Well it must have been some strange force

A note that I have Minxy's permission for him to have found the trail, even though it's a stretch reality-wise

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 He had come this far north on a search. Taikon had insisted that @Vedetta stay behind for this portion of the journey, as things were getting dangerously close to pack territory. He didn't know if the trail he was following was cold or not, but he kept on it anyway.
 @Astoria had plagued his thoughts since he had met her. Constantly he had felt as though he was going completely insane, but there was something that had driven him to seek her out, even though it seemed like she didn't want to be found. Two days ago, he had discovered a trail of her that mingled with the scent of a male wolf. When he followed it, it led him strikingly close to not one, but two wolf packs, places he had a hard time seeing her go to on her own.
 So there he stood, coat damp and nose dripping from the chill rain. He was about to do something that he swore he would never do again.
 Taikon howled, low and long, trying to make himself presentable.
 Today he would join a wolf pack. It was for no other reason than to find her.
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When the call sounded along their borders, Sindri naturally responded to it, taking towards the edges of their home within the forests. She often stayed in the lower elevations, along the shores as the sea was her favored place. Lately, the forests called to her, if only due to the many puppies hidden within.

As she arrived, it was to an older gentleman, coated solidly in creams. Someone she had once met before. “I remember you...” She spoke as she moved forward toward the visitor. “Haven't gotten lost again, have you?” She teased playfully, though waiting to see if he truly did need direction once more.
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Just watching, skip him. ♥

---

A howl.

He heeded its call, but Sindri beat him to it— which was for the best. No one wants Hank to greet them at the door, including Hank.

In the shadows of the trees, he watched. Listened in case something went awry. Hoped something went awry.

Sindri recognized him. Hank sensed he wouldn't be getting what he wanted, but he was already here. So he stayed, gathered intel.

For now.

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 The woman that found him at the border, cold and wet, was thankfully familiar. Taikon had thought he had noticed her smell in the various markers about, but it had been long enough that surely his nose was deceiving him. He quickly recalled her efforts to help when he and Irura had been lost and new in this strange place of the dead. A small smile lit across his face as he reached out his nose with bowed ears to sniff at her. His tail, respectfully, was beneath him.
 “Sindri Stormborn,” he breathed in a calm and even tone. Though his mission might have been dire, it was she who had offered to bring them here once upon a time. He tried to orient himself for a moment by looking out beyond the mountains, but he did not realize that he was standing directly beside the Moors he had come through once before. A traveller though he was, he could not see entirely in this dark and cloudy night and the smells of the area had changed.
 “So this is your home then that you talked about? I honestly didn't realize I'd gone this far north,” he raised his brows in mild disbelief. He did sort of know, but perhaps the land had changed somehow. This world did that. It changed on a whim.
 “I came to seek shelter, either for a few days or.. well, if you have need of my expertise, that's another matter.” He racked his brain as he said it for what he could "sell" her on, but it had been a long time since he had been in such a situation. He was no healer. His hunting prowess had dwindled with age, as had his ability to fight.
 It was knowledge he specialized in, but he was either unaware of it, or else had no heart to prop this up as his greatness.
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Hank arrives, all dark rock and black sand. Silent, acting the role of guard that he was. He was eagerly awaiting battle just as much as Sindri was.

By now, a smile was on the loner's face and he reaches out with a lowered head to sniff at her. Her own head remains up but her tail waves slowly as it is relaxed at her hocks. He remembers her too, then.

Through the dark and haze of the weather, he looks around. It seemed by his words, after they had seen one another, he had traveled south after all... only to return to the north. But why?

She nods to his words, as he asks of her home and turns back round to look at the foothills and Hank there in wait. “It is.” Then he speaks of shelter, for a few days while traveling. She turns back, ears perking curiously. Again, she wonders why he had come back north or if it was really no reason at all, just that he was simply still roaming about as a loner with no clear distination at play.

