Murkwood resting place

For Morven and @Eclypse ^^

She had to find Sage.

The girl had never met her. Had hardly met anyone, actually. There had been that one boy, and her mother, and that was all - that was the extent of her entire world so far.

And now...

Her eyes burned and her throat tightened, making it difficult to breathe and swallow. The pup's stomach had long since stopped growling, instead leaving behind an aching hollowness and a weakness in her body that made her head swim and her paws stumble over themselves as she wandered through the forest.

She hadn't gotten too far from where her mother had fallen asleep forever - mostly on account of the fact that Rosemary hadn't known what to do. Hoping that Nia would wake up if she just waited long enough, the girl had tucked herself beside her mother for nearly two days, occasionally trying and failing to wake her.

Eventually, she gave up.

But she was starving, and confused, and alone, and she had no idea where a Backwater was. She wanted to cry, but that wasn't ladylike - wasn't proper for a descendant of alphas like her mother had said, so she did not. Instead, she continued wandering, aimless and lost, in her search for her sister.

She had figured, at worst, she would return to @Morven at nightfall.

She had not meant to become glued to him but it was undeniable that she orbited him. Never too far, always returned by the next day at latest. Simple routine was best and it kept her afloat from otherwise terrible thinking.

The fog here was thick and the trail she followed was obscured by it. She had thought this might be a hunting moment and whenever she came upon the beast she could call for Morven. Then they could eat something proper. So she had kept after it for some time, even when it seemed the trail was aimless. It did not lead to any den, waterway or rest place.

Whatever she had picked to follow was on its own kind of course.

Up ahead the fog swirled, the shadow within it was too wolfen to be prey. Yet the shadow was also smaller. Not even the size of a yearling. Coyote, she wondered but found that surely didn't fit either.

"Hey," She hesitantly spoke out in a soft tone.

At first, she wondered if she was dreaming, or if maybe she'd also fallen asleep forever like her mother. Why else would someone be speaking to her, alone in these woods? Rosemary hadn't expected to run into anyone.

But she turned toward the voice, orange eyes dull as she regarded the stranger.

She kind of looked like that boy they'd met a while ago, Rosie thought, but the eyes were all silvery instead of bright orange, and this was not a boy. Rosemary took a few steps toward the older girl, tail tucked between her legs and body trembling. She wasn't used to strangers - the concept was terrifying, and she had no mother to hide behind now.

"Hi," she said quietly, keeping low to the ground. Nia probably would have told her to stand up straight, but she was scared, and couldn't bring herself to do so. "Are you S-Sage?" She couldn't help but be hopeful - how wonderful would it be if she had found her straightaway like this?