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... and as he padded back to

Snowblind's body to drag it out of the camp he looked back up at Outlander. What had he said? This would be the last time

she saw him? As he bent down to grab Snowblind's scruff, she stopped him. "Bone," she called, motioning for him to come

to her. The bleeding from her neck had stopped, but her shattered ribs still cried out in pain, and she was hesitant to disturb

them. He padded forward, hanging head low. "Sit," she said, tapping her tail on the ground next to her.

"I need to get this carcass out of here," he protested. "It will attract scavengers if-"

She rolled her eyes and groaned theatrically, "Just sit." He grumbled, but gave in with a sigh and sat next to her. "Happy?"

He murmered. They watched the sun begin to retreat from its high throne, making its way to the hills in the distance where it

would rest. Outlander thought back to what her mother had said. "You are not an 'it,' Bone. You are a 'who," she said with

finality.

Bone made no sound, but Outlander could have sworn she had seen the slightest break of a tear in his eye. "You have a

heart, a mind, and a soul just like any other wolf. You aren't a monster at all ... I think it's taken me too long to truely realize

that." There was silence for a moment more as the sun met the ground. "There is," Bone said after a while, "one last thing I

need to do." He placed a rough skeletal paw on her head lightly and lowered her head to the ground. "Close your eyes," he

said. Outlander obeyed, noticing everything had begun to sound far away. "And dream."

Outlander found herself greeted by the astral forest once again. "Hello?" She called out.

"Outlander," a voice called from behind her. She turned to see Bone, or at least what she believed to be Bone. His skin and

fur were completely intact and his voice, while still low and gravely, didn't have the rasp years of wear had put on his lungs.

He looked ALIVE. "Bone?" she murmured in awe. "Welcome to the Forever Grounds," he said with a smile. He turned and

padded off quickly, shouting, "Follow me!" over his shoulder. Her short legs struggled to keep pace with giant bounds of the

mythical wolf. As she ran pasts she could see whisps of ghost wolves running along side her, a magnificent phantom pack

howling at the moon.

Bone pulled her aside from the phantom chase, leading her to a familiar spot. She could see the large tree in the distance,

and Scavenger still sat under it, speaking with a two other coyotes. "I made her a promise," Bone said, looking down at

Outlander, "that I would keep you safe, and that once I had done what the ancestors had asked, I would reunite you." Tears,

set on her eyelids, and the thought occuring to her to say something she should have said many times before. "Thank you."

She ran into the glade, stopping before the tree. All three coyotes turned to her before the two strangers said farewell to

Scavenger and padded away into the forest of stars.

Now Scavenger alone sat under the tree. Outlander couldn't bring herself to move forward as she thought how she had

betrayed her sister and allied with her enemy. "Outlander," the coyote said, her voice bringing comfort like her mother's. "All

has been forgiven," she said, seemingly reading Outlander's thoughts. A smile broke across her face as she greeted her

sister for the first time in many years. Scavenger touched her forhead to Outlander's before looking back to Bone. "Thank

you for honoring your promise," she called. He nodded from the distance, silently.

"He really is quite sweet, isn't he, when he isn't bent on killing you?" Scavenger said with a laugh. Outlander looked at her

fearsome guardian. A white wolf she didn't recognize had appeared next to him. "He's hurting," she said quietly to

Scavenger. "He has been for a long time."

"So have you," Scavenger remarked sincerely. "That grudge you held with him was not on my behalf, but yours. You were

alone, and you blamed him."

Outlander's ears pinned as the truth shot like daggers into her heart. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked, quietly.

"Because you aren't alone," Scavenger laughed her eyes sparkeling with mirth, "You never have been, so you can finally let

go of this burden you've been holding on to." She looked back to the hill where Bone and the white wolf were speaking. "He

isn't the only one that needed to bloom," she said with a smile that melted Outlander's resentment. "You've both made it,

you've both bloomed."