"I'm Mira Moonlight," she said, voice quiet but steady. "From the Moonlight Tribe."
Her gaze flicked briefly to the sack in her arms, then back to Ryn.
"I need food."
The words landed plainly, without drama.
"Vegetables," she added after a breath. "Grain. Roots. Anything that grows."
Not meat.
Ryn noticed immediately.
He didn't answer right away.
He watched her posture instead. The way her shoulders were tense, how her grip tightened slightly as the wind cut across the plain.
She wasn't trembling in fear.
She was cold.
And hungry enough to ask strangers instead of running.
"I don't need protection," Mira continued, as if anticipating the question. "And I'm not asking you to fight Bloodmane."
Her eyes flicked briefly toward the direction the beastmen had gone, then returned.
"I just need enough to make it back."
Ryn considered her in silence.
He could refuse.
Nothing would stop him.
But refusal bought him nothing.
