Herbalists' Cache Weep for yourself

He needed to get back to his family? ..There was a whole family somewhere around here? How had Veteran missed it?!

"Wh-" he started to speak a question that was only half-formed, but the Puker was already dismissing himself. Veteran swallowed his question and simply nodded. "Hope you feel better soon," he murmured after the retreating wolf. 

He made a mental note of the direction the Puker took, thinking he might follow up later. 

Speckletooth thought it all went well, and Veteran couldn't disagree. He returned the snaggle-toothed smile, although his own expression was more of the smile-and-back-away-slowly variety. His ears perked up to catch the parting words that Speckletooth tossed over his shoulder.

Swamp.. searching..?
  
What could that possibly mean? Surely Speckletooth did not sincerely expect to find a swamp in the taiga..?

Veteran shook out his coat in an attempt to quiet his mind, because he clearly wasn't going to get any of his questions answered today. Apparently, he was the only man in the taiga that didn't have somewhere to be right now. With a heavy exhale, he set off on his own, choosing a random direction that neither of the other men had taken.