The slim Optime made her way carefully through the trees, conscious as always of not bruising leaves or trampling saplings. The orchard leaves had more caterpillar holes than she ever remembered, but the leaves still meshed together into a verdant canopy, casting dappled shadows along the soil. She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply. The smells were so sweet. All the delicate little blossoms, the rich scent of the wood, it brought so much flooding back to her. She knelt, opening her eyes to search among the weeds and tree trunks. There was a little green sprout with the rounded leaves she was looking for, not the pointed arrows of dandelion or the little spears of grass. Coli delicately scooped her hands underneath it, cupping the soil its fine roots had begun to cling to. There were several others nearby, no doubt from the same discarded apple core of last season. Her trip had not been in vain, despite the heavy heartache it was leaving her with.
Then came a voice behind her, strong and clear. Coli flinched, ears clapping flat against her skull, teeth bared out of instinctive panic as she whirled around to face the accuser. There was a wolf here, a female, but one taller and more muscular than her -- and her wildly tracking eyes immediately focused in on the weapon the stranger wore, some sort of sword. Quickly dropping the sprouts to the ground, Coli took several stumbling paces backwards, stammering her apology.
"Ahh, I didn't know they p-posted a guard here! S-sorry, I wasn't stealing anything, I'll put them all back," she swallowed, blue eyes shining with fear and mistrust. There was already a great deal of guilt weighing her down, now it simply had a reason to spill out into the open. Maybe there were still Dreamers living here after all, ones who would fiercely protect their territory from looters whether they had an official pack or not. There was no way she could fight off someone like this, a lean swordswoman who clearly devoted her life to slicing up good-for-nothings like Coli. This was no one she recognized, no former packmate who would take pity on her. She crouched low to the ground, ready to sprint for the open field if the stranger made a move to attack.