But...maybe, he would stay. “Where your body may be weakened, your mind has grown stronger with time.” She speaks, nonchalantly. There was no hidding the physical weakness that came with time, but knowledge was only gained by time all the same. And their King, particularly, was a slut for knowledge “We have quite a number of strong fighters among us but we also have many children to protect and teach.” She informed. “Northfall I think will have quite a use for your... expertise.”
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She had been told to stay back, yes, and for a bit she did... until she got bored of the bird she was watching. Quickly, she started to follow her father, nose to the ground like she had been taught. Several scents mixed with his, confusing her as she tried her best to keep his. Thankfully though, it didn't take long for her to find them. Remembering that her papa didn't want her to be here, she would aim to run into the shadows, hunkering herself down and watching the interaction.  In reality she had absolutely no idea what was going on, but if something happened to her papa, she would take someone's ankles out. 

Unknowingly she found a sit right next to Hank, not seeing him at first as her attention was directly on her father and the other woman. She was only about a few feet away from him, but didn't even glance his way, and wouldn't unless he moved or said something.

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 It occurred to him then that it might be impossible to undo what he was about to do. If he sought to join their ranks, only to find Astoria and leave, he doubted that Sindri would ever forgive such a transgression. Normally, he was the brutally honest sort. This type of subversion was not his forte, but he was also almost perfectly poised to do it without it being noticed immediately.
 He had not been in a pack since he had lived in the real world. He recalled very little from just before he had died, but he did remember being bounced from place to place. He had always been untrusting of pack life because pack life did not trust him. Taikon considered himself cursed to doom those he loved, and pack life had a way of worming people he cared about into this threat.
 Taikon actually had not seen the towering male in the shadows of the trees. There were so many smells about and the visibility was poor. What he did notice was the smell of coyote. At first, he feared it would be from his own skin, but the reality was far worse.
 The white shape that appeared at the corner of his peripheral forced him to glance at it, and this raw moment of noticing made him create a split second decision. He raised a brow and squinted, though he knew full well it was exactly the shape he had demanded stay far, far away while he was doing this. He pretended to assume it was a child, since there were many smells and the shape was sitting close to another far larger and darker shape.
 Should they attack her, he would not be able to defend her. Most wolves would have attacked a coyote.
 Returning his attention back to Sindri, he nodded calmly, while internally screaming. “I've never had children of my own, but I've always liked them. I'm happy to play mentor and watcher wherever I'm needed,” he agreed. Once, the sting of this first statement might have caused significant pain. Time had taken many things from him, and thankfully, the pain of loss had ebbed with it.
 “It's good to see you,” he grinned with genuine relief, despite the very real possibility this was all about to explode.
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The sound of foliage shuffling approached. Strike one.

A stark white figure appeared, blinding against the dreary backdrop. He didn't recognize it. Strike two.

It conveniently appeared in time with an outsider at the door, its attention fixed on the interaction between the outsider and a higher-up while believing it was hidden. Strike three.

You're out.

He leapt, his weight more than enough to barrel the little thing over. If she didn't evade him, she would be lying on the ground with a towering monster of a man to answer to. They were lucky Hank wasn't privy to the hostile relationship between wolves and coyotes, else she would've already become a thing of the past.

And she may yet, if someone didn't stop him.

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The older man's eye turned and Sindri could only think that he too had noticed Hank protectively watching near. Taikon then spoke, stating while he never had pups of his own, he did so enjoy them. The Goddess @Freya had truly blessed their home with fertility and hopefully, too, in battle. Whether it was a Goddess whom still lived above or if it were true that she now worked as a wolf among Northfall. Either way, Sindri sang praise to her at nights, whatever shape she took.

Sindri would open her mouth to speak, but in these seconds she hears the sudden tussle behind her. Already as she whips around, her hairs along her back are standing on end. At the edges of their forest, Hank is now towering a young albino coyote, sticking out like a sore thumb in the dreariness.

