eastern edge of elk's crown - skirting saatsine scents | possibly accompanied by Yuèzhuō and Rìhé, leaving vague

Lian knows where she belongs. Tianlong calls her. She does not know exactly how to get there, unfortunately. The sage-scented moors and now these thick deciduous forests, strange and foreign abandoned architecture jutting from the earth wherever she goes; it is all new and alien to the princess.

She will not be deterred by the relatively simple obstacle of being lost. Spring has returned. Harmony restored. There are celebrations to be organized, envoys to be sent out, trade to be re-established now while springtime riots across the continent, and days of plenty threaten to bloom just around the corner. She headed due south, and prayed daily her ancestors guided her safely back to her kin. Her people. All she had to do, really, was wander the filthy swamp until she found the proper tunnel. Simple, Lian thought, keep it simple.

Shenlei, she was sure, was beside himself with worry. Lian could not send word of her success in the final battle for the continent, and she could not send word that she was fine and knew how to take care of herself! So she would simply have to hope he was not terrorizing the Tianlong too severely with the fanaticism of a distraught father.

Ah, who was she kidding.

Well, she had best walk swiftly, to spare the Dynasty any further distress.

The lotus paused as she crossed a thin game trail, lowering her muzzle to inhale and interpret the scents.

| skill

A rustle of leaves, a murmured voice from within the veil of unfurled leaves: danger? A ruffian lying in wait? A wandering merchant? An aggressive pack-wolf determined to defend borders zealously?

A tall, pale man loomed out of the shadows. Lian stiffened, straightened to her full height, and somehow managed to peer down her nose at him despite their significant different in height. The stranger bowed, murmured greetings in a tongue Lian spoke before course-correcting into drawling common. He was looking for her? Why? Lian tilted her head slightly, ear twitching to catch the muttered words the man spoke mostly to himself.

こんにちは、見知らぬ人です。私は元気です。父があなたを送ったのですか (Greetings, stranger. I am well. Did my father send you?)

She craned her head slightly to glance over the tall wolf's shoulders, not so surreptitiously searching the shadows for signs of her kin or Tianlong she recognized. Even so, the man had proper decorum and seemed harmless. If he had been sent by Shenlei, though, he would be more capable than he looked. Her father wouldn't put his subjects in harm's way just to find his daughters. Would he...?