Serpent Lake following the trail of sickness

This pre-dates Thresher's joining of Sweetharbour- but given the fact they met so many years ago, I couldn't help myself :)

She was headed for the coast. Having found the mountain ranges she recognized, she followed them in the distance, lured toward them knowing that her birthplace would be waiting for her, out in the bay, as it had always been. She'd traversed so much land, and had wandered past countless mountain ranges- and though they were formidable, they were also dependable. They didn't change much over time, not like the trees and the waterways. She knew the Sunspire, and headed toward it, hoping to breeze through the flatlands and out to the ocean. 

The scent of the lake tempted her- but a small spatter of bloody spittle on the ground caught her attention. The scent that accompanied it was both familiar and terrifying. She combed through her memories, until at last she recalled the face of the kind, bright woman she'd met on the beach when she'd been just a year old, or so. 

Evermore. 

But this...This wouldn't be Evermore. Not if that spittle had come from her. Drawn to a disaster, and her heart beating in her chest, Thresher began to follow the diseased female. She'd learned of the disease, but had never witnessed it before. And if she wanted to continue her path as a naturalist, these were things that she would have to see in order to understand. 

But the figure the disease haunted...Evermore was still slightly familiar, if only from the shade of her pelt and the shape of her face. In the distance- and Thresher made sure to follow far away, so she could only observe from a distance- she looked like little more than a shadow of what she'd been. Jerky movements, bristled hackles- everything Thresher had been told. It was a disease that could effect any animal, as far as she knew. 

The ecologist in her begged her to remain silent. But Thresher had a bleeding heart. She needed to know. 

"Evermore?" She called out. She needed to see if any trace of the woman remained- if she would even recognize her own name.