Behind a tree...<br/><br/>There was a low snort and steamed breath curled around Atticus's scarred snout, ears pricking to an almost playful level of attention as some straggling human portion of his brain snapped back awake at the wheel. Sick girl faced with a sodding great beast of a wolf and she hides behind a tree...<br/>That was either tragically amusing or amusingly tragic.<br/><br/>Whatever she was, she was terrified beyond sense and reason.<br/><br/>Her pule quivered about the air, like the sound of a panicked bird beating it's wings against a cage, there was a mild tang of cold sweat and a spike of, what he could only guess, fight or flight hormones flooding through her veins, but overall it was a scent difficult to place, all the individual flavours blurred into one indescribable perfume. One that made his fur stand on end, his muscles ache for the rhythm of movement and his jaws lock tense...<br/>Fear.<br/>Animal fear.<br/><br/>Normally instinct would have kicked in and he'd have switched to hunt mode, but human empathy was still floating, lost and directionless in the pool of his mind.<br/><br/>Atticus faltered mid step, front paw still hung in the air. It was like bolting up from a pool of water, a shock a reason and hyped up animal reality clashed like two plates of a symbol, it was in these moments, moments where human interpretation was given the vast charts and graphs of animal reception to play with, it was in these moments where one saw the world with scarcely believable clarity, understood everything and nothing at all, all at once.<br/>For a moment his eyes darted about, white on display, then he understood what to do.<br/>Atticus lowered himself on his haunches, pale fur of his belly sinking into the soft snow, ears submissively drooped.<br/><br/>He let out a low whine, like a village mutt begging for scraps.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">'I'm not gonna hurt ya,'</span>it meant,<span style="font-style: italic">'I'm tame,'</span><br/><br/>Not a threat to anyone or anything, the girl needed help...