Insight I

Taikon · relatively thin from illness (Apr 13, 2020)

@Valette and @Siarut (I know this char is on PPC, so this is just for visibility!) - Others are also more than welcome
Ivory Rose tags for reference

The way had felt infinitely longer without @Takiyok at his side. The trek through the mountain pass had been easier than it had been in the times he had done similar journeys, thanks to @Zephyr. The new solitude was raw and harsh, like entering a dark cavern after laying in the sun for too long. Since leaving the woods, Taikon was focused solely on his goal to find Siarut at Easthollow and tell him where his daughter was. He'd left Taki and Taktuq alone only because, after discussion and tears, he and Taki had decided that he was the best person to go in her stead.
There were people monsters out there that wanted to hurt the children of Easthollow. He did not know if it was Ursus at fault, or if some other strange things were about. There was a cougar prone to violence to the West, and who knew what Sagtannet had become in the North. Bad things were afoot, and Takiyok's brother and by extension, his pack, needed to know.
The prince was not the most royal-looking beast, of late. The journey had taken a week of a steady, loping pace through mountains, across streams, through plains and forest. He had left looking already rather thin, and though he had taken a week to rest just before, the days travelled showed sharply in his weary eyes and unkempt appearance.
A thick, white winter coat hid much of his discomfort, but it was clear from the muscles at his hips and shoulders that he was not in a great state. He had eaten three of the days he had travelled, which while perfectly comfortable for a pack wolf that ranged only around one territory per day, it was not the calorie density he had needed to look well upon Easthollow's doorstep.
Taikon set down a small squirrel he had caught before coming to the border, hoping that it might appease Siarut's distrustful nature. Then, he howled for the brother, making it clear that he brought urgent news regarding @Taktuq.