Kintla Flatlands a tender history in rust

“Maybe,” she said softly, but at the end of the day, she knew she couldn't leave her brother behind. She wanted to protest, and claim that Pura wouldn't care if he was treated poorly, because he didn't care about anything and he was never sad, but something stopped her tongue. Just then, Ty arrived, and Junior gave a similar but fundamentally more straight-forward explanation to her, as well.

Saēna was left to watch Dante approach from the corner of her eye. She had spent little time with the Warden, but knew that Junior had spent some quality time with the male, and assumed that was why he was here. She ignored him, at least for now. When Junior made her final plea, the pale girl chewed on her bottom lip, then shook her head.

“Sorry, Ju,” she said quietly, her eyes seeking the ground as shame and insubordination crashed over her. “I can't leave Pura there to be replaced all by himself.” Little did she know that another dream of the swan-dog creature would rouse her in the middle of that very night and lead her away on a journey that would result in her doing just that. “He needs someone, too. He can't be the... The outcast by himself.”

Instead of maturely asking if Junior understood, she took a few steps back, quietly said, “I'm sorry,” and began to pick her way back to the plateau, though she looked over her shoulder and rethought her choice easily a dozen times before she reached the towpath.