Qeya River let light not see my deep and black desires

for @Eske -- keeping things vague about the iliksis thing

Being uprooted from their home had not turned out to be such a negative thing, or so Vaati believes. It is a time for reflection, to think about where they went wrong. Blackfeather had held the upper hand... now why had they not won? Vaati does not think about these things himself, he had won his own battle. It had been the rest that failed to hold up their own ends, to solidify all those high and mighty claims about superiority they had been chanting for years. Perhaps he should be more sympathetic to his own kind, but he is not. Only disappointment and the slightest bit of smuggery paints his smirk -- for now -- they could no longer deny that change was needed. Change in the form of him as their leader, and how he planned to restore the image of blood-curdling terror their name at its proclamation, once produced. The war itself had been a win-win situation for Vaati himself for either way, he would get what he wanted. 

Following the river upstream from the Bypass, the yearling dunks himself in the riverbank, freeing himself from the stench of rot and blood of the dark woods. It has already faded, his own individual scent submerged under the wave of scents of those he had come into contact with during the fight, and the fresh scent of a forest nowhere near the woods. Yet still, he takes precautions. To scout without masking the smell of where he came from is foolish, he knows this now. He has learned. 

Unknowingly, the path he takes northeast will lead him straight to the shore of Drageda's forces, the destination marked within his mind as Caiaphas had explained, but only by the tunnels would he be able to locate where it lies. With the winds low and frozen on the early winter morning, he begins to investigate this new land, he can only hope to catch the scent of a pack if he ventures too near. But for now, he plays a risky little game; one taunting the Fates whom he had dodged so often. Hunkered, alert stance and well placed, well paced footing drives him forward, and Vaati does not look back.