In the Company of Wolves [Kahno]

[Rhy]

Still breathing shallow from the hit to the ribs, the sudden shift and choke hold doesn't do her good. She would never shift during a fight, so she never expected anyone else to either. Only because her other form lack the teeth, fur and the extra ninety pounds, doesn't mean that the other Kelvic's are particularly helpless. She pulls and struggles, trying to pull her large head through his beefy arm, reaching up her back leg to score his broad back with her nails. But nothing is working, and the pressure is making her tongue bulge. Im one final (and desperate) shot to free herself she shifts too, and a dark skinned girl kneels where the dog was. The struggle is short. He constricted his arm to fast to make use of the smaller neck, his fist full of her hair rather then fur, and the lack of air makes her energy too low to even try and pry him off with her arms. So she sags into him. Defeated and wheezing pathetically, the hit to her eye leaking a lot of blood (as head wounds tend to do) into her eye. "Let me go", she gargles around her thickening tongue, and it sounds like she's drowning. To emphasize her point, she makes use of the lack of long muzzle to get in a shallow bite above his elbow. More of an incentive then anything. For she sacrificed her forty two gleaming canine teeth for four when she turned human.

[Kahno]

The dog shifted forms, into the frame of a dark-skinned young woman. A pang of guilt lit up in Kahno’s chest like a fire. Immediately resenting the situation, as soon as the woman choked the three little words out, he slung her weight off of him. It wasn’t until then that he realized how exhausted he was. The adrenaline was wearing off, making it harder for him to maintain composure. He fell to his side and rolled onto his back, also wheezing, his lungs begging for air. Blood seeped from his collarbone and shoulder, caking the side of his neck and chest. A tremor ripples down his body as two fingers prod at his wounds, a set of puncture wounds from teeth, and a laceration from claws. The puncture wounds at his collarbone throbbed with his heartbeat through the open flesh. A groan escaped his chest as he turned onto his other side. Dirt littered his hair, underneath his fingernails, and in the creases of his body. With a cough, he pressed his palms into the ground and pushed his body weight up with all his might. On hands and knees he looked across the forest floor to the girl. A piece of him almost felt bad, but the sensation was quickly dismissed. She had started it, she had wanted it. She was the aggressor. Kahno shook his head and coughed again. ”You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” He spit a mouthful of bloody spittle onto the ground and wiped his chin.

[Rhy]

The man flings her away with one arm and she rolls onto her stomach. Propping herself onto her elbows she gives a great hacking cough that is sure to pull up her lungs as well. She takes a few chimes to just focus on her breathing. Was this air ever so sweet? So fragrant? She relishes in it and tries to pull as much of this air as she can into her body. Gods, everything hurt. There must be a cut above her eye, for its pumping blood down her face. A bite around her upper throat and a handful of lacerations down her chest and belly complete the more serious of her problems. The rest boil down to heavy bruising on her ribs and jaw. She rolls onto her back and regards her opponent. He looks just as beat up as she feels. And he has a strangely neglected aspect about him. From the state of his hair, the dirt caked on his skin, and the angry looking scars that run down his back. Its different then him just being true to his animal half, it hits her very hard that he likely has no one looking out for him. Not that she pities him, for it is evident he is a survivor and can take care of himself. His body is a credit to humans as well as canines, with size and strength on his side. He would even admit he is handsome in both forms, if she wasn't so very angry. "Leave it alone? Leave it alone? I gave you clear warnings and every opportunity to back down", she growls, pushing herself up into a slumped sitting position. "I've a job to do and people to feed, and I need my territory to do it. Or have you forgotten what its like to have someone worth keeping safe, Wanderer?" Its a low blow, and she regrets it almost instantly, but doesn't take it back. She has pieced it together from a string of coincidences. He stalked her alone, the look in his eye when she put her back to Sanctuary, his dilapidated appearance, all pointing to no pack or family. Him either wandering away or was ran out.

[Kahno]

A snarl rippled up from Kahno’s chest at the verbal stab. A coiling sensation gripped his body, and he wanted nothing more than to throttle her for her insolence. It took nearly everything he had not to exhaust himself with the effort it would take just to push himself onto his feet. It wasn’t worth it, but he wasn’t about to let her get away with her cheeky rebuttal. He laughed, a condescending, cruel sound, and said, ”So you honestly thought you could bear your teeth and buck at me and I would be afraid of you and run off? You’ve got people to feed? A job? What are you?! We’re not made in the image of those two-pawed abominations! They rely on things and people to provide for them. They’re using you to sustain themselves! We belong here!” He gestured to the forest. ”First of all, you are a fool to think I’d back down to a simple dog such as yourself, woman. Second, I live here, while you tuck your tail and accept orders and wander around those walls in that burrow, city, whatever. I hunt here, for my own food, I provide for myself. I sleep here, it is my home. I have been here as long as I can remember, and I have not migrated, I have not given my territory up, and I won’t start now. As for keeping someone safe, no, actually, I take care of my petching self, and that’s all I need.” Amber eyes bore into the dark-skinned woman before him for a fraction of a moment. Kahno snorted, resenting her presence, and pushed himself up to his feet. He refused to allow himself to look wounded, physically or emotionally. With his hands rested on his hips he made his way a good handful of feet away from her, a barely noticeable limp in his step. Maybe she would get up and leave, drag herself back to her stupid city. The longer he stood there waiting on her to dismiss herself, the more it bothered him that she was still there. He could feel her presence, her stare, her scrutiny, and it bothered him more than anything had in a very long time.

