Emberflame Ridge There was a time when I was alone.

Sundance, though glad for the distance that this earthen stranger was sure to keep, did not once think that he would done with such racist intent. As far as he was concerned there, they were simply two cautious creatures unknowing of one another, and no concern took root in him as they each cast their gazes over the valley below.

"I did not. I live among the willows," he answered, while his thoughts turned to creatures displaced by flooding. His newest acquaintance had suggested that wolves had lost their homes and sought higher ground, but what of the prey? The other predators? To lose them would upset the balance of their wilds, and worry settled in his gut. "Did you?"