Great Bear Wilderness Summer loving and fights, how it is for us

DUN DUN DUN but seriously I've been waiting for an open thread.

Again Saena delved into the flatlands, this time to clear her foggy mind. Ever since being struck in the side of the head by the doe, her dreams of the simorgh had vanished and she'd had difficulty focusing. It was no doubt the effect of a lasting concussion, though it left her feeling bereft. The spectral bear was back, much larger than it had been before, but it was out of sight today. There'd been another ghostly visitor, but for some reason she couldn't remember it.

The pack had deemed her well enough to not be confined to a den, so Saena left to stretch her legs. She was gone longer than she planned, and bedded down in the Heartwood for the night, only to strike out even further the following day. The bear kept her company through the night, but was gone again at dawn, leaving the young female alone with her muddy thoughts.

Her mind was on Pura and his most recent withdrawal when she stumbled upon Peregrine, almost literally, and totally forgot what she'd been thinking about. The last place she'd expect her father to be was at the edge of a creek quite far from his ugly half-mountain; if she couldn't smell him as soon as she came within view, she would've thought he was someone else. But he was unmistakable, as much as she wanted him to not be there.

She skirted around him, giving him a wide berth and making clear with her body language there was no familiarity or warmth between them. Yet something kept her from departing, even though she yearned to leave him there and pretend she hadn't noticed him. It was, she realized, probably fated—after all, she was looking for advice on how to get respect and lead, and judging by his scent, her father had managed to accrue members for his pack even after his hasty and (in her opinion) heartless departure from the last one.

Suddenly and almost eerily, she remembered that ghostly visitor she'd forgotten, and quietly said, "mom says hi."