The Tangle VIII

the coast was beyond the rise.

augur could smell salt in the cold air the closer he drew to the twisted forest.

the great man hesitated. he tasted the air. sea mother had come to their rise. they were friendly with one another. but augur did not want to trespass.

Kigipigak had to range further each time he ventured out for his patrols.

He hunted for signs of life that would be returning to the Taiga but found very little to suggest the herd's recovery; instead he trailed after the strong scent of a wolf - it carried with it the scent of Tartok, or at the very least the elder warrior who had once visited the Moonglow camp.

If the man was still in the area then that added another threat to Kigipigak's mental list of dangers; he had to find them and make certain he was wrong.

He crossed in to the edge of the Tangle; knowing not to go too deep or to follow any of the branching paths for too long, lest Kigipigak be lost in the woods and unable to return to his wife, he began to scrutinize every shadow.

when the clawan turned, there was another man. he was built of winter and bore the caremarks of a hunter.

snow scar did not move. augur followed suit. for a long time they only stared at each other. the redtail wolf knew that red woman was friendly with the wolves who lived beyond the tangle. it gave him more right to be here.

augur chuffed and began a cautious approach, tail flagging higher the closer he came.

Kigipigak did not know this man. He did not like the way he moved; there was a familiar predatory edge to it, and to couple that with the scents upon the stranger's coat, he knew he could not trust this stranger.

Then their tail lifted as he drew closer. Kigipigak's posture shifted to something to rival it, strong and a touch more imposing, while a ridge of silver-capped guard hairs between his shoulders began to rise.

He wanted to know where this man had come from; however, he did not want to ask outright, as any flash of his teeth might be seen as added insult. Kigipigak had to be more cautious now - he had a wife, children on the way, and no desire to involve himself with Tartok.

augur's gait grew stiff as the other bristled. he snorted through his nostrils.

this land was not his to defend. and with the death of one of their own still new, he did not wish to be injured.

he stopped with tail waving. he was willing to grow neutral if he saw the same inclination in the other. augur waited, the yellow of his eyes bright and watchful.

The other wolf paused all motion. For a time it was Kigipigak and he, staring, being watchful and cautious of one another.

Kigipigak would not be the first to break the stare; but he let his posture rise slightly as a small challenge, to test what this man was capable - what their intentions might be.

Also, to show his superiority. They were not near the glacier or the river that flowed in the underhenge, but they were somewhere familiar to Kigipigak. He had to make certain this wolf was no threat.

When, or rather if the stranger's display satisfied the hunter, he would finally move along and seek the temporary refuge of the tangle, where he hoped to hunt.

there was nothing to scrap over here.

augur planted one foot firmly but did not approach. his size outmatched the other wolf. the stranger wore scars that the boy had not yet achieved.

it was not a good match.

augur began to move back toward the rise. he gave the man a wide berth, hackles bristling with watchfulness. the great wolf paused only then to sniff the air and look again to the other.

The other man did not come too close.

He was deferential - or that is how Kigipigak read the way his figure retreated. He got a few steps before Kigipigak issued a triumphant little cough, and whether the stranger looked or not, his shoulders squared off to give him a powerful stance.

It was not a threat of violence - it might've been an invitation, either to a spar or to the hunt Kigipigak hoped to find within the tangle - but it was left for the stranger to decide which. Perhaps he would retreat in full which would leave Kigipigak to his own devices again.

No harm done.

the man postured.

augur wished a hunt and not a spar. he could not read true intentions into the other. and he did not want to respond.

instead the young wolf sent a booming chuff across to the man. he turned then and continued on through the snow, eager to return to those he knew among the redtail territory.