The fog that rolled off of the water had permeated parts of the forest, and now lingered between the trees. It was amorphous; chilled like one of the clouds above that hurried to block out the sun. The slick-legged girl breathed it in through her teeth, and grit them tight when the chill reached the root.

A scowl draped across her pointed features. Salt was upon the air, and like some sort of demon, she rejected it; coiling herself against the trees and sinking low, to creep away. Bayou had found this new home and been granted access - but she had never seen the ocean before. The strangeness of these foreign scents and flavours would continue to repulse her; she was far too cowardly to experience something so new, so soon.

With a low hiss at the rolling mists Bayou retreated, sliding along through the forest and pressing herself against the soil, as if to physically remove herself from the fog's indeterminate path.

Intent was there, always, to find a filled pit of food and pilfer it; but the spider had to be quick. She had to be careful, even now. The dip-and-sniff of her long face could cause suspicion to arise and she was not built for confrontation.

And her affiliation with these wolves had just begun. To be thrown out in the heart of winter was not what she wanted; so Bayou had to play nice. Her behaviour was of tantamount importance.

So when the sounds of an approach reached her, the spider skittered to a halt. Her long legs braced against the earth, bowed at the elbow, and Bayou folded eagerly against the soil in earnest. There was no way for her to know where the stranger came from; only that they were suddenly nearby.

The spider did what she could to appear small, pious, and curled her tail across her belly. It was in this pose that she waited for the stranger to make themselves known - in this fog, the newly acquired soul would not be seeking them out.

The physical connection of a limb against her back made her rise up. Abrupt, and hissing with a yellow-toothed sneer, Bayou arched her body like a feline who had been stepped on. She whipped her head about and gnashed her fangs, her lips lifted and breath sucking back the fog.

"Goodness Gracious!" The stranger squealed, and Bayou pulled away from her. Hearing words, but finding no information within them that was worth remembering, thus it went in one ear and out another. She buckled low again and slid away from the stranger. Pushing with her narrow paws and slipping back amongst the fog that she so heartily disliked.

From the girl's vantage point, Bayou was a smudge of shadow surrounded by the salty fog of winter. Her snout barely permeated the thick soup that rolled around the two of them, and upon it was a toothy grin.

"Yes, well, we are the same." But not the same, not at all, non! "I am in no need, so be gone with you." She all but hissed in the stranger's direction, and then pulled herself away with a low growl.

Winter was here and there was much to do, if Bayou was going to survive it.

The spider did not expect such a rebuke, and for a moment her fangs were hidden; the lips sliding black and wet across the teeth. Her tail lashed behind her. Stirring the fog but doing little else.

Who was this stranger? That they didn't understand a simple plea - perhaps the most polite that Bayou could manage at this point, with her tongue eager to spit venom - that they refused and relented in her view.

A moment later she was laughing. It started as a tiny hiss of a noise; air through teeth, and then an off-kilter giggle that dissipated through the fog, becoming one with it. Bayou sank back against her ragged haunch and watched the girl. Her face barely outlined by the creeping and encroaching weather, so that only her sickly yellow eyes remained. A cheshire smile curled upon her pointed face.

"Who asks for such ajouman from me? A girl, a little girl!" A new peal of giggles rolled from her now, rasping and tired, quick to form a bout of coughing that briefly hid her smile. When the spider was composed enough to speak again, the look of glee had slipped from her; she was dejected, and far sharper, coiled against the ground and ready to spring at the fool who refused to leave.

"Ba ou madichon pou timoun, I do not have time for please and thank-you." There was a warning there for the stranger, hidden behind foreign words that the shadow knew would go unnoticed. Perhaps that was what she would do - summon something to wreak havoc amongst these insufferable creatures.

The girl continued to harass her and Bayou, feeling herself growing more restless, was on her feet and pacing.

She cast a wrathful eye upon the stranger as she exited the thickest of the fog. Her body slid up close to her tanned figure, very close. Her hot breath spilled forth, causing the fog to curl as if to creep between her gaping teeth.

"Non, you have no authority over me, girl." Bayou chirped as her body rounded the stranger's corners; this was a clear lie, of course. A falsity. Bayou had only recently joined - and she wasn't even a year old, a fact that this fool pointed out - so she wasn't even eligible for a proper rank.

But rank meant little to the wraith.

"I do not ask for company."

It would be her final word. Teeth were bared again, this time accompanied by a squealing growl that rolled in pitch and consistency. A terrible sound, in all honesty. Perhaps it would be enough to ward the girl away. Bayou could not puff up the way other wolves could - she lacked the girth, and her fur was slick with all kinds of grime. She was a sleek beast.

A spider eager to skitter back to the forest.

A sneer crossed upon her lips, but Bayou said nothing as the girl-child retorted.

There was no reason to waste her breath, as an opportunity to leave was presented to her. The girl bared her teeth; hissing through them in a manner that caused her face to crunch and grow ugly. Bayou only smiled.

The smile was somewhat hostile though; a warning.

Without further conversation from her, the spider slipped off to one side - and then doubled back, to slink amongst the fog until such time as the clouds swallowed her up.