Restless paws had carried the viking abroad. It was not the need for companionship that drove her from her isolation, but the need for benefit, for profit, for herself and her future pack. It was a future already bought and paid for dearly and she would not deny the lure of it. Nor was the mercenary likely to pass the opportunity for personal profit, though it seemed unlikely any of this continent would wish to hire her as her skills allowed. It was an interesting conundrum in which she found herself, free to wander about at will but enslaved to the morals of an adopted people.
Katja perched on a low branch of one of the big trees, having made her way there by lieu of leaping from a nearby boulder into one tree and from there to this. Now she balanced upon the thick branch like a squirrel, watching the path below her. For what? For opportunity, of course. It was more a matter of keeping her skills fresh, keeping the vertigo and fear that had plagued her as a child at bay but she would not allow such to pass without observation.
Sometimes wolves climbed trees. The little cub knew that, but he didn't know how they did it. They had such stubby little claws and a short little tail. By now he was the size of a small wolf, and weighed about ninety-six pounds. He was definitely a growing boy. This was the first time since meeting his new dad that he had wandered away from home, but he was curious to see what was beyond his home. He had bid his dad farewell for the day and began to venture northward into colder lands. Thank the gods he had a thick pelt. His striped coat stood out like a beacon against the snow, and he was such an easy target. Kaleidoscope eyes flicked across the landscape every few feet, gawking at the wonderful snowdrops and caps.
Ahead of the boy was a forest, and what he could hear was a wolf climbing a tree. Playfully he would trot toward the noise and gaze up in the tree, looking for any strange things in the trees. Eventually he found; oh gods! A wolf in a tree! Just what he had been looking for. He would gently ease from side to side, as he cocked his head in a playful tilt. "Well, that's a weird place to put a wolf."
A strange scent reached her nose - an unusual one but not one with which she was entirely unfamiliar. Tiger. At first she considered the possibility that it was the tiger she had allied with when she was Ebony's leader, but she rejected that possibility. This was a young tiger, not a fully mature adult as her ally had been. Her analysis was confirmed when a large cub made its way to her tree. It spoke playfully to her, having seen her perched on the low branch, and she narrowed silver eyes at it consideringly before lowering herself to her belly on the wide branch to stare down at him. "Stranger places have wolves been found," she answered him. "What be a young cub like you doing alone here?" She had caught no other scent of tiger in this forest, but the thought that a mother tiger who could take exception to her speaking with the youth might be prowling nearby sparked caution in the viking wolf.
Neon gems would glimmer with mischief as he would rise upon his hind legs and with his front, he would grip the tough bark of the wood of a nearby tree, feeling it's cool touch as he clung to the trunk for a moment, his tail swinging happily. Black-coated ears would flick in recognition of the tempest's words, as he would clamber up the leafy branches, and wriggle his way down a wide branch, that was enough to support his weight, but even then, it groaned silently as he moved. His tail would flick from side to side as he balanced all of his weight between the sides of the branch evenly and he began to inch toward the edge so he was at the end; close to the tempest and at her eye level. "Really? Can wolves fly?" Playful banter would float from his jowls, as he gripped the wood, flopping down onto the faceted wood, his claws driving small ruts into the branch unintentionally. He would peer up at the wolf and give a toothy grin at her question of his being.
"I live in the Range with my daddy. A wolf adopted me, because my mama and daddy abandoned me not long ago. I just wanted to see what was out here; and lo and behold, I find a wolf in a tree! How did you even get up there?" He knew wolves had stubbier claws and less flexibility than felines, but he was curious. His head would cock in curious stare, but he gazed about the landscape and took note of multiple rocks about. Had she jumped on a bunch of the taller rocks and gotten up there? "How do you get down without getting hurt?"
