With their mission in mind Natha worked her way to the northeast with Sedna toward the pack of Abaven, scouring the land as they went. Natha focused on her eyesight and her hearing, trysting Sedna to take care of the scent department. While Natha had an exceptional nose she would, begrudgingly, admit that her sense of smell was inferior to that of wolves.

In the distance she could hear the sound of running water and as she climbed up a nearby tree to get a better look she spied a gorgeous waterfall. The setting sun hit the pools of water, turning them into melted pools of gold and amber. Natha tore her sight from the falls and focused on searching for any sign of Malalia. Nothing. She clicked her tongue then scrambled back down from the tree.

"No sight of her, but there is a nice waterfall up ahead. We should be able to follow it near to Abaven's territory and maybe further." It made sense that if Malalia were lost she might follow a river or key water source, especially with the heat of summer right around the corner.

To say the Archer-Lyall was surprised to be paired with the Lieutenant would be an understatement, but like any good subordinate, she shut her trap and fell in line, easily keeping a step to the left and behind of her feline partner. It was foreign to her, working along someone that wasn’t a wolf, but then again, not a lot that went on here was what she was used to anyway.

She was undoubtedly envious of the easy way Natha scaled trees and the graceful way she found the ground again without a missed step. Sedna’s usual travelling gait had her head turned slightly to the side, one ear tipped forward and the other back, jaws parted to enhance her sense of smell. Sight mattered less on a mission like this to the grey girl, so it seemed they were a good match in that regard, with the other woman’s sharper sight and familiarity with the wolf they were seeking.

There hadn’t been anything even slightly canine, not even a fox, so far as they had travelled already. Grey eyes found the Lieutenant as she spoke and the wolf nodded. "Anyone wantin’ ter cover their tracks’d probably travel through water too. We might be able ter pick something up on th’ banks..."

"speech".

on the level with you

Natha nodded at Sedna's added wisdom and she started scoping along the banks. Her nostrils flared as she checked for scents and unusual markings in the mud. She frowned. "No scents or signs of a struggle so far." She assumed if Malalia had bee abducted she'd have fought back but there were no traces of someone trying to climb out of the water, no fur, no blood. "I don't know enough about plants. If someone wanted to take her could she have been drugged?" Then the perpetrator could take her through the water without signs of a struggle and any blood would just be washed away. She wondered to if there were drugs that could make a wolf more pliable to persuasion. Could someone have simply asked or lured her away to another location and taken her then?

Natha sighed as she worked her way to the falls. Maybe when they got to Abaven they'd find something useful though she was skeptical they'd find Malalia's scent near Abaven's borders unless there had been some interpack training she wasn't aware of. Abaven had no reason to kidnap one of their own. And of course this all hinged on her being abducted in the first place.

"I have heard tale of nomadic slave traders. I can't help but wonder if they got to her though I simply hope she just wandered off much farther than usual, maybe got a bit turned around."

An ear flicked at the mention of plants, "There are plenty o’ mushrooms that will alter mental state and make people more... open ter suggestion, even cannabis has that effect on some... Low level toxicity from poison will throw yer fer a loop mentally too, might think yer chasin’ yer ma, only ter wake up snoozin’ with a hibernatin’ bear." Of course, this was all hypothetical, it wasn’t like the girl had seen anything like that first hand... (of course she had, she was lying to herself). Her nose scrunched distastefully at the mention of slave traders. There were no slaves where she was from, and she was not willing to entertain the idea here either, even though now she knew it was a thing. It was one thing to demote a wolf to the lowest, but at least they still had the option to challenge out. What remedies did a slave have when they no longer wished to grovel and scrape? "’S easy enough ter slip someone something, a sprinkle here, a spill there, ‘specially if yer’ve got a clever companion.". But why? Was this a targeted attack, or just misfortune?

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Natha listened with interest as she continued to scout for any signs of Malalia. There seemed to be a number of plants the girl could've been slipped that would make it easier to abduct her if that was indeed what happened. "What a mess…" she sighed. There didn't seem to be much of anything but still they'd continue the search until it was time to join the rendezvous. There had been no suspicious scents at the border which meant if Malalia had indeed been kidnapped she had to have met her kidnapper somewhere else or run into them while she was out traveling. That made things even more difficult. "Well, let's keep on, there's nothing here." She strode up the side of the falls, climbing higher and higher as they moved toward Abaven.

Done?