Emberwood I beg you to break up with her

Ibis hadn't been home for long, but that wasn't really super important. She'd checked on a few of the caches, nibbled on some frozen bits of mice that someone had left there, and then begun to patrol the trees. It wasn't on purpose—they had so many bodies, many of which were more able than her own for such a task—but it was nice to listen to the stillness of the snow and watch as flurries fell between the spires, to the point that Ibis became lost in her thoughts. It was idyllic; she loved the woods very much.

Her route trailed along until she spotted one of Reiko's carvings: the woman had started cutting the bark away along the claim's edge to denote their presence, and the four-pronged flower was basic, but beautiful. Ibis had just started to make a game out of finding them all when she noticed a shifting white mass in her peripheral vision—and so she paused, almost like a deer catching a whiff of a predator on the wind. Except that this wasn't some stranger nor someone to be afraid of.

When Ibis realized it was the woman she'd encountered at the creek, she was thrilled—and thought about calling for Kavik, but opted not to bother the man. If the two had history then that was their business, and he was an avid scout of the borders, so he would know of her visit at some point either way. As she pranced closer she smiled warmly to the woman, and called out: Star! Hello—is the season treating you well?

It certainly couldn't be worse than autumn, Ibis mused—even with the snow, at least the earth had calmed down and the food had begun to come back.