Blacktail Deer Plateau Season's greetings

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully. She'd forgotten all about being an Outrider. Junior was always better at that sort of thing anyway, with Saena sticking closer to home the older she got. Being a Naturalist was more Saena's thing, but even that was boring lately. She was better at it, she almost said.

But before she could, Swordfish revealed that Junior might not return at all. Saena supposed she'd seen that coming. Her sister made these impulsive decisions all the time, only to go back on them. The extent of her mercurial disposition, however, remained a mystery to Saena, and so rather than writing off Swordfish's revelation as though it would change in a matter of days, her ears wilted ever so slightly at the possibility she would stay away. "Oh," she said, unable to keep from sounding slightly disappointed. In an effort to catch herself, she added, "well, I'm sure it's a great pack." Not home, though.

"Just... Tell her we miss her. Aunt Willow really misses her, I think, and Dante's sorry for the way he spoke to her." Speaking for adults when they hadn't even said those things felt kind of good. She could see why Junior had felt so empowered to remove Finley from their midst, if it meant feeling that way. "And... tell her I won't ever let them forget the Blacktails. I'll be here for good."