[Flashback] Even Pups Bite(Miharu)

[Jaeden Kincade]

"We can always stand to learn something new from the others we meet," Jaeden said casually, finally standing up as he began to pick up the dishes. He then slipped the rest of the meat in the pan along the skewer, getting set to cook that so it would keep better through the night. Jaeden took a look towards th river before looking to see how much sunlight was still left in the sky. He then shook his head slightly, deciding he would fish tomorrow instead. "In the mean time, there should be some rest to be had, especially you with your legs bruising as they are," Jaeden said before reaching into his backpack, yanking out his winter blanket as he held it out to Miharu. "Here, use this. It'll add a little more cushion to your bedding for the night." Jaeden then reached along the back of his pack, unstrapping a bedroll of his own before stepping over to the tent and unrolling it out inside.

[Miharu Mindi]

She watched him get up and putter around, but didn't move to do anything for a moment. When the blanket was held out, she finally climbed to her feet and padded over - careful and slow, so as not to crack the poltice - and took it from him with a shy nod of thanks. She shuffled over to her pile of leaves and laid the blanket over them, staring at it for a moment as if it were some strange representation of this crossroads in her life. Strange.

Didn't bother to tell him that she had her own blanket in the pack, because his smelled different, and she wanted to know what dreams she might have if she filled her nostrils with his strange human scent.

But then she just plopped down in the middle of the clearing, far enough away from the fire so that the smell of cooking meat didn't overwhelm her senses. Flopped down on her back, arms and legs flung out to rest on the grass at whatever angle they fell. The poltice was starting to itch. Stupid human skin.

She just stared up at the crystal blue sky and thought. And thought, and thought, about civilization and people and what it might mean to go among them again.

Occasionally golden eyes flickered over to him as he put the tent back, but she tried to keep that from happening.

"Make sure you relieve yourself in the brook so it goes downstream," she said matter-of-factly. "I've pretty much pissed a circle around this place, but that much human scent might entice a few of the nastier beasts to make a go for us."

[Jaeden Kincade]

"Good to know," Jaeden replied, slipping off the still damp shirt as he hung it up over one of the tent posts. "Can't rely on luck saving my rear if I'm asleep after all." He continued to tidy up the area of his random things that had been left about until now before finally coming back to the cooking meat, pulling the skewer away form the fire as he began cutting into small bits, laying them along an open piece of leather pulled from a runesack along his pack. When finished with that, Jaeden continued to work as the sun began to fall, as rustling sounds through the vegetation of the forest could be heard. He was setting up defensive snares all around the camp. It was unlikely any of them would hold many of the large beasts within the forests of the Northern Reach, but it would alert them all the same to a proximity to the camp that was getting uncomfortably close. Jaeden soon stepped back into the view of the camp, pausing for a moment to toss some more wood along the fire to ensure it would burn through out the night. A slow long gaze was given to the fire itself and his brow knotted some as old, bad memories slowly floated up from the back of his head.

[Miharu Mindi]

When Jaeden returned to the camp, Miharu was gone.

No real sign of her, just a flat smushed part in the grass where she'd lain when he started all that mess.

A half-minute after he reappeared in the clearing, though, there was a crackle of branches behind him and she silently out of the same bush he had, silver fur turned the color of cornsilk in the dying light. She stayed close to the ground, belly rubbing against the grass and covering where he'd stepped with her own scent.

Once back in the clearing, she took a few bounding leaps across the space and landed in the pile of leaves, dispersing into a whirling ball of light and reappearing under the blanket, which she pulled around her shoulders.

