Ravensblood Forest it is the stones for altars

for @Vonn

wintersbane's recruitment drive took him back along the coast once more — he didn't linger longer than necessary in the hinterlands; though he had stayed longer than he'd initially meant to. he found himself subconsciously meandering towards the strath and spent some time at lotte's grave. it was where he'd spent the night despite that there'd been better sheltered places ...but it was as close as he'd ever get to spending time with his mother; and he'd almost regretted it as mallaidh's words came back to haunt him. your fault.

his fault.

he knows it's not true. or, at least, he tries to tell himself that it isn't because it stings less if he convinces himself that she was wrong and his disappearance had no relation to lotte's death.

wintersbane aims to cut right through ravensblood forest with no intention of lingering but the deeper into the forest he trudges the thicker the fog grows and forces him to slow his purposeful steps and to realize that at the risk of becoming disoriented by the thick fog — that he can barely make the silhouettes of the towering sequoias out as he draws nearer to them — is extremely great.