Aure may have not been of higher rank, but she deemed to heed the cheka's call either way. Honestly, she didn't think she was physically able to say "no" whenever he asked something of her; and coming to his side had begun to feel like--

The white smudge she saw a whiles away made her halt.

Too far away for them to hear the little, staggered noise that left her. "H-hanar?" It couldn't be. It couldn't, she saw him fall, vanish, unable to reach for him; and before she knew it she'd started off towards them in a trot. The little she-wolf’s gait light and fleet, but a smidge hesitant, restrained.

Her trance was only broken by Verx's presence, who she gently pressed against on her arrival. She was right there, within reach, and her mouth was a ghostly presence at his broad, marred shoulder. "Ĕrĕmelda," she breathed, her birth-tongue making her voice airy, wisping. Tender.

But then her attention was snagged by the pale-and-cream before her, and her voice died in her throat once again. ...Not him. It wasn't the same heft, the same, feathery token of his coat that they'd been adorned in. Her words sounded far-away, her spirit feeling farther, as she finally mustered a soft, "A traveler?" More of a statement than inquiry, but her eyes, a bit glazed, were unassuming besides, and open for any interpretation. And then, when the herbalist in her exuded, "How do you fare? Are you... skarnā?-- Ahm, hurt?"

Whether dragă referred to her most recent trip with Tux or her several excursions before Drageda, she hadn’t seen any distinct souls of those that Verx referred to. Would that she had seen them, she would have told this seeker everything, regardless of the yearning for kin that blazed in her amber eyes. "No, I... haven't come across either. As your family, they must be as singular as yourself." Her words were neither compliment or insult, merely a practical fact she stated by who was before her. Aure knew that look—the feeling still tore her open, made her frigid, wont for nothing but any information on her brother. There was nothing, nobody she wanted more to seek out, breathe alongside again and feel in her narrow and spirit that they were enlivened.

But if this wanderess had seen Vonnaruil, she might not be willing to tell her. After all, when you were bordering on desperate tirades that constantly bore nothing to follow on, why give somebody else the chance to reunite with one’s blood that much more swiftly? Aure... wouldn’t blame her, if that was the case. Couldn’t bring herself to. Wouldn’t bring herself to give her condolences, either—if she were this female, she’d have become sick of it, personally.

Regardless, she entreated, ”I also search for family. For my brother, one named Vonn.” A clarity came to her eyes, hesitant and modest, as she became reserved once more. ”I mistook you for him, from afar. He... looks as I do,” unable to hold Takiyok’s gaze as she reluctantly brought attention to herself, their story. But it needed to be done, so she minced it as finely as she could. Her tone, as Takiyok’s refused pity:

”We—I arrived to ze Wilds three months ago. We come from ze far north, and meant to traverse through an icefields; Vonn...” Tried to keep her face more impassive, but the struggle of it was evident with how she stumbled through her words as her brother had stumbled into his fate. ”Vonn fell through a crevasse. Ever since then, I have searched for him, inquired of him, as I believe he may have survived.” 

A muscle flickered in her jaw, before finally turned back to peer at the porcelain female. Some passion filtered its way through the thinning frost of her attempt at seeming withdrawn. ”Have you chanced upon him?”

If there was any calamity within the traveler’s ivory face, she did well to conceal it, leaving Aure none the wiser. As for Aurëwen herself... it became evident that, at her very self, she wasn’t as  wintry as she seemed. Couldn’t ever be, because somewhere between the words ”yes” and ”I know” her arctic façade thawed, brow knitted. Eyes became bleary, unseeing, as a thin breath shivered from her airless lungs.

As Takiyok went on, her expression fractured into quivery wonderment. It was one thing to hold an ever-waning belief; to have it become known as truth was... devastating in itself. No sound came from her, except for another soft, muted gasp. ”P-please, forgive me.” She wouldn’t let herself cry here, not with the situation still at hand. In a graceless attempt to remember herself, she tried to straighten her wilted posture, ”Your generosity, ze prospect of your blessing—is more than appreciated. O-of course I will name you when I may seek Stigmata out. I couldn’t ever fathom doing anything but.”

Then, the Diaspore continued, and spoke of ensuring information and all else, for her, for Vonn’s sake. Only just reviving herself from the first account, now she was left blinking fervently through the glacier-maid’s second tangent. This time, the words alit on her conscience with an earnest tone. Not so much as an oath as it was practical, logical, to get her where she needed to be. Nonetheless, nobody had ever offered to go for such lengths for her with this, strangers or no.

That was what finally rifted a fissure in her. Sure, it was probably all but a dipolmatic, sincere manuevre that was common between those who searched for the same thing. But Aure wasn't used to it, and it meant her heart ached with appreciation for it.

So much she wanted to say, but didn’t quite, didn’t know how. Instead, she turned from them both to drift a moment's reach or so away, emotion emnating through the wisping frailness of her body. ”There... there is so much that I must do here within ze coming weeks, if I am to depart at some point. I-I'm sure something may be arranged, regardless,” her airy voice dawdling back to the pair, a little more than overwhelmed; punctuated a word or so with a fluttery shrug of her shoulders.

Throat muscles and jaw strained to work, to continue, unable to even think properly. As it was, Aure didn’t quite have the emotional fortitude to make her way back over to them. At least, until she regained some semblance of herself, when her thoughts weren't so flighty. Gathering herself back again—or whatever poise she still had left—she regarded Takiyok from over a sharp shoulder. ”Mulțumesc.” There was enough in that single, foreign word to be taken as some kind of gratitude, and she lent it to Takiyok with a soulful gaze. What else could she say to the wanderer, with her poor words and poor mind?

Her mind flickered along the thread of What can I do to ensure that she endures on her own search? She contemplated for a moment... "We have just replenished our supply of herbs, I believe. I'm more than certain that we have ze type used for travelling." The little she-wolf allowed the suggestion to hang between them, her tone courteous and indulgent once more.

She’d made her way back as Verx assured then Diasporian himself; and when the properties were declined, Aure merely nodded, now quiet. Situating herself alongside the cheka once more, Takiyok suddenly brought up the matter of a favor. Without missing a beat, Aure was nodding again, pale gaze already flaring with promise. ”Y-yes. Desigur—of course. What you have given me is...”

Promptly, voice hoarse with gratitude and unable to finish herself, she instead gave a gracious dip of her head, a bittersweet, faint curling of her lips. ”You may place your faith in me, prietenul meu. I will be at your beck and call, as I may be.” The vow was not unlike the one she had sworn for Tux, but she’d meant every word of it. ”You will find your family, voyager,” a sureness to her voice where she hadn’t yet learned a name. She would have to inquire Verx of it later, her ivory neck to level her eyes with the Diaspore once again. 

And speaking of Verx... she curved her neck to peer up into his finely-made face. There was an easy, serene solace about her that hadn’t ever truly been there before today. Despite having company—and with great restraint because of it—she stretched up to nestle her scarred cheek into the strong, familiar column of his throat. If he hadn’t been here with her today, with his unwavering presence... she didn’t know how she would’ve amended herself today.

It only lasted two heartbeats, however, but bashfulness hummed through her nonetheless, an as she pulled away, she couldn’t quite meet either of their gazes anymore. Softly biting at her lip, she seemed to give Takiyok one last, warm dip of her head, before she murmured a farewell and began to trail her way, slowly, back to the red cradle of winter sequoias.