Redhawk Caldera Anima resurgence.

Her daughter didn’t argue with her, nor try to change her mind. Towhee appreciated it, though she hated that she knew why Jr refused to refute her. She knew exactly what it was like to lose some children but not all. She knew what it was like, needing to stay strong and look after the survivors. There wasn’t time to grieve, much less search, especially not with such dismal odds.

-I can’t stop wondering if he’s there,- she admitted after a few moments of silence, flicking a paw toward the lake.

The wind had died down, its surface rippling only a little now. Towhee wondered again whether his tiny body had sunken to the depths. Would it one day resurface, bloated with decomposition? Towhee’s lips pulled into a grimace.

-I have no idea how he managed to leave the den and make it all the way here. But he did. And the trail went cold, right here,- she continued, tapping a paw on the patch of rocks that still smelled faintly like her son. -I never thought…-

Her breathing had gone unsteady as her thoughts chugged along painfully. She had never considered the caldera a threat to any of the nestlings. And then the impossible had happened: a babe, not even a month old, had somehow found his way to its treacherous shoreline.

-Don’t tell anyone this, but I’ve hated this place off and on over the years,- she admitted to Jr, -and right now, I’ve never hated it more. I can’t just pack up and leave, for so many reasons, but… fuck.- Towhee shook her head, clearly fraught and frustrated. -Fuck this fucking place.-

Emotions welled up in her, an intense cocktail of them. Towhee leaned toward the water and struck its surface, the force of the slap sending a shockwave up her foreleg as she disturbed the calm surface, essentially breaking the mirror. It hurt a little, though there was a sense of relief too, in expressing that bitter mixture of anger and grief.