Serach's nose was dipped into a snowbank at the base of a tree, his nostrils flaring as he tried to pick out the scents of the deer he had been following. But the snows were thick and there was little to be found. Pulling his muzzle back, he shook his head to shake the snowflakes from his nose with a humpf. He'd seemingly lost the trail, which was not the news he wanted to deliver back to Aponi. Taking a few moments he looked around to gather his bearings before setting off, further from the Bend's borders to see if he could pick up the trail.

He was not lucky enough to find the deer, but his search was not entirely fruitless. The scent of a female wolf piqued his curiosity, and he made the decision to abandon his luckless search for the deer and see what this stranger was doing in his woods. When he saw her, he stopped his in his tracks, a pale figure against the white snow. If the scent had not told him otherwise, he would have mistaken the small, black furred girl for Sahalie. But Morganna had already confirmed to him that Sahalie was not there and so this girl before him was clearly a stranger. Chuffing, he offered an easy wag to his tail but did not approach her before saying, "'Lo. Everything okay over there?"

From where he was standing, all Serach could see was the girl slowly rise to her feet, her eyes widening in shock as though she was looking at a ghost. It would not be the first time that Serach had been mistaken as such while wandering through Spectral Woods, nor was it likely to be the last. He shook his head at the question, presuming it to be a name. He had no idea who she was talking about, but Serach was certainly not whoever they were. Opening his mouth to say something, he wasn't able to do so before she continued on, coming to her own realization that he was not who she had first guessed. She continued to ramble, causing Serach's eyes to narrow in confusion. What exactly had he stumbled onto?

"You're not too close, but close enough it was worth investigating," he answered when she finally stopped and gave him a chance to respond. "I'm Serach Donata - I lead Oak Tree Bend. I take it you're not very familiar with these woods?"

She was a talker, that became apparently very quickly. His question about her familiarity with Spectral Woods was answered in full. But Serach was a patient man, so he was content to let her ramble a bit while he watched her attentively. She confirmed that she was traveling on her own, which made him relax a bit more. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a group of wolves encroaching on the Bend's hunting grounds.

Casting his gaze around them, he smiled and nodded his head in agreement with her assessment of Spectral Woods. He thought they were beautiful too. "I am indeed," he responded, looking back at her. "I was born in Oak Tree Bend and have lived here my entire life. You'd be hard pressed to find a wolf in all of Relic Lore who knows or loves these woods as much as me," he explained, the fondness he felt for his home clear in his tone. "Are you from the Lore, Sylva? Or are you a newcomer to the region as well?"

Serach couldn't remember the last time he had simply talked with another wolf outside of the Bend, with no real purpose in mind except for conversation. It was a nice feeling, and a reminder that yes, he really should get out more so it wasn't such a rarity in his life. Her not being new to the Lore wasn't all that surprising - very few of the wolves he had met had ventured to Spectral Woods in the southeast even though they might have grown up in Relic Lore. "We have one of those as well," he said of the river. "Although it's further east from here. But there's plenty of water running over rocks, although not in the winter."

Shifting back to something she had said earlier, he asked her about her life on the other side of the mountains. "You said you've lived in the Lore for years - are you part of a pack?"