After the hare, she'd felt full, and consequently soon fallen asleep after her encounter with Cebra. However, her drowsiness did not last long, and after pulling herself from the den shared with Murdock, she briefly considered setting off the find him. The idea was abandoned in lieu of exploring the northern part of the territory; a task she'd yet to achieve, and poking around the stone circle. She'd never drawn too close, fearing the proximity of strangers, but that nervousness had faded with her last encounters. Feeling more energized then she had in a while, she set off towards the circle, skimming across the crust of the snow with tail wagging behind her and her paws carrying her at a lope.

The approach of another had her whirl, Illecebra's words not quite having put her at ease. She relaxed when she recognized the imposing figure of Murdock, who approached casually. Her tail wagged at her hocks, both out of gladness to see her companion,  and also out of relief, knowing this was not a strange wolf who might make a meal out of her.  

He ran his nose over her back, asking a question before she should wonder if she should greet him in turn. Probably not. "I met a girl named Clary - she was sweet. And a woman named Illecebra. She was missing an ear, but she was friendly."  She added the latter after a short pause, having associated missing body parts with cruelty. Surely, the feral dogs she'd come across had all manner of injuries of varying severity, and the worst looking were often the meanest. It was a good thing she was fast.

He looked out idly at the territory, the stones in the distance casting long shadows over the snow. She picked at a clump of snow caught in her forelimb, wishing yet again that she had the thick, short pelt of Murdock. Ears flicked towards him as he spoke again, abandoning picking at her forelimb. 

She shook her head, ears flicking back as she contemplated. The first few days here had been spent a nervous wreck, and gradually had she begun to wander far from Murdock's den. "is it really true, that someone might think I'm prey?" She'd worried, and fretted, and feared, but it hadn't truly sunk in that somewhere out there existed a wolf (wolves?) that thought her a meal. Her brow furrowed, chestnut gaze falling on him.

She supposed he was right, but at the same time, didn't think wolves had to worry much about being eaten. Why, they'd simply eat the other first. The thought came a few moments before Murdock's lesson turned dark, and she blinked. A chill swept down her spine, and she understood then that her mother's tales may not have been all fluff. No, it had not been the pack wolf her tales had warned off, but the lone - the one Murdock claimed would eat its kin.

She was silent a moment, contemplating the absolute horror of the act, knowing Murdock to be wise and truthful and not doubting his words a moment. Her voice came small as she asked, "are any wolves here very spiteful?"  Eating someone out of spite seemed a stretch, but after receiving the knowledge that wolves (rarely, but still) ate one another, it didn't seem completely unrealistic. Still she was relieved by his latter words, some of the horror in her gaze fading.

There were probably no spiteful wolves, and while it didn't exactly put all her worries to rest, it quelled her immediate fear of being eaten. Murdock's reassurance lasted a moment longer before he began to move, leaving Poppy staring after him a moment before moving to follow him, high-stepping trot choppy as she sought to close the distance between the two of them. 

Murdock leapt smoothly atop a boulder, making his challenge as the sheepdog gazed up at him. "pfft," she said, grin on her face, feigned smugness in her gaze as she sized up the rock. She leapt once, twice, and both times scabbling wildly got her nowhere. Gaze narrowing, more determined now to succeed, the collie backed up before charging towards the rock, throwing herself atop the stone with a frenzy that had her scrabble at the sides before she made the top, narrowly avoiding stepping on Murdock. "ha!" she cheered, grinning at Murdock as her tongue lolled.

 
A grin wrote its way across her muzzle at Murdock's words, tail wagging high above her as she recovered her breath, heart hammering and a slight pulling of her muscles reminding her that she'd probably regret doing that eventually. She agreed to his proposal with a few, breathy words and made herself comfortable beside him. She was far too pleased with her success and her new perch, to settled down immediately, but as she shook wore off she soon found herself fast asleep beside the male, happy glow in her heart.