Here? The long journey to this land was meant to be a new start. A chance to put tragedy behind him. A chance to start again. Maybe even to feel again. Had he even really cared what happened to anyone before. Had he cared for anything really. Life in the old world had been dead, automatic. So simple. By escaping there was a chance to live again. To tell himself he really was alive, even if the only way to tell was feeling pain. But here?

The starkness of the landscape brought his new situation home to him. The sheer marble walls their white rock tinged salmon pink by the dying winter sun. The contrast with the rich grasslands he had left behind could not be more complete. There food was abundant, with others to hunt and kill for him he never even questioned where the food that made him fat and slow moving came from. Well now things were about to change. If he wants to survive - finding food would be down to him. And yet here - in this barren place, even finding food might be a struggle.

If he wants to survive? Strange he even asks the question. As if there is some death wish reason he has come to this new place. Some compelling reason he has come here that will lead to his own self destruction. Or maybe someone?

He was out hunting again, paws lightly crunched in the snow as he walked. His brother had chosen good lands for the pack. There was good hunting both within and outside the territories. Cloud often occupied himself with his hunting, and during the winter it was all he was mostly doing. He carried in his jaws, a fat ptarmigan that he had caught just minutes ago. The bird had failed to get away from his jaws, and now it hung limp and lifeless. He thought about going back home to leave it and then go out again, but he figured since he was out here he might as well do some scouting to see if there were any caribou or the like around that he might call a pack hunt later. Of course, there were no tracks. At least, not the kind of tracks he was looking for.

What he found instead were wolf tracks, which wasn't surprising to him. He knew there might be loners skulking around, though how fresh or faint these tracks were was hard to tell with the snow that had been swept around. It wouldn't be until he practically came upon the creature that he realized the other canine was closer than he anticipated. Cloud came to a halt when he came to the top of the washed out marble, and there a few yards away, was the stranger who he assumed had made those tracks. Ears flicked, the young male keeping alert just in case this loner wasn't alone. He didn't say a word, either. He simply...watched.

"SPEAK"

Tough. So tough. Just this first climb up along this marble valley was taking it out of him. Breathless. His feet slipping on the pebbles on the ground. Two steps forward one step back. If every part of this land was like this he would not last more than a few days. Foolish. There had been time to scout out the route, assess the dangers. But no he had pressed on. He'd first thought of it as bravery - but perhaps it was merely arrogance, that most unattractive of qualities that comes with experience.

Another danger of exposing a wolf with a pampered existence to a new land like this was his laziness of sense. In his old life food had been presented to him, as a mark of respect. He no longer needed his senses. Everything was surface. There was no deep thought as to how his situation worked for him. It just did, there had been no use for senses. So his senses had declined. The sharpness of youth - gone. No appreciation of scent. No noticing the subtle changes that would alert him to prey. A deadly failing in a land like this.

Deadly. It was only when it was way to late that he noticed he was being watched. Contact. So this land was not uninhabited. A white and black wolf, a young one by the looks. Young and strong.

He needed to overcome his arrogant instinct. A young wolf here was not his subordinate. Not in any way. Here he was the one that was helpless, this young wolf could be the help needed that could mean avoidance of death. Why then did the idea of begging for help sicken him. He could not do it.

He decided to stand his ground. Not in an aggressive pose, but not in a welcoming one either. Perhaps if he retained some dignity the wolf might be persuaded to share some prey with him. It still left him open to the risk the wolf might attack - he was too weak to fight. But perhaps humility might have been better, maybe the wolf will now turn and run.

The other male watched him. Just as Cloud did. The Master Sergeant assessed the male, noting that he appeared rather...scraggly. Had he not eaten in a while or something? He had never seen him around here before, and he was obviously a loner...was he lost, maybe? Deciding to abandon the silence that sat between them, the yearling began to speak. "You're a loner. And you're not from around here, are you?" He questioned. He sniffed the air, noting that a snow storm might be sweeping through soon. Bi-colored gaze swept back to the loner, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Y'know, it's not a good idea to be out here in the north lands at this time...prey is scarce, and one could starve if they don't know where they are. You hungry?" Was he taking pity on him? He couldn't tell. Maybe he just knew what it was like to be on his own. After all, he had been on his own a few months prior when he abandoned Abaven as a pup to follow someone else. But that had been fruitless, because Ana had disappeared on him. But here he was, alive and well. He had survived and taught himself how to hunt, now he was perhaps Dauntless' best hunter as far as he knew. He waited for the male to answer before deciding on his next course of action. "Speak"

The young strong black and white wolf talked sense. I know that. That's what you do when you are a stranger in a new land - you listen to warnings and good advice from those who know. Those who have survived in a place, well a place like this where survival is not to be taken for granted. And yet I just can't bring myself to accept that I'm in danger. That I can't handle this terrain. A tough old wolf like me. I've been around. I was in some tough scrapes before this young wolf speaking to me now was even born. If I was back in the South, with my old pack I could have him kill.... No stop it.

Got to accept that life has gone. All those privileges went the day I turned and ran for the north. You are just another wolf here Eadred, not a descendent of a Saxon Prince. You should listen to what this young wolf has to say.

And yet as I speak I can hear pride messing with my mind. Am I really in control of these words tumbling out of my mouth....

"Thank you for your kind concern sir, but I assure you these lands hold no fear for me. Hungry? You cannot know the meaning of the word - I have been through hungry times that make this place look like a horn of plenty. I can look after myself thank you"

Idiot. I may just have turned away help from someone who could be a new friend.

But do I really deserve friends? Isn't friendship about loyalty. And what I have done in the past year is about as far from loyalty as one can get. This wolf ahead is showing concern and kindness, but the best kindness I can show him is to turn him away. He does not want to know me - trust me. Maybe once I was the nice guy but now....

I'm mad, bad and dangerous to know.

I'm conscious of my rudeness though.

"Look" I hail back. "Thank you for my concern, but trust me, you would not want to know me. Our paths have crossed, but from here we go our own way"