Patriarch of the North (Solo)

[Tiki]

88 Winter 511 A.V. The Northern Wastes The morning had been cold, as always. The wind had picked up from the northern seas, blowing inward with crashing waves that both shattered and clung to the icy coastal walls. High in the Taldera mountains and hills, teeming with slumbered life, was one particular being who roamed freely. It was a black cat, from a distance, which prowled the grounds as if his own. His head did not lay low, his steps were not so careful, and he cared little for what scents he took notice to unless they held promise of meat. He had laid his claim to this land, and thus far had gone unchallenged. Being so near the city, Avanthal, it came as no surprise that his competition was lacking. The cat, which, judging from the air with which he carried himself, seemed something almost proud than merely dominating - a hint of his sentience – had been prowling for some time. He was nearing the end of the wood, past a clearing, and back through the thinning dead forests toward the sheer side of a cliff that would rise over him. The ice forms were always spectacular. As fate would have it, this more than intelligent, yet proud, cat was indeed a kelvic, a great cat still though. He had, in his duration in the north, laid his claim, marked by scent, and hunted the grounds he called his own for a time. Still, as a resident of Avanthal he needed to pull his own weight. He needed to bring in the goods for Frostfaun Hold, if he wanted to earn a living at least. He was passing through the clearing. His mind was numb from the cold and lacking of any real stimulus. There was the wind, and the crunch of snow, but not much more. He was brilliantly warm though, even in his own fur, thickened by the cooler months to preserve himself. As he came passed alongside the slope of the mountain, a stronger gust swept up snow and frosted his black coat. Something flickered from the corner of his eye, something coming upon him. He was looking up. He hardly had time, but he fell back and prepared for the worst to come. He hadn’t smelled her; she was hidden from the wind. Leaping from the ice forms, on ledges, on Tiki, was some majestic snow leopard out for blood. She caught him off guard. He might end here.

[Tiki]

Tiki was down on his side while this snow empress of sorts had her way with him. Between biting and claws, blood was spilled on both sides against the din of high whining cries for mercy and blood alike. She wouldn’t let up for one moment, and Tiki needed to get to his feet. The paw swipes crossed over his limbs and back hide, even his snout at a point, but he was sure to return the favor. He kept thinking too much of where to strike, his mind in a hyperactive state, rather than to simple strike out as nature would compel him. He felt the cuts, the pain, his ear, snout, and his forearms. Something was swinging off on his side or back, indescribable from this position. He managed to roll her off and get to his feet. Tiki retreated to the nearest tree with all his speed while the empress prowled her grounds. He was trespassing, it seemed, and she was intent on making it his last time. Tiki panted heavily in his perch in a vain effort to recover. He had never been in such a situation, now wounded and pinned down. She wouldn’t come up here, he figured, and managed to buy himself some time. There were no trees that would allow for safe crossings back to the city, and he doubting his ability to fight. The shock of the moment had gotten to him. Maybe now, with her in clear sight, he could size her up and make an escape. He’d need to make a comeback, realistically, if he wanted to survive. She was some meters from the back of the trunk, a full, white coated beauty. The icy blue stare that came from her eyes, blue Tiki-eyes…Hadrian eyes, they were looking right back at him. This time, those eyes were glaring with the cruelest intentions. He frowned at the thought. Hadrian would be a great help right about now. He hadn’t seen the wizard in some time though, which was regrettable. To die now would be most regrettable. Under her fluff he saw the muscles and bone shift as reflected in her coat, thousands of little hairs washing over her body like waves. She snarled at him. Tiki just let his ears draw back and he gave her a roar. It wouldn’t make a difference, there was no talking with – talking… Between Spires and Avanthal, the only felines he might have encountered were house cats. Miraculously, he preyed on the foxes, wolves, rabbits, and other rodents that still scurried so late in the seasons for food before they deep slumber. Then he was just springing them from their nests. He thought back to the Talderan road, when the lynx gave him a taste of her tongue, a conversation among cats. He had at least managed to delay her, but the odds of a bear showing up now were impossible. Not even the Avanthal Guard would know he was out here. Kayin would only send someone if Tiki took too much time. By then he’d be dead. The best the Frostfaun could do then would be a small ceremony in honor of a fellow hunter who aided in the bitter survival in the northern wastes. He’d have to try it. He was making no progress sitting on the wide limb of a tree waiting for the sun to rise.

