Mount Apikuni Mermaids and Crabmen

Setting this after Artyom and Minnow source Aliac's grave (vague reference to it here as not sure how it'll play out), on their way home. Tag for reference, no need to join.  :D

With their mission having been completed, Artyom and @Minnow made their way carefully down Lone Star Mountain's frozen slopes. It had been a long couple of days and, with Dawn and their unborn litter at the forefront of his mind, the ranger was keen to be home with her.

Of course, his sympathy remained with his young ward. It had to have been difficult for her to visit her dam's final resting place, and likely even harder to leave. When they reached the valley once more, safe on more solid ground, Artyom offered to source them a meal to better fuel them for the remainder of their trip.

He followed the prints of a large mink through the fresh snow, an eagerness in his stride as he sniffed enthusiastically to determine how soon it'd passed through. It was not movement of the creature he actively attempted to track, however, that caught his eye. He lifted his earthen gaze to look upon a sleek alabaster frame as she roamed through the foliage, clearly not the animal he sought.

He drew closer, recognised her as the wolfess from the Emberwood who'd offered to send word should her kin manage to source Whitebark's missing wolves. The arrival of Grezig and Kavik, seeking a place among their numbers, had of course given him cause for concern - but he figured their previous comrades would've simply found their own path.

"Reiko," he called out gently, careful not to spook her by easing to halt a comfortable distance away.