Sindri leaves her place in front of the man at their border and comes to rush toward Hank and the unknown canine. Tail arching over her backside, a snarl on her face as she growls out question to the youth. “Who are you!?” Comes her demand and then, after taking in a deep breath of her scent, she turns to Taikon. “Is she one of yours?” She had his scent on her though if she was a traveler with him, he hadn't bothered mentioning it.
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The girl didn't realize how much danger she was in, didn't even realize she was being attacked until a body slammed into her. A squeak escaped her lips as she landed on her back, staring up at the wolf that clearly wanted to eat her. Letting out a cry as if she were a newborn baby, she would wiggle around, scared and unsure of what was happening. "Papa! Papa help!" She yelled out, only pausing as another wolf came to her, causing her to shrink back slightly with a sniffle. 

"You're not papa." As she heard the woman's question, she would shrug slightly, eyes wide in fear. "I'm Vedetta, I just wanted to make sure papa was okay, he was gone for a while." She clearly didn't understand what all was happening, her albino eyes staring up at the wolves. She no longer thrashed around or cried out, looking with curiosity up at the wolf that trapped her. "Your coat is really pretty! It reminds me of a birb." She now looked rather bubbly and happy, a very harsh contrast to how she was only moments ago. 

Looking up at the woman, she would cock her head to the side slightly, offering a derpy smile with her tongue hanging out. "You remind me of the dessert..... des-art." She thought for a moment, trying to remember how to say the word again. "The pretty sand stuff!"

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 It was hard to maintain sympathy for the young coyote when she so willingly disobeyed him. He had told her to stay behind to keep her safe. He had told her that where he was going, she could be killed. Yet she had followed him into the lion's mouth. His patience wore thin as he thought of Astoria, who could be within the depths of this mountain with no saviour and no way out.
 But he did not know she was here. It was only a hunch, a vague fruition based on scent and fear.
 Taikon followed Sindri to the coyote, easily conquered beneath the large male wolf. The yips she released in fear tore apart some deeper, older part of him. He recalled savagery from his youth, recalled what wolves were meant to do to her kind. His heart stopped for a lengthy moment as he thought for sure that they would tear her limb from limb, and he would be forced to hear her die as though it was his fault she refused to save her own stupid skin.
 The jig was up, and he had no choice but to relent if he did not wish her to die.
 “In a sense,” he answered. If Vedetta had decided that his words did not matter, then he had no choice but to cut her with his own. “The youngster had no mother and followed me from the mountains some time ago. I told her specifically—”, he glared then at the young coyote, though her tongue lolled and she seemed to have no idea the danger she was in. “— NOT to come here.” He growled.
 “Vedetta. You cannot be here. You must fare on your own.” If she would not listen, then he would not teach.
 He felt embarrassed, oddly. Normally, he cared not what other wolves thought of him. But in this case, he could not win. He would either be turned away from this place, or Vedetta would be killed. These were not mutually exclusive things. What if Astoria wasn't even here? Was he trying to do something where there was no purpose to doing so? What was this madness?
 “I will escort her out, if you permit,” he said, offering to do so partly to him himself a moment to think and figure out what to do with this wild, idiot of a child.
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He'd never seen a coyote up close before, so he wasn't sure if they were really this small and puppyish or this one in particular was just a youngster.

Well, he got his answer when she started yelping 'Papa!' in a distinctively childlike voice. Her reaction was to be expected: the pitiful struggle of a helpless young thing calling out for help from someone stronger. Thus, he didn't move a muscle, despite getting that weird inexplicable feeling that'd prickled at his psyche at least two times prior in this world now. He had no sympathy for anyone stupid enough to sneak places they shouldn't be and get caught. But, she was a kid. Did he care about that? Would he still tear her to pieces at the slightest provocation now that he knew she was an innocent (if dumb) child? Hank didn't know.

