Moonsong Glacier gumboots

A chilly drizzle fell as Bat trudged further southwest along the coastline. She intended to stick close to the ocean's familiar sprawl, though the barking of sea lions drove her cautiously inland; she had no desire to engage the beasts. She passed beneath the shadow of a stony keep, the sparkle of the glacier beyond drawing her eye. Her hope of catching up to her nomi's war party had begun to fade and fray, so she let her curiosity compel her, even distract her, from the reality: she wasn't going to find them and ought to turn back to Drageda.

Bat's giant ears pricked with particular intrigue when she came close and heard the sound of water dripping, seemingly in dozens of different places along the jutting ice field. The light rain had stopped, so what was the source? She stopped at the floe's edge and cocked her head, listening. The noise soothed her as much as it appealed to her. Totally unaware of just how much of a burgeoning scout she was turning out to be, she took her first step onto the glacier.