Closed Just Be [Spirit]

[Kaden Swift]

ooc :

Nope you didn't and way cool. A lot of work though. Is it fun to do?
Yes it is. I want to smoosh(sp?) Spirit in a hug much like Kaden did. She is so cute and friendly.

He was delighted when she hugged him back after wiggling so. He hadn’t wanted to let her go enough for her arms to be released, he still didn’t. Tiny small and perfect, his bonded. He was glad she was happy. After a little bit his fear washed away. If she was happy she wouldn’t want to break the bond. Still he clutched her tight until she wiggled asking to be put down. That wasn’t something he wanted to do at all. He debated keeping her but in the end he set her on the ground and stepped back.

What he wanted came second; he wanted her happy above all and everything. He sighed and looked at her as she fixed dirty clothes and stretched. She still seemed happy and he wished he could feel if that were true. Not caring any more Kaden sat down and crossed his legs as he watched the horse be petted. He still didn’t understand why she liked them, the animals were not very bright and they ran from even a noise. He prodded at his bond to try and find the answer but it either couldn’t tell him or it didn’t want to.

Frowning he shook his head. Bond probably wasn’t a thing anyway it just was so, answer or not it wasn’t the bond that did it. The bears, maybe he could get one to tell him. If they wouldn’t, he would find it’s bonded; make it tell him what to do. Kaden gave a start as Spirit spoke to him. He thought she was busy petting the horse and thinking. “No, I do not work. I do not know what to do; I am not good at anything.” A frown tugged his lips as he watched her. He knew her next question, she asked it before but she hadn’t believed it. “I sleep outside, in the wastes or in the city sometimes.” He shrugged and looked down.

He didn’t think people would be happy if he slept in the city so he hid where he slept and moved after a day or so. He did not want the humans to find him sleeping, weak and right now he still hurt. Spirit was his bonded, she could know but even that made his skin crawl. He knew already that he would change places since he had shown her. “Humans don’t go into the waste at night, safe there.” He wasn’t scared of the animals in the waste, if he left them alone they would leave him alone. He marked his territory and they stayed out so he respected theirs.

Kaden had seen no sign of the silver snakes, but snow cats he had found including a breeding female with her cub. He had debated killing it but he was already injured and they were not in his territory yet. “Want to know other things?” He offered it freely; he would give Spirit anything. If it came to it he would even show her where he would sleep. He trusted her, had slept beside her once. He woke up healthy and whole then and he had been wounded. He tried to think of questions humans had asked him before, the slavers or the ones on the salty water; even the few here who had seen him in human shape. Not many questions. Oh, where he came from was a popular question, and his scars.

He looked up now at Spirit, still calmly sitting on the cold ground. “You are mine, you can ask and I will tell.” He flashed her his teeth and brought up his knees to rest his head on them. He quickly glanced to check that the horse wouldn’t come any closer. Kaden could stand being smaller to Spirit but not to that animal.

[Spirit Frostfawn]

Spirit listened intently to the answers to her questions. He didn’t work? Really? Well… he must be good at something. She would have offered a job here, at the stables… but he would probably scare the horses too much. Being a Kelvic, he would probably work well with animals… right? She knew the Menagerie was always up for hiring someone who could do animal things. As a tiger… would he be able to talk to the cats? Did big cats and little cats talk in the same language? She knew Kaden chuffed… she’d heard him do that multiple times, but did house cats do that? She was clueless about the cat ‘area’ in general, mostly being a dog person herself… until she’d met Kaden, of course.

When he talked about sleeping outside, her lips curled into a frown. Even as a tiger… it would get pretty cold. She mused on the possibilities for a moment. Though her Arvinta room was already cramped with five dogs, she could always purchase another bed to go inside… but that would have implications with her relatives that she didn’t really want to create… and they were untrue, anyways. Maybe she could go to someone about getting her bonded his own room? Who would she even talk to about that… maybe the head of the Frostfawns? That would make a sense… yes, she’d do that.

She held off formulating a reply for that, and instead took up her friend on his offer of more questions. ”Yes… uh… when did you get to Avanthal? You weren’t born here… you’d be part of a hold then, right? And when did you get Morwen’s mark? Where were you before Avanthal?” She cocked her head slightly in question, honestly innately curious. All of the Kelvic’s history and past were missing, and she felt like she could know him better if she knew. The bond weighed on her constantly, not in a bad way… but in a way that made her want to get closer than she already was.

