Qeya River She has abandoned all rules of chaos.

Wayfarer, true to her name, spent only a few days within Duskfire territory before her paws began to itch again. She had returned only to be present for the funeral, to bid farewell to Tzila and her father, not because she felt I any way bound to her pack-mates. There were times that the wanderer considered pulling a Makatza and disappearing, but was quick to remind herself that her rogue half-sister was the last wolf she aspired to be like.

She just felt it would be easier to be free of the place that so haunted her.

Snow fell softly, delicate flakes clinging to her dorsal and tumbling from her shoulders as she moved. The day was young and the pallid sky promised more snow to come, but she didn't care. If anything, she hoped it might provide an excuse to stay away from the glacier just a little longer.

It had become increasingly clear that Wayfarer's travelling was not just her way of scratching the itch to explore. She was avoiding something-- maybe a lot of somethings-- in Duskfire Glacier, the most significant being her mother. 

Lane trailed after her daughter, who had slipped away without saying goodbye. The other pups would have gotten a stern talking-to about leaving the territory without permission, but Lane's shaky relationship with her daughter had left her all but hamstrung in the area of discipline. Lane knew that the more she clung to Wayfarer, the more her daughter would fight to be rid of her. But even so, she felt the urge to cling. 

"Wayfrrrr" Lane called to her daughter's retreating form, her voice slightly garbled by the herb bundle in her mouth. Wayfarer hadn't even stopped in to say hello to Lane this time around, and she was already trying to get gone. One of these days, she wasn't going to return. Knowing this, Lane continued to track her daughter down each and every time the girl returned home. Each time, she would to try to talk, try to help her, try to be a mom.. no matter how many times Wayfarer rejected her. 

Maybe this time, she would get through.

She did not make it far from Duskfire before hearing her name on the tongue of someone she'd hoped to avoid. Wayfarer stopped dead in her tracks, her breath hitching as ice cold dread crept into her bones. The girl lingered there for a moment, torn three ways: pretending she hadn't heard her mother's call, giving in to emotion by telling her to fuck off, or giving her a chance to take ownership for her wrongdoings.

As she shifted to blink over a stiffened shoulder at the she-wolf she so resembled, consideration for that latter option dissipated. Her ears twitched backward and she stared across the clearing with a blank expression as she bluntly asked: "what?"

Lane watched her daughter stiffen at the sound of her voice, looking very much like she was bracing herself for some kind of assault. Lane's heart broke just a little more, seeing that. Emotion clawed up her throat, making it ache. For a fleeting moment, Lane thought that Wayfarer would ignore her entirely, but finally she turned.

The door was opened just a crack, and it would take all of Lane's willpower not to shove herself through it. 

Lane set the bundle on the ground. Returning her gaze to Wayfarer, she swallowed thickly.

"You forgot your traveling herbs," Lane stated kindly. Her tail swung-- inviting, but not overeager. Her gaze rested softly upon her only daughter.