The passing of Heyel had been something new entirely - she hadn't felt such a thing before, not even when her own mother had seemingly vanished into the world beyond. It had felt like a sudden loss of a limb. She knew it had happened and yet, it didn't feel real. Even when she had gone to the valley to see him surrounded by the others, it still had not felt like reality. It had appeared as if he were merely sleeping or simply waiting for her to get too close before swatting her on the head with some word of caution - you think an old man like me would let a trickster like you sneak up on me? Yet, he hadn't said a word. He hadn't peered out at her with that sneaky grin. He'd just stayed there and in the end, he had been taken away for good. It was if she had been in a trance when she left - absently, she had headed back to the mountains. No thoughts, no words, simply one step after the other.

It had been rough and yet, she had to keep herself busy. If she lazed about and focused on that hollow feeling then what could she get done? Is that what Heyel would have wanted her to do? No, she knew that. He had even lost so much and yet, he had kept going. He had always kept moving. If she had goals, then she needed to achieve them. If not for her, then for her children, Rogue and Sleekwing at least. She hadn't come to Spirane to become a washed up burden - she had to have purpose. And so, she had taken to the free lands in an effort to scout. Be it intentional or not, she had fast found herself tracking the footsteps of Tobias, the beast of Moladion. He had been there near Heyel. It had made her sick. Whoever he was with didn't know the danger they were in and so, she had followed the strange male's scent all the way to wherever he had been hiding away.

Her intentions had been clear enough when she had found him, though the night had fallen upon them at such a point. She had told him outright: the mountain's southern border come the rise of the sun. And with that, she had left, expectant that he knew what such a thing meant. Here, one's freedom was a fickle thing. And yet, she had to hope that he'd see the benefit of somewhere like Spirane as opposed to Tobias' lethal traps. The mountains were stable. The mountains were safe.

As the sun rose and touched the mountain's peaks, she had descended towards the southernmost outreach of the borders. There, the river sprang forth from the depths, splashing chilled water across the rocky slopes. Winter had come fast to the south of Moladion and yet the snowfall had been kind. It peppered the ground and the trees lay bare now; among it all, Malina stood out as a black shadow against the paleness and cold. She watched eagerly into the forests beyond, hoping she would not need to actively seek out this stranger she had whisked away.