Turtleback Lake I made it in my mind

For @Kisla's trip back, flex with date to whatever suits you!

The battered wolf had limped north and settled herself by the lake to try and improve her appearance some before she tried to worm her way into another pack. Her sights were set far lower with the cold winds on the rise and the snows already threatening to keep their hold on these unforgiving lands. It had crossed her mind once or twice to cut over the mountain and head south that way, follow the birds to their winter nesting grounds somewhere distant and warm, but she knew her limitations and so brushed the thoughts aside. 

This lake was plentiful and often drew prey to its banks. Her torn ear had healed, leaving her with an obvious notch in her left ear, the cut on the right side of her face was healing well, she wasn't even convinced that it would scar - it was the deeper gash on her chest that was causing her problems. A flailing hind leg from a rabbit had broken the skin open again, the scab tore open again when she lunged at a fish that dared to swim between her paws, and so she found herself facing quite the dilemma - go hungry and heal (a luxury she could afford still carrying the condition of a recent pack wolf) or eat and risk causing herself further injury.

It was as she pondered this that the stranger's scent came to her on the breeze, shoulders hunching and back arching submissively as her colourless eyes sought the owner out. Perhaps it would look like her tail was tucked from a distance? She was still far too sore to do her usual hip-swaying dance.

Sorry for the wait! Set late October to early November okay for you?

When she had considered herself well enough to travel, she had considered the mentality of her mind and the state of her being. She had not felt whole – surely, she never would again now that her mate was dead. But she had set forward with a new determination that she ahd not seen in awhile, and that had soothed her.

And then the moment Kisla Baranski’s paws had traipsed past the borders of Hearthwood River, the silence had settled in.. and only then did she realize this was what she truly needed to heal. She was still en route to Oak Tree Bend, but it became painfully obvious to her then that she would not make it back by the dates she had promised @Lachesis or the others – and she could not stir up any form of guilt in that moment for it. Right now, she needed herself.

Turtleback Lake was a place she enjoyed, but rarely lingered. The cold would settle in soon, and she knew her delay from returning could not be long. There was also a seen of lingering dread at the prospect of telling her family what had happened.. as if it had not been terrible enough to live through it once, to recapture the moment for them practically took her breath away.

So she would pause toward the lake edge, eager to satiate her thirst – and when the wind swept past, telling her the tale of another, her bright green eyes would sweep up, narrowed in suspicion before falling upon the dark creature who she found hunched, a few feet from her.

sparking up my heart