The sheepdog had settled further into life, somewhat reassured by the thickness of Murdock's scent on her fur and the potential it held for making sure others did not see her as food. A week had passed, and yet no one had attempted to eat her, and thus she was growing fairly optimistic. 

Today was warm, in contrast to the past week's shill, sun sparkling off the white and highlighting the tiny footprints of prey. It was an endeavour that had taken her most of the morning, but she had succeeded; she trotted towards the sunnier part of the territory with a hare in her maw, tail wagging as she searched for a place to rip into the cooling body, the first piece of substantial prey she'd found in a few days.

Oh dear. Here was the wolf of her mother's fable, stalking across the snow towards her. Grey and white, her colouring was common, her markings something like her brother's. She blinked, rabbit held tight as she froze, wondering if she should flee back to Murdock. This woman had scars, and what appeared to be a short tail was revealed to be no tail at all. And her ear-

Before she had much chance to do anything than stare, the woman was upon her, yellow eyes scanning her. She dropped the rabbit when she spoke, taking a slightly nervous step back. "yes," she added, after a moment, "not food." 

The wolf started laughing, which seemed wrong; surely a wolf missing a few appendages, including a tail and ear, would only scowl and stalk about. But it seemed the woman was not the nursery-story wolf she'd thought her; and she wondered briefly if any wolves would eat her, if even this scarred warrior-looking one did not seem interested. 

Her ears, large and bat-like as they were, flicked forward when she mentioned her mate. "there's another dog here?" She asked, gaze glistening with the beginnings of excitement.  She thought she'd left dogs behind a while back, and while she mourned not seeing any again, she'd largely gotten over it. Her head canted to the side, adding a moment later, tone lighter,  "I'm a sheepdog. A collie." She was a mutt, really, but took largely after her border collie mother, and thus neglected to mention whatever her father might've been.

This girl wasn't frightening in the slightest, the collie was coming to learn; rather she reminded her in some ways of her sister; she spoke of her "lover" with the same dreamy look, though she had been far younger, and the lover had been some hunting hound seen only distantly. Shaking thoughts of her sibling from her head, she smiled and tore open the hare delicately, slowly moving to sit and wrap her feathery tail around her hindquarters. 

"yes, I'd like that!"  She beamed, to the woman's next question furrowing her brow in thought before slowly dipping her head. She supposed the could be labeled as Murdock's girl, for he had brought her here, after all. But when she clarified, her eyes widened and she shook her head rapidly. "oh, no!" She was quick to correct, adding a moment later, "I'm his  companion." She'd go as far to call them friends, but that was the word he'd initially used ad=d that the word she used to describe them.

The female looked quite suddenly mortified, flattening her ear and lowering her head. Poppy wondered idly where the other had gone, but decided that surely an ear would not go missing without a dark story to explain why, and probing was rude. At the woman's reassurance, she canted her head again. "Valette said I might be eaten." She said, confused. She didn't quite completely believe the alpha; but the news made her wary all the same. She'd never been one to succumb to outright panic, though. 

The woman had a son, news she received with interest. She rather liked pups, she'd found, after her meeting with Clary. Steph was odd, and she was fairly sure the girl didn't think much of her, and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the girl since the borders. ears perked, she received the compliment with a grin. "very." It was an attribute she was proud off, what made her the best out of her siblings at herding. Of course, here there was little to herd, and thus she made do with hunting. "how old is Cyron? I don't think I've seen him" Quietly, she hoped he'd be young, like Clary.

She must have glanced at the ear more than she'd realized, even though she'd been studiously avoiding staring at it. Still, the woman picked up (or perhaps guessed at) her interest, and launched into a story just as dark as the girl had expected, leaving her with rounded gaze and blinking gaze. A wolf's life was harder, meaner, than she'd ever truly expected, and her lessons in cannibalism would only serve to further that point. Still, there was some part of the sheepdog (perhaps laid there by her sled-dog father) that had the wild call to her, with all its beauty and danger. Still, it'd be a while until she learned just how deadly the wild could be. 

"I'm sorry. I'm glad you found him, though."  Came her small voice, ears tilted back a fraction as she took in the woman's story. Another question was launched her way, however, one she scrambled to answer. "I wouldn't say she threatened me, really. Just that she told Murdock to tell the others I wasn't food."  She was a little relieved to hear the woman's reassurance, and smiled in quiet gratitude as her ears flicked in happy relief. Surely Illecebra would be quite to ward off anyone that might try and eat her; she certainly looked fierce. [/font]

The woman seemed disgusting by the prospect of eating her, something that made Poppy a little glad. Surely to not want to eat another was a sign that they were, to an extent, equals; though Poppy could not shake the innate feeling that wolves were and always would be better than her. Still, the sheepdog did not mind, for this was simply the way things were.

"I'd like that," She said sincerely as the woman promised to show the girl her family. Her advice was taken with a smile and a quick dip of her head, the nugget of information stored among all the other hundreds of things she learned each day. As the woman padded away, Poppy called after her,  "goodbye, Illecebra. and thank you!"  Feeling a great deal more at ease, and pleased with the positive encounter, the girl watched the woman retreat a while longer before taking her own leave.