She had not gathered as much information as she would have liked. By some miraculous feat, she had found herself in a new location with no apparent way out. Mountains lay to the north, south, east, and west, and she had not crossed or even seen any on her way in at the start of winter. Now, she'd found herself lost.

Of course, Jacqueline hesitated to use the word; inherently, there was blame in that word, incompetence. She trusted her own navigational skills, and she had no destination in mind anyway, so that could not mean that she was truly lost. Merely, she was exploring a new area. A totally unfamiliar area which she had no recollection of navigating to. The other half of her predicament was that it was winter, and it was forcibly winter. She was not certain if she'd seen any signs of the weather easing up. Being surrounded by mountains, she wondered if elevation might play a part. Mountains were always cold and snowy. Though, she had intentionally not climbed any mountains, knowing it was winter.

It was something of a mystery. Were she a different type of woman, she might have thought something spiritual, magical, had befallen her to place her here. Being rather pragmatic, she instead was quietly, in a way that she would never admit to another soul, stumped by the circumstances of her appearance in this land.

She'd made the best of it, but had not yet encountered many other souls. Travel was difficult through the rough conditions. She had only mapped out the perimeter of the lake, the surrounding woodlands, and then navigated the twists and turns at the base of the mountains which were now to the southwest of her. She had caught, either on the breeze or by encountering physical markers, that there wer a handful of packs in the region. It crossed her mind to cause some chaos at their borders, to create an excuse for interactions with one of the locals in the hopes of gleaning more information about this land. It was not something she'd ruled out quite yet, but she wanted to gather more information of her own first. She preferred to be seen as competent, mysterious, and cooking up a scheme to learn the bare minimum about the region had plenty of potential to make her look like neither of those things.

Presently, she was headed east, maintaining a steady trot following an early-morning meal, when her gait ended abruptly. There, in a break of the trees, she could see the ocean, shelled in plates of ice. She crept through the thinning treeline, closer to the edge of the cliff. Wind buffetted through her fur, stung her eyes with cold. Further in the distance, past the ice, she could see the cropping of a sizeable island, the peak of a mountain.

Interesting. Would she freeze to death if she swam to it?

「 Skill Point ― scout 」

The main land was fruitless, and a tut clipped the norseman's tongue. It seemed that the area was trafficed less and less which while promising for safety, meant zilch for his numbers. His pups would be grown soon, enough to enter the trials he had planned, and that meant festivities might finally commence. A light in a dark tunnel perhaps. It was an opportunity to strengthen bonds and build alliances; for politics to thrive.

He scanned the edge, nose twitching as he let scents flow through. Elowen was no where to be found, perhaps having moved on for something more entertaining. Even the startings of that pack that once resided here was no longer remarkable, gone with the winds. With the warming of the temperatures, Tyr thought that perhaps he might scent some kind of bear, but even that remained spotless. The usual traffic of various deer, rabbits and various others remained, though their numbers were still recovering from the fires that struck those many moons before.

A frown sat uneasily on his maw, his gaze narrowing as his strolled slowed to a halt. This place wasn't desolate, however it was silent. Not an owl or a bird singing their usual song. A predator might be lurking and Tyr didn't think it was him. Paws slowly began to creep forwards again, though this time they headed towards the cliff he'd found Mimir awaiting on.

Was his friend back? Did he have something to pass along?

He was almost there when her scent registered in his mind. A wolf, no doubt, but also a stranger. She seemed to be lurking ahead towards the cliff, the vantage that allowed you to look upon his island abode. The thought made him feel naked, but it was a feeling he squashed as he began his approach. He did not speak, not yet. As Tyr pushed through the treeline, he spied the blackened she-wolf. Large, weighted and dare he say, tanky? She was stacked, that was for certain. Perhaps heavier than himself in that regard.

The god released a chuff, alerting her but never did he stop his approach. While he kept his distance to some extent, the male did not hesitate to step up to the cliff edge and survey his land. He still did not speak, allowing her the first move.

She was not given much time to reflect before the sound of another alerted her of his presence. She flicked an ear. She was not worried about the approach of a stranger, not even as she heard his footfalls draw nearer and nearer to her. She closed her eyes, breathed in, noted his scene. It was wise to remember a scent, to capture and hold it in one’s memory before any kind of social interaction played out.

She turned, finally allowing her curiosity to take over, as he stopped to look out over the cliffs, too. Jacqueline was not afraid to make the first move. ”I have never seen such a thing with my own eyes,” she said. ”The sea, nor an island so close to shore.” She of course knew what they were, based on stories of how they looked or smelled. But, once again mystified by this land she had found herself in, she’d had no idea that it was so close to her. Just a few moons ago, she’d been headed west in the hopes of maybe crossing paths with it, and now? Here it was, to the north. Strange indeed.

She may ask the man where they currently stood, if he seemed to know, but she would not ask where they were in the grander scheme of things. Part of her didn’t want to know. The other part of her was smarter than that—telling a stranger that she was utterly lost.

「 Skill Point ― Scout 」

The woman beside him was cool and disinterested in himself, it seemed. That was fine by Tyr, for really, he had simply been enjoying the silence of the world around him, only the buzzing of nature in his ears. He allowed himself that moment to take in the sights and smells around him, her own peaking his interest momentarily before he focused on the salted sea air.

When he voice finally broke the silence, he tilted his head in her direction, a polite acknowledgment of her words, before he glanced below at the icy land that rose from the sea.

He could see the fractures in the ice, the warming of the days prevailing in their attempt to shift the frozen platform. There was no doubt in his mind that the next few months would see it gone for good until the next winter took over with its icy grip. While clearing the water way would be beneficial, the shifting ice was a danger he made note of. He'd have to tell those moving to and from the island that they would need to take caution.

Indeed, a fortress only penetrable from one side. he hummed in response, though even the path you need to cross brings its own warriors from the depths. a warning, perhaps, or a shared shred of knowledge for the stranger.

He seemed just as coolly disinterested as she. Jacqueline wondered if it was genuine or a front. She could only find out by paying attention to him—his words, intonations, body language—as they spoke.

She, of course, found her interest piqued at his words. It sounded like just the kind of challenge she couldn’t help but accept. “And which way is that?” she mused, swinging her attention to him fully. He was a fine specimen, as far as she was concerned. Good genes, at least for his physique. She’d never seen markings on a wolf like his. Perhaps he is from this strange area? “Do you mean to say the land is claimed already?” By his kin, which only made sense, since he seemed to bear knowledge of the island, or was it a different group altogether?