The Frostfawn watched Kaden sitting, hand still resting on the mare’s side. She felt awkward being over him, and nearly wanted to sit down as well… but she was worried the horse would accidentally step on her, or something. Instead, she grabbed a hoof pick and crouched beside the mare’s right hoof, where she could easily keep an eye on her bonded while he talked… she was still at work, right?

With a little click of her tongue, she lifted the horse’s hoof so it bent at an angle where she could work out the dirt. Resting it on her knees, she took the pointy end and began scooping out what snow, ice, and other gunk she could find trapped in that small hollow. Every once in a while, she glanced up at the Kelvic, mind focusing more on his tale than her own work.

x

[Kaden Swift]

He watched the array of emotions, but he knew she wasn’t happy. He didn’t know what she wanted or what would make her happy. “Not so very long ago, not yet a season.” He wasn’t sure how to give the days to say how long he had been there, but it wasn’t very long at all. He picked up some few Vani words but it was nothing that would show he had been here at any length. The few words he knew could have been picked up from anywhere. He scratched his nose absently, trying to fiddle out the answers that would please her.

“I do not know where I was before here. Many places. I remember greens and browns from tree’s that covered the sky. It smelled of dead rotting things and growing things, it was hot and heavy and the people there forced stripes and spots on their skin to pretend and be animals. Dark skin and growling voices, mean hands.” He didn’t know what those people were, they were not Vani but they were humans. “It was blurry to my human eyes, I couldn’t see that well.” He struggled to think of more but that was it. Taloba had been his home only for days then the forest for weeks as he was moved in bags or the cage.

“I was on the big water that burned for a very long time, then on the long grass.” He shrugged finally and rubbed at his nose in agitation. He couldn’t find more to describe where he had been, it was nothing but blur of pain and fear. “When they came to snow I got to walk, the humans were in the cage since the snow was too much for them; the horses pulled it over a hole and they fell. I didn’t so I ate the horse and kept walking. It was cold and it hurt, I was tired so I lay down to sleep.” He could smell the blood in his own nose, frozen from the cold but it was the cold that made him bleed.

“I was dying; it was okay I wasn’t worried. I looked up and there was the light. Morwen came, she took off my collar and touched my shoulder; took me here. No more cold or pain.” He was watching her clean the horse’s hooves; he had never seen their feet before. “The humans stole me I think; I was supposed to be sold to more humans who wanted to use me in a fight. They would have gotten five gold for every stripe I had. Now I am here, and I am not good at anything.” He had grabbed one of his wrists and rubbed the band of scars as he remembered the bite of metal salt and rust. After a while he had stopped feeling anything but they still made him get up until he couldn’t any more.

“It is okay, here is nice and no one stops me from changing to whatever I want to be. I can hunt and eat, run.” Kaden wiggled happily. He found his bonded to, he didn’t think anything else mattered then that. He wanted to reassure her that he was happy now, confused and some days were not nice but every day was better then before.

[Spirit Frostfawn]

Spirit nodded once when Kaden mentioned he'd only been in the city for a season. Coupled with his lack of interest in the human area of things, he'd probably only seen half the attractions. Had he seen Morwen's temple? It was probably one of the most beautiful things in Avanthal... though everything, in her opinion, was beautiful. The memories of snow falling onto Icestone buildings brought a smile to her lips, but her mind quickly changed topics as he began to tell the story of his past.

It was kind of hard to understand, considering that her bonded used odd language... probably because he saw things from an animal's perspective. However, the beginning at least didn't seem positive... the men he described didn't sound like nice people, either. However... he grew up in a place with trees. The Spires? Or maybe even further south? She'd heard that in a region below them called Kalea, the land was filled with mountains... musing, she wondered if she'd ever see a mountain. They felt so far away and big, how could she ever reach them?

She had no idea what the 'big water that burned' was either. Water that burned? Did that even make any sense? Water was cold... it was always cold. It also put out fires... you couldn't exactly burn the liquid itself. And by 'big water' he probably meant some kind of sea... She frowned at all the questions it brought up, but decided to leave them for later. However, when he mentioned snow, she perked up again.

He talked about falling in a hold, and eating a horse, and... nearly dying? That must have been horrible... but he hadn't been worried. That was... strange. Nearly dying was not a fun thing in her opinion... and she'd been through that about three times in the past few seasons... each in their own season, actually. She hated to think what would happen in Winter, if things continued on their pattern. At least she'd have Kaden, this time... a giant orange cat at your side was generally a big comfort.

