A dyryso doe soon pops her upper half out of the hole, looks curiously at both of you, and scrambles the rest of the way up. She looks a lot like Iceshielder, you notice; the eyes are the same and they both have that iridescent sheen, though her coat is also host to a trailing line of spots down her back.

When the female is on solid ground she shakes her coat free of dirt, smiles warmly at you and winks. "We're distant relations, same clan."

"How did you know..."

"I get the same question every time." She gives you a toothy grin, and Ice rolls his eyes, disappearing into the clover again with hardly a rustle. You glance curiously at the doe, and she shrugs.

"Off to find Faith, I reckon." She sniffs thoughtfully, shrugs again, and reclines back on her haunches. "M'name's Snowflake, by the way, since I doubt Ice had the sense to tell you whom you were meeting." You shake your head, and she looks vaguely amused.

"Did he even tell you who I am?"

"No."

"Hah! Leave it to him to assume that you know everything ahead of time." She bobs her head, chuckling softly. "I'd the lead doe of BrokenShards Denn, headed by the famous vigilante Ghostcaller. He served in the renegade denn for a time, did you know?" She tilts her head in query, and you shake yours, having no idea what she's talking about. She looks a little surprised, but seems to be guessing the extent of your knowledge.

"Ah. Well, the story is much too long and tragic to recount to you right now." Ice appears at that moment, with a large calico doe close on his heels. Her hind legs are wrapped in bandages, and she has a professional air about her.

One of her is eyes is green. Not such an unusual thing, but the other one is orange.

She looks to Iceshielder as if to confirm that you are whoever he said you were, and he gives a terse nod and moves to another one of the holes in the ground. Snowflake brightens perceptibly.

"This is Faithhealer, resident life saver," she says by way of introduction, giving a low bow to the newcomer. Faith gives you a bemused smirk, slinking up to you and peering up into your face.

"Welcome to the denn," she finally intones, voice rough and gravelly. "I'm sure you must be quite the character to meet the approval standards of both Soulsong and Iceshielder, though we've one more buck who isn't quite so charitable towards anyone outside of his own denn--other kartyn'dyrysose, much less humanoids." She pauses, giving you another meaningful look.

"If he doesn't approve of you then he'll rip you end to end. At best he'll simply let your presence slide." Her smile is wry and uncomforting.

You gulp and turn your gaze away from the watching does, across the clearing to where you last saw Iceshielder. He's no longer there. Instead you see a grey buck, remarkably similar to Cloudpouncer, lounging on the far side of the hole and regarding you steadily. One of his ears has three earrings in it, the significance of which you cannot guess; his eyes are piercing, and a chill runs down your spine.

His eyes are totally black. No pupils. And they're glowing.

You can't meet the gaze for much longer, and you lower your line of sight down to his feet. He watches you for what seems like an excruciating amount of time, closing his eyes and sighing deeply. His muzzle rises and he sings one clear, beautifully pure note, the tone filled with depths of sadness that can't be described by mere words. You squint your eyes shut against it, and when it trails off into nothing, you risk a glance back at the buck. Or, where the buck would be--he's gone.

Faithhealer snorts at you, whether in approval or disapproval you cannot guess, and she slides into the nearest hole, disappearing into darkness. Snowflake positively beams at you.

"Well, that was lovely! Off we go, then! I think you're more than ready to meet Gentlestrength." She gleefully sprints in the direction that Faith had come from, and you hurriedly follow after.