The girl made her way through Blossom Forest in an easy lope, the sun just beginning its ascent. There was a stillness in the world around her, the haze of dawn silencing everything around it. Whiskey brown eyes peered out before her as she stood in ankle deep fog, contemplating her next move. She’d gone to her birth place, stopped dead by the vacant space that had once been home to lush land where generations of wolves had thrived. It was barren, torched by flames that Malina had been blissfully unaware of. The stench of ash lingered on her paws - the miss had dared to take a few steps passed what was once the border, only to retreat on light feet. There was a slice of grief hidden somewhere deep within her; the graveyard she had once spent so much time at, where her mother and grandmother and aunt lay at rest, had been burned over. The graveyard had been her final destination, just as it was her father’s. She’d wanted to come, to speak to her mother’s grave as she always had, and was sourly disappointed by what she had found.

It had been the dead of night when she’d approached the wasteland that had once been the home of a goddess and a hellion, the very pair of maned wolves who would start the cursed bloodline. Her grandmother had lost her mate early and her father had lost both of his - loss clung to their bloodline. Malina and her siblings had already gone through the same tragedy that their older sister had, the same tragedy her unmet Aunt Eriel had. The whiskey-eyed female shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts and began the trek towards the lake, deciding to start her exploration of Blossom Forest there. Exploration hadn’t been on anyone’s mind when Malina was a child - the war her father rarely talked about had been hanging heavy over them, and then in the wake of Shae’s death, there was only silence and mourning.

The former princess was childishly delighted when grass melted into sand beneath her paws, trees and undergrowth steadily thinning out until the lake was revealed to her. She’d heard about how useful the lake was to its surrounding packs, but had never seen it up until now. It was decidedly lovely, and Malina thought that her mother might have enjoyed this once the war was over. Melancholy tasted bitter on her tongue and she crossed the shore to the lake’s edge, drinking to clear it from her mouth. Sated, the sundrenched girl waded into the water curiously. She wasn’t looking to swim, but the shift of the sand under her feet and the lapping of small waves around her stilts was an experience all in its own - one that she’d never had before. Malina was content here, surrounded by beauty, but lacked company. As early in the day as it was, she didn’t expect any to come along, no matter how much she welcomed it.