Word Count → 509 :: Thanks so much for joining!! 
Now it was a matter of waiting, and Clover found herself pacing back and forth over the same span of a couple meters. Her call would be heard by someone, no doubt, and now she only had to wait for them to arrive. Several thoughts tumbled through her head – would it in fact be a sibling to greet her? Would she be welcomed with kind words, or shunned for her abandonment? – but she did her best to let these thoughts drift from her consciousness. They only made her anxious, she realized, and so instead she brought the smoldering thing to her lips once more and took a deep inhalation of her favorite medicinal herb.
Before her gaze fell upon the approaching mare and coyote duo, darkened ears turned to catch the sound of approaching heavy hooves. Clover spun on the spot, golden hair turning about her shoulders in a shimmering wave, and realized it was Sage who had answered her call. Though there was a supreme sense of elation in this small fact, Clover could also feel the ugly turn of guilt and shame in the pit of her stomach. A smile found her lips and the young Lykoi woman told herself to focus only on the good.
"Sage!" Clover called out, raising a hand into the air to wave as Lennon brought her sister closer. The Optio barely waited for Lennon’s hooves to fall idle before she had leapt from his back and came racing towards Clover. The other Lykoi opened her arms to her sister and welcomed the embrace Sage insisted upon. A warm feeling of tranquility spread throughout her frame while she held her sister close to her. Though she knew Inferni was no longer the home for her, there was nothing like having your family at your side. And for that alone, she missed the clan.
"I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I guess I’ve just gotten so caught up in things..." She let her voice trail away, as her sister stepped back from their embrace and looked on with curious eyes. Clover let her own gaze fall away from her sister, who (despite her darker waves and half mask) looked very similar to Clover herself. "I met an intriguing man in the mountain some time ago and when I went back to Drifter Bay to collect some of the things I had left there from my time as a wanderer, he happened to come across me again. He is a leader now, and his kingdom is not far from here – the westernmost edge of the Bay. I went with him. Inferni just didn’t seem like home, and I needed change. Please don’t be angry with me." Clover didn’t necessarily need her sister’s approval of her abandonment, but she wouldn’t have been able to stand knowing her sister was irate with her decision. She wanted nothing but love between her and her siblings, since they were so dear to her. She couldn’t bear the thought of knowing she might have hurt any of them.
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