The old man had been both insistent and persistent. He'd even tried to be persuasive! Oh, he had said, it'd be a good thing - for the both of them. Of course, Ella was fairly sure he just wanted an excuse to be lazy for a while, but she'd eventually relented if only to get him to stop. He'd grunted, shrugged, and gone back to his foraging after she had dramatically agreed that sure(!), she could definitely see the benefits of the whole agreement and yes, she'd go looking for the girl, Lucia, who Morgan could or could not say would even be nearby. Ella had done much the same - rolled her yes, shrugged, and loped down the path.

Having been born, and having lived her whole life, as a stray, Ella had little issue navigating through the snow and rocks. Even the deeper snow proved as more of an annoyance than a hindrance; she would straddle across rocks and scramble up and down the slopes as if she were simply taking a casual stroll. All the while, she wondered why the old man and...well, the other old man had decided that the Crags were a suitable place to overwinter. It seemed like a lot of effort! It was a clear day and the snow still hadn't budged at all, and she could see slick ice on the lower levels that lead towards the Grotto's entrance. Even she could see the risk in all of that!

But, she'd been sent out to find Lucia. So, that's what she'd do. At least, she figured, it was more interesting than doing a whole lot of nothing. It felt good to stretch her legs! It felt even better to find herself atop a nice little outcrop, feeling quite the queen, and look out over the crags and grotto. It was there that she called out for the girl - for Lucia - with a quiet, low howl. She didn't think there'd be that many wolves in the crags, especially with all the snow, but hey, they'd complain if she'd attracted too much attention to her search. At least, that's what Morgan had told her - don't make a big fuss over it, he'd said. So there she was, not making a big fuss over it. Instead, she was calling out quietly from her queenly throne of snowdrifts and rocks while wondering why the girl even had to be found in the first place.