At a certain shelter at the park...

Wishbone shows up, in homid, for once.  It's not much to look at: just a shelter and some grass between the road and the creek.

"...but this is where it all started," he murmurs to himself.

Unless stopped, he would be following after Wishbone, travelling without a word.

"Seems kinda weird, you know?"  Wishbone wanders past the shelter.  "I mean...Falling Waters is back, and it's growing.  The Maid's back.  Hard to remember that a couple of years ago, we were just a bunch of confused Cliaths and a few Fosterns meeting in a park because we didn't have a caern."

"So how did you come across the Maiden and come to settle in Falling Waters?  This is long before my time, but I'm curious."

"That's a very long story.  Let me see if I can give you the short version."

He looks around carefully, both in the real world and the Umbra, using senses far keener than any human's, to be sure the story won't be overheard by the wrong ears.  One can't be too careful.

Having assured himself that it's safe, he squats on his haunches.  "To begin with, I grew up here in Falling Waters.  This was one of the mightiest Septs left in the world today, and I was proud to be part of it.  Still am.  Only...things took a turn for the worse.  The Stone Giants...a native tribe of the fae...went on a rampage, killing all of the other fae in the area.  The Sept fought to defend our allies, at a heavy, heavy price.  When I was a cub here, we were nine packs strong, and not weak packs, either--Elders, Athros.  This was a strong Sept.  But the Stone Giants were strong, too.  We lost the majority of six packs fighting them."

"But it got worse.  The Maid was taken away from us.  Somehow, a leech managed to steal her away.  When the Sept pursued, the vessel which held her was destroyed, and she was lost to the Abyss...and if you know anything about the Abyss, you know that what goes in almost never comes out again.  It seemed as if Falling Waters was lost.  The Alpha, Edgar Seta-Rhya, ordered all of the cubs and cliaths to evacuate for a year and a day."

"I was one of those cliaths.  We didn't want to go, but the Litany is clear: the Alpha's word may not be questioned in time of war, and we were definitely at war.  When we returned, a year and a day later, we came to this spot."  He pats the grass beneath his feet.  "Seta-rhya called us here.  We learned that much had been lost in the time we were gone.  The Alpha's brother and his pack...including Bullroarer and my mentor, Whispers Through Doughnut...went into the Abyss in search of the Maid, knowing they would never return.  They were willing to give up everything for a chance to bring her back."

He pauses, closing his eyes, silently honoring the sacrifice of his Septmates and friends.