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More nouls were making their way into the clearing. Ralir might have recognized some of them - though not well enough to know them by name. They both got right to work with confidence, though, and one of them called out to the other, like they'd met each other adventuring or something. Would Ralir have that kind of confidence someday?

Perhaps that was what Ralir was here to learn, though it seemed like his search through these containers wasn't very productive. His skills might be put to better use elsewhere, he thought, though he marked his place in the containers by leaving the ones he'd sorted through on one side, noticeably ajar compared to the remaining ones. It wasn't quite obvious, considering how much debris was present inside this trunk, but he figured the fact that a small group of containers had been placed near each other should be indication enough for the other searchers.

He trekked over to Viltalta, where the items and paper paraphernalia they'd found so far appeared to be gathered, and tried to aid in organization. The rest of the map, he noted, would probably be vital in letting them know which way to head. As for what had been found...he remembered seeing the word oasis and connecting it with, perhaps, the vial of water he'd located. But it was hard to tell whether the maps even connected - there was a little smidgen of dark color at the top of the first map piece that'd been found, above where the bog was marked, but it wasn't clear whether that was an intentional part of the map or dirt left behind by someone's hoof just now.

Could they go together? How could they situate the Barrens in relation to all of this? And what was that, stretched across the top of the map piece that contained the oasis? Ralir had never seen anything like it, though sometimes Father and his oldest remaining friends got together and talked about what they thought Vykeli must have looked like, before.

He looked over the note from the traveller noul, too. The water and the grub were interesting, and Ralir certainly wanted to know where they'd come from...but they couldn't exactly wander around aimlessly, either. That was probably the sort of information he'd look for next. He took careful note of the traveller's writing style, and bent in close to the note to see whether he could catch a scent, perhaps.

He returned to his search armed with that information, checking the deepest areas of the redwood hollow, where old scents were less likely to have been disturbed. A visual examination hadn't proven very useful, after all, so this might be a better approach.

'Should I be afraid?'

That didn't sound like the greatest of encouragements. Draven frowned at the scratching on the tree. Was one of the group doubtful of where they were going? Peering closer he soon stepped back and looked over to where the elder doe was and everyone else was bringing her their own clues and finds from inside and around the closest of the place. For him, it seemed that a few were on the outer ring of the area.

"Got another scratching over here." He called out as he stepped back away from the tree. "Seems someone wasn't too sure of where they were going."

With all that was going on, the things that were found, there appeared to be more to be found. A container of water was found, a cloak and other bits of a map and such. But the biggest question was, was this trip they went on the safest? From the scratching he had found, didn't sound like it was...

The familiar voice of Aldwyn drew him from his searchings of Wanderlust's collected ephemera, their treasures and more mundane seeming artefacts, ears swiveling as he looked to meet the other buck's gaze. "Aldwyn," He chimed pleasantly back to the soft spoken fellow. "Yes, I have. Glad to see you. You've got someone watching Bryone for you? Did he have anything to say about you joining the searching for Wanderlust?" The youngster seemed so energetic and so hungry to devour everything life had to offer, Dousan would be if he was told anything terribly similar to no.

His gaze skimmed their surroundings as he kept near to the leopard appaloosa buck, for ease in conversing and confirmation of anything odd or of interest. Of course, some things were hard to tell what was normal odd and those things that were odd even for the eccentric Wanderlust. He'd trust Viltalta's judgement on this. The affirmations from the ascended doe were appreciated, but as far as he was concerned, not too necessary. Helping out was its own reward, helping to solve a mystery at minimum and at most helping to solve a potential crisis. His drifting eyes settled on a carefully folded pink winter cloak at the open to Wanderlust's hollow.

Well, wherever they went didn't require much extra insulation apparently. He gently picked the herb that had sprouted next to the coat. A little something to take home.

Looking back to Aldwyn, he blinked curiously at the tablet he had found. "How odd..." There were certainly some intriguing clues being found. Vague little bits and pieces that weren't quite fitting together yet.

Viltalta made her way to the tree DRAVEN had discovered. The etching was an ill omen indeed.

“If Wanderlust feared for their safety, why would they go at all?” She flicked her ears back, brow furrowed. “They’re not a fighter.”

If there were dangers, Viltalta feared for their life.

Having decided to focus, Ralir wasn't going to bother bringing his head up again unless someone proposed a conclusion. All the things they'd found were pointing in different directions, after all, and what he wanted was something that might connect the dots a little.

It was tiring work, though. That jackhop had been right: Wanderlust really did not bother with organization, though he could see some clearly well-loved objects here and there. He was lifting a clay cup to put it aside, done examining it, when his eyes lit upon handwriting he'd only just studied. He gave a childish yelp of excitement, but cut it short when he remembered that there were others here, and he was trying to be, well, an adult.