[Tiki]

Both of them were still panting, licking wounds, and anticipating the next clash. The wind gently rolled over the snow covered terrain blowing up snowy mists in each cats’ face. Tiki paused a moment, after cleaning his paw a bit of the blood. He gave her a look. “Will you stop?” There was a cackling in her tone. She was willing to return his thoughts though. “No. Are you ready to come down yet?” “No…” There was a standstill of forces at work. Beyond the ignorance of either cat, each harmed by more ways than one which lead up to this fight, it could have been a misunderstanding. The snow leopard didn’t have much intent on investigating of course, her thoughts quick and narrow minded. Tiki was a meal now. She was a threat to him, but he needed to turn it around. “I’m Tiki. I’ve just come to –” “I know why you’re here. I know what you’ve been doing. You’re stupid for it. Your Great Hunter has been careful to tread these woods the years I’ve been here. His own Hunters have only crossed my path in groups. They were smart to do such. You are stupid for coming out here alone, stealing my food at that. It’s the cold days, you know? I take what is mine and leave the Frozen City its own, but you have taken much. The Great Hunter is smart to take from all around the Frozen City, but not you. Now, while I hunger, you think you can thrive. Have you not wondered why it was so easy? Now you know. Come down. We will finish this. If you win, the land be yours, else I will be repaid.” Tiki had entirely overlooked that matter indeed. The largest prey, lone caribou or wolves, were only seen once or twice in a week. Afterwards they had left if he didn’t snag them. The whole while the fauna had been dying at twice the rate, the entire season, as two big cats competed for resources. He might have even smelled her, her own scent. He might have become used to it after such long times were spent in these frosted woods. “The Great Hunter’s people call us a white death. We roam all where the ground is white. You can figure out why we are called that, white death, right?” Tiki felt the urge to roar and lunge at her. Her taunting was effective, only he knew better. He could take her, if he had only listened better. She was psyching him out though. It had been a full season now, almost, and she had been starved of her usual supply by him. What meals Tiki couldn’t come across in the wilderness were supplemented in the Warrens. Tiki was young and just as hardy in the hunt. Instead, Tiki was stuck in his thought. It was terribly Hadrian in nature, and brought him to pause in a moment that couldn’t wait. The winter sky wouldn’t offer so much warmth as he might have hoped, and the cold wind was stinging against his lapped wounds. “I don’t want to kill you.” “I want to kill you. Come down from there.” The empress came toward the tree base and gave him a snarling roar. Her pacing was closer now, and seemed more anxious to get a hold of him. There was no sense in climbing up after him. It’d be a risk to either cat. Tiki received an idea just then. The more he held off, it seemed the angrier she got, and then the closer she came. He could easily turn this battle back on her, just like she did to start. With her back taken, he could end it quickly. The days she had waited for this moment to kill him now were foiled by a tree. Too sure she was of her grip, and he slipped through. That all considered, it wasn’t a dish of cold vengeance to be served, but now a piping hot savage swipe to end his life. The more she waited, oh not even the northern winds would cool her temper. To some satisfaction, thinking was getting Tiki somewhere. Despite all oversights, he now had a chance to redeem himself. It was almost satisfying to think of how he bested the local top of the chain in the hunt. The perks to being a kelvic, he guessed…

[Tiki]

