Dark Forest — [P] Refuge?

She missed home. Well, she missed her sister, and she missed Zane's home with him and his mother. Back then, when life seemed so complicated, it was so simple and she missed it greatly. Back then, she could tinker with her toys, gadgets, and other doohickies at her leisure. She missed her workshop and all of her knickknacks and trinkets. She missed the pranks she had created, waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them. She never thought she'd be a wolf to miss home. She figured herself an adventurer, or even an explorer! Yet, the yearning for a consistent place to lay her head at night ached within her. "Zaneeeeeeee" Elcid groaned as she lagged behind him. He wouldn't leave her. That much she knew. However, his determined, set pace drove her faster than Elcid was willing to travel at, only because she was tired of traveling. She knew, in fact, that if Elcid showed even a hint of being sick or actually needing a break, he would be the one to make sure she sat down and rested even before she would.  "Where are we even going?" They had been driven out of their previous homelands by the steady, constant rain that came to plague the lands. It was the craziest thing! She thought for sure that it was one of those massive storms, hurricanes if she remember correctly, moving across the lands. She'd read about them before when she took an interest in the weather and learning the various ways to interpret what was coming. It turned out that it was indeed not a hurricane. The rains did not grow more powerful over time. It was a nonstop drizzle day after day, week after week, which turned into month after month. It was when even the plant life started to die off from the constant rain that Zane had insisted that they move on. Elcid had agreed eagerly at the time. Now she wondered if the rain had ever stopped, and if they had made the right choice together.  From the southwest, the pair had eventually wandered into a dark forest thick with gloomy clouds and a stench of smoke permanent in the air. It was eerie as they traversed through the thick undergrowth. There were little sounds to hear as they walked on. It was hard to remain silent with the constant brushing against shrubbery. Twigs snapped even under the most careful of paws. Elcid's fur stood on end as they traversed onwards. She was alert, even as she groaned and lagged behind Zane. "I don't think this is a good place to be. I don't like how quiet it is. I feel like I can hear my own heart beating in my ears, and I'm not even winded." All the while as she talked, she kept her voice low which was unusual for her, usually the one to talk loud and proud. "I don't hear any bugs, or any birds, or nothing at all." Well, she heard Zane, of course.  It was then that Elcid spotted what looked to be a clearing up ahead. Suddenly, she had a destination. Her gait picked up speed as she moved towards the clearing. She hoped for sunlight, and for flowers, and for grass to be there. Where there was grass and sun, there was prey. However, as she neared the clearing, she realized it was everything she hadn't hoped for. It was a clearing alright, a large clearing at that. It was a clearing of burned underbrush still smoldering and smoking, flecks of ash floating through the air on gentle breaths of wind. There was no sunlight, for even here a dark heavy gray mingled with the smoke to obstruct any chance of rays touching the soil beneath. Elcid frowned. "Yep, don't like it here."  --- Speech.