The snow was finally trying to bury the North, in some places more than others it would seem. He'd only come back to the wash with it's glittering marble rocks because he'd had her on his mind and he couldn't shake it no matter how hard he tried. When they'd talked before he hadn't known what to think, how to react or behave. Back then the raw pain from all that had led him here had been too much. Maybe he hadn't come to the table with a level head to start with, one could hardly blame Ignatius for not being at his best then, though he would inevitably find himself feeling guilty. It was easy to be hurt and walk away. It was easy to let his emotions rule him when he'd laid eyes on Kirsi. But the easy thing was rarely the right thing.

There was no way for him to know where she'd be. Ignatius was pretty sure he'd found her scent near his borders a couple times, and while before he'd decided to chalk it up to him losing his mind, but now? Now he had to concede that she was still around. That was what had driven him to go venturing through the north even as the heavy clouds gathered overhead, threatening to dump snow flurries on him at any moment. It wasn't like he was looking for her... Ig just needed to go clear his head.

As the snow began to fall in thicker and thicker sheets, obscuring his vision. It was getting harder and harder to see what was around him. He probably stood out well enough to others though, what with the vibrant pelt and faint glow.

Éldi was enjoying the north and despite the cold front moving through he was still in high spirits. Winter was right around the corner, or judging by today's weather it sure felt like it was already here. The snow was falling down in sheets as Éldi wandered without too much of a plan. Although, he realized he better come up with one quick as the snow fell in greater and greater sheets. The wind was picking up too and it was starting to obstruct visibility. He didn't really want to die lost, frozen to death in a blizzard. Spying a dried up river bed he leapt down into it. At least it provided a little shelter from the storm.

He carried on but didn't get far before he noticed a bright wolf the color of flames. The man had a stunning, gorgeous pelt that stopped him in his tracks. Yet, part of his logical brain mused about how difficult it had to be to sneak up on someone when you stood out so brilliantly. Curious, Éldi headed over toward the man. "Hallo! Out enjoying this lovely weather?" And then he stopped as he recognized the man. He'd helped Éldi out when they were attacked by a bear not too long ago. "Oh! I'm surprised to run into you again. How are you recovering from your injuries?"

Working his way along through the snow which was quickly showing itself to be working up towards a blizzard, Ignatius was surprised to hear someone nearby calling out to him. Or, at least he assumed to him simply because he doubted there were three wolves out here. Glancing around, it took a moment before the form of the other wolf came into view. "Oh yes, it's just delightful. The scenery is just lovely this time of year," he quipped, even as his brow furrowed for a moment while he tried to determine why it was that the other man seemed so familiar. He didn't have to sort it out himself though, the younger wolf was quick to comment on how they'd met before and Ignatius soon recalled the whole bear incident.

"As well as I can. Wasn't anything too serious to begin with though. And how have you fared?" Ignatius asked. He kept an eye on his surroundings even as he engaged with the male who... he wasn't sure if he could quite recall the name of at the moment. Not that Ignatius was normally prone to paranoia but, well, bad things did seem to happen to him at a higher than average rate.

Éldi smirked at the man's comment on the weather. He could tell at first that he hadn't recognized him but he soon did. Éldi was more embarrassed that it took him a few seconds to recognize such a uniquely colored man as the one standing before him. As for himself, Éldi had a pretty plain earthen coat. There were thousands of wolves with earthen coats.

"Everything's healed as well as it could. Still a bit sore in a few places but nothing that will hinder me. I'm sorry, but I don't remember if we ever introduced ourselves. My name is Éldi."

A sudden, piercing cry cut through the chill air followed by a number of similar cries. Ah shit! "Coyotes!" he growled. Éldi had little love for the scavengers. They tended to harass him at kills and when there was more than one it became a real headache to defend ones hard earned meal. Dark forms seemed to melt into view, the veil of snow parting to reveal a pack of four coyotes. Two mated pairs? They were thin, starving, and clearly desperate. They began to growl then one dived at Éldi. He seized it's scruff and began to shake it wildly as it snapped at his chest. Then another pounced on him from behind, seizing his left butt cheek. He kicked back violently with his right leg. The coyote caught the blow in the chest and fell back.

"That's good to hear," came Ignatius' genuine, friendly reply. Éldi had proved to be a capable and tenacious fighter in their brawl with that bear from what Ig had noticed of the other, and so far he seemed like a decent wolf. "Ignatius," he returned, though he was prevented from continuing when a sharp call rang out, cutting through even the soft snow that muffled most noise.

Éldi identified the threat before Ig had a chance. Coyotes. Not the most threatening animal, but certainly more formidable when they used numbers against a lone opponent. In this case it was four of the creatures that approached across the expanse of snow, clearly hungry and acting out of desperation.

Before he knew it a pair had flown past him towards Éldi while the other two tried to get on either side of Ignatius. Snarling, he turned to face the animals, setting his defenses quickly before one grew bold enough to take a dive towards the flame-colored man with hunger and panic in it's face as t sought to land a bite on the right side of his neck. Ignatius felt the animal's fangs pierce his skin and swung his head around to grab the coyote's scruff, swinging it towards it's friend or mate as a shield of sorts while it clawed and scratched as his face and chest with it's front paws in the hopes of freeing itself from his grip. Ig shook the animal in response, as hard as he dared while still being able to somewhat watch the smaller yote that had still not made a move.

