Her trip north had been fun, but she knew that she couldn’t stay up there for long. As much as she craved the challenge that the frozen lands offered, she couldn’t get Asuka off of her mind. She was a shell of the woman she used to be, and it was something that Akari couldn’t, and wouldn’t, stand for. It had been difficult for her to see the once proud and confident warrior coware before her, timid and only willing to creep out from the bushes with prompting. There was no way that she could allow the silver woman to remain like that, and it would take work to get her back to the way she had been before, but she also knew that the best way to do that would be to find a secure place for the woman to call home. A pack. They would need to seek one out so that they could begin their work together.

She was deep in thought, wondering how the best way to go about it would be, but very quickly something else caught her attention, distracting her from her planning and plotting. Golden gaze swept the surrounding area, and she began to follow the scent. Was that-? It couldn’t be… And so close to where she had found Asuka, too. The possibility seemed too far fetched, that there might really be even more koi here, but her nose had rarely led her astray before.

"Speech."

Hattori was adaptable and quick on his paws but he did not like change. Not the sort that included the sudden migration of giant, mega fauna creatures. The large cat on the Ice Bridge had merely been the tip of the iceberg it seemed and there was more-and arguably worse- to come. He did not stray far from home, Venom was due to give birth any day and the risk of these gigantic creatures trespassing over Ashen's borders was too great. He knew his samurai were strong and capable but who knew what these new creatures were capable of? It was better to be safe than sorry. But he wandered all the same, the weather up north had been so fierce that he'd barely caught a glimpse of the creature and thus despite it all he wanted to know what they were dealing. Whether they had reached this part of Boreas yet, if they even would.

Venturing alongside the river a familiar scent lingered in his nostrils. It was a koi wolf but her name didn't spring immediately to mind, not until he pushed his way through the undergrowth and caught sight of her. Akari Matsuda.

"Akari." He greeted in a foreign rumble, she looked as though she was worse for wear. Her time away from Iga, or the cause of her leaving had not been kind to her it seemed. But she was alive, that was more than what could be said for most.