[Rhy]

A soft sigh escapes from her mouth. A sigh of exasperation, dejection, and sympathy. Rhy dosen't try to get up. He's beaten her, he won't attack again. So she sits, unguarded, with her arms spread wide and staring at the sky and its brilliant blue. But it won't be blue for long. Winter is coming, and it will bring the grey sky and rolling clouds. And unlike last winter, this one will be spent in warmth and companionship. And that simple thought makes her smile. "Your arrogance is palpable and your pride will get you killed", she states. Her eyes falling to his ridged back. Her newly inflicted wounds strike a similar design to the old scars he wears. Its a horrible, macabre pattern. "You talk like I'm their pet, or slave. I'm no more tame then you, Wanderer. But I will absolutely tuck tail and take orders if my Alpha (a Konti woman, I'll have you know) feels fit to do so. Because those two-pawed abominations are my pack, and I love them. Something you are either to shallow to understand, or never had in the first place." She rolls to her other hip and up to her feet with a groan. Her bones pop and resettle as she stretches her shoulders to open up her ribs, which still feel like vices around her lungs. "Now, I'm going home. Where my adopted family with heal my wounds and make sure I'm ok. Then we will feast on my hunting haul and make sure everyone is fed. And tonight I'll let my bondmate stroke my fur, and I'll lay on her feet to keep her warm. We will fall asleep like that." "And you", she directs to the Kelvic's broad back, the growl back in her voice. "Can go lick your wounds in private. They will likely get infected, and you'll have a fever for a few days. No one will help you. And if I'm lucky that fever will kill you and I'll have my territory back." "Or you can come with me." The sudden offer is delivered on a softer tongue, and she even surprises herself that she offered at all. This wolf is dangerous! He should be nowhere near her home! But he also needs help. A few seasons ago she would have left him to suffer it alone. But Sanctuary has changed her like that. Hopefully for the better. "My family can stitch you up and make sure your belly is full. You don't even have to come inside. And then you can be on your way with your foolish pride intact. This space is yours, and I can't take it back. Just let me provide for my family, ok? There is plenty of game. I'm not a threat." With that she walks over to her ripped game bag, bundling it back up with the heavy birds inside, and starts the trek back to Sanctuary. Keeping her eyes carefully averted from the wolf to let him save face if he leaves or follows. She's never thought much of going it alone. And she thinks him an idiot for refusing the opportunities humanity can offer. She is worth something. She is useful and loved and even respected. How could he turn his back on something like that? But the animal in her sings for the opportunity to go back to the wildness of her self preservation, back when she had nothing to give or gain. She shakes her head to repel the thought and keeps her pace. Resolutely keeping her eyes forward and away from her strange rival.

[Kahno]

Kahno let the words sink into his back as he shook his head. He didn’t care about her Alpha, her Konti woman, her makeshift pack. Who would take up with a pack of two-pawed creatures? Someone who couldn’t handle a pack in the wild, where she was meant to be. Who needed someone to heal her wounds? Someone who was weak. He had sustained many a wound, whether it be from fighting, hunting, or an accident. It hurt, true, but he didn’t need those silly bandages and herbs and other nonsense to speed his recovery along. To Kahno, it seemed useless when the body was perfectly fit to heal itself naturally. His always had, anyway. The bondmate card was petty. What did he care to have someone hold him back and change him? He didn’t care for that bunch of gabber. It was the threat of having a supposed fever and dying so that she could have ‘her’ territory back that made him turn back to face her. Before he could retort, her offer came. It was a gentle gesture in contrast to her hurtful banter. Again came that tortured look in his eyes, and again he averted his gaze in hopes that she had not seen it. As she packs her sack with her kills, he crosses his arms and bites the inside of his cheek, thinking. What would make her propose such an offer? He chose his words carefully in his head before speaking, this time in a softer tone. ”Though I appreciate the hospitable offer, I’m going to have to refuse. I’ll fill my belly eventually, and I’ll heal naturally. Everything is a threat out here, even to the top of the food chain. Hunt as you will.. I provide for myself and always have, and there’s obviously enough out here to go around, I suppose. But just to clarify, I led a pack once. I know what it’s like to have to provide for someone, so I can respect that. I also know what it’s like to have everyone I love turn their backs on me. That’s why I’m here. Have a safe trip home.” He pivoted around and walked slowly away. OOCWe can end it here if you’d like, unless she has anything else she would like to say.. I don’t think Kahno would be so eager to give in and follow her into RF just yet! It’ll take some time and work, but we can always have them meet again sometime and maybe they’ll have a little respect for one another now, granted, there will still be a difference in opinion. (:

[Gossamer]

Character: Rhy
Experience: +3 Observation +5 Unarmed Combat, +2 Rhetoric
Lore: Barking to intimidate. The fake lunge. Knowing how to fight over territory. Knowing when to not back down.

Character: Kahno
Experience: +3 Observation +4 Unarmed Combat +2 Rhetoric
Lore: Using body language to signal dominance. Knowing How to Fight Over Territory. Knowing when to back down.


Additional Notes: Hi Rhy. The cook’s name at The Sanctuary is Cadra. Also, watch your tenses. You are still switching tenses midway through sentences. We write here in past tense omnipresent viewpoint. Also, there’s no way a dog could carry four ducks and a goose in its mouth. That’s a huge amount of weight. You’d have to drag it or sling it over your back to make it work. You might be able to carry a couple of game birds like the ducks, but that would be it.

Kahno, but rights a wolf should have been able to kick a dogs butt. Build your skills up there buddy so you can do your race justice! They have far superior bite force and can plow a dog over. It has nothing to do with body size, but everything to do with musculature and skeletal system. The Sagital crests of wolves give them a huge increase in bite ratio meaning you can bite limbs off if you choose too where Rhy cannot. I just make not e of this so next time you are aware.

Otherwise, great job guys! It was a fun thread to read.