Emberwood please be quiet

Ico wished he could return the smile, if only to reassure the kind stranger that he did not begrudge him his lack of local knowledge. But Ico couldn't smile. He was still too shaken by the night's events; and his eyes remained wide, because he was concerned about what he'd see if he closed them for any length of time...

"Away from your pack?" — Ico nodded at the question. His affirmative answer wasn't even the half of it. Away, away, away was a goal more intense than any he'd ever had before.

Ico glanced briefly in the direction in which he'd inadvertently been running. Apparently towards where this fellow came from. May I ask where you came from? Is it... is it Whitebark Stream? This was not an educated guess; it was barely a guess at all. It was simply hope, and perhaps the stranger would hear that in his voice. For now that the concept of Germanicus had landed heavily in his mind, Ico realised that there could be true purpose to his unexpected sojourn.