It was not unusual to come across the tracks of strange, lone wolves out in the neutral territories, going one way or the other but usually in no direction of concern to Marsh. The only time that he truly paid attention - save for if the scent was familiar, implying a lingerer - was if it toyed with his territory's edge a little too finely. When he crossed the trail of a female early in the dark morning, therefore, he paid it little heed. This time of year, he had even less to worry about from loners than normal. They may be more desperate for food, but they were weaker for the cold and the hunger, and with the pups practically fully grown, there was nothing terribly vulnerable in his home to get too paranoid about.

It was a few hours later, prowling about in the light of dawn in the forest that surrounded his grove, that a female's scent caught his attention, and rather than be inclined to dismiss it, he noticed a peculiarity. Immediately he realised that he recognised it. Such an event called for investigation, to be on the safe side, and so it was without hesitation that he padded along the scent trail, inspecting it on the way. Two females, one aging and one no older than Fenru or Kisla. He feared the idea of neither. Stealing ahead with brazen confidence, it was only when the subtle air of death touched his nose did he pause. Ears high on his head, he moved forward slowly, a more inquisitive curiosity growing alongside the businesslike one, and when he finally reached the pair, the two females he had smelt, and realised what had happened.

It was not in his nature to pity, but seeing the young wolf laid next to the freshly deceased did not exactly inspire anger. She was close to his land, it was true, but it was plain to see that she was no threat - even less than the average wanderer, he assessed. There was no need for wrath here.

There was no doubt as to the state of the old, darker female, but he stepped forward anyway to lower his nose at her, to see if anything was awry. . They were close enough to his territory for his authority to count, by all rights. As far as he could tell, though, she just stank of too many years, and the cold could not have helped. He practically treated the younger wolf's presence as if she were dead too, for how little attention he paid her - at least for now.

It was a curious matter. On the one hand, he was not prepared to just leave a stranger so close to his home without some message that she was not welcome, but with her companion deceased, he did not know if she would linger anyway. With how sorry and pathetic she looked, tucked up beside a corpse as if denying the death, he half wondered if she wouldn't survive the winter anyway. Perhaps putting her out of her misery would be the best thing to do for everyone involved.

There was the matter of the older female, too. He disliked the idea of a fresh corpse on his borders as much as he disliked the presence of the living wolf, for he had no need of such a beacon to scavengers and rivals that would attract. It was a judgement of whether she was close enough to warrant concern, though; any potentially dangerous creature to come across the free meal may yet be far enough from his borders, yet close enough to smell them and comprehend they were not welcome. Plus it would give him one less beast which might want to try their luck on his land, with a corpse so easily at hand. Let the scavengers fight over her and kill each other, that suited him best.

So he had been preparing to wander on again, with the intention of passing by this way later to see whether the younger female had moved on, lingered, or died herself, when the low whine cut through the cool silence. So there was life in her yet. Sharply his head turned towards her, steel eyes cutting into her wide open ones as he regarded her anew, unfazed by her inclination to remain frozen to her dead companion. With barely a moment of hesitation he stepped about the corpse in order to thrust his nose towards the living girl, partly to learn of her as well, but partly to see if she would react. From what he could tell, she was an ordinary passer by, of no particular interest in her own right save for the nature of her company and her proximity to her home.