It was obvious, winter had gripped the land of the caverns and was showing no signs in letting up any time soon. The huntress had not been around relic last winter, only finding her way into the lands in the spring and had no idea that winter was unseasonably early. The woman could only assume that this was what the weather was like this time of year in these parts. Her coat had grown in thick, the red in her pelt more present now than ever before, and even so she could feel the biting cold when the wind blew. Snow crunched beneath her paws, swimming up her ankles as she moved between the trees, following the scents on the border. The fae had been incredibly busy the last month or so since she had left her hiding place, seeing to it that the caches were to a point of being almost overstocked for the coming winter. Now though she worked on marking the borders, warning off any intruders who might stray too close the cavern wolves territory.

Even through all her busy work the woman knew something was wrong, something was very wrong. Prey was almost impossible to find now, unusually so, even for winter, Minka's previous haunts were now void of any sign of wildlife. What was even more chilling than this was that the woman hadn't seen or caught any sign of Narimé in a fortnight. The alpha had her own business to attend to, and the second knew this, but never before had she been gone from the pack for so long. Usually Nari would tell her second if she was leaving for any stretch of time, but with Minka's injuries and depression things had been...odd at best. The usually present huntress had taken to hiding down in the deepest of caves, away from others to avoid seeing Simaea or anyone really. Asterion leaving had nearly destroyed her and it was in getting over him that Minka had sworn she wouldn't let another stranger into her heart so easily.

This border patrol was double purposed, of course to warn off intruders and perform her duty as a pack member, but also to check for signs of the alpha. Minka had been following the markers now more than ever before, hoping with her whole soul that Narimé would return to them soon and unharmed. Soon she realized she had finished the loop, covering the whole territory without a single sign of Narimé to be found. Heaving a sigh the golden eyes of the fae flicked around, but nothing seemed out of place, nothing was glaringly obvious. Lifting her muzzle to the sky Minka called for @Inali, who was like a sister to her, the two hadn't seen each other since Minka had returned from her accident months ago, but the scout's scent was still fresh she couldn't be too far.