[Flashback] Even Pups Bite(Miharu)

[Jaeden Kincade]

"You keep talking to me that way and I'm gonna hug you again, your nudity or bite marks be damned," Jaeden the snapped back before suddenly tossing the dress alongside her head. He then reached over his shoulder, snagging a large pot that hung from the side of his pack as he dropped it next to her. "From what I've discovered of you thus far, I'm not certain you'd understand even if I tried to explain it to you," Jaeden then replied as she callously questioned his discomfort over her form. Jaeden then once again went to collecting the firewood from the ground. "Suffice to say, if you plan to leave these woods, be sure to be clothed before hopping into any city. There are those in these lands who would violate you in ways worse than a touch or hug, regardless of your appearance of age, and simply kill you the moment you changed to a wolf," Jaeden explained before kneeling to the ground and wrapping the bundle with one of his medium snares. "Sometimes, even the so called "civilized" places can be more dangerous than the wild for some."

[Miharu Mindi]

She paused for a moment, eyes narrowing at his revelations on civilization. Men could be dangerous. Yes, her daddy had said something about that, but she didn't really understand.

But she dumped the handful of meat into the pot and then wiped her bloody hands off in the dirt before grabbing the dress and whirling it around her. Most of her covered, the important parts anyway, and then she went back to her butchering. She wasn't very skilled at it, used to simply chewing her way through whatever game she wanted, but it got the job done. Soon she had the pot half-filled with choice bits of meat, and she scooted it closer to him. A moment's pause, and then she circled the bloody mess and began struggling to turn it over so she could finish skinning it.

"And why aren't you one of these people, hmm? These men who would harm me. What reason have i to trust you?" Huge golden eyes turned up to catch his, some deeper question there that likely had no answer.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden slowly stepped in front of her as he crouched down, both hands reaching under the beast's legs. A slow grunt escaped his lips as the muscles along his arms tightened, and the fabric of his pants along his legs bulged. A look of strain appeared on his face as the animal slowly rolled forward before finally tipping over to the other side so that Miharu could continue her work. Breathing slightly heavier, Jaeden reached up with his right hand, wiping away a small layer of sweat away from brow with the back of his hand. He then bent over, picking up the bundle of wood while slipping one arm out from under the strap of his back, swinging it forward slightly. Hanging the bundle by a small hook that hung at the bottom of his pack, he then swung it back around, slipping his arm through the vacant strap once again. He gave Miharu a slight frown as he stepped over to the pot full of meat, picking it up as well. "Well, I think the fact that I haven't drawn my sword yet, even after you've bitten me gives a little weight to the fact that I don't intend to harm you," Jaeden replied as he now just simply stood there, watching her continue her skinning of the beast.

[Miharu Mindi]

She grunted her thanks for his help and then bent to finish her work. Opposed to the butchering, her work on the pelt was precise and careful, and yielded surprisingly good work.

"Okay," she drawled, confusion still lighting her voice as she glanced out the corner of her eyes. "But that doesn't answer why."

She folded up the skin and laid it aside, would scrape it later. She carved into the carcass again and drew out the sweetmeats, heart, liver, and kidneys. These were folded into a scrap of hide left over from the skinning, and she tucked them away into a pocket of the dress.

"Come on," she said, tilting her head and starting off into the woods, bending to snatch up her own pack without skipping a step. "I've got a clearing a little this way."

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden just gave a shrug. "Because I was raised that way, I'm just not that way, it's bad for my digestion, because birds will poop on me in karmic retribution? Pick one," Jaeden answered to her question as to why. "Does it really matter in the end why I'm not a person that would try to ravage and eventually kill you, or that I'm simply not?" Jaeden slowly looked over the meats, giving them a small sniff as he began contemplating what seasoning he would use to enhance their flavors while cooking them. He had hoped their taste wasn't too dissimilar to the bucks and elks to be found back in his homeland. He then gave a slow nod after she gathered her things and began heading towards the clearing. "And I've got a tent," Jaeden then replied as he followed Miharu. "You like your meat cooked a certain way Miha, when it is cooked?"

[Miharu Mindi]

She glanced at him when he mentioned a tent, something fearful in her eyes, and just shook her head. A tent, and a bedroll probably, warm legs to curl up beside, a hand twined in her fur...

"No," she growled, though it wasn't clear exactly what she was denying. She shook her head and swallowed harshly, and then she looked up at him again. "No, I don't... I don't know. I haven't eaten anything cooked in... a long while," she shrugged.

Bare feet glid silently over rock and grass and pine needles and the occasional fallen log, loping along and switching direction every now and again just as she would have as a wolf. She finally burst through the brush and into a small clearing that had a clear stream bubbling along one side of it and a small pile of leaves gathered in one side, obviously where she'd been sleeping.

"Home sweet home," she murmured, something sad in her voice though she didn't hesitate, just skipped across the clearing and dumped her pack in the leaves, then settled the package of offal on a flat rock. She paused, and glanced up at him, head tilting to one side. "I'm going to clean up. Perhaps you should face the other way?" she drawled. Was that... teasing?

