Jade Fern Grove don't roll your eyes.

Several days had passed since Penn had left the Copse. He wasn't sure if he'd beaten his record yet for longest time away from the pack, but he felt as though he was probably getting close. He for sure beaten his record for the further distance he'd ever been from home for he'd never before been on the Eastern side of the Sunspire mountain range. In a way, he felt guilty for it. But in other ways, he was finally feeling as though he was able to breathe again. He was still a far cry from anything resembling actual happiness, but not suffocating was an improvement that was hard to part ways with.

So, the boy kept going, pushing thoughts like when he should or when he wanted to go home as far to the back of his mind as he could manage. Fortunately, the wilds had much to offer a spirited yearling in the way of distractions. Today, his interest had been taken by a peculiar patch of fur that he'd found tucked between the fronds of one of the many-fingered ferns this particularly forest seemed to be covered in. It didn't carry a scent he recognized, though it held traces of familiarity that he couldn't quite place. Whatever it was, it had gone deeper into the woods and, wittingly or not, now had a Blackthorn hot on its trail.