Tiki put his wit to the challenge. He had been sitting to clean himself, so he’d need to keep her distracted. She was waiting for him to come down anyway though, so it could just as easily backfire. “Please, leave me alone. The others will be looking for me.” “The only ones who will look for you are rot eaters. You’ve hunted my land alone, and will now die alone. Come down from there so we can end this!” She let out a worthy roar expressing her content for the scenario. So close, yet so far from what she had in mind. “Fine, fine, I’ll come down.” Tiki repositioned himself on the limb to leap down from the branch to the ground. The leopard was quick on her feet to come a bit closer, her eyes readied on him waiting for him to come down. Her lighter build could hardly be noticed under her thick pelt. She was becoming more agitated by having to wait. Cats weren’t patient hunters when their prey was within reach. That was the time to strike with quick precision. “I’m not coming down if you’re going to do that!” Tiki only settled himself down a little. His head was lowered like before, and he appeared to have no moved from the ground view. “Get down here, right now!” She wiggled a little closer, her tail oscillating in a wide swing. Her tongue flickered out a moment. Her hunger must be getting to her as of late. Tiki could even note how scarce game had become in his hunting grounds. Tiki noted the drop between himself and the leopard, as well as the branches below him he used to get up. He looked up at other limbs he could even climb. “I don’t want to. I think I’ll just…lay my head down a while.” Tiki let his head drop to the limb and rolled it to the side a little. His eyes were wide of course, looking for her. “So full,” he muttered. The leopard snarled and made her way for the tree, a slow and quiet trot. Tiki caught sight of the cat. Tiki made his way gently up the branches and around the tree out of sight of the leopard. She looked up into the empty branch, very eager to drag him down and finish him. There wasn’t much shock that he was gone, but she wondered where he was. Tiki made his way fully around and pounced from a thinner branch a few feet above. The branch was stiff near the base of the tree as Tiki kicked off and latched onto her back. The vicious hissing and whining resumed as Tiki fought to keep firm hold of her back. The suicidal leap took them both into the soft snow to trash around. Claw and tooth met flesh, deeper gaping wounds than before as each wanted the kill. She escaped his grasp only a second before he was on her again and pulled himself up on her. His fangs clamped onto her skull and bit down until the crackling vibrated into his jaw. She was limp, and all was still again. He laid on her a while, licking his lips. He gave her another bite on the skull, mashing her brain up a bit in the process, just to be sure. The blood on either of them would freeze soon enough. Tiki started cleaning himself. He had enough excitement for the day. White death, meet a black death.

[Tiki]

The way was won, and Tiki stood the victor once more. After another close call in nature’s design, product of Caiyha, he rose above the rest. A sense of pride filled Tiki. In the jungles, in the forests, from the Bronze Woods to the Northern Wastes, he was the one to be feared and humbled by man and beast alike. After each snarling remark made by the white empress, he had a right to it. Unknowingly he challenged her rule over this patch of land, and now it was his. Spring was coming, and soon all that had been done to degrade the fauna of the area would be restored, a blooming of life in the spring heat. Frostfaun would have much to eat, even when he would be gone. Tiki left the body a few feet out and looked out into the chasm that lay between himself and Avanthal. In his triumph, let his humanity unleash itself. A cry of victory, a reverberating roar thundered and crackled against the exposed rock and fell silently into the snow. He was Tiki, and now this land was his, his claims unquestioned, unofficially of course. Against his new aching pains, he felt warmth inside of himself. Now began the long walk back to Avanthal. He trotted back over to her body and grabbed hold by the neck. He would retrieve his bag and furs near the woods edge near his mark, then enter the city. *** The Icewall Gates From the tumbling winds Tiki emerged in the distance ready to reenter the city. The guards might only see a portion of his familiar form as he was low to the ground and a distance away. He took a few minutes to come into full view with his catch, and the bag that rocked on his strong shoulders. Just out of reach of the bears he set her down and stopped a moment. He was safe here. A bear’s tongue licked over its lips. Tiki transformed and dressed himself, needing to reheat himself. He gave the bear a grin. “Maybe later when she’s thawed and you’re back inside?” Tiki looked up to the sky. The glow of the clouds signaled it might only be before noon. “Long day… More time to rest.” Tiki’s wounds were caked in fresh scabs, the deeper ones still cracking and bleeding lightly. His lips only started to chap now that they were so exposed. He loaded the cat over his shoulders and headed back for Frostfaun Hold. He still managed to carry hid head high under her weight.

[Tabarnac]

XP Award! Tiki XP Award: Wilderness Survival +2; Land Navigation +2; Hunting +1; Unarmed Combat +2; Observation +1; Intimidation +2; Climbing +1; Escape Artist +1; Stealth +1; Body Building +1 Additional Notes: All hail Tiki! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Keep writing!