Blackfoot Forest while you eggheads is on the wall preparing answers

though mulberry is aware she should be training, especially as the competitor within her yearns to climb her way up the ladder, bloodied tooth by tooth ...she does part of a patrol and veers off, crossing the shadow mountain and stepping onto the playful shadows of blackfoot forest. she cannot remember the last time she was here — possibly never because she tended to stick close to arlette in the months before their ultimate departure from the wilds.

she follows a path, trodden by wild boars ( if her nose is telling her correctly ), following the trampled debris without actually seeking them. it is just easier for her to navigate an already worn path then attempt to forge her own.

it is during this languid exploration that she realizes her path has crossed a stranger's; and considering the shadows work to camouflage him, she might've missed him entirely if not for movement out of the corner of her eye. poking her head out over the brush, she eyes him for a moment before decisively letting out a chuff to announce her presence.