The three of them made their way through the eerily quiet city toward the animal shelter: Ethan, the Mad Engineer, and Xenon, the Direwolf. Streetlights flickered overhead, casting long shadows that stretched across abandoned intersections, and the absence of people made every footstep feel louder than it should have been.
During the walk, Ethan slowly pieced together the full story.
Half a year ago, the Direwolf clan's princess had vanished without warning. Somehow, she had crossed vast oceans from the Extreme South and ended up in the Sablon Republic. At first, the elders assumed it was nothing more than another reckless outing. The princess had always been curious, always testing boundaries. But as days turned into weeks, and then months, concern hardened into panic. A full-scale search was launched across their territory, yet no trace of her remained, not even the faintest hint of her scent.