Still as stone, he stared unblinking down at her as if to make up for his lack of unnerving goggles that normally did the job for him— or maybe he just had a habit of staring, and no one'd ever brought it up to him before because they couldn't see his eyes. He registered that Sindri had come heeding her call in lieu of the stranger, but her presence wasn't enough to rouse him from his catatonic state. Only when the kid (who'd introduced herself as Vedetta) switched into a bubblier gear and compared his appearance to that of a bird did Hank blink himself from his stupor, craning his neck back in confusion. He eyed Sindri, silently asking her what the hell was even going on anymore. The girl went on to compliment Sindri too, cutely stumbling over the word near and dear to his heart: 'desert', which convinced him that she was trying to sweet talk her way out of this. And if that was the case, maybe she was smarter than she initially came off.

Or maybe she was just a nutcase. Hard to tell.

The rawboned man marched up, clearly fed up with the kid's antics. But he didn't expect him to tell her to get lost. Was he just leaving her to die, then? Was this the final straw and he no longer gave a damn what happened to her?

If Hank were a better man, a more compassionate man, he would have spoken up then. Protested the notion, insisted that this was cruel and that she should be allowed to stay in Northfall.

But he was not that man.

And he wasn't a totally heartless bastard, despite what most would have you believe. But he was too much of a mess in this area to know what to do, or care enough to put the effort into commanding his vocal cords to flap in such a way that'd verbalize something.

Anything.

So he didn't. He only stared absently, listened, and waited. Just as a soldier should.

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There was a few moments of crying out in shock and squeeling for her papa. Obviously, Taikon. It didn't last long and somehow she calms, despite Hank still looming over her.

The young coy goes on to speak to the two Northfall wolves, how Hank reminded her of a bird, probably due to the flakes of color in his fur. How Sindri was like the sands of a desert: a dessert. A place that she had spoken about with @Uriel though had never exactly seen up close herself. Times before, Sindri had been described as a pink sanded beach. Sindri smirked at the girl's words. Sindri was in fact beautifully colored, similar to @Primrose, even if she lacked any interesting markings like Hank here.

She said nothing else to the girl, but instead slowly turned her head back into the direction of Taikon in search of an obvious explanation. Taikon was smart enough so not to go all 'OMG DONT TOUCH MY BABY!" on them, seeing as it was the loner pair at fault. Good.

He explained himself calmly and scolded the yearling in the process. She was young and being a yearling still had much to learn, but it was not impossible to stand on your own at that age, at least for a few days while 'Papa' tried to handle things. It seemed, however, from Taikon's side, she was less of an adopted child and more like one he was forced to keep an eye on simply because she wouldn't go away.

If he had been truly planning to join, Sindri did not know if he had intention of outright shooing the young coyote off or if he might still be willing to teach her a thing or two on the side. Either way, that was not particularly Sindri's problem. “Yes, you may.” She allows. “And afterwhich if you still have want to join us, return. However if this one,” She points her muzzle at, “finds herself unable to leave your side, she will be your responsibility.” Of course, Northfall protected all of those who were Northfall but if she proved quite the troublemaker he would get the backlash of it.

She did not know in the end of he would return, with or without the coyote pup. Still, she thought to mention, should it help Taikon catch a little bit of a break from the disobedient girl if they did both return.... “Our King had mentioned a coyote here...” Though Sindri had not bothered to introduce herself. “A ward of our Medic, Aarkron. If she does stay, she might find familiarity in that.” Or, Astoria would find her just as annoying as ol Hank here.
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The girl watched the two other wolves in awe, not really listening to any of the conversation. However, as her papa came over and yelled at her, she instantly pinned her ears down, attempting to sink further into the ground, or into Hank, just anywhere that wasn't towards papa. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched him, glancing between the two that talked between themselves. Did papa not want her anymore? Was he just like her last family? Was this just how a family was? Perhaps she could get used to it. Still, it hurt, and she could tell that she wasn't wanted anymore, had used up all the love in her new papa's heart. That was how love worked, right? There was only a set amount and it would be used up over a period of time? 

