Redsand Canyon as the building continues to burn

Nothing special indeed; Renard’s story was a stroll through an open field compared to Derg, who lost everything up to and including half his face, and Colin, whose phrasing and demeanor suggested deeper struggles than his clipped tone revealed. If anything, Renard’s past sounded idyllic as it came—good home, good position, a tutor. Useful. To leave it all in pursuit of excitement… well, Finley was hardly the center of attention, but word on the wind bore no shortage of drama.

Renard’s mention of Donovan’s story had Finley realizing that she had not, in fact, heard the details of Donovan’s sordid history. The Grandmaster’s pack had “fallen,” he’d said directly, and of course there was Derg’s assumption that all Saints (during the travels, at least) had sad stories, but that was all. Ah well. Packs sure had a habit of going to hell. Finley spared each of these tales of woe with little more regard than the fact of rain after a clouded sky. At least with Renard there was no need to scrape up empty condolences; she returned his smile with a small nod.

There was still the matter of his scars, but Finley hadn’t expected Derg to offer the circumstances of his own. It was perfectly reasonable for a stranger to keep such details to themselves. Respectable. Finally, some good fucking common sense.

Just as unsurprisingly, Renard turned the question back on her, accompanied with a head tilt and remark that… hm, was he joking? Surely he could see Finley wasn’t a desert wolf, not the least from her storming of the cacti moments before. Regardless, she paused for a moment before answering, finding the words; she’d be damned if her phrasing was heard as a cry for pity again.

“Nothing tragic myself. My pack taught me well. Left as a yearling and continued my training til finding Donovan.” Perhaps “left” was a stretch, but there was no way to phrase her coming-of-age failure without confessing to the loss. Should have been obvious, in retrospect. The fact she hadn’t “left” of her own accord was of little concern now.

Acutely aware that the summary left something to be desired, Finley added, “He spoke awfully highly of his former pack, didn’t he?” Something between doubt and amusement underlie the hypothetical. “I’m sure you haven’t had a dull moment since joining.”