Finally things became clear. He mentioned getting the mark... at least, the sensation she recognized when he talked about touching his shoulder. He'd been enslaved... horrible! She'd nearly been kidnapped herself, but it wasn't a memory she liked to go back onto... that event had, like many others, not been entirely welcome. She wasn't going to follow any strangers and 'help their horse' anymore though, however real they seemed.

"I'm glad you like it here" she replied, once the story was finished. She really pitied Kaden... all he'd been through, it sounded horrible. But he was happy now, and that was good. The past wasn't as important as the future, in her opinion. Pausing for a moment, she considered a few things. She'd set the horse's hoof back down on the ground after cleaning, but hadn't bothered moving onto the next, instead wanting to watch her companion. The pick was still gripped in her hand, however, and she fiddled with it absently.

"So... Kaden... would you like to figure out a way so you could sleep inside? In the Frostfawn Arvinta? I could petition you a room. We could also find you a job... I can't pay for all your clothes, you know. What are you good with? Animals?" She drifted off into thought, considering various options. Personally, she was hoping to find herself a job as a Vet once she felt skilled enough in the medical field. She'd considered moving up here, in the stables... but also knew a slightly more interesting job might come in the Icewatch, caring for the Kelvics there. Kaden would certainly be more comfortable with other predators, rather than horses.

x
x

[Kaden Swift]

Kaden nodded. “Yes it’s very nice here, except that one place that smelled horrible.” He didn’t like the medical hall at all, and he had skirted it since being in there. The smell had burned his nose for hours even after he had left it. He had come across a few people who smelled of it and avoided them as well. No way was he risking his nose. He tilted his head ever so slightly as he watched Spirit get lost in thought.

She did that a lot but he couldn’t understand why she wanted to think so much. Thinking was bad, if you thought about something to much you would get cuffed or someone might wonder what you were thinking and demand to know. Then if you answered well, never a happy ending. Still Spirit was smart, and if anyone tried to hurt her he could change and gut them. Humans didn’t get up after you did that. Perking up as she spoke again he slowly just nodded. “I have those gold things, a lot of them. A female gave them to me after Morwen gave me to her.” He didn’t belong to her though, if she had tried he would have killed her and left.

Now he unfolded his legs and stood up to stretch before looking at Spirit like a kicked puppy. “You don’t want me to stay with you? I can stay as a tiger, I won’t eat anything.” He didn’t want to move from Spirit, he didn’t want to leave her what if something happened to her? What if the people came from the hole and tried to take her? “I can get a job, the bears.” He twitched a bit, almost like a shrug. “I can go to the bears, not as big but I am faster. And I have claws.” Bears had claws he had seen them, but he wasn’t very impressed with them. His claws were fine and thin to tear and make things bleed without ruining the meat. Bears just scrambled things.

“They have jobs doing, something.” He didn’t know what it was. He didn’t like the bears though; Kelvic or not they had no finesse and despite being rough Kaden enjoyed delicate things immensely. “Animals, yes,” and he nodded. “When I was on the burning water, they made me take care of the horses and the other ones.” He didn’t know what those animals had been. “Bigger horses,” he said it slowly and hesitantly. “I fed and cleaned them, they were sick a lot.” He shuttered. Wretched creatures. He couldn’t blame them not really, but without them his life might have been just a bit easier.

“I can get a job with them.” He didn’t like jobs. He shivered unable to stop himself. He would do it if Spirit wanted him to, but jobs meant collars and people hitting him when he wasn’t fast enough. Still he wouldn’t ignore what his bonded wanted. If she demanded he go back to the burning water he would return to that as well if it meant she would be happy. “They do not like me, I always smell like predators to them.” He had been bitten kicked and slammed by the horses and cows; he was well aware the animals didn’t like him even as he had not changed in months. They simply knew him for what he was; little movements gave him away to them.

[Spirit Frostfawn]

Kaden's 'gold things' were probably Mizas... money. Spirit was actually quite surprised that he didn't know what the coin was called... but, considering what she'd heard of his upbringing... it made a little sense. "Mizas" she corrected, "Gold rimmed Mizas. They are money, you trade with them to buy things. Like your clothes..." She frowned for a moment, considering this dilemma. Her bondmate probably didn't have any idea of the general values of things, meaning he could easily be ripped off. She decided it would be best if she took care of any transactions for the time being...

