The Heartwood drifting somewhere between map and maelstrom

i literally have no idea when the heartwood burnt i was just going by the territory description, lol

wintersbane does not know how long ago the heartwood burnt: was it like this during his last visit? or perhaps, he considers, this is the first time he's ever stepped foot in the heartwood and it's always been like this. the smell of smoke is seeded in the charred corpses of trees, of fallen logs, blackened and hollow. delicate. they, too, crumble under foot like the bones of whatever unfortunate woodland critters got caught in the flames that wreaked havoc upon this place. it reminds him, now, too much of the sentinels. if he smells of smoke it is only because he's stirred it, brushed against blackened trees that still wear it as a perfume. there is no warmth in the heartwood, no glowing cinders to suggest otherwise and thus he assumes that sometime has passed since it happened.

the woman that approaches him from across the plains — blissfully unscarred; whatever fire had torn through the heartwood had not touched the no-man's land between — bore a pelage of browns and greys. glacial gaze studies her as they approach and he stops when he's reached a distance that it close enough. hail. a greeting or a warning? he wonders though he does not, at first glance, note any particular hostility. if i smell of smoke it is only because i stirred it. masking the scent of blackfeather hadn't been his intention — if it is masked it is only by sheer coincidence alone. the trees bear the scars of the fire and it clings to them and the earth they are rooted in.

the dark brother draws in a small breath and lets it out on a heavy exhale. the woods, he draws his salmon tongue across how jowls. well, what's left of them, he corrects himself. are cold. it has been some time since the fire. he is no expert though, and while he finds it hard to believe he missed a fire the truth was he was so absorbed in blackfeather woods that he very well could've especially since it'd been no threat to the dark woods.