The other coyote was more creative, it held back and eventually sought to bounce up, using the one that Ignatius held unto as a springboard to get up and land on his back. Ig was forced to toss the one he'd been shaking away from him into the snow so he could redirect his attention to the craftier little shit who was now trying to take a chunk out of his ear.

The other two coyotes swarmed Ignatius but Éldi didn't have much time to worry about the colorful male. He had his own problems. The coyote he had by the scruff twisted violently and with ripping flesh it tore itself free from his jaws, sending blood spraying over the freshly fallen snow. Surprised at the coyotes willingness to injury itself to get free of his jaws he was slow in reacting when the quick little creature twisted around and lunged for his throat. Due to the height difference he was already looking down and was able to counter the coyote. As it lunged up for his throat he launched his jaws down catching the creature's lower jaw.

Just as his fangs seized over the coyotes lower jaw the coyote that was behind him ripped into his ankle, shredding the thin flesh and cutting deep into his body. He flinched in pain, his jaws clamping so hard over the other coyote's lower jaw that he broken it. He could hear the bone snap and the creature let out a piercing squeal.

There was no respite for him once he was free of the coyote he'd flug Ig was forced to deal with the one on his back. He tried to leap to either side and shake it's balance but when it finally almost fell the critter simply sank it's teeth into his neck and held fast, claws digging into his back. It shook it's head side to side, tearing at his flesh little by little. Eventually Ig ended up rearing up and tipping over backwards so he could slam the shocked yote into the snow and ice on the ground, causing it to let go at last and cracking a few of it's ribs when he landed so heavily on it.

The one he'd chucked into the snow bank before made sure he wouldn't get a break though, suddenly flying in to land a bite on the left side of his exposed stomach. Heaving himself up, Ig rolled forward, jaws clamping on either side of the coyote's head just as he felt fangs slicing his stomach. By now the snow was probably painted red in a few places, and even more ichor joined it when a sickening snap pieced the frigid winter air as Ignatius cracked the coyote's skull after firmly drawing his jaws together. Hot blood filled his mouth moments later as he let the lifeless form drop to the ground and turned to deal with it's companion which was already making a weak attempt at lunging for his tail.

Éldi dropped the flailing creature and watched it flail about in agony in the snow. Taking aim he kicked back violently catching the other coyote in the shoulder with enough force to pry it off his leg. Ha! If only Valkyrie were here to see that. Kick like a puppy his ass! Adrenaline was rushing through him but it didn't quite numb the pain of his injured leg and as he whirled around to go after the second coyote it was obvious he was favoring the injured leg.

The coyote dove at him head on but it was a poor match. Quick as the coyote was Éldi was just massively more powerful. The pair collided and in a moment he had the coyote pinned on it's back, his jaws latching onto the creatures throat. There was a struggle and the strange, screaming cry of its kind before it was finally cut off. The coyote whose jaws he broke was nowhere to be seen. As he dropped the lifeless body of the other he turned to see how Ig was doing.

Having made quick work of the last coyote all things considered - it sure did feel like a lot was happening all at once, while really only seconds ticked by - Ignatius was free to turn and deal with the remaining, already battered animal. It was clearly a bit dazed from the impact of being crushed beneath him before, so it's aim was poor as it stumbled towards him and tried to latch on to the end of his tail. Easily pulling it free of the mangy beast's jaws, perhaps short a few hairs but otherwise unharmed, the crimson alpha surged forward despite the protesting of his muscles.

Teeth closing around the coyote's left ear, he shook his head violently until the ear was torn away along with the unearthly shrieking of the animal that now stood shaking before him as it came to realize it no longer had backup. There was still no mercy shown for the smaller canine. It had started a fight to threaten their lives that it could not win. As it turned to flee he lunged and grabbed the back of the coyote's neck, shaking it until he heard the snap that told him it's life was over.

When his fur finally settled down along his spine and he was certain all the little attackers were dead, Ignatius glanced towards Éldi and grinned. "That was something else. One of us must have some real bad luck if both times we meet we manage to get attacked." A soft chuckle accompanied the comment while he sought to wipe the blood from his fur onto the snow. After a moment of assessing his own injuries, Ig turned back to Éldi and asked, "Will you need a healer?" He'd offer to take the man back to Fýri if need be. After all, it wouldn't be any good to abandon someone he'd just fought alongside in this weather with injuries.

Next Ig would turn and gather the carcasses of the two coyotes he'd slain, dragging them by their tails. There was no sense in letting them go to waste. While he might not want to eat meat from something so closely related to his own kind, he wasn't about to waste some nice pelts.

Éldi was satisfied to see that Ignatius had make short work of his attackers. That was just as well. Panting he sat down heavily. With all the traveling he'd been doing and then the unexpected battles on top of it he was getting quite exhausted. He chuckled at the man's mention of bad luck and he nodded absently. "I'm starting to think the same. Either that or the winter's here are particularly harsh." Maybe when prey was more plentiful he'd have fewer of these encounters but if the land had supported an abundance of predators previously until this bad year he wouldn't be surprised that they kept clashing.

He mulled over his body and frowned a moment before nodding. "If you have a healer available, I'd be more than happy to take you up on the offer. I'm not talented in that area."

-exit following Ignatius-