Swiftcurrent Creek tell the wolves i'm home

"Sometimes, they'd kidnap younger or weaker wolves and make 'em slaves of sorts. Not in Blackflag, though!" she'd once told Ferdie. "We went by the pirate code on our crew..."

Her own voice, loud and horribly ironic, echoed from the past as Bones trudged across familiar ground in the direction of home. A trip that had only taken three days once upon a time had cost her nearly a week this time around. She was so weak now, following months of starvation and unspeakable abuse. The rawboned yearling wanted to run now that she was so close, yet she could hardly muster the energy to walk. She made her slow and painstaking way, stumbling at times and pausing at others to catch her breath and wait for the trembling in her legs to pass. Even if it took her another week, she would make her way to the creek.

At last, her overgrown ears detected the familiar burble in the distance. That joyful noise invigorated her enough that she managed to slowly jog the remaining distance to the borders, ignoring the twinges in her hindquarters from all the tooth marks there. The scent markers were different, though not unfamiliar. Bazi? Where's Cap'n Fox? Bones didn't have much energy left to wonder about it. She let out a great sigh and dropped on the invisible boundary line, her pale green eyes rolling toward the sky. A small smile crawled slowly onto her dry lips. She took a deep breath and let her bruised and sunken eyes close. She didn't fight as she began to lose consciousness, thinking only, Today is my birthday. And I'm finally home.