Haunted Wood nor the spear for its swiftness

whatever hope praimfaya had of finding thade, or at the very least some kind of lead, is snuffed out entirely like the suffocation of a flame as she comes upon the haunted wood. though the scents of the nightwalkers has not yet faded from the place it is clear upon her approach that the borders have been left to neglect and that few — if any — dwell in the ruins of what once was. thus, she does not feel remorse nor hesitation as she crosses the neglected borders and into the once claim of ...well, whatever nightwalkers had been to roangeda. neighbors?

it doesn't matter now.

she feels a weight press against her shoulders as she steps carefully, seeking scents that might be fresher than any of the others. she has utterly nothing useful to tell mahler about his missing son and as it appears at present as she follows the playful peek of dappled sunlight thru the shaded woodland, she cannot even bring mahler the closure of having checked with nightwalkers, as he asked.

so then, praimfaya wonders, where does this leave her aside from being unable to complete her mission.

dispersal. many of the nightwalkers were gone, off to find a new home. to look for their missing children. (was the girl with the cougar one of them?)

but he remained. he and some others. he was far too weak to travel, and he still owed them a debt. he would heal and then hunt. and then he would go home. 

surya was slumped on his side near the den in which he'd occupied for many days now. his verdant gaze idly wandered, expecting to see little. maybe vanity with herbs. nothing beyond that. 

but the silver woman that emerged down a nearby forest path was not vanity, nor any nightwalker he knew. he lurched to his paws, swaying, nauseous. he was a sorry sight, scarred and skinny, but he did his best to fix the stranger with an interrogative (though not yet hostile) stare. 

a fight here and now would kill him. 

you know you're trespassing, right? surya asked, for in his mind these woods were still claimed, if only in some measure, by his saviors. these wolves don't like trespassers.

the fact that any remain within the untended borders comes as a slight surprise that praimfaya quicks whisks away as a stranger approaches her, scarred and looking malnourished, his stare interrogative stare as he accuses her of trespassing. a quick assessment tells praimfaya that he isn't much of a threat to her, not looking like it's been a while since he's had a good meal and she wonders what he was to the nightwalkers. a prisoner, she is left to assume, for would they let their own look so ...so haggard? her steps pause and she shifts to face him fully, frostbound gaze resting upon him lightly, wondering if any others remain or if it's just him. the neglected borders tell me very different. the nightwalkers have left this place. and they've left you behind.

for a long moment, praimfaya feels a twist of pity for him. holding onto what was when the wolves he is willing to defend the once-claim of have abandoned him. or so, this is how the story weaves itself into praimfaya's mind.

i knew these wolves, once. i wouldn't be standing here if they remained to enforce their claim. praimfaya isn't sure how to put it kindly and so tries her best ( likely failing spectacularly ) to sympathetic. if the nightwalkers were still around she wouldn't be traipsing thru their claim. it makes her think back on her conversation with hela and wonder if this had always been their fate. for now, she tucks those things away for when she next meets the ex-warlord. her true purpose still has not changed and though she desires to ask about thade despite her pessimistic certainty that she was not to find the missing boy, praimfaya hesitates unsure if the stranger before her would be so willing to answer yet.

Lmk if it's ok to drop her in

She wandered towards where she'd left Surya, still struggling to heal.
She'd warned him to be careful, breaks were hard to deal with, and she'd worked with Valour to find some salve to help his cuts and scrapes.

Alas, she thinks he'd be ok.
The sooner they take him back to his Whitebark Stream the better. They would have more skilled medics. 
She could hear voices. Surya...and a woman.
Girl. Hela? No, the accent was too different.

Vanity approached, tail lifted to show that she wanted to be in charge here, this is still her land, she was still here.
And this...silvery pelted girl wasn't, and never had, lived here.

"He's right," she mused, "What brings you here? Looking for someone?"
No smile. Just her blank gaze.