Quatorze

He lingered on the southern coast of the lake, an area that seemed to be in the shadow of a pack. It was, in his eyes, a good place to hide for a few days while he ensured that he wasn't being followed by the pale creep. A yell could bring in locals that wouldn't want a dangerous wolf drifting around their borders. And just the same, he figured he was probably far enough away that they wouldn't too snippy at him chilling out for a few days. Vidocq was relatively harmless to an entire pack, at least -- it wasn't like he actually wanted their company or to cause them trouble.

Then again there was also that crazy lady in the far south who thought she owned the world. If there was someone like that up here maybe he could just shove them through a hole in the ice and make the world a less annoying place. He could dream, ok?

Anyway, with this lake it wasn't like he'd be fishing, most of it was frozen, but he'd found a few small critters along the shore that had been a nice snack. The lake itself allowed for him to see anyone coming, too -- a nice flat spot without too many interruptions to vision. Sure, Vidocq himself might stand out, but as would motion, no matter what color. Honestly, though, he was mostly just giving himself a safe space to plan before he continued on his way... Wherever that would be. He had no solid plans. So, he did what he always did and sniffed along the shore for anything of note.
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Much time had passed since obtaining her injuries from her previous scuffle with the neighbors. It would seem since the fight in Northfall, the islanders were staying clear from them best they could, at least until what Sindri could assume was their leader's recovery. Surely, if Venndrussel was dead they would have disband... or did now Kei herself take the lead?

Sindri pondered, her thoughts carrying her away from her home and into the open tundra. She stayed clear of the neighboring packs, only wishing to adventure in order to test the limits of her own recovery.

Here, in miles and miles of white, the young dark wolf was easily spotted. Sindri had never been to this specific area before and wondered if the young wolf was a part of the claim to the south. Yellow eyes watched the other from the corner of her view as she moved curiously around the iced over lake.
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It didn't take long to spot the other wolf, and there was no reason to hide it. If that more pale shadow was up to no good, at least they'd know they didn't have stealth on their side. He paused, perking up a little, ears forward as he peered towards them. Not anyone he recognized, at least at this distance. Probably a good thing, as it wasn't like he'd had many good interactions with people thus far. They all were crazy old people or just crazy, period. 

It was good to know his decision to stay so far out in the middle of flat nothing actually was a smart choice, though. Nobody being all creepy on him this time. But then again, that last guy proved that even if Vidocq was completely clear about his intentions, some people were too detached from reality to really make it matter. Still, he'd be cautious, as always. And not being a particularly social wolf, he wasn't going to go and approach by himself, however, he'd definitely watch and wait and see what the other wolf did.
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Far in these northern reaches, Sindri wonders for well one could break the ice in the summer months. She wondered if it was ever free of ice, ever a place worth visiting for food. As she strode along it, she caught sight of a shadow through the water- a large one though could not tell what it was.

Out of the corner of her sunflower gaze, she watched him. Tall, lean and of course young. Could he be of use to her? She tested his patience by drawing lazily nearer, sniffing at the hard cold ice from under her paws and testing it's strength.
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Someone doing nothing was almost worse than them being overly friendly. He watched her perhaps a bit more pointedly. Like well, what was her plan? At a certain point he would just walk on, not liking the uncertainty of it all and thinking it best to leave someone acting suspiciously well enough behind. But not quite yet. Right now she was just floating on the weird side of things, not making herself a danger. Yet, at least.

For now, if she moved towards him even at all, he started to rotate out of her straight path, not going to stand still and make it easy on her. He was very aware of her presence. He held himself rather neutrally still -- he was not posturing aggressively, but nor was he going to make himself out to be a pushover. He wasn't sure what the way out would be if she turned out to be some crazy chick, but at least he had plenty of directions to pick that were solidly away from her. An ear on his head rotated around, making sure she didn't have a buddy coming in from some other direction. Thus far at least, there was nothing on radar. The ice beneath him was less of a danger right now -- he'd wandered over it enough that he had decided it was safe so now wolves were top danger priority to him.
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In his youth and in his loneliness he was cautious. Good. He is rounding her, keeping his distance and looking from the corner of his gaze to make sure none other were near. None, that Sindri were aware. Sindri's own posture remained neutral as it were, her head down sniffing the ice, her tail dangled between her hind limbs.

