Broken Boulder and the sun said, "it hurts to become."

Lucani ventured onwards with her Alpha, the two peeling off from the group and going in their allocated direction. Such was the purposeful nature of their quest, the healer's mind swiftly turned away from healing and concentrated fully on the task at paw.

The way was easy. The ground was still cold with the remnants of Winter and the northness of their location, but the landscape was smooth — pleasant, even. Her eyes were not on the scenery, however, but on the road ahead, her muzzle low and searching. She spotted the pawprints as Thuringwethil did, but they were unremarkable.

Then the older female hesitated as she picked up a scent at the foot of a nearby beech tree. She lingered there... it was a wolf's scent. Not a border marker, but a scent nonetheless. Someone had been here recently... but was it a rival or an innocuous passer-by?