Esther had been the one to alert him to something being wrong, though she could not find the words to articulate just what that 'wrong' was. That, begrudgingly, had been left up to Elohim to discover. He'd become accustomed to it, though. Finding trouble, and finding meaning in that trouble, had become a specialty of his.

Arius was missing, though it wasn't too uncommon a thing. However, he was missing without Esther's knowledge, and Elohim figured that had been what had sent her to him. Even with that knowledge, he remained calm as he began his search and passed into territory near Glorall's borders. As far as Elohim was concerned, looking anything other than calm worked against him. If he panicked, or if Natiya came racing out in a frenzy in search of him, it would only alert anybody watching that they were vulnerable. If Arius had been taken, which Elohim suspected (for once) was not the case, then why provide them with the satisfaction of panic? Some might have called Elohim calllous, so capable of having such an air of disinterest, but he simply considered himself wiser for it.

What he did not expect was Menkhet's call for him. He had been crossing the border, nose to the trees, when she had called out for him, a distinct voice that he remembered well. The call itself was peculiar, heavy with a summons and less alive with her prior curiosity. Generally, Elohim might have resisted giving in to what was essentially a demand, but considering the circumstances, he figured it would have been foolish to do so. Real coincidences were few and far between, so if he had arrived here searching for Arius and Menkhet had called out for him from the shore...Well, it made his ears flick, agitated, and a long, drawn out sigh passed his lips. The woman had been pleasant company, but she'd had an air of danger nonetheless. Elohim didn't think it would be beyond her to get herself involved with Arius' disppaearance, though he doubted she'd directly harm him...at least, for the time being. If she had done so out of wanting his attention, she'd certainly gotten it.

He picked his way quickly through the territory, dodging the tall, fallen trees and freezing water draped across the land. When he rose up and then half-slid down the dunes, his breath coiled in the cold air like smoke tendrils. When he found her, bent over with Arius beneath her paws, he paused and watched her with narrowed, curious eyes. He did not look to Arius, hoping that he would take the cue and stay calm, or at least compliant enough not to warrant the woman's anger. Elohim wasn't sure if he should have been relieved to not sense immediate danger, or if he should have been more on guard.

In any case, he remained calm as he ambled forward and met her, a comfortable distance between them as he tilted his head at her queston. "Are all wolves not valuable to others? One way or another, no? Pack member, enemy, friend, even prey." He raised a brow, remembering Menkhet's interest in a challenge. "Even you must have valued him in some way." Finally, Elohim motioned towards Arius.

Elohim deduced a two possibilities when he considered Arius' state: Menkhet had either put him in such a condition, or she'd dragged him out of a situation that resulted in it. Either option revealed to him that, at least for a fleeting moment, Arius had been a valuable thing to her. Was it because of his smell, his appearance, the fact that he had been found in Glorall? Had she, perhaps, found him elsewhere and taken him to Glorall? The result was the same, either way: she'd gotten Elohim's attention through the use of him. He wasn't sure if he should have been angry or impressed, or something else. If he had started to feel anything, he'd done his best to hide it. Instead, he shifted into a comfortable stance, half-watching Arius but mostly focused on the woman's face, ever-searching for some indication of whatever it was that she was thinking.

"When the tides come, the flooded river mingles with the sea. Even the sand bars and dunes struggle to stand above the water," he began, quickly having motioned to the sea and dunes around them with a sweeping motion of his muzzle. "What I have been doing, O'Trespasser Mine, is learning to survive under new circumstances. What of you? What has this child taught you?"