As Iblis made his way to nowhere, he began to let his mind wander. He never noticed the pup make her way closer towards him. Not much could get past him when he was looking but his thoughts were on Jaidah. He had not known much about imprinting, but Iblis knew just from that one glance that Jaidah would be his forever. He had never felt this way about any wolf, not even Illuminada, his long lost mate from days gone by. Jaidah's white fur seemed to out shine Illuminada's when he thought of her and the jade eyes of his imprint were all he could hold on to as Illuminada faded from his mind forever. She would always be special to him, but Fate demanded that there would only be Jaidah.

When the bush next to him erupted in a flurry of wings and feathers, Iblis was on the defense automatically. Teeth bared as a snarl tore from his lips, hackles raised high and tail curled over his back. Being a smaller wolf had taught Iblis to look as big as he could but as the birds flew higher in the sky he saw at once that there was no need to be so aggressive. Giant golden eyes gazed up at him and Iblis lowered his lips and hackles as he realized he had just growled at a pup. She looked to be young, no older than two or three, with fur as white as snow and already standing almost as tall as Iblis. She would become a large wolf one day, but for now she remained a child alone in the world. Iblis stared at her a moment longer until she squeaked out a small greeting. The older male cleared his throat, and gave a small smile to show that he did not mean her any harm. "Hello there, child. What are you doing out here so late? Are your parents around?" he asked, then looked to see if a wolf might be coming to claim their child.

And a wolf did come. He was taller than Iblis and looked to be older than the pup and Iblis couldn't help but wonder if they were related in some way. But his fur was read and black and the child didn't seem to react to him if they had known each other. Plus her fur was so white, untouched by any color, that Iblis knew these wolves were not related. Even though the male with a droopy ear seemed friendly enough, Iblis still stood protectively in front of the pup. The night Atreyu attacked and nearly killed the young puppy Alloette came flooding back in a blood memory and Iblis had promised he would never let anything like that happen again. Never again. Perhaps he was over reacting, but the warrior was sure it was the right thing to do.

The red and black wolf spoke with his tail wagging behind him and Iblis nodded his head in greeting. "Well met, Hickory. I am called Iblis. I am a traveler without a home. I am simply passing through. This is," he said, staring down at the pup. "Well, I am not sure of her name. Do you live around here, child?"