Duskfire Glacier [Quest] through fangorn forest

The transition to pack life proved more of a burden every passing day. It was not the duties that wore him down: Malachi felt glad to be of use again, and more than thankful for the home Tuwawi had offered him here with the Duskfire wolves. But that was just it - he couldn't look at the fireborn's family without remembering all he had left behind in the Vale: his parents and young siblings, who had been around the age of Tuwawi's own children when he had fled from the land, a dark memory he tried hard to repress.

He'd set out that day in the direction opposite his regular route, heading now for the Eastern lands which often garnered less attention than the West. He hadn't explored these parts much himself, and used his ignorance as a way of convincing himself to fix his mind solely on his surroundings, strategically forcing his mind from the painful thoughts that stung him. Gradually he found his memories of land which lay miles away recede to the back of his mind, yet with his increasing awareness of his present situation came also a sensation that he was not alone. He stopped and cupped his ears. The forest sounds surrounded him, but he heard an unnatural rhythm to the snapping twigs and crunching leaves. Lowering his body, he drank in the scent of the forest again. Trees and flowers met him, the scent of his packmates, too. But there was something different here, something dangerous and fresh. The pungent scent of lynx lingered in his nostrils and he felt bile rise in his throat. Swallowing hard, he rooted his paws in place and honed every sense on the forested land around him, silently cursing himself for travelling the land alone.