The woods seemed to grow denser the further in he walked. Treading the woodland wasn't something the nomad was used to, and this was unfamiliar territory. But their destination had to be here somewhere. Zaya's feet padded along with tail raised high, looking over her shoulder every now and then to make sure her human was following. It was hard to see for humans in this shady place, and her fur made her blend in with the ground. "Mrrrow." She let out a call, telling him to keep up. If he lost sight of her she would have to come back and find him. She could trace him by scent but he wasn't able to do the same. Stopping, she waited for him to come beside him to rub her body against his legs. He reached down to scratch the top of her head. Then, his body tensed. A new scent came on the wind, the cat turned to see a large timber wolf standing several meters away–visible in the space between the trees. The two beasts stared for a while in silence before the wolf turned to walk away. Zaya looked up at her human, his eyes locked on the larger animal. She pawed at his leg. Looking down at her, his face relaxed. 

"…Let's follow him." The two kept the wolf in sight as it led them in, the forest becoming more vibrant as they walked. Finally the wolf stopped before a tall wooden wall, turning to disappear into the forest. Zaya went up to the wall and placed her paws on it to sniff, and then went back down on all fours to run along its side. Her human was right behind her and she came to a large wooden pair of doors. The gate to this place was engraved with animals, all seeming to watch them with only one place with wood uncarved. There was no obvious way to open it, no way to alert those within they had a visitor. Naram began by feeling over the wood with his hands, trying to see if there was something within that would trigger it to open. Zaya watched him, then readied her body to pounce. Leaping up high, her paws batted at the empty place in the woodwork before falling back down. She did this several times until he took notice, then tried to feel if that area was any different.

A strange sensation began entering him and he tried to pull his hand away fearing a curse. But instead, the eyes of the carved animals lit up one by one until the gate itself opened. Shielding his eyes, nothing could have prepared him for what he would see next. There was an entire settlement inside! Watchtowers, men and women training, even the familiar smell of curing leather made him wonder if he had gone back home. Walking in, he picked up Zaya in his arms and looked around at it all with eyes wide in wonder. They had made it! They were here, the place they needed to be.

When a person passed by him, Naram stopped them to ask: "I wish to speak with your chieftain. We have traveled a long way and heard there is a great hunter within these woods whose knowledge of beasts is unrivaled in all the land."

The temple grounds were busier today than usual. The Rangers Zanar had stationed to guard the grounds while he was out had seen the Gate open and close far more times than normal. They, of course, were grateful for those who had come to pay their respects or even for prayer with the members of the clergy. Those wanting to seek an audience with the god themselves were asked to wait as he was not in the temple at the moment. Some left disappointed, others found themselves lost within the temple interior and forgot all about why they were there in the first place. Regardless, the general consensus was everyone was pleased with the new amount of visitors.

The Gate opened once more and a nearby ranger noticed a man with a feline company walked in. Thinking nothing of it, he tried to walk on by, but was stopped by the newcomer. The man had asked for his chieftain…which gave him a confused look on his face. No chieftain ruled this Temple, and he found it strange that the man did not take notice of the divine energy that pulsed through the grounds. Perhaps they were not around this area or did not know of the gods presence within the world. Shaking off the confusion the ranger bowed in greeting.

”if you are by chance speaking of my lord, Zanar, unfortunately, he is currently out doing business of his own. He should not be much longer though and is due to return any moment now. Please make yourself at home, the grounds are yours to explore.” The Ranger explained before going on his way.

A few moments passed before Zanar gated back into the temple grounds. Immediately he could feel the surge of new souls within his temple. He was pleasantly surprised by this and set out to find the nearest ranger. He stopped a passing Ranger and asked if anyone was still waiting for him to return. The ranger, the same one who greeted the man with the cat companion told him of the visitor and Zanar thanked him and set out to find the man. After exploring the grounds, and stopping to check in on things along the way he finally managed to run into the self-same man.

”My apologies for your wait. I do hope it didn’t burden you too much. I heard from my men that you wished an audience with me. First of all, I would like to welcome you to Flidias, and secondly, I would be glad to hear anything you wish to speak of.” Zanar held out his hand in greeting to the traveler.

Naram was no less disheartened when he was told to wait. When he saw confusion on the faces of the hunters when he asked for the chieftain, he had assumed it was due to them not being a tribe and more of a large, loosely associated gathering. Outside of his homeland the nomad had yet to learn more of other lands, but that could wait. He let Zaya down from his arms and the two sat waiting until they were given an audience. The cat's tail flicked in anticipation as she caught wind of an unusual scent, standing up to look around before resuming sitting. She groomed her paw and rubbed her face. That person was coming. The swarthy nomad was met by Lord Zanar, who appeared to be a common man. What took Naram by surprise was not the fact he seemed no different from the other hunters, but the eye patch. If a man could still hunt with one eye, then he certainly earned his title. Naram's spiritual sensitivity was too weak to sense anything else aside from a powerful aura emanating from his lordship. 

"Sain bainuul, Lord Zanar. We thank you for your hospitality and willingness to lend your ear to my request." He took Zanar's hand, then after shaking he turned to his reason for trekking across the seas. "I have come to ask for your wisdom regarding the matter of a beast. I come from a tribe across in the east, in the plains north of Jasumin. A few years before I came of age, my elder sister was arranged to marry the young chief of another neighboring tribe. She was our tribe's shaman and priestess, and none had greater spiritual power than she. However, a strange chain of events took place before the wedding day. A week before the ceremony, my sister fell ill. This was highly unusual, as her power easily warded off sickness and evil influence. Her condition rapidly worsened and the next morning she was found dead in her tent." This matter had followed him like a shadow ever since. His life had changed its course, and the tribe was never the same. Eventually, their people moved on and a new shaman was chosen. But he couldn't accept that someone like her could have died so easily. There was also another reason why he refused to believe rumors of poison or assassination…

"I remember clearly, even now–on that morning when they found her lifeless body, I saw strange tracks outside of her tent. When I went back later to inspect them again, they were gone. Lord Zanar, allow me to show you what those prints looked like. No matter what the others said, I always felt that there was something terribly unnatural about their shape." Taking his finger, the nomad began to carefully trace a pair of prints in the dirt. It looked like a set of humanoid footprints with six toes, but the toes were unusually elongated. There were no nails, no claws. There was something unsettling about its size and width–it was long but bony and narrow. "Our tribe holds beast-shifters in high regard, but none of their tracks were remotely similar." Naram added, as if he expected the question before it was asked. He had done his very best to replicate their form and size. Zaya sat beside, watching as her human drew and spoke with the not-quite-human about something serious.