At least that's how Vedetta saw it, her mind distorting everything, making it into something it wasn't. She had a hard time understanding things, and this was one of those times. "I understand p-Takon (Taikon), It is time for me to go, just like my last family. I'll miss you, but I will move past just like you."

Though the water in her eyes grew, she would try to push away from Hank, wanting to try and stand up. If he let her, she would try to leave if he let her get up, not waiting for Taikon, or anyone else. This was the first time she had ever really seen sad, the most adult she had ever acted.

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 Taikon might have regretted his decisions more if he had not previously told Vedetta the basics of what was happening. He thought he had made things clear when he had told her to stay behind, but evidently it hadn't been the case, and she had to make a scene about it. She had intentionally followed him here, in his mind. She was here only because he was, and he had made it clear this was a dangerous space for her.
 Yet somehow, he'd been painted as the bad guy for setting boundaries as she erupted, even as Sindri gave quite clear instruction on how to handle things. It was straight forward.
 But the coyote melted. The dark male judged. There were many reasons why he did not think he was a good guardian for her any longer. There were reasons why he thought she would do better alone. But she did not see those things. She saw abandon, and Taikon was forced to either face that and help her away, or else melt into what he had chosen.
 Sindri spoke also of a coyote, evidently in the care of a medic. This lit the unknown of his heart, the light that had brought him here was real and true. He nodded to Sindri and then the dark male for a moment, finding solace in her words and great comfort in knowing that at least if it was Astoria, that she was here among people he knew. Sort of.
 Vedetta imploded, or at least she seemed to. “Enough, I am coming with you,” he granted, finding this over-indulgence of emotion a bit much given what he had tried to relay to her. He had never seen her react like this to anything he had put forward.
 While she did not wait for him, he propped her chin up when she went to rise with his nose. He moved then only to support her, to move her to somewhere quiet where he could talk to her about the reality of the situation.
 Though.. The reality was odd. Sindri had mentioned a possibility of the little coyote joining his side, should that be the best thing for her. He didn't know what was right yet.
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Hank was pretty much clocked out at this point. Vedetta wriggled out from under him, and he made no move to stop her. Sindri said something about a medic and a coyote here. Guess the kid would be able to stay after all...? The dude went to escort her, so it looked like things would work out fine. Cool.

Stifling a yawn, Hank stretched out his neck and gave Sindri a parting glance before turning back into the depths of the territory. He was confident everything was pretty chill here, and unless something exploded, that would be his exit.

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Sindri's ears folded back, the girl's words twisting Sindri's gut. The poor girl seemed completely oblivious of the danger she had placed herself in for encroaching upon another's territory. She was even more ignorant then some of the young minds within Northfall that had wondered their way. Sindri and Frigg's children had never been so stupid, not at this age. The moment they began to leave the den and return to it on their own, they were taught of both the good and very bad things of the world. Obviously, the girl was not raised well and only time would tell if it would be far too late for her before she was able to learn any better.

Taikon was in quite a tough spot with this. Sindri might have helped to clarify things to the girl, had they stayed, but it was made clear that the older man had every intention to handle this bit of mess himself. Good and good luck.

Sindri watched the pair go for a moment longer to make certain the girl did not attempt to go barging into their territory again, wondering or not if they might return in time. Perhaps a pack in the mist of a war was not the best place for an ignorant child who obviously did not listen to instruction. A huff later, Sindri turned and slowly followed the same path as Hank.
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Closing out

---

 Taikon followed Vedetta. What he had left behind was not lost on him. A pack waited for his apparent ability to instruct puppies. It waited for his expertise. As usual, this seemed rather frightening.
 None of this was of consequence to that pack. He feared that he would not perform the duties of a pack wolf well-enough to be considered worth keeping. He feared that Astoria would simply die while he existed. He feared that Vedetta would also die without him to hunt or watch out for her.
 But he followed the coyote anyway, looking back with a gracious nod to Sindri with the comfort that she was kind and would wait for him to sort this out.
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