Broken Antler Fen New life and love

Pragmatic wolf Wraen was, it hurt that there wasn't anything else she could do to ease Ibis's worries and fear. Right after their last meeting had come to a close, the elder had done her own investigation to come up with virtually nothing. She could not decide, should she feel glad that the kid had disappeared without a trace, because had she been assaulted or - worse - eaten by someone larger and very hungry, there would have been signs of struggle. And she trusted Arcturus and Penn - that kind of showdown would not have escaped anyone's attention. But then... there were quiet deaths too. Had the girl stepped on the lake's ice, broken through and drowned? Had she fallen victin to the storm - fallen asleep never to wake up again? So many possibilities and unanswered questions. If not knowing was unbearable to her, Ibis must feel so much worse.

She first caught sight of her niece and only afterwards did she notice the person that had drawn the former's attention. A weak and desperate looking fellow, feasting on meagre hare. Wraen closed the distance between them, brushed her shoulder lightly against Ibis's (if she let her) and then, standing side-by-side with her observed the man before them quietly.