Blacktail Deer Plateau rattlin' bones

Hope it goes away soon!

She said nothing, sensing that Dante wanted to let it rest. She did too, of course. She would give it some serious thought — only because he'd asked — but Junior definitely didn't want to think about it right now. The Alpha male queried about her adventures beyond the plateau and she cocked her head, chewing thoughtfully on her lip as she paged through her mental catalog.

"Most of the time I was gone, I was at the sound. I helped them find the territory and claim it," she began, "but then I had... I guess you could call it an 'aha!' moment. I left. I traveled wherever my feet took me for a while. I actually really enjoyed myself and the... freedom of it all." Junior's mismatched eyes cut to his face briefly, hoping he wouldn't disapprove of this candid admission. It was part of why she was an Outrider. "But eventually the hunger drove me home... and the fact that I missed everybody!" she added hastily, realizing how that sounded.

"That's why I look like such a nasty bag of bones," she groused under her breath the next moment, swallowing and frowning thoughtfully at her black toes.