As they continue their long way to the village, the group's usual chatter is low on words and volume. To Umbra, it's starting to become apparent that Claire feels uneasy about something, but as reassuring as she may be, she doesn't want to risk making her uncomfortable by asking what's wrong.

Luke and Ollie have already caught wind of this, too, and hurry ahead to dwell on the situation.

"You've noticed, haven't ya?" Luke asks.

"What, Claire? Yeah, sort of," Ollie says, lowering his head, deep in thought. "But I don't know what it is that's gotten to her. She was like this every now and then before you two came along."

Luke looks back. He sees Claire, hugged tightly by Umbra with a slight smile. She waves to him, and Luke waves back before turning back to Ollie. "Yup, that's the look, alright. Ain't nothin' to worry about, really. I'll tell ya what's up once we're in the village."

Once they approach the village, marked by the few scattered houses across the pines, a familiar figure appears to walk towards them. It's the ocelot, Soraya, that runs the library all by herself. Carrying a scroll on hand and a stuffed bag on her back, she stops and greets the group with a half-hearted wave.

"Hey, folks. Stopping by for the usual business again, huh?" she says. "If you're headin' to the library, you'll have to grab whatever you need yourselves. I'm hitting the road."

This gets Claire's attention right away. "Where are you headed?" she asks.

Soraya looks somehwat wary. "Gee, don't ask me, I'm just following the map... if I'm lucky, I'll see y'all again soon. If not, then go say hi to my skeleton or something. Take care, folks!"

With that, she heads off as quickly as she arrived, her eyes constantly eyeing the rather large map. The group moves on, too, but Claire can't help but look back every now and then, and see the ocelot walk farther and farther, into the woods past her own little cabin. What could cause a villager to willingly venture into the wilderness like that?

Whatever it is, the thought has to wait a little longer, as the group has finally reached the village. Aside from that weird encounter, everything else seems to be running smoothly; villagers wander around, cleaning up the place and decorating here and there.

"Is... is something happening today?" Claire wonders aloud. "Maybe we should ask around to see what's going on..."

"That's a good idea," Umbra says as she hops to Luke's side, "so we'll go get the usual stuff and things and see what all the ruckus is about. You two should get some warmer clothes for everyone, if it's not too much trouble. Autumn's coming up."

As Claire and Ollie shuffle along to the cabin nearby to get their clothes, Umbra looks on, letting out a troubled sigh. "Have you noticed?" She asks Luke, fidgeting with her hands.

"Yup," he responds, "and Ollie noticed, too. We're starting to think she's getting cold feet."

"I know the feeling, but..." she pauses for a moment. "Wherever she goes, I'll go. She hasn't seen what it's like, you know?"

Luke nods, passing a hand through his fur. "Sure do."