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[Rivaal]

Rivaal took a long, deep breath. He wasn't getting through, and neither was she. He growled a bit at no one but himself and sighed. "Just... Just go. But, please, come back, and don't wander too far. No matter how good you are, the monsters are too dangerous to risk your life for an animal."

He didn't listen for her response, and started away. At least he'd feel better if she came back. He'd seen one too many people die by monsters in the world.

[Arev Saatjian]

Arev tied her things together into a bundle and set off. Once she was out of the city, she stripped off her clothes and added them to the rest of her gear. Shifting was so much easier without that to worry about. She could stretch her legs and jaws now, though she always stayed near the recent scent of Shinya, where monsters were less inclined to be. She was no fool.

That still gave her enough room to stalk a deer, her belongings stashed in a small hollow. Everything seemed so much clearer in her wolf form, simpler. It was just kill or be killed, hunt or be hunted. She found it almost reassuring. The wilds were a world she understood far more than those of people. And now she had a master to care for, even if he didn't like it.

The odds of him objecting to venison were quiet low, from her best guest. There hadn't been much in the way of meat in the house. The Kelvic moved with rippling muscles after hours of sniffing and careful creeping, catching the hart's throat in her teeth as she lunged from concealment. It took a lot more clawing to bring the thing down, of course--hunting without a pack was very difficult. She'd have a couple nasty bruises, probably in the shape of a cloven hoof.

It tasted amazingly satisfying after that work. But she raised her head and pricked up her ears. She heard...something. A Shinya, maybe? It didn't smell like any animal.

[Rivaal]

Back at his home, Rivaal locked the door behind him and dropped onto his bed for a nap. Naps made sense to him. Simple things did too. He'd never become a trader because it wasn't what he wanted. He left home for similar reasons. Still, it was harder to leave someone so alone. He could easily end the bond. He knew that, so why didn't he?

Staring up at the ceiling, he tried to come up with a suitable answer.

[Arev Saatjian]

The Kelvic crouched down and crept along almost on her belly towards the strange smell, forgetting her kill for a moment. There was a sharp smell of sulfur and molten stone, accompanied by withering heat that made her twitch her whiskers uncomfortably.

There was a crack in the ground where it looked like lava had forced its way up and cooled. But there was something else in the black flow, a glowing stone with strange, webbed patterns of luminescent blue. She sniffed curiously. It looked pretty, maybe even magical.

She brightened up. This would be a perfect gift for her master. Maybe he'd be less angry with her. She could leave it on his pillow or maybe in his slipper.

The Kelvic carefully moved forward, snatching the glassy, glowing rock in her jaws and working it free of the flow. She returned to her kill and her gear, shifting back to gut her kill and get dressed. It was almost sunrise by the time her laden form made it back to Lhavit.

[Rivaal]

Summer 38, 511

Rivaal had eventually passed out. The door was locked, and he was sound asleep when the sun was starting to rise. He'd waited up most of the night, worried about some girl who bound herself to him, that he barely knew. On more than one occasion he called himself crazy.

Dinner was left half eaten and in a mess on the table, It looked like he'd tried to concoct something from the food he thought might spoil soon, and it hadn't turned out that great. At least it didn't smell awful, the one comfort.

So as he slept, he dreamed of nothing, while unsuspecting that Arev was actually going to come back.

[Arev Saatjian]

The Kelvic scratched at the door and whined for a minute or two, then crept around and let herself in through the window. The deer was neatly butchered and wrapped in waxed paper. She sniffed, then frowned at the plates. I hope he didn't really eat that... To her highly-attuned nose, it wasn't an appetizing smell.

She stored the deer meat in a small ice box--living in the mountains near snow had its advantages--and then set about quietly cleaning the place. Her bare feet made hardly a sound, and Rivaal was out like the dead. The dishes were scrubbed and put away, the food tossed, the floor swept, the clothes out folded up neatly and tucked in their drawers, and she put his boots right by the edge of his bed where he'd find them in the morning.

Finally, Arev pulled the thin sheet up over her master and tucked him in. She knew Vantha came from the cold north, so she didn't use anything heavier. She left the small stone sitting right in front of his boots and curled back up on her blanket by the hearth, quickly falling asleep.

[Rivaal]

Rivaal slept until midday, about the earliest he'd seen almost anyone up and around in Lhavit. He sat up and was surprised to see a sheet fall away. He looked around and realized everything was clean. That didn't make sense either.

He looked around some more, never looking down and spotted Arev curled up. He got up quickly and tripped over something with a sharp intake of breath. He caught himself on the room's support beam without making much noise. He turned to see what he tripped over and found a beautiful crystalline stone, but had no idea where it had come from. He looked at Arev and then to where she'd left it and sighed with a smile.

Setting it lightly on the table, he quietly made his way across the room to her, careful not to make any boards creak with each step. When he did get to her, he sat beside her and watched her sleep for a few moments before wrapping the blanket around her a bit more so she'd be warmer. It was the least he could do.

[Arev Saatjian]

Arev twitched at the blanket being wrapped around her and sniffed deeply, wiggling around so she was curled towards him. She seemed content to sleep still, snuggled into her torn clothes. The wildland brambles hadn't been kind. It was weird to sleep in human form. Her spine was all wrong for how she wanted to be.

Still, she was out, content in the knowledge that she'd done a good job. There was something wonderful about taking care of her master, her Alpha. It was as good as a hard run followed by a full stomach of meat, a bone, and a roaring fire in the woods--and that was as close to heaven as she figured she'd ever get.

[Rivaal]

Rivaal smiled and lightly brushed a bit of hair out of her face. She could be really nice, but it felt awkward, like he'd be taking advantage of her. He took a deep breath, trying once more to figure out how to deal with her. He watched her briefly once again, and then took a pillow from his bed. Carefully, he lifted her head up and set the pillow underneath. He didn't mind while she was a human, and he'd slept enough anyway. He did have one problem though. With all of the chores done, what was he going to do to kill time while Arev slept?

[Arev Saatjian]

Arev opened her golden eyes as soon as her head was lifted, neatly solving that problem. "Hello?" she said, rubbing sleep away. She'd only gotten four hours or so of sleep, but that wasn't so bad. "I brought home meat."