At this time of the year, and especially with the heavy snowfall, there were more kin than ever in need of some kind of care. With no one currently in his care, Innards set out each morning to keep an eye out for kin in distress in between travelling worn foot-paths between friendly tribes. All-told, he could really use an assistant. He had some children, but each had their own interests and areas of study, and none of them had shown interest in healing or accompanying him as he roamed.

The assistant did not have to be family, but it would have been nice to have someone to pass down the tips, tricks, and knowledge he'd acquired to.

The morning was briskly cold, and Neckless was as usual huddled into his mane. The owlcat never strayed very far from him in the winter.

He bent to stop for a drink at a stream, the water very cold, but good nonetheless.

Worn Down had been out hunting all morning. It wasn't an entirely fruitless endeavor for the totoma, she'd managed to find some game and had a bit to eat but it was but a morsel compared to how much she usually needed. She still had her share of food stored with her small band but that was for emergencies.

It was still early, she had the rest of the day to find food. Maybe her luck will improve soon. Her ears twitched at the sound of water and decided that a drink might help refresh her.

Arriving at the water's edge, the totoma paused briefly upon seeing another kin present but eventually thought nothing of it. Still, she made sure her approach would be heard and now that she was close enough, the sight of the other kin gave her pause again. Worn Down couldn't stop herself from openly staring.

Innards was not, at first, easy to notice in the snow. At least from the front, or from certain angles. But the side of him stood out starkly. It was easy to mistake his patterns for a grave wound, but it was what had spurred Innards's interest from an early age about how things functioned.

When he looked up from his drink and saw the doe in front of him, he stared too.

She was, he thought immediately, beautiful and fascinating. There couldn't be very many like them in the swamp, that the MotherFather had chosen to gift with a map of their workings.

"Hello," he tried. "Cold, isn't it?" Maybe not the most exciting opening.

Worn Down didn't mean to be rude by staring so. She just needed a bit of time to process what she was seeing and confirm that the other kin was not so heavily injured as to have their inner workings be so visible. If the lack of blood -be it in the snow or in the scent of the air- hadn't clued her in to it yet, the buck's greeting would certainly have done the job.

"Oh. Yes. It is winter after all." She answered a little dumbly, even sheepishly. She disliked how others immediately assumed she was injured or helpless given her markings and here she was making that same assumption of this stranger. At least she didn't make the mistake of actually voicing it.

"Are you traveling or hunting?" she asked, trying to sound casual as she came closer to the water's edge to take a sip from the stream. And in doing so she got a better look at the kio's coat.