So far the young wolf had met few inhabitants of Alacritis. So far he was getting a feel for the new land that he had decided to settle in, though he had yet to decide on a pack. He had scented one in the North but Kar had decided against going there yet. He wanted to discover all the different packs of the lands, maybe get a feel for them from the loners and rogues, and then decide which pack he was going to try to gain acceptance to.

The gray wolf had found himself wandering to the North again, eventually coming across an area frozen over with ice and snow. A wide tundra stretched out before him, cold wind nipping at his fur. The male came to a stop, his ears twitching to catch the slightest sound. This place reminded him of the barren hills he had once wandered.The terrain was similar, yet of a different element. He paused, taking in a deep breath.

'No matter where I wander, I am reminded of home.' The brute thought. Caelum had it's own areas of harsh conditions. The Glacier Mountains reminded him of this place... though there were no dangerous cliffs to fall off of here. Just a large, stretching terrain. Kar came to a stop, lifting his muzzle to the sky. He let off a howl, one that told those in the area, if any, that he wasn't here to be a threat. He closed his eyes and then lowered his muzzle, taking a moment to fully take in the new feel of the terrain around him.

~*~ For the dappled cat who was sleeping nearby, the howl went off like a siren. Silverback had been traveling the lands the night before and had hit upon a snowstorm. Usually these things - which cause mountaineers to turn back and the cliff goats to seek shelter, were nothing to her, but even a cat can't find her way in a total white out. Annoyed but tired, the leopard had curled up against a firm snow bank and let herself drift off into sleep - not so dangerous if you're used to Arctic conditions. The snow fall hadn't lasted too much longer- just long enough to deposit a couple inches here and a big drift there. The huntress had become feathered with the stuff, and with her already perfect camoflauge, no one would've suspected that that little snow bank over there, had a living, breathing creature inside it. ... until that snow bank exploded. Hell hath no fury like a cat deprived of sleep. The snow leopard, her ears ringing and eyes blazing, was only about five feet from the lone male. Her kind had been known to leap ten times that. The distance vanished in a heartbeat and a paw armed with five wicked talons came swinging straight for the wolf's face. ~*~

The cold wind tugged at the male's fur as silence, or at least silence from any of his kind, reached his ears. Slowly lime green eyes opened, looking out over the snowy landscape. Oh how such a large, empty terrain reminded him of the lands he'd traveled over in his journey to Alacritis. Wolves had inhabited some of the lands... but he generally stayed away from the borders of the packs. Especially the packs of Aethelis.

Aethelis had almost felt like home. Almost... but not quite. The young male found his sister there... a wolf whose name he no longer remembered. But he could remember his mother. Her warm fur, her scent. But her name was forgotten... as was the name of the male who was supposed to be his father. He hadn't been there for the pups, at least not for very long. He wasn't quite sure what had happened... but both he and his aunt had disappeared.

These cold lands... Hadn't Tilvera been this cold when the winters had come? He looked down to the snow, moving his paw to press down on the soft, cold, white substance that covered the ground. Regardless of how much he wished Caelum hadn't fallen to ruin, of both man and natural disaster, he knew that there was no going back.

But his reminiscing about the past was to be interrupted by one of the creatures he had come to fear as a pup. Snow burst from a nearby bank, and the wolf snapped his head around to see a thing most frightening -- a snow leopard with eyes set ablaze. Shock kept the wolf frozen in place, his ears flicking back and his eyes widening with fear.

But as the feline attacked his body kicked into motion. He pushed off from his right side, jumping to the left. The snow leopard's attack did not get avoided however. But instead of catching an eye the sharp claws racked painfully across his muzzle, producing a sharp grunt of pain from him.

"Ggrah!" Kar spun so he was facing his newest enemy, his fur floofing in defense. He scrunched his neck, doing what he could to protect it. He narrowed his eyes, tucked his ears and tail, and let out a warning growl. The feline was surely in a rage, but he would rather not fight her if he didn't have to. But deep in his gut Kar knew that this wasn't going to be the case. He lowered his head, flashing his fangs.

