Moonsong Glacier or at the altar, standing thin as the air

"I didn't know her," the isbjørn admitted. His tone conveyed that he, too, was sorry for the family's loss.

Ariadne, of course, was a bubbling cauldron of positivity. He'd been just a little nervous that he'd misread the situation and he might be chastised for bringing a stranger into their midst, but the village head's first course of action was to try and feed said stranger. Valiant could see why Dutch had settled in so easily with these wolves — he was always trying to feed strangers, too.

"Some plant mixtures, mainly," he said, following after her. "I'll know which is which once you open it."

Probably.

To Raindrop: "You oughta meet Miss Kukutux, if you get the chance. She knows everyone, seems like."

This was important to a traveler. Without a pack at his back or a territory to be found in, it was only through wolves like Kukutux that he could be reached. It was a place to check in for messages, and a person who could be relied on to know his face. Even wolves who were meeting her for the first time might think to ask such a woman if she knew Valiant, if they were determined to find him.

He held a secret hope that, one day, one of his siblings might try to find him.

To Ariadne: "She asked after you, 'course. I told her you were healin' up."