The Kelvic seemed quite put off at her suggestion of a new room for him. He obviously wanted to be with her. She was sorely tempted to just ignore social opinions and get a new bed in her own room. The Icewatch slept in the same rooms as their bears, right? Still, she didn't want her family thinking she was getting into anything... mature. They'd believe her, right? Though her cousin would probably take advantage of the chance and sneak in a tease here or there.

Finally, she decided... she didn't care. "You know what, we'll fit an extra bed into my Arvinta, and you can sleep there. The dogs will like the new company... and I'll deal with the complaints." She didn't expect Kaden to understand the last statement, so she simply smiled at him instead. They could probably go grab a frame from some Iceglaze today... if she could find her cousin to help, at least. Carrying something like a frame needed two people, and she one for carrying things.

Her smile widened when he came up with the idea of working with the bears... the Icewatch bears. It was quite the idea, though... normally it was just the Dire Polar Bears, and he'd eventually have to get a bonded companion... which would have to be her. Their bond wasn't breaking any time soon, in her opinion. But... she didn't fight. At all. Sure, she could hit things with a stick, but that was about it. Frowning, she considered the options. Maybe they'd figure it out later. If she got a job in the barracks soon... maybe she could figure out some way of getting Kaden to work there too.

Finally, the Kelvic concluded that he could work with animals - horses - but didn't like them. As he said, mostly because the creatures didn't like him in the first place. And she didn't blame them... it was remarkable that this mare was still calm in the tiger's presence. She shook her head when his explanations conclueded, lips still curled into a tiny grin. "Don't worry... we can worry about a job later. How about... we find my cousin, and figure out a way to get you set up in my room? I think I know where he is right now.." She frowned for a moment, considering. Probably in his own Arvinta... he'd had a successful morning hunting, so he was taking the rest of the day off.

x
x

[Kaden Swift]

ooc :

So not good at closing things. Horrid closing post again.

“Mizas,” he flicked his tongue out as he worked around the new word. It wasn’t the worst one he had to learn but he found it surprisingly easy to repeat. “They are not useful, you can’t eat them. I tried,” and so he had. Biting into one of the gold disks had been a mistake and since then he didn’t understand the sense of the things. He did not understand why they were used to get things someone needed. Wouldn’t it be better to just take what you needed and give what others needed? Abruptly Kaden stopped thinking about it and just let it go. One more thing for the very lengthy list that was peculiarities in humans.

Still he paid a lot of attention when Spirit went back on what she said. “No biting or I will bite back.” He snapped his teeth together in a threatening click. Human or not he had teeth that belonged to nothing else then a predator and a dog showing him up wasn't something he was proud of. Kaden wasn’t too sure what a bed was but he wasn’t going to argue and risk that she change her mind. Spirit didn’t seem happy about whatever the complaint was but he could fix it if it hurt his bonded. So as she smiled he chuffed and closed his eyes in pleasure. He wanted her to be happy; he had to figure out how to do that more. She was better when she smiled.

“We will find the cousin,” he nodded as he said it. Walking over to his bag he started stripping without any warning. He shook his shirt off him and grimaced at the dirt before he tucked it in his bag with little more care to it. Soon to follow were his pants before he abruptly shifted. Now he could get her there faster and safer. Happy with himself the tiger stretched out and yawned displaying his teeth proudly. Yup he was happy, he had found the one person he had always wanted to find deep down and it was someone good. He had worried just a bit, that one day he would bond and it would be to someone bad.

Not Spirit. He bit the top of his bag and carried it to her before dropped down on his stomach to wait for her to get on. He would find the cousin, then they would get the frame for the bed thing and then he would see Spirits home. He knew what a home was, it was the sleeping place. Chuffing he got up as she settled on his back his bag tucked to her; then he lazily walked them out shoving out the way the horses would leave so they would fit. He didn’t run instead it was a lazy almost stalking walk. He knew Spirit had to be tired, he didn’t want her to get hurt or fall off so Kaden took his time moving where she wanted him to go. Distracted and happy Kaden filtered out the noise and smells for the first time since he had gotten to Avanthal.

~CONGRATULATIONS~ Kaden : Please update your ledger with this seasons deductions to receive your grade. PM me when this has been done. Spirit Frostfawn : Skills Horsemanship +2 Tiger: Riding +2 Lores Kaden: reunited Puppy Ruckus Horsemanship: Saddling a Trickster Receiving Tiger cuddles Astride a Tiger Teaching a Kelvic about grooming Bonding: Kaden Bonding Pains Foreign Intruder in Ones self Kaden: jobless Comments: This was a lovely and delightfully furry bonding thread, congrats! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade please feel free to send me PM.