Redhawk Caldera Got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake.

Towhee picked at the dead bullfrog Bushtit had brought her earlier. She wasn’t a big fan of the texture and it didn’t help that she didn’t feel very hungry. Fighting a sigh, she plucked up the rubbery little corpse and dumped it in her stash at the back of the Hobbit Hole. She resisted the impulse to curl up in her bed beside it, instead slouching out of the den into the cool evening air.

There were plenty of good things in her life at present, though she couldn’t help but feel down after the past few days. First, she’d learned about Ruenna’s death. Then Kukutux’s. But worst of all had been her painfully brief interaction with Tiuttuk at Moonspear. It bothered her, the way she’d left without saying anything. She should’ve pursued her, though Towhee couldn’t stop thinking about the way Treepie had looked at her in that final second before turning away.

She tried to push it from her mind as she climbed down toward the caldera. It would be fully dark in a matter of minutes, the dusky light slowly leeching the world of color. Spring peepers sang all around her, though Towhee couldn’t hear them. She did notice the fireflies winking here and there as she walked along the water’s edge. The sight of them even brought a small smile to her face, which was wiped away a moment later as she walked straight into a cloud—and a mouthful—of gnats.

@Cinar :)