Who's ever in the right anymore?
Finally, finally the woman had escaped the accursed snowy trap that had been the north. Even better she'd finally found geography that felt familiar, for the first time since she'd left her old home. But walking along the sand, feeling it burn her now unaccustomed pads and feeling the weight of her drooping pelt, only helped to drive home the pain, the guilt she felt whenever she thought off her old home... Idly she wondered how Pops was doing, if he was still squirreled away in the abandoned sandstone house he'd claimed. She wondered if his family was still thriving or if maybe it was falling apart under the weight of his age... if he even still lived that was. She thought on the wolves that inhabited the desert city, she thought on the marks and the plans that must have been going on even as the everyday citizen ignored those for whom a helping paw would mean the difference between death and exile. She thought on everyone she'd ever known in that city. Except for one. Except for the very one who's mere memory made her heart ache in a way that made her feel it'd never be whole again. She wouldn't think on her, refused to think on her- Solana plodded heavily through the sand, feeling the midday sun beating down on her with a ferocious heat she was no longer used to. She'd need to seek out shelter and soon if she didn't want to suffer worse than she already had. Squinting to try and mitigated the glare of the sun off the sand she searched the horizon for anything that might help her. Finally she thought she'd spotted some promising looking shadows. With a sigh the woman began to her journey towards the shapes, once more allowing her mind to drift back towards her prior thoughts. Just as she felt her mind slipping into territory she didn't want she the trees became clear. There was a brief moment of relief, that she'd be out of the sun soon when she spotted the wolf already lounging in the shade... and Solana froze. Somehow in all this time her mental image of Echo had warped, her markings had been more faded in her memory and the brilliance of her golden eyes heightened but now as Solana looked upon her for the first time in what felt like a life time she knew she could never fail to pick the woman out. Her heart fluttered in her chest, but the queasy feeling in her stomach was stronger, making her feel she was going to be sick, her stomach tightened and she struggled to fight off the urge to gag. She was frozen in the oppressive heat of the sun, unable to form words or even sounds. |
| Art by Takahiroreta |