Hattori could not say he was familiar with these sorts of remains, strange and unknown, in the shape of creatures he could not picture in his head. He paused for a moment to get a better look, leaned down as his nose twitched, taking in the sight of a large skull with rows upon rows of dagger like teeth. If this place was able to capture his curiosity, then he knew the same could be said tenfold for young little Rhuem. After her run in with the tiger he supposed it would do her some good to get out again, realise that the outside world held wonders as well as risks. Things to both be taken into consideration before leaving the safety of the bamboo. He raised his head a little to glance over his shoulder, where he saw Rhuem sniffing and exploring as he was. "What do you think?"

Rheum was thankful for the day's adventure out with her uncle. The traumatizing encounter with the tiger had left her with nightmares and uncertainties about the world outside the bamboo. But in her uncle's company, she felt safe. Hanzo would be able to protect her if a predator were to even look in their direction. She had been keeping a close step with him when a rather large bone had caught her attention.

Hanging back to investigate the large bones sunk into the ground, she wondered what it could be. Rheum's ears perked forward and eyes widened when Hanzo questioned what she thought of it. "I've never seen bones this large before," her voice is a quiet lull as her Japanese gets better the more she spends on excursions with him. Frankly, she'd never really seen a lot of bones before but these were rather hard to imagine ever existed on a real creature.

"Do you know what they belonged to?" Rheum glances at him while she moves to sniff at another moss-covered bone.

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Hattori could say the same. He struggled to imagine what creature these bones belonged to, couldn't put the pieces together in his mind as he tried to connect one bone to the next. Form it into some sort of whole, a living breathing creature and not bones half buried beneath the earth. He shook his head at her question, unable to say for certain, but there were clues if you looked close enough. "I do not know. But this one has deep bite marks along this bone, here." He gestured to it with a lift of his paw.  "Perhaps it was some sort of herbivore brought down by a predator. " One that would somehow have to be even larger than this mystery beast itself. And then he spotted something familiar, a flash of recognition as he furrowed his brows. Things had been so very different then. He followed in Rhuem's footsteps, coming to a standstill beside a skull with dagger like teeth. "Seasons ago creatures like this roamed the land. They crossed over an ice bridge in the far north and spread out across both Auster and Boreas. This one, I think was a feline of sorts. Had long teeth like your Father. See?"

One ear was tuned into her uncle as he spoke. Both of her eyes were locked upon the remains nestled into the terrain before her. Even as the grass folded in the wind surrounding the outcropping, Rheum could not be disturbed. Hanzo's words interested her as she glanced at the bone that he pointed at with his paw. An herbivore that large? It was nearly unfathomable to her. Even on their excursions outside of Tojo-kai, the largest herbivore they had seen were gazelles. Nothing had been large enough to have bones like that.

Stepping closer so that she could take a sniff at the fossil in front of her, she was nearly spooked by Hanzo coming over to her. She would bring her own paw forward to trace the fragile teeth clinging to the skull. A feline with long fangs like her father? Rheum glanced at Hanzo with even wider eyes. "You have seen a creature like this with your own eyes?" Rheum was bewildered and curious all at the same time. The tiger that had nearly taken off with her had been the largest predator she had seen with her own eyes, but this thing must have been three times its size!

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"Mm. It was during a particularly harsh winter several seasons ago." He had never seen anything like it and he doubted he ever would again. Or perhaps hoped. "Creatures like this," he used a paw to gesture to the bones spread all around. "Were seemingly everywhere. Even elephants with fur." Amongst all the things that had happened here he supposed it had slipped his mind for a moment. Easy to forget when compared to the horror of the long night. "I cannot say for certain but it seemed as though they came from a land to the very far north. Further than any of us are able to go." And in his mind that was for the best, for he'd seen first hand the damage creatures like this could do. A sight he wished he could have protected his children from... "But you are fast on your feet. If you ever come across a tiger or any other threat like that, you must run. As fast as you can and do not look back."

Rheum's eyes widened in near terror as her uncle described the creatures that had once roamed Boreas. From somewhere up north? How far did north go? The questions lingered in her mind as she glanced around the rolling hills they stood in. At a far glance, one would believe that this place was beautiful, serene, a place to go relax and spend a lovely afternoon. What they would find was a bunch of sporadic outcroppings that hosted the past livelihoods of monsters that once destroyed the land they walked on. Her young brain couldn't fathom how or why these things had gone extinct if they were such destroyers and great predators. Yet, when her bright gaze turned to her uncle, she knew that if enough wolves that were similar in size to him could take down one of them, why couldn't they take down all of them?

Taking a few steps back, she wanted to get a better view of the whole fossil. From where they stood, it appeared that if one were to brush enough of the topsoil away, there would be an entire skeleton lingering beneath the surface. Still listening to her uncle with one ear turned in his direction, she nodded somberly. The interaction with the tiger had left her feeling cautious about traveling alone, but she also wanted to see more things like this. And she couldn't expect her uncle to travel with her whenever she felt like it. "Do you think ma and father will allow me to travel alone to Boreas eventually?" She asked out of curiosity, her gaze settling on Hanzo.

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Hattori considered the girl's question with pursed lips. Needless to say he wasn't the most doting of sires, a far cry from his cousin's style of parenting, but in his mind he saw no reason to hold the girl back. Whenever she felt as though she was ready, whether it be seasons or years from now, would be the right time for her to leave. To go on her own way with the knowledge she would always be welcomed back, if that was what she wanted. But the girl seemed hung up on the word eventually, like she was unsure of when that time would come. When she truly felt confident enough to face the world's dangers alone, without family to have her back. "I believe so." But he supposed that might not be enough. Was there even a parameter to prove readiness? "If need be I may speak to them on your behalf. Do you think that would help?"