Six

Note I'm kind of fuzzy about this timeline-wise since it should have happened a while ago but was waiting on threads, heh. Also also note this is at the southern edge of the Tundra.... Somewhere.

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Earlier had been a picture of peace. Early morning light had everything glowing through the fog, quiet. Vidocq was searching for rodent burrows so he could locate himself an appropriate-sized snack before continuing on... Somewhere. That part wasn't clear, but 'not here' was pretty much his only direction.

He'd noticed the silence -- not at first. But the normal sounds of distant things he couldn't see had suddenly all gone quiet. The fur pricked up along his spine, and though he started to trot along and start to leave the area, but it was the wrong direction and too late. Silence was replaced by a drum roll with crescendo that quickly sounded like it was coming from all around. Figures formed in the mist, charging towards him. A brief second pause, and he turned and ran. Something had spooked the caribou, and what that might have been would likely remain a mystery. It wasn't important, really. The important thing was that Vidocq had found himself suddenly surrounded by a sea of them. 

Later, as the dust settled there, a dark shadow was alone again as if it had pooled on the ground. Perhaps it would have been easily mistaken a rock if it wasn't someone who was clearly still alive.
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 After suggesting to someone to roam south to seek out men, she'd gone north of all places. It felt familiar in an ancestral way, the chill of the tundra, though having grown up in a desert made her really not want to stick around too long. Still, it was a nice break from the prettiness of her new home. There were different species here, those she wasn't too familiar with. A herd of elk, up ahead, storming through as if they'd been spooked by something.

 She watched them idly from beside a boulder, keeping close in case they decided to turn towards her.

 Which, they didn't.

 She moved slowly after them, figuring she'd eventually find one weak enough to take down and have her fill before potentially dragging home. She noticed a shadow in their wake and wondered if she was in luck - had they trampled one of their own?

 No.

 This was a wolf pup!

 She trotted towards it, eyes flashing up after the elk to make sure they didn't return to stomp on her as well. She reached him and sniffed at him, realizing that he was alive, though barely.“Can you hear me?” her soft voice rang out, though she gave him space in case he came to suddenly and with a violent reaction. He seemed very hurt and she wondered what it was that she could do. Darken would know, but she hadn't seen Darken since awakening here.

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He was out. How long for? Not horribly long from the sound of it. He didn't really hear the voice -- consciously at least -- but it seemed like it reconnected a few things and he stirred a little. Not a ton, mind you, but he moved a little. Pause. His eyes fluttered open, but was anyone home? Questionable. Maybe they just couldn't come to the door right now.

But honestly, there was a lot to process. Pain was still dulled by adrenaline, it was maybe a good thing that he hadn't really moved, no more damage. A quiet, sort-of-groan, his eyes moved but hadn't focused yet, just trying to dimly figure out what all had happened. The gears were starting to turn again, but he didn't acknowledge the woman at all. Yet, at least. But at least it didn't seem like he was bleeding excessively -- though hooves had cut and scraped him pretty well -- nor was anything so obviously going a direction it shouldn't be, so the majority of his injuries were likely a not-so-visible sort.
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 The boy wasn't dead.

 She considered his injuries carefully, glancing about to see if there were any familiar herbs. She'd never been a herbalist or anything of that sort, but she'd been close to two during her time in the Valley. A valley that was, unfortunately, in a desert. Meaning that any of the plants she was familiar with would never be seen here.

 Nevada decided that the best chance for the boy would be to warm him.

 She eyed him, feeling deeply uncomfortable with having to bring herself close to a stranger without their consent, but if she didn't, the cold would likely take him. “Easy now,” the pale woman moved cautiously towards him, kneeling down to lie beside the boy to lay her head and throat gently against his skyward shoulders or side, depending on how he was lying. The pressure would be light, knowing he would likely be very sore. “You're hurt, I'm warming you.” Regardless of whether the boy was conscious enough to respond to her or not, she wanted to help.

 Call it motherly instinct or what you will, she couldn't help it. After having two litters raised past this age, she couldn't help but see them in the child.

 If he hadn't shoved her away by now or reacted badly, she would gently lick at whatever cuts or scrapes she could see near where her face lay. In the absence of actual herbs or medicines, instinct took over and licking was her medicine of choice. He was likely very, very bruised... she just hoped whatever injuries he sustained could be managed and recovered from.

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The world was fuzzy, but a dim thread of awareness was coming back. The world was more audibly distant, maybe buried under a rush of what sounded like wind or water. A voice was a hum, most of the world was just pale blur. He just wasn't all there yet to be able to tell her to stop. He would have, no matter how he was feeling because, well, it's Vidocq. 

As soon as she touched him, he was starting to react, a crescendo of movement that built from just shifting of weight to starting to struggle to get away. Which.. probably wasn't the best thing to do, given he went from a grumble to shrieks if she didn't move away. He hurt and any pressure across his peppering of bruises was enough to break the pain through to his awareness. However, moving also hurt, which meant more flailing about. And if she stayed, his flailing was going to turn into uncoordinated snapping. -- Vidocq still wasn't sure what had happened, what was going on, the bit of clarity was "ow" and to try to stop it from hurting. The panic was overpowering, especially to a wolf who had nobody and no reason to trust anyone or anything. Everything was danger, and he wasn't rational enough to tell someone was attempting to help through the hurt.
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 The boy was flailing at her, clearly perceiving her as a threat - as clouded in pain as he was. He was an inch away from snapping, she assumed. His pain overcame any form of logic and she stepped back, ears pinned and tail hanging loose behind her. He was young, but he was not an infant. A near-yearling, if she was reading his bruised features right. “Calm yourself,” she said gently but firmly. She wasn't sure if he could hear her yet but she figured at some point, words would start making it through the cloud. “I won't hurt you.”