He certainly didn't feel like one yet. He gave a badly faked cough to cover up his error, and bent forward to lift the note gingerly into his mouth, along with a geno leaf that he was surprised to find nearby. That was probably not relevant to Wanderlust's journey - it wasn't quite dead yet, for one, despite having been severed from its plant. It'd probably been blown here by the wind. Well, he could keep it around. He brought the items back out, only to see Viltalta and that pessimistic buck looking at one of the younger trees in the carving, and saying something about Wanderlust and fear. Ralir lifted an ear to continue listening, but he laid his new note carefully next to the one the jackhop had found. The writing was certainly extremely similar. It was promising.

The discussion of a lake beneath the surface made sense, too. Why else might the fauna glow? How else could such pure water have been hidden from the Others? What would Wanderlust want rope or harnesses or light for? The destination was probably not the oasis on the map, then, and the rest...someone else had dug up a third slice of the map, one that lined up easily with one of the existing ones. Mountains. But that didn't quite make sense, either. Wanderlust had wanted protection from sun and heat, and there was a neatly folded, fluffy coat, which had clearly been set aside as unnecessary. Their destination almost certainly lay in a yet unrevealed portion of the map, probably well within the Barrens. "I found another note, about a lake beneath the surface." Ralir announced, so no one would be left confused.

He took a moment to admire the map, tucking his newfound leaf into his supplies as he did so. The newest fragment had the beginnings of the bog etched near its bottom, and data...Ralir hadn't even heard of the mountains, or of this oasis. Wanderlust was certainly a well-traveled noul, but maybe it was just that knowledge that had led them to discovering jackhops in the first place. Then he moved on to the tree that Viltalta and Draven were examining, peeking out at it from a few lengths behind Draven - considering how prickly the buck seemed, Ralir didn't want to get into his personal space, and Viltalta had an entire wingspan to consider.

The note definitely resembled the rest of Wanderlust's writing. What was it about, though? Was that grub dangerous? It seemed - well, Wanderlust probably would not have left it lying around here without supervision, where it could wander off and infect the rest of the Homewood, if they thought so. There must be some sign of what dangers to expect, and to prepare for here. "Nothing we've found indicates danger, but if Wanderlust expected it - and indeed if they haven't returned, after so long - it must be true. Maybe if we look for something that'd indicate what they were facing..." Ralir let himself trail off. There were other things he wanted to know, too. "And - the note I found - it doesn't say where we should attempt to descend beneath the surface. Presumably this Traveller must have given Wanderlust some idea...but none of the map pieces we've found seem to depict the Barrens clearly, and the fear of heat and sun indicates the Barrens to me."

He was just thinking out loud at this point, but his ramblings might give everyone else more aim. It'd worked for Ralir, after all.

Ever listening, Viltalta caught the snippets of conversation around her. Was their morale fading? So many of this noulicorns were young. Some of them seemed fresh from their first visits to Grandfather Tree, brimming with new magic. She could understand their fears, but it would not help them in this quest.

“We cannot leave Wanderlust and those they brought with them to a terrible fate or to be lost wandering the barrens. It may seem bleak for us to follow, but Wanderlust was not a fighter and I am.” The scars across her face and dark hide were testament to that. “Have hope, youngs one. We will rescue those who are lost.”

She would not force any of these nouls to join her in her trek across the barrens, to recover Wanderlust from wherever they’ve gone. But she would be certain those that did come were made heroes and dutifully rewarded for their aid.

Draven gave a snort of a laugh when the elder called them young. It was true he was not as old as she was, but he was not as young as they were. He might not have had magic yet, but he had seen probably more of this world then all of them put together. Shaking his head, Draven remained away from the younger ones.

"I may not have the magic these youngsters have, but I too am a fighter. I bear not the scars of one, but scars are just reminders." He says as he glances around, his voice gruff as ever. His tail flicks slightly behind him. :"If these young ones start to drop out, then I will go find these wanderers. I fear not what is out there and gladly take it out with my own strength."

Bluebell, her munching done, had returned to Draven and vaulted back to her spot on his back. She would always go where he went, she was sucked into this whole finding his other half. She couldn't give up on him yet, nor was she going to abandon him to folly. Even though the thought had crossed her mind many times with his vague wordings. Just right now, things were serious and called for serious thinking.

"If we finish finding the map, I will take it and be off. This foolishness has cost time as it is." Yea, he was getting grouchy, might have been the hunger or the lack of sleep. Who knew, but he was ready to be away from Homewood and off to hunt for the WanderLust.

Viltalta snapped her gaze to DRAVEN and frowned. She reared back, flapping her dark wings like a thunderclap. “You may not be as young as many of these nouls, but you are far younger than me. Your hubris may be the death of you, or…” she stretched a wing out to gesture at the rest of the noulicorns gathered in the grove. “The death of your fellow noul.”

She could not be too crass with him, though. She remembered a time when she might have said just the same thing. Hubris had earned her many marks on her dark pelt.

“I appreciate having another fighter with us, but we will go as a group. Grandfather tree has given us all a purpose in this life, and it is only by aiding one another that we accomplish the great tasks set before us.” She took a step toward him, calming now, a smile - wry - gracing her face. “You’ll be valuable to the search.”