Broken Boulder I found peace in your violence

Liri antagonized the choice in her head obsessively for only a few moments before another arrived. 

She was one of the few wolves Liri had ever seen that was near her own size. Perhaps an inch difference and a few extra pounds missing between the two. The size of the dark one immediately put her at ease. 

Liri had long learned not to judge on appearances but the girl, with her ebony coat and dancing orange eyes, reminded her of a tiny blackbird. 

But as the dark girl approached Liri felt an oddness poking at the corners of her brain. 

She's the first person I've seen since Pip.

Mentally, she flinched. To think of him, even now, stabbed as sharply as being gored by an elk. The wraith allowed the grief to wash over her, the force of it as strong as a flood. 

And then she pushed it away, stored it away for safe keeping. She shifted automatically into a submissive stance and smiled at the younger woman. 

"Hello," the wraith rasped. Her voice was whisper-thin. She had not spoken in so long she had feared she would no longer remember how to. 

Sudden embarrassment washed over. She realized what she must look like. Her pelt was more scars than it was fur. 

"I seek a home," she answered cautiously.

"I'm not much for big game. I can track alright and small game is no problem." She could not bear to look at the ruin attached to her body. 

"I am a Caregiver though, a healer. I can still pull my weight." 

Given the chance, Liri knew she'd prove that she could do more than that. She'd work and work and work just to get the memories out of her head.