She pauses, lifting her head and looking to the young wolf squarely. Then, she charges him. If he were to flee, she would give chase, biting at his ankles. If he were to stand his ground, she'd dance around him, snipping and pinching where his skin was thinnest or long hairs of winter coat stuck out.
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Vidocq had exactly zero interest in a fight -- he'd threaten those who seemed to deserve it, who knew they were pushing limits, but that was a risk. What if they accepted his bluff? So far he'd been lucky. On the other hand, this woman wasn't being particularly threatening. That wasn't awful. He preferred it to those where he was fairly certain they were using a silver tongue to try to woo him to do something against his best self interests. Or was. At least until something seemed to change in her. 

He started skittering away, a defensive snarl at her, though not quite going full tilt. He wanted her to stop and go away. Assuming she didn't in those few fleeting seconds he'd allow before opting to just scram? Well, he'd go full tilt away from the crazy chick who'd suddenly lost her marbles. He didn't know she wasn't going to actually try to kill him, and honestly wasn't gonna take that chance. He couldn't afford it. So, he'd start sprinting away from her, hoping she'd quickly give up and go pick on someone else. What the hell was her issue anyway?
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He begins shuffle away from her, snarling defensively to get her to back off. Because he didn't full out run to begin, she slowed, holding her tail high and making quick stomps with her front paws.

She still lunges forward, snapping at him and it's enough to get him running into a full sprint. She gives chase for she is swift as her given name suggests, Sindri Swiftkill. He is however thin boned and lean too, long legs on his tall body and with the energy of a yearling on his side.

She wouldn't give chase for long. After a few snips of her front small teeth at his hocks and ankles, she slows down her pace and then stops. She sends out a 'woof' into his direction- a wordless grasp for his attention. If he kept running, oh well she guessed.
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Vidocq didn't slow when she did, though he greatly appreciated renewing the space behind him, continuing to run for some time so that there was no way she'd be able to do the same thing again. He ignored her call for the most part, but eventually slowed once he was at a much greater comfortable distance, peering back at her with suspicion now that he was comfortable to look back over his shoulder. He didn't really stop though, though. 

He hadn't appreciated whatever the hell the point of these antics were. Whatever joke that was supposed to be, he was way too serious for that kind of thing -- didn't she know he was out here to survive, not to try to prank people? Whatever. Vidocq sent another spitting snarl her way as he continued trotting away, fur spiked on end. He didn't seem keen to let her out of his vision (except perhaps by virtue of gaining too much distance between them), as she'd apparently burned whatever withering bit of trust he might have for a stranger at this time. Now? She could only be up to no good in his eyes. He hadn't even done anything...
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Whatever test Sindri had for the youth she couldn't be certain if he had failed or passed. Out here on his own, she could see why he would be unwilling to get into a fight and cause unnecessary injury. On the other paw, he could be seen as a coward for not holding his ground against her. Sindri wanted strong wolves in her ranks, not ones that would flip on their back and submit easy to anyone when possible defeat presented itself. This boy had really done neither.

She could see his dark coat in the distance there with the white washed world all around him. She didn't leave and so decided to go back to investigating the large iced over lake they were on. In the heart of winter, Sindri did not think she could break through the ice so moved about it to see if there was any natural cracks in it. With such clear ice, seeing the fish swimming below was ever taunting. Sindri too would stick around so long as she could see the youth and do her own bit of taunting.
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He lingered a bit, watching her. But it seemed she really was going to stop there. As he watched, he basically ran the numbers inside his head. But based on the fact he turned slightly farther away and continued at a reasonable pace, the calculation came up that he decided her unpredictable nature and completely illogical (to him) behavior, it wasn't worth the risk. He could keep looking for whatever he wanted elsewhere.

He looked away then, back towards where he was actually going. An ear did stay focused on her, just in case she had any funny ideas, but it seemed likely he was going to move along. Where to? He wasn't sure. He was never sure.
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The boy finally decided to move on then, perhaps curious of Sindri's intentions but not so much to stick around or ask in order to find out. So, after moment or two, Sindri turned around and swiftly made pace back towards the coast.
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