Kintla Flatlands DISCOVER · live fast, die young

It was true that there were some volatile compounds housed in Zombie's spirit, but they were difficult to ignite—for her heart was ice cold and partially stone. Each betrayal, each abandonment had forced the yearling to build up another wall of protection. If a single spark were to make it through all of that, however, the emaciated female would leave a trail as hot and blazing as a comet in the night sky. Those walls were all that kept Zombie from going completely unhinged, though she wasn't exactly stable either. And the wall she had built up against Jinx—a wolf that she once found herself admiring more greatly than any other, a wolf that was likely capable of triggering that spark—was the thickest of them all.

Part of her still thought she might forgive the once-leader, if the right words were said. After all, there was still a modecum of pain and hurt that Zombie still felt, or their reunion would not have gotten a reaction out of the yearling at all. "I know nothing of your god," Zombie answered, but unlike the others it was not to dismiss Jinx's departure, "but it's not because I didn't want to. You left." Unspoken was that Zombie would have followed, had Jinx given her some warning. She would have been devout to Sos, a true disciple—not the farce that Hawkeye played at.

"Not my idea," she growled, though the sound was surprisingly not directed at Jinx. Her resentment towards the plateau's leader and the other ex-Bon Dye wolves was beginning to bubble to her surface—and the spark was dangerously close to flaring into existence. "I was the only one that wanted to stay," Zombie explained. It would be obvious, then, that she had been left with no choice but to follow—there was still very little to the yearling beyond skin and bone, and she would not have survived for more than a week or two without a pack.

She stared at Jinx, her green eyes bright and defiant. There was little else to say, unless the former leader decided to continue her accusations. As if to rescue her from that, a gust of wind emerged from the crevice of the mountain—carrying with it an odd scent of ancient dust and deep earth. Instinctively, Zombie's head snapped towards it, the hackles raising along her neck in suspicion.