Father had said that he didn’t believe luck was contagious, but what had happened immediately once my family was in my presence? A mountain lion had attacked! I don’t know if I should be furious at the world for such rotten treatment or sad that clearly, I was not yet worthy enough to return home. I had managed to let the mountain lion slip pass my guard all those seasons ago and it was still chewing me apart that I had failed so in the presence of Heyel. Yet, I wouldn’t not allow my failure to be my defeat. I had become a seasoned traveler and loner. I was thin, as loners always were, but not unhealthy. My thick, shining white fur hid my leanness and it glowed with light even though the overcast sky attempted to dim it.

While I had not forged the strength required to return home, but i couldn’t help… passing by sometimes. Just to check the scents, see who was around, and who had left. I feared mostly, that I’d not be able to return before Heyel passed. At the border between Diveen and the woodland, I paused. I stood stark and silent as I watched the waving golden fields russell peacefully through the trees. The wind was kind enough to swirl the aroma of my family to be. Some were missing… so many of us had died or disappeared, but I was relieved to know that Heyel’s scent was still fresh, as was Calista’s -- Wait, who?

My attention turned, the sorrow in my eyes faded as my nose tracked the aroma of my elder sister. I hadn’t caught her smell in, well ages! When was the last time we had talked? I couldn’t even remember the last conversation she and I had. Guilt stabbed me, for I knew I had vanished from my family and shunned them without truly meaning to. Calista had also been absent from the Diveen (for her scent there was nonexistent). I was so out of touch, that I had been unaware that her children and mate were lost to her, but with her fresh in my mind, I could recall that I hadn’t seen Swallowbane in my wanderings.

In my worry, I found that my legs were working on their own in attempt to locate her exact position. Thunder roared over head in warning for me to move quickly, and so I did. My longs legs extended over obstacles as if I were only stepping over them. Rain began to drip through the canopy, and splashed tiny, icy drops onto my top line. It was only moments after that I spotted her. My legs circled over themselves to bring me to a halt as I laid eye upon her profile. Relief flooded me when I saw the tranquil twinkle upon her face.

I then stiffened in realization that I had been foolish enough to run here! I would have surely been detected by now, for I had taken no precautions to hiding myself. If I had hidden, I would have had no prideful issues about leaving her to sit quietly near Diveen (for I was sure my family would be quick to find her), but now I couldn’t just run away. Instead, I steadied myself and approached her with a soft croon bubbling in the back of my throat. “Sister you look… rejuvenated.”

I had no better word to describe her, for my dim recollection caused her to appear blurred as if I had been looking at her with my eyes half closed. Now, she appeared to me with sharp, refined features and my faded memory was given life again. A soft smile formed on my muzzle as I blinked slowly, affectionately at her as the rain slid down the crevices of my face.