Bonesplinter Ravine when we find ourselves back at the start

She listened with a strong mixture of curiosity and amusement as she couldn’t fathom anyone else finding the very notion of a ghost in these parts anything but horrifying. There were likely already many ghostly spectres wandering about without her unneeded intrusion being added to the mix. Despite her thoughts on the matter, she kept them to herself, namely out of respect, partly out of the need to avoid conflict over trivial things. Not when it wasn’t interesting and not when she didn’t know the potential outcomes. The kindest of wolves could often be the deadliest after all. 

A mild feeling of deja vu permeated the air as he spoke of elks with some level of respect. Of course she had no way of knowing for sure if the wolf was a follower of….what was it that wolf had called it? The high elk? Even now the words brought a small glint of amusement to her gaze. High elk. How many of these wolves saw elk as godly? Was that simply a custom of the land? Did others outside of here know of this godly being? Who had started such a belief? Why were its followers so loyal? It peaked her interest to know of different faiths aside from her own, to pick the minds of devout believers. 

She casually flipped the remains of a lower jaw absently, eyes finding his with a glint of playful mischief in them, “I am Minah. A traveler, a wanderer, cursed by the gods above, or so say those who have quite a spot in their hearts for a pelt such as….mine.” At the final word she struck an exaggerated pose, tail held high, paws firmly apart. She spoke with such a serious tone, one that did not match her face at all, only to dissolve into a gentle fit of giggles the further she went on in her charade.

“I wouldn’t be opposed aiding you in attempting to find your elusive elk, though I can't guarantee finding one.” Not that she had much to do once she found her own skulls aside from return to Akai. If he wasn’t even home by the time she got back she’d simply have been left for hours to sit around alone and toss toads about. 

That was when it utterly dawned on her that perhaps….this wolf was one of the few she had properly met aside from her father. The Kingsled wolves didn’t count since they saw her as a plague or something of the sort. The revelation, while disheartening, was also a cause for excitement in the young she-wolf’s eyes. “Why is it that you search for deer or elk specifically?” The question was simple enough, right? “Do they hold an importance to you? That’s why I’m being careful about what I select from here. I want...something that means something to me. Something I can protect and care for despite the soul having long since left this earth.”