Ravensblood Forest there is a light that turns on when you’re feeling alone

She had never seen anything like it. Treepie quickly looked away, putting the strange bird and its joyous ilk out of her mind as she waited for Alaric and Tiki to return her call.

Someone strode into view through the trees. Pie’s head whipped that way, hope bubbling in her chest. It quickly popped when she saw that it was a stranger. He carried a pelt in his mouth in a fashion that reminded her of her recently deceased grandmother.

She bit her lip, yellow gaze skirting past him as if she might see someone else behind him. But there was no one but this long-legged stranger. Her companions would not have left her behind, yet they had gone out of earshot, leaving her feeling as though she was in the wrong place at the wrong time…

As soon as she opened her mouth to say something—she wasn’t really sure what—a familiar voice rose into the air. It didn’t matter that Alaric sounded so far away. Relief turned her bones to jelly. Tiuttuk was glad she was still sitting.

She promptly howled back, hoping the sound of her voice would draw him closer. Was Tiki with him? Perhaps they’d gotten excited and gone ahead to scout the caldera. But, no, his call was coming from the wrong direction for that. Her brow furrowed at the same time a throb of pain shot through her temples.

She looked to the stranger again and finally said a little distractedly, Greetings. What brings you to Bramblepoint?