@Ghidorah
Upon entrance into the Teekon Wilds Cordelia had been from the North to the West, and all the way East. Everywhere she ventured held more obstacles and no such refuge she had thought to discover when she was being led here. Seemingly out of options and with no keen sense of direction she made her way South. Avoiding the mountains and their inevitably difficult climb up the ice-covered slopes she found herself treading over several small frozen pools of water.
There had only been light snow earlier in the day but the glow of the moon hitting the night mist made if difficult for Cordelia to watch her surroundings. Though she moved slowly, every so often she would have to regain her footing as one of her paws slid in an unintentional direction. After a short while, her frustration prompted her to find a solid piece of land for her to rest on whilst she waited out the mist, perhaps till morning.
Moving towards a few trees she could see in the distance she saw that even they had their trunks frozen beneath the water. Taking a moment of pause she squinted and tried to peer through the mist.
Ghidorah had been prowling in the territory of the Nightwalkers, his ambition was to spread as much chaos as possible with a very calculative strategy. But the man figured he could unleash more of his destruction elsewhere, outside of Nightwalkers, besides, the pack was his main hub, his base. The titan would plan to appear around the whole of Teekon in the shadows like a scavenging vampire out for blood, he would plant his seeds of false realities to every fertile wolf he would come across so that they would be ready to follow him, to trust him.
The sunwolf's radiant presence could have melted the most compact ice formations with his potent paw steps as they crunched through the snow. His bulging muscles glided through every stride as his body went through the surrounding mist. The man's expression was vanilla and his ears remained forward with his gaze dull and without life. However, his nose twitched, the scent of another arose his nostrils but he remained neutral in his reaction, but he put on a false identity. His infamous smirk peeled through his lips and his eyebrows raised just a bit as his paw steps were sinister with ambition.
Who would be the lucky one today?
The muscular titan's pelt lit up the mist that he traveled in and shined through the snow, he drew closer and closer with the sound of his paw steps echoing through the area. Ghidorah could see a figure attempting to peer through the mist, a smaller female wolf, his twisted mind found pleasure in finding such a vulnerable victim for him to play with. His figure stepped out of the mist with his ghost eyes having malicious intent but was masked with curiosity.
"Hello, my dear," he purred to her in greeting, "what would a fine dove such as yourself be doing all alone in a place like this?" The man stood like a stone, unmoving, he didn't want to approach her just yet, not until she was contempt with his presence.
As she stood beside the submerged tree he ears began to twitch. The echoing crunch of snow and scraping of ice bounced around her as she tried to ping its origin. Company was the last thing that she wanted as Dawson's warning played over in her mind. This time however there was no place to hide and no destination to flee. Any direction that she chose would be followed blindly and unstrategic, a last resort.
As their presence drew nearer a figure came into view, heading directly towards her. Light browns and golds emerged from the mist like a rising sun. Though her pelt was as white as the snow she knew the moon would shine bright on her shimmering silver accents leaving her detectable. As they came closer the magnitude of the male's size came into perspective. Though he kept his distance she could see that he towered over her. Presumably, a 3rd taller and well over twice her size, built of muscle and brawn.
Her only saving grace was that he wasn't at her throat but instead smiling and granting her praise. She attempted to compose herself and hide any sense of wariness in her tone, "Hello Sir... I'm on my way to meet a friend." She thought quickly. Perhaps if he thought her not alone she would be more protected and perhaps allowed an early leave. Though her voice stable the freckles on her cheeks twitched along with her nose. His scent wasn't pure as the smell of others clung to his pelt, hopefully none nearby.
The menacing titan's approach worked, his prey didn't flee at the sight of him but instead responded with the phrase of 'going to see a friend.' Classic he drew a pleasing growl in his head but revealed nothing with his face, but he instead gave a slight wag of his large and fluffy tail in greeting. "Your friend?" He tilted his head with a slight childlike glance at the girl, "well it must be urgent that you get to them quickly, I can assure you that you are of in great danger here." The man looked at her with an urgent and concerned expression.
In more ways than one.
"There are foxes, coyotes and ESPECIALLY mountain lions!" He exclaimed with his ears up in alarm. "I surely wouldn't want harm to come to a dazzling snowdrop such as yourself," he gave her a little flirty and cheeky grin but it was heavily mixed with fabricated concern. Ghidorah's phantom gaze glued onto her with the environment blurring around him to only her body illuminating in his line of sight like the full moon. The moon cannot shine without the golden rays of the sun for it would be shadowed by the Earth once it makes its rounds.
Then it circles back to the star once again.
The sun-wolf's shoulders were broad and his muscles slightly flexed to give her a clue on his sheer strength, and maybe perhaps he can give her the illusion with his build that he was a ferocious protector that meant her no harm.
But every illusion hid the true intentions of a wicked demon.
