It was no secret that Kirsi had been wandering idly around Winterfell's borders for some time now. She and Song had discussed joining Acere once Fyri had disbanded, but she had a feeling the number of wolves there exceeded what was feasible for them to maintain, especially so far north. Perhaps joining wasn't the right choice - but she wasn't quite sure what to do next. Today had taken her to the wall, a structure she was only vaguely familiar with. The first time she'd been here, all she'd been able to think about was how it'd come into existence. No wolves she knew could build something like this, even the most crafty of them. Today, though, her mind was on something else. She'd been tracking a sheep for a better part of the morning, but something had intercepted her hunt... the scent of a feline. Kirsi hadn't expected to see much of anything up north, especially not... a cat. The scent was barely noticeable at first, and for a moment she wondered if she was imagining things, but quickly she came to realize that this was no illusion. Standing near the wall, down a few dozen yards from where she stood, was a fucking leopard. From a distance it was hard to tell how big the feline was, but he looked nearly about her size... but why the hell was he so far north? She'd never encountered one and had never planned to, but suddenly the leopard seemed drawn to her presence, twisting around and turning toward her. Shit.

VOLCANIC He had toddled past the border without even realizing it, far too lost in his own thoughts to care or even worry. He moved through the early snow at a slow pace, blindly weaving a path away from Winterfell as he made his way. His thoughts were grim and dark, mostly to do with his older siblings and how they must have hated him, one of them certainly seemed to, although Incendio told him she would b nicer to them from now on. What was nicer compared to how mean she had been the first time they met? He couldn’t say. When he looked up he saw…something, he didn’t quite understand, it was big, bigger than anything he had ever seen, maybe even bigger than the ship he wasn’t allowed to go near, to him it was an all encompassing black barrier with a barely visible trickle of light over the top of it. He tilted his head left and then right as he examined the structure, trying to make sense of it as he paced along the blockade, sniffing it. It smelled like stone and something else he couldn’t quite place, something sour and earthy. He wrinkled his nose at it and turned away, deciding it wasn’t worth his time, not while he was amid brooding so thoughtfully. And yet… He turned toward it again and decided it wouldn’t hurt to walk next to it, just to find out how far it went, even though the shade cast by the barrier left him in near complete darkness. He shuffled along beside the structure, sometimes brushing against it and finding the scratching sensation the rough-hewn stones supplied to be pleasant, he stopped for a bit to scratch himself on one of the stones then grinned as he trotted beside the blockade. All the while he was playing, the leopard was stalking him, amber eyes watching intently as he wobbled and trundled through the frost, a low growl on its throat as it watched the small pup with malicious intent. It crouched low, then sprang to the top of the wall, tail swishing as it stalked its prey its footfalls barely audible. With a purr the cat readied itself, coiling its muscles taught. A patch of snow dislodged from one paw step and Volcanic turned to face it with a soft gasp. Something was there. Before he knew it the cat had pounced and landed right behind him, he could smell the stink of its fur and hear the low growls and he knew in that instant that he was in danger “DADDY!” Word count:432 Speech

Kirsi's attention had been almost entirely captured by the feline, watching as he began to move along the length of the wall in her direction. It was embarrassingly easy for Kirsi to be biased about the things going on around her and to presume she was the cause of it all, and for a long moment she thought the cat was stalking her. As she mused over the possibilities in her head - running seemed a good possibility, because she realized that the feline was definitely around her size, and fighting him off wasn't going to be the easiest thing she'd ever done - she realized that she was wrong. The cat wasn't coming for her, it was.. following someone else, someone that just happened to be coming her way. Kirsi readied herself, squinting as she tried to make out the figure in the distance. Was that.. a child? His dark fur stood out against the pale snow around him, and she watched as he slowly turned to face the feline that had been stalking him. Shit. What was a kid doing out here all alone, anyway? Didn't he have a pack? Perhaps he was of Winterfell.. which would give her even more reason to help him. In the end, it didn't matter if her reasons for helping him were purely self-interested, so long as she did help him.. and so she decided to act. Her instincts kicked in, and she felt a surge of adrenaline begin to flood through her as she began to stalk forward. The leopard was quick to close the distance between them, but Kirsi was just as quick to rush forward, breaking into a hard run as she headed straight for Volcanic. She'd never been the least bit selfless, but hearing him cry out struck a chord in her heart she hadn't expected - for a moment she was reminded of her own children, whose lives had been cut painfully short, and she decided Volcanic wouldn't suffer a similar fate. A growl ripped from her throat as she quickened her pace, closing the distance between them. "Run!" She called out to the boy, her voice commanding but also a bit frantic. He was too inexperienced to face a creature like this, even though he was sizeable for his age, and she truly didn't want to see him get hurt.

