Hoshor Plains inside your mind

Ludo repeated his name, and Valiant shot him a quizzical look. It did not bear commenting on, however, and neither did the idle question that Beau posed. "He sure does," he agreed, thinking of Pala, the one time that they'd met. But kids came out looking all sorts of ways, and Valiant had never thought much of it with his own flesh and blood — he wasn't about to start worrying about how Ludovic looked on top of all that.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Beau," he returned, and then it was straight back to work. He began leading the group back toward where he and Ludo had been tracking the scent of elk. "They was headed this way, off toward those trees," he said, indicating the thinning treeline up ahead. "We've been following tracks all morning, just between us — but I trust my source. If Angel says she saw a white elk up here, there's got to be one."

He was curious, though, about the stranger. He could smell no pack on his pelt, but sometimes rangers could lose the scent out on the road.

"Where's your pack?" he asked the male, distracted by his task of sniffing out their prey.