The identity of her "friend" and their whereabouts was not questioned, seemingly bought by this enlarged male. In the presence of a hostile individual, they may have thought twice, but his response was not one filled with disappointment or anger but of concern. He presented his case claiming the presence of predators equal and greater than her in size within the area and their ability to inflict harm upon her. His warning gave her cause to glance at her surroundings through her periphery before centering once again upon him as he expressed her similarities to a snowdrop. Impulsively she smiled "Your concern is very kind sir." she expressed
"Surely though a coyote or mountain lion wouldn't see me out as prey..." she said before further pondering. "But of course, with the famine prey is scarce and such beasts would justify such an act." she said justifying his claim. Being a hunter of the small game meant she had little experience or altercation with other predators. Even on such trips in her homestead, she had been accompanied by a guard for such an occurrence. Her lack of experience and desire to not look foolish allowed these words of warning to present themselves as fact to Cordelia. "Forgive my query. I'm sure a man of your stature and physique is quite experienced with such things." she complimented.
What to do next was the question. She couldn't very well travel on her own through a mist masking her own toes before her, let along a possible ambush from a predator, and she had no "friend" to provide her asylum from such. In the morning she would be better equipped she thought. Able to discover shelter before next nightfall, wherever that may be. Till then she would need an escort, someone to aid her. Someone like Dawson who had expressed a similar concern for her wellbeing. "My friend is not close I'm afraid so I expect to travel for quite some distance. An escort to accompany me would better ensure my safety... though I am without one." she spoke hintingly. Despite her time from home etiquette had been hammered into her brain and the notion of a woman asking a man for something outright didn't come easily to her.
The titan listened to her ramble on to his concerns to which he got annoyed just by listening to her but he kept those thoughts in his head. Ghidorah let her connect the dots, making justifications to his claims because if he had said all of those things himself, then his efforts would be futile and he would have sounded desperate. Thankfully, he didn't have to put in so much work, the innocent woman was explaining how her destination was so far and she was in need of an escort.
This made the man smile, but his smile was for the wrong reasons.
"An escort you say?" He lifted his chin up slightly and looked down at her with a curious look that would hide his sly intentions. "I would be happy to lend my assistance to you," he purred as he stepped a bit closer to her with his eyes sliding down to look at her own gaze. "I will take you wherever you need to go, my dear, just tell me where you need to go and I am sure I can find you a short cut," he tipped his muzzle back down to look at her with his ears forward and his stance strong and proud.
This poor unfortunate girl put her trust in the devil, and the devil will be sure to give her the time of day that he oh so needed.
But in reality, he was wanting this chance, he would start to fantasize what he would do, and it made him lust for more.
Her hint had been received and with it an offer of assistance, she needed only now offer him a destination. South wasn't a destination and she couldn't think of any areas in that direction never having been there herself. Attempting to pulling together enough information to sustain her ruse she thought back to where she had been and how that may help her. Unknowing how little of a concern directions were in the presence of other dangers.
"Thank you, sir. That's very generous. My friend resides near the Southern tip of the Western mountain range." she explained remembering her treck over such a range to reach Shadewood. It was a far distance away and would likely take a few days. He likely has things to do and wouldn't wish to use up such a large amount of his time, she thought. "As I said it's rather far so you needn't accompany me the entire way. Come morning with the sun and lack of mist I should be alright on my own, and you'll be free to return to your own venture" she stated not wishing to be a burden but to also encourage a future separation.
The girl expressed her gratitude for accompanying her to where her friend resided, oh no my dear, thank you... He thought with much malicious intent in his mind. She annoyingly rambled on about where she needed to be and stated that he didn't have to travel with her all the way through. Ghidorah chuckled and shook his head with ill intent in his mind, he looked at her with amusement in his eyes, "nonsense!" He laughed, "I can go with you the whole way, it won't hinder me in any way," the man smiled, "besides, I do wish to explore this place to the best of my ability and getting a bit of time away from my pack and running into you has given me the opportunity." Ghidorah's silver glance full of false gratitude.
Believe me, my dear, I truly can't thank you enough.
One might think that this is where he would snatch her but that wouldn't be the case. He knew this trip would take a couple of days and he didn't want to haul her ass all the way to Nightwalkers. Ghidorah would use her lack of knowledge of this place to her full advantage and lead her to the lion's den. The muscular turned his body to the south and swung his head back to her in a handsomely devilish matter, "shall we go?" He prompted with a laid back smirk his eyes were blank and empty as he looked at her.
He did not back down and insisted upon accompanying her the entire length of the trip. Luckily she didn't have to worry about bothering him, it seemed, as her need for travel would be an excuse for him to escape from his pack and explore. In the future, she would need to find another reason to depart, or perhaps she would find time to slip away when he was preoccupied. But she didn't have time to think of that now as he turned and gestured for her to follow with a charming smile.
The more and more she meet with the wolves of the Wilds the less worrisome she became about the prospect of them being "savage". Dawson had warned her of their presence but every encounter she had resulted in no harm and often benefitted her. But she thought back to his death and his sacrifice for her. Someone had done that to him, and they were still out there, there were indeed "savages" in these parts.
She returned his smile and elegantly trotted to his side waiting for him to lead the way. Next to him, she had to look up to meet his gaze. His size was intimidating but also comforting. She felt as though if anything were to come for them he would surely be able to defend her. "Lead on"