dramatically, yet only in stature. She had processed the death of her father at the sanctuary the Frosthawks had provided, but her emotional growth had hit a rocky patch because of it. She'd missed mother and Bronco even though she could barely remember their faces at this point. She'd been debating returning ever since she had left, but every day she was absent brought more guilt which kept her from actually doing it.

What gave her the courage to do so now then, you ask? She had no clue, not even as she stood at the border of the Copse. The scent was familiar yet so distant, like the vague remnants of the smell of smoke even after a candle had been blown out hours ago. The scenery was even more dream-like, bringing back fractions of memories as if she had made up her time here. She bit her lip in silent preparation, but her howl soon rang through the pack lands, requesting an audience.