VOLCANIC He scampered away, tail between his legs and found a chunk of wall to hide behind, his heart racing a mile a minute. He tried to make sense of the last few seconds, gasping for air, and could hear the snarls and yowls of battle as the unknown woman battled the leopard. He closed his eyes tightly, everything in his body clenching as he struggled to make himself smaller, to hide, to be unseen, to be a coward. That thought sent a snarl to his lips. No, he was done running, and he was done hiding. Everyone thought they could push him around because he was blind but he would show them, he would show them all! Volcanic burst from his hiding spot and launched himself at the cat, needle sharp teeth sinking into the cat’s tail and pulling with all his might to distract it while the woman battled it. He snarled and thrashed his head, claws sinking into the ground as he braced himself. In a wild instant the cat turned and swatted for him, he was missed by cringing away from the black shadow that was the leopard’s razor paw. With the tail still in his jaws he ran between the cat’s legs, pulling the tail tighter and causing the leopard to turn about to swat at him. He released the cat’s tail and danced backward, standing beside the female with his hackles raised, his eyes narrowed, and his ears pinned. They would fight the cat together. “Ready?” He asked, knowing they were at a disadvantage as the cat snarled and swiped at the air between them before giving a loud hiss of frustration. Without waiting for a response he charged forward, grabbing the cat by the paw and pulling it back, shaking his head left and right as his teeth sank in and blood filled his mouth. He felt the claws flex and bite into his tongue before the paw was ripped away by the furious cat, he could feel the burning hot tear the cat had left in its wake but kept his guard up regardless. He wanted to prove he wasn’t a coward, that he could and would fight anyone and everyone regardless of the challenge, he was fire, he was destruction, he was Volcanic Praetor and the world would know his name and come to fear it. He stood beside the woman again, lips raised in a snarl as he surged forward, barking and snapping his jaws, trying to scare the cat as much as possible to drive it away, trying to strike terror in its heart even though he was still just a cub. The cat gave a low yowl and swiped at the air between them, it lowered itself to the ground as volcanic surged forward and to his amazement it even flinched away, taking to the wind rather than trying its luck with two wolves, even as young as he was. He would never be a titan like his siblings and would never even stand as tall as his father, but in that moment, watching the spotted hide of the cat retreating he felt taller than a mountain and he lifted his head to howl his triumph even though it was high pitched and wailing. Wordcount: 545 Total Wordcount: 1631 Speech

Kirsi was admittedly grateful when the boy followed her command and turned to run, moving behind a section of wall. Whatever he was doing behind it, she couldn't tell, but hopefully he was calming down. Her own attention was on distracting the leopard - even if she didn't take him down completely, she would be alright with that, she just wanted to ensure Volcanic got out in one piece. A threatening snarl ripped from her jaws as she charged head-on at the feline, aiming her parted jaws at its throat. Of course, the feline wouldn't let her win so easily, rearing back as it flexed its claws and dove back at her, all teeth and claws. What she didn't expect was for the boy to jump into the fray, hoping instead he'd turned to run back to wherever his parents might be, but apparently he had other ideas. He dove for the leopards tail and tugged hard on it, and Kirsi continued to snap roughly toward the beast's throat. Apparently the leopard was more distracted by the boy behind it, though, and she felt her chest constrict as he turned to swat roughly at him. Volcanic ducked away, moving to her side and speaking a single question that told her he wasn't about to up and run... no matter how much she tried to convince him. Well, if he wanted to stand and fight, she better make the most of it.  Instead of replying in answer, she dove for the cat again, snarling loudly as she dove for the leg opposite of Volcanic, attempting to sink her teeth into the flesh there. The rewarding sensation of blood filled her mouth briefly before the leopard managed to squirm away. With one wolf on the left and another on the right, the fight definitely was swaying in their favor... and then all at once the leopard flinched away, its tail curling between its legs as it turned to hightail it out of there. Volcanic was clearly proud of their feat, letting loose a triumphant howl, and Kirsi found herself grinning - despite the feeling of a deep scratch from the cat on her forelimb, and its blood trickling down her jowls.  "You put up a good fight, kid," she chuckled, giving the boy a one-over to make sure he was uninjured. He'd probably be fatigued and bruised for awhile, but nothing that a few days' rest wouldn't fix. "What are you doing all the way out here, anyway? You must not be close to home," she speculated, knowing only one pack laid claim to nearby lands.