'Well come at me then.' He thought, ready to move quickly in order to dodger, or mostly dodge, an attack.

~~~

Defenses:
-Scrunched neck
-Floofed fur
-Narrowed / Slitted eyes
-Tucked tail
-Pinned ears

Attack:
-None / Defensive Position

Damage:
-Scratches on his muzzle

~*~ The wolf gave a satisfying cry of pain and back off fast, his fur fluffing up like, well, a cat's. The mutt went immeidately into a defensive position, curling up his tail pathetically and showing a desperate sheen of fang. The cat didn't continue her attack however. Though her eyes still flashed and those claws that could peel flesh were unsheathed, she just straightened up and held her ground. The snarl on her limps faded to a pointed sneer. "Don't be an idiot," Silverback growled. "I could've raked out your eyes or your throat if I'd wanted." As it was she seemed content to just observe the damage she'd already done to his muzzle. For the moment anyway. Her shoulders rolled with feline grace as she took a side step, the beginnings of a circle around her offender. She'd been angered and she'd sought retribution. Having seen to what she considered a just punishment, there was no obvious need to continue. What there was though, was a lesson to be learnt. "Listen carefully dog, when a thing like me attacks a thing like you, your best bet is just to lay down and pray that death will find you quickly." She could leave the scene at any moment she wanted to - bounding off into the snow clouds to scale one of the sheer ice cliffs as easily as a squirrel would climb a pine. But what she detested above all things was boredom. Now that she had to be awake, she would see what interest this 'thing' - for lack of a better word - could hold for her. ~*~

Though Kar had prepared himself for an attack, an attack did not come on him. Instead of attack the female feline straightened up. She was holding her ground, leaving her eyes flashing and claws unsheathed. The male's ear twitched as she spoke, an annoyed look crossing his face. What made it worse was that the feline was right. She had moved far quicker than any wolf he had met. She was dangerous to deal with... and the wolf wasn't going to continue something he was sure he wouldn't win.

Kar snorted at her words. "While it may be true you are an agile and strong fighter, ma'am, I'd rather die fighting my foe, or at least making an attempt at survival, then just lay down and die." His words did not betray fear. Kar uneasily kept his gaze focused on her, turning his body slowly so that he was facing the snow leopard at all times as she circled him.

"Now if you don't mind my asking, ma'am, if you don't intend to kill me then what exactly is your plan?" Even though the cat wasn't attacking him, he did not so soon let down his defenses. Felines, at least from his experience in Caelum, were not to be trusted. The male took a slow breath, waiting for the snow leopard's next move.

~*~ The male's response to the she-cat's tidbit of advice was a snorted retort. Silverback watched him, as she continued her slow prowling circle, enjoying seeing him shift around to keep her in his sights. Amusement was starting to overtake the earlier anger. Honestly the puppy in the snow would not be the first to be saved by her sideways sense of humor. "Spoken like a true wolf," Silverback murmured pointedly, and dang if her voice wasn't perfectly unreadable. It could've been a reluctant compliment or a snide insult. But her silvery, feminine voice regained a great deal of it's obvious displeasure when she answered the male's question. "My plan was to sleep, you annoying little twitter-bird." Her claws kneaded the ice and snow. Her elongated tail, which helped to snow the curve of her circle, twitched and swayed at it's striped tip. "However, since that's been canceled, I'll have to find some other method of entertainment." A delicate pink tongue lapped out to slide across her whiskered muzzle. She was acting a tad more dramatic than she had to, but she was enjoying the fearful show of defense that the dog was putting on for her. "Perhaps I should have breakfast," she mused aloud, raking him with a grey-green gaze. It wasn't as though she hadn't stalked and killed canines before, or enjoyed the taste of dogmeat, but then again, she'd also mated with a wolf - just recently in fact-. As a whole she was quite prejudiced against them, but her reactions depended entirely on the individual she met and the mood she was in. Consistency just makes life boring after all. She finished her little lion's circle, and ended up where she'd began. By now her claws had shrunk back to sooty grey tips just barely peeking out of her paws. The timbre of her voice, however, had hardly changed. "Or maybe you have a better idea?" ~*~

The slow, circling of the snow leopard was making Kar increasingly uneasy. He could see the amusement in her eyes, the joy in watching him shift to keep his eyes on her at all times. She was toying with him. The male shivered a bit, not at all liking the fact that he was being toyed with. Her murmered statement caused the wolf to flick his ears forward for a moment. Was she complimenting him or insulting him? Kar didn't like how her voice didn't betray her true feelings about him. 'I have the feeling I'm only here for her amusement now.' He thought. Part of him wondered what his mother, Annette, might have done in this situation. Would she have stood her ground? Would she have been toyed with the same way? Or would his mother have gone after the leopard once the initial attack ended?

Kar lowered his head a bit as displeasure crept back into the leopard's voice. Sleep. Kar remembered the howl he had loosed just before the snow leopard had attacked him. He frowned, lowering his ears a bit. He was going to speak, but then the female continued to speak. Kar honestly did feel a bit bad. Truthfully they had a couple things in common, being predators and all. Her gaze betrayed nothing to the male. She was watching him with intensity... but what she was really thinking was a mystery locked behind closed doors. Had she truly killed wolves before? Had she... Kar didn't want to think of that. The thought of one predator eating another made the young male feel queasy.

Once the circle was finished, and the snow leopard came to a stop, the gray furred male dipped his head. "Well... first of all I'd like to say I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep. I wasn't aware any of your kind lived in the area... I'm actually not from around here." Kar's lime green gaze lifted back to the snow leopard's. "I do hope you can accept my apology, ma'am. I'd be more than willing to find you something to eat, if you'd like."

~*~ "There, that is more like it," the cat said with terse approval as the male poured out his polite apology. Whether he was doing so out of the goodness of his heart or because he now appreciated the danger he was in, mattered little to Silverback at the moment. She was just ready to enjoy being served. She had sat back in the snow, but now she laid down as well. She could afford to; she was in control here. Her tail - as pretty as a Persian scarf- was wrapped along her side and draped over her shoulders. Any cat's tail is longer than a wolf's, but a Snow leopards is so long that it seems out of porportion to the creature's body - as though the gods themselves had declared the things so lovely that they deserved something extra to give them extra grace and set them apart. Silverback looked every inch a work of the gods as she lay there, a queen on the fields of snow. "That is good of you," she murmured in return to the male's offer. "And it would please me greatly." If he did go off, she was half tempted to follow, but no, she would remain here. If he was lying thorugh his teeth just to escape, she would at least be rid of his presence (and given a good killing to look forward to in the future) but if he was sincere, then she would be served for the first time since she was a cub at her mother's side. Not bad either way. ~*~