Kurayami bows in turn to Aqua. "Many thanks for your gracious hospitality, milady."
He rises and looks outside, sacrificing his sense of touch for hearing, attempting to track the creature that caused such bloodcurdling screams by sound.

Aqua turns to the kitsune. "You must be starving. I might have some soup for you. Keeps you warm." She pulls out a small bottle and puts the contents in a pot, hanging over a small fire. "What are you doing in these regions anyway? It's not usual for someone like you to be here."

Kurayami was, undeniably, hungry.
He was prepared, however.
He reached into an inside pocket of his cloak and pulled out some rations. Dried jerky, made from meats that he had "acquired" from towns he passed through.
It may not be tasty, but it kept him from getting hungry.

"I knew you'd be hungry." She takes the pot from the fire, puts it in a bowl and gives it to Finnian. Then, she stands up and starts cleaning the still boiling hot bowl. Her hands shine a soft, blue light, as if she was wearing gloves.

"I'm a merfolk lady. I don't have any scales or fins and other miscellaneous though. I was kinda born like this, not that it matters a lot." Aqua looked at the kitsune with bright eyes. "My childhood was kinda normal. Nothing really special, except I always had the feeling I'm not really a merfolk." Her smile sorta saddens when she tells that.

Kurayami silently listened, not contributing to the conversation, but rather observing, keeping eyes and ears open for danger.
Eh. He was never good at small talk.

Aqua turned to Kurayami. She walks to him and stands besides him, looking out the window. After a while, she asks "Any idea who or what that noise made?" She looks at him questioning, with her head tilted a bit.

Without stopping looking outside, Kurayami responded to the merfolk, Aqua's, question.
"Judging by the screams' rapid succession, something that could tear through many hunter bodies quickly. Given how quickly the screams stopped, and how many stopped at once, without sounds of bone snapping, something that can pierce many hearts and lungs simultaneously.
I don't know what it is specifically, but be ready for rapid piercing attacks aimed at vitals."
After that, he remained silent.

"I would rather not fight that thing either."
Kurayami remained seated, watching, waiting.

*A bony skull peers out of the woods barely, analyzing the snowy area around it, eventually spotting the igloo. it then growls, and recedes slightly back into the forest.*

Thanks to his lack of taste, he could barely see the skull look directly at the igloo. He could also make out the body.
Seeing this, he stood up and drew his blades.
"We've been found. From what I could see, I think that was our culprit.
The way I see it, we can either stay here and try to fight, or flee and risk hunters."
He looked at the other two and went to the fire, using his magic to obliterate all traces of its existence, covering it with the ground.
"I vote flee."

"If this creature can indeed do such things as told, I think we might be better off with a pair of hunters. But, I'll only go if we all agree." Aqua continues looking out the window and sighs.

"Wise choice."
Kurayami carefully scanned the surrounding terrain to the fullest possible extent, shutting off all his other senses to do so.
When he came to, he slashed the door open and walked out, disguising the now fallen door to melt and freeze again, looking like more of the ice under the snow.
"So they can't track that we've been here. I'll take the lead. Follow behind and cover our tracks."
Kurayami took the lead, keeping his eyes and ears open for the beast or hunters.
"There is a town nearby. Shall we seek shelter there or move along past?"

"I need to get some supplies anyway. Yeah, we can shelter there." She walks out the doorway and waits for the others to get out.

Kurayami takes the lead, walking in front of the group.
"I will watch from the front. Stay behind me."