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden quirked a brow once again as she seemed uncomfortably hesitant over his mentioning of the tent. "Don't worry," Jaeden simply said as he paused a small bush, examining the berries that grew from it's stems. "Just because I'll be setting up a tent doesn't mean I'd try and force you to sleep in it." Jaeden then plucked one of the berries, observing the curved texture, the size and the color. It was black, and after a quick squeeze with his thumb and index finger revealed liquid of the same color, as well as a unpleasant smell, he quickly winced and shook his head as he wiped his hand clean of the berries contents along a nearby tree. "Well then, we'll go with medium rare then. That way it won't be totally devoid of the juices that meat has," Jaeden replied to her when she answered about how she liked her food cooked. He soon stepped into the clearing, his eyes first traveling to the ground to note any tracks that the wild life might have left. Seeing only a mixture of small human footprints mixed around with the paw prints of a wolf, he garnered that Miharu was the only one who traveled this area frequently. He then looked up to the river stream that sat close by to the area. "Hmm," Jaeden said rubbing his chin slightly. "Normally it's not safe to camp near a source of drinkable water, but considering you've been here long without incident means it should be good. Couple that with a fire burning through the night and only inquisitive animals might come by to explore." He then places the pan of meat on a flat surfaced rock that sat nearby as he began sliding off his backpack. He looked to the bedding of leaves nearby, noting it's use. "I have a winter blanket if you wanted to add a little more cushion to your bed," Jaeden then simply offered as he lowered his backpack to the ground after unhooking the bundle of twigs and branches. Reaching over to the side of his leather armor, Jaeden began fiddling with the straps as they were unclasped one by one before it was finally slid off over his head and set to the ground nearby, revealing a white short sleeved shirt underneath that clung to the surface of his skin in certain places where sweat had soaked through the fabric. Both eyebrows raised this time as she gave fair warning to avert his eyes. "Oh," Jaeden simply replied with a nod. "Sure. Thanks for the warning this time." He then turned around and crouched to the ground, opening the top of his pack as he began to rummage through it before pulling a woodman's ax from within. "I'll just make a small pit for the fire over here," Jaeden then said as he walked somewhat sideways towards the side of the clearing.

[Miharu Mindi]

She shot him a bemused smile as she noted his careful examination of the landscape. "You'd be surprised what an overwhelming stench of wolf will do to the local wildlife," she chuckled, dragging the bloodied stretch of cloth from her shoulders and whirling it away from her body.

She hated the dress, hated how it kept all her warmth against her body in the uncomfortable way - not like fur, which stayed nice and dry. Human skin sweated, the most disgusting of things in her opinion, unnatural and sticky and itchy and awful. But it was easier to clean blood off of.

The sounds of splashing echoed across the camp as she cleaned first her dress and then herself, wild sprays of water flying everywhere as she tried to be sure to get all the blood off her skin, out of her hair. Then she wrung out the dress and simply laid it on the grass to dry while she padded across the camp to dig her cloak out of her pack. She whirled it around her shoulders, a bit musty from being in the bottom of it all summer but it would at least protect Jaeden's delicate sensibilities.

Then she simply grabbed up the packet of sweetbreads and went to plunk herself down beside Jaeden, watching whatever it was he was doing to their dinner.

"So why are you out here?" she asked, pulling out the pancreas and taking delicate bites of it, careful not to get blood on her cloak.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden had already, by the time, had the fire going. He slowly began sticking pieces of the mean along skewers and seasoned them lightly with something that simply resembled shredded leaves upon quick inspection. The seasoning had a sharp scent to it, that might have tickled Miharu's nose with her heightened senses, but the odor itself wasn't all together unpleasant. Jaeden then just gave a slow shrug as he looked to Miharu. "Would you believe me if I told you I just accidentally wandered in here from the south while gazing at clouds and decided to stick around a explore?" Jaeden replied to her. "I generally have no ultimate plan for what I do. I just live from one day to the next." Jaeden then slowly stood up, making his way over towards the fire as he stuck the other end of the skewer into the ground, as the flames of the fire began to lick at the underside of the meat. He then himself began walking over towards the stream as he reached to his sides, removing his shirt as the suns light caught the surface of his broad back now and then, causing a shimmer effect due to the layer of sweat that covered his skin. He slowly lowered himself next to the river, soaking his shirt into it's waters. He then raised it over his head, squeezing the shirt as water poured over his head for a long moment. He then used the shirt to sponge himself off, before rinsing it thoroughly in the rivers waters again before slipping it back on.

[Miharu Mindi]

She stared after him as he headed for the stream, completely unashamed of letting her eyes roam over his body. A nice sight, that, and her head tilted a little as if she were really concentrating on it. Because she was.

She caught her mind wandering into places it ought not go and wrenched it back, her cheeks turning bright pink - not from embarrassment but from anger at herself, at the stupidity of such thoughts, at the danger of such thoughts.

"Well that's just dumb," she blurted out, because it was. "You followed a petching cloud into the Northern Reaches? I'd ask again how you managed to survive, but I'm guessing it had to do with a lot of blind luck and the sharp side of your sword," she said as she shoved the thymus whole into her mouth and chewed it down.