Rowena didn't forget Macabre. Rowena could never forget Macabre. Macabre was such an important friend, and perhaps not just a friend, but family. Macabre was vital support for Rowena in a time when she had no one else to lean on, no one else to confide in. Falling in love with Dances created distance between them, but couldn't erase the feelings Rowena felt, and still feels, for Macabre.

Rowena was gone from the islands for so long, and she hasn't seen any faces from her time in the Ridge. She assumed they had all moved on, like she did for a time. Not everyone stays on these islands forever. Rowena never expected to see Macabre again. She especially didn't expect to run into her in now.

The black mare pushes through the dense undergrowth, her eyes searching the shadows for a shape that might be Dances. There is a lone horse up ahead, not engaged in any battle. Her heart races in her chest, but Rowena is hopeful it might be Dances. The figure has barely begun to take shape in the darkness when a familiar voice calls out for Vodnik.

One moment Rowena is trotting through the Forest on a dark and war-torn night, and the next she is weaving through the trees on the Ridge. She is back in a time when she though the had it all figured out. She was starting to understand what made Vodnik tick, and her heart was warming to him. She idolized Macabre like the older sister she never had, and there was Ailill, the golden boy next door. Rowena planned to smooth things over with her parents, then she and Ailill would fall in love, and live happily ever after. She was so young and naive. If only she knew how it all would end.

A lump of emotion rises in her throat. Macabre? She croaks, closing the distance between them. The black mare comes to a tense halt and reaches out with nostrils flared. She drinks in a scent that smells so much like home. Her ears turn and her eyes wide, adrenaline still running high. "I live here." She answers, and casts a nervous glance over her shoulder. She hopes an enemy doesn't find them caught unaware. "What are you doing here?"