 Well. Any more than she had, inadvertently as it was.

 There was evidently nothing more she could do right now. His cuts and scrapes, while awful, were not life threatening. So, she lay in the snow, white fur melting into it. She rested her chin on her paws, keen seaglass eyes scanning their surroundings as she waited for him to recover enough to communicate.

 If she wasn't here, she assumed some predator or scavenger would come to take advantage of the boy's weakness.

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Relief was partial: the sharp pain dulled as she stopped touching him, but the world itself was still dully throbbing. Was there an end to it? He couldn't think clear enough to be sure. He uttered a sputtery growl, that probably wasn't all too threatening when you got right down to it. Vidocq shrank back a little, like he slithered back on himself, but not more than an inch or two. He was still having issues focusing, and though he flashed his teeth, he was pretty much doing so at a blurry pale lump. It probably wasn't going to be very effective.

He was a boy who so far had not had good contact with people. Good luck trying to get him to believe anyone was going to help him. A second of stillness, but then the scruffy dark figure started to move. A little. He was trying to pull his feet under himself so he could run off, but things weren't cooperating. It was more of a whine instead of a growl this time, and he didn't get very far, half a foot at most before collapsing back into a pile. He still wasn't being very communicative but at least he was starting to be part of the world again.
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 She watched as he lay, growling and shrinking into himself. She did not feel threatened, only concerned as the boy snarled and snapped.

 It was clear he was in tremendous pain.

 “You should rest,” she said gently though firmly as he tried (unsuccessfully) to rise to his feet. “You'll hurt yourself more if you don't.” She would not chase him, try to catch him, but she stepped only to match the distance he had moved from her. She nosed at the snow, trying to sniff if there were any indications of any plants she might be able to use to soothe his pain.

 Unfortunately, the woman was not used to the tundra so she was unsuccessful.

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All he wanted to do right now was to get away. To find a place to hide that wasn't so exposed. Then again, like everything up here was exposed. But right now it didn't seem like he could even try. He did need to rest, but he didn't want her around lurking. He didn't want to deal with some random person. Debts. He didn't want what she was offering, no matter what that thing was, too risky, not his choice. Right now, she was more of a danger to him than anything else.

“Go away,” he hissed. It was about all he could conjure up word-wise. He tried to let his face tell the rest of the story, a grimace that was defensively aggressive, maybe helped in seriousness by the pain. Or not. Stranger Danger was totally a thing that had kept him alive so far. She couldn't do anything. So he imagined. Survival meant that he needed to prove he was still tough enough to defend himself if he had to. Even if she wasn't going to try to kill him, she might annoy him to death instead.
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 It pained her.

 Yet, she would not deny the boy's command. She looked at him mournfully, though did not press with any physical movement, hoping her simple words could do the work. “Let me help you to shelter and then I'll leave.” Her head drooped and she turned her head slightly, trying to scan the surroundings for potential caves or root-nests she could lead him to and leave him at. At least then, she could perhaps do some good. Here, he was in danger of a scavenger coming by and deciding he was a meal.

 Her eyes returned to his. “Please. You won't need to see me again.” If he denied her again, she would go, despite wondering if he would survive this.

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He was an oversized rock at this point -- maybe with some extra spiky fur though. “I won't trust you.” A subtle difference from what might have been ordinarily said -- won't not don't -- but that was all he said. He held his spot, he held his grimace. 

He also didn't move. She was still taking the entirety of his focus, especially since moving appeared to be off the table for now just under his own power. He had no plans, he had no direction, just survival. He'd do anything for that -- except apparently trust people, because trusting people meant more ways for them to end up trying to kill him. Or something. The logic was probably a little fuzzy outside of Vidocq's own brain.
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 She sighed and looked about, scanning for some form of shelter she could leave the boy at. Finally, she spotted a shadow, a dip - a small cave beneath a stone, perhaps? “There is a cave, you should shelter in it.” She would not move him, knowing well enough that if she came close, his teeth would snag her. Instead, she would give what advice she could to the broken boy.

 Her eyes turned towards the rabble of broken snow that led over the area. “Else the herd may return over this path, and you, again.”

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With a bit of a grunt he tried to look, craning his neck -- oh it hurt. He grimaced, looking only briefly before he gave up on it. Instead, he went back to glaring at her. “Maybe.” Yeah, he was kind of awful. No thanks, no confirmation beyond what he said. But he didn't move beyond that either for now, slumping back down.

“Doubt they're coming back.” Not like that at least. Unless someone pointedly tried. In which case, number one suspect was right in front of him. Yeah, he'd totally think the worst about anyone and everyone. Anyhow, this big sourpuss was probably going to just wait for her to leave. His gaze was pointed, despite layered with the pain he was trying to squelch.

He just wanted her to go away. He wanted to rest and not feel like he'd have to threaten to bite off her nose. He couldn't relax with her around, and he wasn't keen on showing just how hurt he was. At least if he stayed still he could make things seem better than they were. So uh. He'd wait. And when she'd leave then he'd start to crawl over that way. Well, ok, he'd make sure she was definitely gone first. And hope she wasn't directing him to a bear den or something on purpose.

Once she was out of sight, he dragged himself away to rest.
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