ready to be hurt again

It was so pleasant to set her mind loose and follow in the pawsteps of someone else for once. There was a queer feeling that accompanied this letting go, almost as if she'd been transported back in time. A simpler time. Shaye was still alive, Rhyme's mind was still in one piece, Poem was still heir... logically, she knew that she couldn't escape the burdens of the present. But wasn't it nice to pretend? Abaven's weight bore heavy on her mind and body. Anyone watching her grow could see the changes written on her face and posture clear as day: no longer was she blanketed in smiles and optimism. She'd grown cynical, maybe even bitter. There was a hardness to her eyes that hadn't been there even a season ago. The volcano had changed everything.

"Yes, it's easy to admire the rocks, much more difficult to hypothesize," she laughed. Theory followed Tamsyn gratefully, altering her course to pad along the riverbank. Water had been a constant in her life, from the rapids to the ocean surrounding Ibis Islands, and now the bay that they had laid claim to. She was most at peace when the quiet rushing of a current was nearby. "Underwater..." she murmured, trying to imagine it. Maybe fish once called this place home. Theory tried to imagine seaweed on the ground instead of grass but couldn't quite get there. The young alpha padded right up towards the shoreline. Water lapped at her paws. There was a definite difference in temperature here - it was chillier than the bay, but they were a bit further north. "Maybe they dropped right from the sky?" Theo added, a rare glint of humor in her eyes. "The coastline probably did look very different in years past. If nothing else, the eruption has shown me just how drastically nature can change her landscape." Her voice was hollow when she spoke about the volcano. She couldn't help it. Nature had taken so much from her and her family. For a long moment she stared out over the waves at the nearby island. There was a place she hadn't been yet. Theo gestured out at the island with her muzzle. "Have you been out that way?"