Kintla Flatlands For just as Every Seed holds the Power

The blackbear could well see that the female did not have many pounds to lose, though she chose not to comment on it directly. She was pleased when information came pouring forth without much prompting on her part. Not enough to put together a whole story, but enough to make her frown.

"You are not a burden," she said. She spoke with the certainty of a woman who was accustomed to her word being law. Who told you that? she wondered, but again did not ask. "It sounds to me that you're well short of whosoever you left behind," she said instead. "And now, look: you have found yourself in a beautiful land, on a beautiful night, standing here as a free woman. You cannot possibly be a burden. You brought yourself here on your own four paws."

The women's circle was still fresh in her memory, as were the promises she'd made to herself. Here was a young woman as lost as Easy had been at a similar age, and she hadn't even tried to seek her out.

"I'm Ishara," she said, turning another brief, twinkling smile on the young woman. "What's your name?"