Blackfoot Forest A canopy of shivers

A mournful howl rose suddenly into the sky, jarring Pied from her serene reverie and causing her to rise to her feet. For a split second, she thought it might be the haunting cry of a fox, though quickly she realized it was the voice of another wolf. She listened to the lonely message, her heart beating a little faster now. She and Hawkeye were not the only ones left. It gave her hope.

She started to walk. En route, she tilted her pale muzzle toward the dark sky and returned the call. "I'm here," she said simply. "It's me, Pied," she added because, while she didn't recognize the voice, she assumed they'd both been present at the meeting several weeks ago.

The splotched yearling continued trekking toward the source of the sound. She eventually picked up a scent and tracked it east through the black forest. Somewhere along the way, Mag joined her but Pied paid the ghostly bird little mind. She was much more eager to see someone of flesh and blood, a pack mate.

She found the stranger standing beneath the scraggly roots of an uprooted tree, looking very much like a shadow's shadow. Pied approached, deciding not to bother with either dominance or submission. The pack structure mattered little in these circumstances. She kept her bright eyes forward and her tail waved, even with the gentle slope of her pale back.

"Hello," she spoke when she neared the dark-furred stranger. Pied couldn't quite remember if she'd seen her at the meeting. "I'm Pied," she identified herself. "I'm glad you're still here. This place has become a ghost town," she observed, just barely stifling a sigh.