Beauty in the mist

Akito?
Surely he didn't imagine that, right? His eyes widen slightly and his heart rate picks up. He had been hoping to see the girl again soon, but hadn't been expecting to find her within the forest. Looking around for a moment, he thinks he hears her paws, but the sound as if they're moving away from him. Seeing at night was easy, but through the fog? Difficult at best. Stepping forward again toward where the sound of her voice had came from, he keeps his nose tilted. Her scent grows stronger with each step he takes, but he still can't see her. "Clove?" Akito calls out again, a slight crease above his brow forming as he turns a corner and heads for the tree that she perches in.

It was as if she was just here... Looking down at the soft ground he walks on, he can see her smaller paw print in the dirt. Even a few of her hairs left on a thorny branch. But the more he tries to look, the more he gets lost. Why did her paw prints just stop? They led toward the tree, but not away from it. As far as he knew, wolves didn't climb trees... Turning around the gnarled, rotted tree, he looks to his companion. The dog shrugs, a look of 'I can't help you' on his face that forces an annoyed look from the boy. "Clove, are you still here?" Akito calls out again. Pausing, he looks away from the tree out to the inner workings of the foggy forest. Maybe she had headed away, back toward the Hallows...