It was by chance that the cache which Fox had navigated towards had brought the attention of another. He was already digging it up - but with a different intent than the girl, who sought out the hidden treasure out of need. Between Njal's teeth sat a half-dead fish; a gleaming fat thing that still weakly clung to life. His fangs were sunken in to it's neck (if it had a neck), with chilled blood draining down the man's chin. His front paws were thrust in to the earth wrist-deep as he clawed at it, refusing to give in to the hard texture of the frozen ground. When able, Njal deposited the organism in to its new grave and began to cover it up once more. He kicked the loose soil across it's damp body and was satisfied as the smell of earth overpowered the scent of water.

It was then that Njal caught the scent of a pack-mate, and lifted his head to eagerly survey the plain; he spotted the red girl a moment later and felt a familiar thump in his chest. Njal bayed deeply to her, to catch her attention - they had yet to pass on from a wordless relationship, and Njal was not exactly a social butterfly. He wouldn't be the one to push for their social evolution. A wave of his tail accompanied a second bark, a quieter one, which transitioned in to a happy rumble. The Gamma was quite happy to see her.

The girl was spooked at first; but the hesitation lasted only a heartbeat, before she slackened her posture. He was accepting of her regardless of the attitude she brought forth. The brief stiffness did not intimidate Njal in the slightest, as he saw the ruddy girl as... Well, just that. A girl. He was at least double her age. Why was he thinking about this?

With a small flick of her ears and twitch of his nose, Njal banished whatever that was which had popped in to his head. Paws halted their digging and covering for a moment, and he advanced upon her, reaching with his boxed snout to nudge her confidently upon the shoulder - in time with the admittance of her name. The word fox made him want to turn around and look; thinking she had noticed something behind him. Perhaps a pest who was eager for the fish he had just buried.

"That's my name," She clarified quickly. The Russian, with his ever-present grim expression, finally cracked a tiny smile. A smirk. "I am Njal," He retorted with a small bow of his head, which descended so that his skull was briefly level with his shoulders. He raised himself a second later, falling easily in to the posture his rank afforded. "Are you.. Hungry?" Njal posited, with a slight turn of his body - going to retrieve the fish he had so diligently put away, moments before.

She didn't look hungry, but offering food was polite. Right?

He had been slowly wandering closer to the cache, but when Fox indicated that she was not interested, Njal halted and turned around once again. It wasn't too far from her position so he was moving towards her again quickly, then sank back upon his haunches when he was close. Not too close though. "It is good to see you again," She commented, and Njal gave a small nod. A twitch of his mouth indicated a small smile, but the expression passed when he responded, "It is good to know you," Er, that was not correct.

"I mean, yes, see you again." His ears flicked sideways atop his head, and he gave a little huff at the verbal stumble. A silence slipped between them that Njal was slightly uncomfortable with; but he didn't say anything more. Unsure if he should speak, or perhaps invite her for more play, like the first time they had met. Now was a time for work and the idea of slacking off did perturb the man a little bit. While he thought, Njal found his eyes trailing across the healing wounds she still sported; and that gave him something else to ponder about. "Do you fight often?"

Affliction was too complicated a word for Njal's lexicon. He quirked his head sideways at the sound of it, cupped it with his gold-licked ears, and let it settle. The man could understand sickness and hurt, he could understand compulsions (although perhaps not by that word), but the term that fell from Fox's mouth made little sense at all. He shrugged softly, feeling the weight of his ignorance very briefly, before rephrasing.

"You should be able to fight without scars." Did that make more sense? Maybe not. "Be quicker, be stronger, than who you are fighting." His accent was strong now, crackling around his words as he pondered. A lightness came to his tone; something akin to contentment or joy. Njal liked to teach and to talk about things that he was good at - and fighting was one of those things. "I could show you." The wolf gave a toss of his tail, one sweep across the snow behind him, which showed his pleasure at the thought.

He would have apologized had Njal realised the insult behind his words; he had not meant it. But for the time being the man was oblivious to the tiny verbal wound he had inflicted to the girl's pride. Her acceptance of help did brighten his features, adding a fresh glow to the usually dull expression he held. With a small nod Njal adjusted his body and faced her; his head level with his body, chin slightly tucked, and limbs evenly spaced to brace for impact. It was the same situation as with Xi'nuata - he squared off, then grunted to Fox. "Attack me." The only way he could show was if the girl participated. She would be quick and nimble but Fox was not the first nimble creature he had faced - this thought made his eager ears shift slightly, and a heavy thump to resound inside his chest.

Fox was quick - much like her namesake - and for an instant Njal was reminded of the fire that had tempted him in Kindred. His fire, the woman who he had trained and cultivated with such diligence. But the girl's movements were not as strong as Tuwawi's; she was fast, but there was little finesse. Fox moved with a wild stride that made her appear to nearly tumble at him, and then she sprung up to snap at him. Njal turned himself slightly and brought his head down, thrusting out the shoulder she was so eager to grab.

He wanted to teach her, but Njal wasn't known to be relaxed in his lessons - she would probably end up with a smacked jaw, or a jarred set of teeth as they clacked shut by the motion. The follow-through of this movement was a single step, and as Njal stepped he drew his head around, to snap his teeth near her ruddy face. Had it been a true fight, he could have easily grabbed at the side of her neck and tossed her aside, like a child.

Through his playfully bared teeth he rasped, "Fast, but not fast enough."

"Control." He swiftly stated, as a response to her hushed how.

As the man paced in wait for her next attack, he tried his best to explain. "You move without control. You are wild. Your strides are long and awkward, but they do propel you. If you want to be faster you need to control how you move." His ears flicked back thoughtfully for a moment, and he paused in his wandering to brace himself and lower his head to save his throat, in case she chose to use his speaking as a distraction. He continued a moment later, having let his explanation sink in a bit. "You have long legs which gives you movement, but it is easy to see how far you can go and how quickly. If you use shorter strides, or a mixture of movements, it would be harder to anticipate where you will end up. You can use this to trick your opponent." A small smirk crept across his face, twisting the corners of his serious expression.

"Try again."

She did as she was asked, and fell towards him with intent. Njal did not want to go easy on her in this trial - but at the same time, she needed to know what was good, such as her adjustments. When she came at him he dried to dodge by swerving his hips in reverse, but then when she corrected her attention and drove towards his leg, he allowed her to sink her teeth in to the skin; knowing of course that she wasn't intending harm. He grunted a pleased sound, for she had been successful. However, Njal didn't want her to get too assured. Her hold was weak but he was careful - dragging his legs away from her face and towards his own body, hoping to jolt her closer. If this was successful he would be looming over her, and could easily attempt to pin her down. It was almost like their playful first meeting. The memory prompted a small jerk of his tail to-and-fro, as he set upon her.

Njal was pleasantly surprised when she slipped away from him, and then bowed. He hadn't thought her capable of being that quick. A pleased murmur crept from his muzzle and turned in to a low rumble, a form of applause towards her efforts.

She seemed eager to continue, but Njal lifted himself out of his defensive posturing. He gave a small nod - as if contented by the information granted to him - and then reclined in to a seated position. "You adapt well. Quickly. This is good." His tail dragged through the snow and rested against his feet. "Very good. With more practice you will be much better." But no more for today his silhouette seemed to say to her; he did not stand or place himself in to any sort of fighting stance any longer, implying that the lesson was over.

Fox had enough to think about now. And Njal had many more caches to fill - but he was thankful for the warmth that the brief lesson granted him.