The Heartwood the stone remembers

Aneira’s gaze dropped and Towhee could only stand there as she stared at the ground, perhaps lost in thought. She shifted her weight, glad to note her leg wasn’t bothering her much at all. As happy as she was to be living in the Hobbit Hole again, she kind of looked forward to sleeping on a bed of velveteen moss tonight.

She set aside that thought when Aneira spoke again, asking about the Firebirds. Towhee’s brow furrowed. Of course she remembered them. After the fall of Asterism Grove, she’d gone to live with them; taken over; and relocated the pack to the caldera. As for the woman’s other question, well… Towhee had lost a lot of things along the way.

Yes, though I… I don’t remember you being there. She supposed she didn’t need to repeat herself. Er, a lot of things have happened between then and now. We’d be standing here all night if I tried to cover it all, Towhee quipped. But what about you? Were you there during the earthquake? The landslide? And have you been in the area this whole time?