With the turning of the seasons came an increase in temperature in the west. Not that many of the desert lands ever got to be anything less than toasty, but now traveling during the day was sort of a pain as the sun beat down on her dark pelt. Because of this, Echo had taken to lounging in the shade of a few leafy palms when high noon came around. She was lucky she even found them, as all around her a vast expanse of sand stretched out as far as she could see. Panting, Echo noted the way the heat made everything in the distance ripple and wave like the ocean. Maybe soon she'd see a mirage or two. Once, a very long time ago, she used to compare the mirages she saw with other desert-dwelling wolves as a way to pass the time during the hottest parts of the day. Sometimes she missed it, that home she'd once known. Even if her life hadn't been so great then she still had a place in her heart for it, and much as she loathed to admit it, a place remained for certain unnamed residents she'd left behind... What did that matter now though? She'd left it all behind. Resting her chin on her paws, the woman sighed heavily. It was going to be a long, warm day. Walk. "Speak!" "Think."

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. "Talk" Think

A heavy sigh had just passed her lips, eyelids slid shut for only a moment to soak up the mixture of peaceful and bored emotions that swam through her mind as she panted quietly in the patch of shade she'd staked her claim on. It was just Echo's luck that the sound of someone approaching would rouse her from her near slumber. For a bit she simply hoped the other would notice her and go find their own spot to relax in. Unfortunately it seemed the wolf was either undisturbed by her presence or still unaware. Ugh, fine then. "Donchya know it's rude to invade somebody's spot uninvited?" She drawled as she turned towards the intruder, yawning briefly before opening her bright gold eyes to see- Hold up. Blinking several times in the hopes that what she'd discovered would either prove to be a dream, mirage, or a wolf that just looked oddly familiar, Echo took in a sharp breath. Stunned into silence alongside the already quiet woman who was not magically disappearing, causing her to wake up from this dream, or morphing into something less familiar. No way. No FUCKING way. Her throat suddenly felt tight as she shot up into a standing position so fast she felt a wave of unsteadiness and nausea momentarily overwhelm her and somehow she wasn't sure how much was the sudden movement rather than the crushing emotions that were threatening to swallow her whole in that brief second. Cropped ears fell flat and brows knitted together to tight she was sure she had the most pained and ugly scowl etched on her face that any wolf had ever worn. Her chest and throat felt so tight, was it this hard to breathe a minute ago? For a long moment she simply tried to find her composure while staring the other woman down with a gaze that didn't waver for even the slightest second. Echo's breathing was a little off, her lungs suddenly felt like pulling in air was the most difficult task ever asked of them. How was it that someone could shake her so badly just by showing up out of the blue... It made her feel even more weak and powerless than usual. No, no way was she going to leave Echo feeling like she was drowning. This wasn't the wolf that Solana knew before, she was Echo Sandhound, a no good exiled thief who had survived everything that was thrown at her. Coward or not, she wasn't going to be left dumbstruck. "You look like hell, Sol." Echo finally mumbled, eyes narrowing as she studied the other woman. Walk. "Speak!" "Think."

Solana suddenly couldn't keep her stomach calm when Echo spoke, the sound of her voice made it all too real and she dry heaved as her former friend jumped suddenly to her feet. If she'd had anything to eat in the past few days it's be on the sand by now but luckily, or not depending on how you looked at things, she hadn't eaten in at least a week. Never quite gotten the hang of the whole hunting thing. She was just getting her nausea under control when Echo spoke again and despite her state Solana couldn't help the dry rasping laugh that pulled from her lungs. "No shit Echo, what tipped you off?" She lifted her head for the first time, angling her face so that there was no way the other woman could miss the scar that now marred her face. Then she suddenly had to look away again, all the guilt, all the uncertainty she'd repressed all this time was flooding back and she felt like her chest was going to burst. "I'll leave." She muttered, turning her gaze to sweep over the sands. The heat was still steadily climbing and she would need to find somewhere to shelter still, though all that she could see was open sands... still she knew she couldn't stay here. With some difficulty she lifted her fore paw and made to drag herself away into the desert. "Talk" Think

Too wraped up in her own shock, Echo hadn't noticed the gagging sounds coming from the woman who was once her friend. Once it had become clear that her mind was in fact not playing a cruel trick on her and that this really was Solana... Well Echo hadn't really gotten past that bit. This was Sol. She was here, in the flesh - however much of that was even on that skeletal frame - looking like death had chewed her up and spat her out as a way of torturing the wandering soul. A sense of disgust with herself had washed over the dark woman, but it took her a long moment to determine why. Ultimately she was forced to admit that it wa because of the satisfaction that had briefly thrummed through her. Echo had been glad to see the perceived traitor looking like she'd not have made it another moment past this meeting. That was so wrong, and yet... It was impossible to tamp down the feeling. The internal struggle caused her to miss Sol's snarky reply, though her attention was finally returned to the real world when Solana sought to leave the tense situation. Immediately a scowl fell over Echo's features and she rose, throwing herself into the other woman's escape route. Lips peeled back into a faint snarl as she hissed, "Oh, you think you're just gunna fuckin' disappear on me again? Don't think for a second I'm gunna let you get away with that. No, not after this," Echo glanced towards her cropped ears, "Not after you left me to get caught." Walk. "Speak!" "Think."