Blacktail Deer Plateau may these thousand winters swiftly pass, i pray

There were two songs sung that day but three faces to meet, two dark and one bright, each with eyes like the sea. Aningan was near enough to not leave them waiting long, pace quick and eyes searching; he sought their figures even before they were within his line of sight, eager to greet them—they were strangers, true, but he knew he must meet them. After all, as much as he enjoyed the present group on the plateau, he could not deny how much easier it may be to hunt with more paws on the ground, come the return of the herds.

As the bear approached he looked between the three of them, intrigued; he assumed them to be related based on appearances alone, in addition to the scents they shared on their pelts—of the sea, he found, instilling within his chest a longing for what he once had. He missed the shoreline, the ocean, and all that came with it—but it betrayed them, attacking the wolves of Rusalka with its rage.

“Salutitsinik,” greeted the boy, tail waving amicably; he was relaxed overall, whatever wildfire ignited within in response to the former trespasser smothered. “Who are you all?” And what do you need? his eyes seemed to ask, a curiosity in his gaze that refused to die out.