Location:Obsidian City eastern gate → eastern trade road → fourth waypoint → return road → hidden valley approach
Date/Time:Mid Frostforge, 9939 AZI — two-day mission out-and-return
Realm:Lower Realm
The cold at the city's eastern gate had the particular mid-Frostforge quality that made every breath visible. Jayde's exhale arrived as a pale plume against the early light. Takara, riding her shoulder with his habitual indifference to the temperature, twitched his blue-tipped ears once against her neck — a small complaint about being woken before the sun had properly settled into its business — and tucked his face into the collar of her coat.
Reiko walked a pace behind her at the lion-sized register he used for public streets. Not small. Not full-sized either. The in-between weight that meant he was ready to grow if the situation required and amused enough by the morning not to.
[The sisters are here already,] he observed through the bond. [Yinglong's pack is heavier than usual.]