"I covered your tracks," she said with a roll of her eyes. Had followed behind him, rubbing her fur on every branch he'd touched, doing her best to hide the traps from the noses of predators that might shy away from the spots that stank of human intervention. Trying what she could to help. "It's gonna make it harder to patrol tonight, but I think I know where they all are now. Where'd you learn all that stuff anyway?" she asked, climbing to her feet and crossing over to huddled closer to the fire.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden gave a quick blink as Miharu stepped back into camp, looking up to her when she jumped under the covers and explained where she had been. A quick nod was given in reply. "Thanks," Jaeden said, still pushing his past to the back of his mind. "They're small snares, and won't really immobilize you," Jaeden said in a quiet tone before sitting himself down, his arms crossing over his knees. "They more set up to just make a little noise and wake us up if anything comes to close." Jaeden then gave a slow scratch to the white streak of hair along the back of his head as he looked over to Miharu when she posed where he had learned about traps. "Oh," he said, his mind still slightly distant after staring into the fire. "The man who had taken me in when I was six years old. Gin Olevar. He was a hunter like myself, only much better than I am now." Jaeden picked up a twig, idly tossing it into the fire. "I was a kid, out doing...... I can't even remember, but as I was coming home, the night sky had fallen and I found my home ablaze. I couldn't see who was responsible, just that they were tossing the bodies of my parents and older sister into the burning home," Jaeden explained, leaning back as his palms and arms braced along the earth to support his upper body. "It was the single most shocking experience of my life I don't mind admitting. I likely didn't move from that hill I was hiding behind, like the scared little child I was, for at least sixteen chimes of the bell. Seemed like days though." He slowly looked over at Miharu, reflections of the fire dancing in his eyes. "I searched the house and found nothing but ash and a necklace that my sister always wore," Jaeden said dangling the necklace in question, which hung around his neck. "After that, I wondered for weeks. Begging for food, running from those who tried to take me. Eventually my body ran out of energy and I fell to the ground, submitting myself to death. I woke up later in under a blanket, a bowl of soup with chunks of meat, vegetables and herbs sitting beside me, and the largest human man I had ever seen in my life eating a bowl of his own not far away. He had watched over me while I was under, treated my scrapes and cuts, then fed me when I woke up. All without asking for anything in return. Until I met him, I had lost any real hope that people like him actually existed." A slow smile crossed his features, as he reminisced about that day. "So when he gave me advice and began to set out again, I followed him. My silent stalking of him eventually wore him down, and he labeled me "Pup" decided to raise me," a slow frown then crossed his features. "Then that hellish training began. Ooooooh, how I hated his training. Sure, learning how to set traps, recognize edible plants, tracking. All that stuff was neat, but seriously? Who the petch starts their day by running ten miles, doing one hundred push ups and five hundred sit ups as a warm up exercise? Petching old shyke."

[Miharu Mindi]

She listened to his story, the history of how he came to be who he was, billowing the blanket around her and curling her toes in the dirt. The poltices had been shed before she'd changed, but they'd done what work she'd wanted, and there wasn't really any pain even though her legs where they peeked from beneath the blanket were rapidly turning an angry purple.

As he finished the story, eyes the same color of the crackling fire were glued to him, wide and utterly focused on his face. And then she blinked, and realized that it was probably her turn to share her story.

She should tell her story. She wanted to tell it, to this man who'd come out of nowhere and been kind to her, talked to her like a normal person. Hadn't yelled at her, or told her she was worthless. She wanted more than anything to tell him her story. Which was why she didn't.

She swallowed harshly, ducking her head and forcing her gaze to her own hands.

"You should get some sleep," she said quietly. "I'll take the first watch."

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden smirked as he slowly stood up, stretching out his arms towards the sky. "Alright, if you insist," Jaeden said as he began moving towards the tent. He then paused, brushing the front flaps to the tent open as he looked back to Miharu. "Feel free to sleep yourself, Miha," Jaeden said, that smirk remaining on his features. "The traps will wake us up if anything comes by. Oh, and by the way, let me handle the hunt tomorrow. I have and idea. While it may take a short while to prepare, it should net us something pretty big." With that said, Jaeden ducked inside the tent as the clinking of his belt buckle could be heard from within before the sound of his belt and various pouches attached to it thumped along the bed of the tent.

[Miharu Mindi]

Pale brows drew together, since she didn't know they were going to hunt tomorrow and, most importantly, she didn't trust a few puny traps to keep them safe in the vast wilderness of the Northern Reaches. She didn't know how long he'd been in this area, but she'd been here long enough to know that you didn't let yourself sleep too deeply without being sure. Wolves might be near the top of the food chain, the pervasive scent of one enough to drive off most things, but the creatures here were unlike any others, and there was always a chance one wouldn't play by the rules.

So she laid the blanket back on the pile of leaves and shifted down to her wolf form again, then devoured the rest of the offal she'd saved - liver, kidneys, and the meaty heart. Shifting made her hungry, but there was nothing for it; if she wanted to talk to him, she had to be human. She even gulped down a few bites of the leftover cooked meat before she remembered that Jaeden might want some, and forced herself to stop.

So she curled up atop her blanket, nose tucked beneath her tail, and dozed fitfully throughout most of the night. Only once did she have to rise, and give a low warning growl to whatever flying creature thought to perch above them and observe their camp. That seemed enough to discourage it, though, and eventually it moved on.

Two hours before dawn, a cold, wet nose shoved itself against the bottom of Jaeden's bare feet. Enough sleeping for him. A soft yelping bark to let him know that it was time to get off his lazy ass - the best hunting times were now, in the twilight, when the prey began to shake sleep from its limbs but could not yet run with any purpose.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden's feet shot under the blanket as he groaned in his sleep and began muttering, "No nookie now dear, I have an early day tomorrow," before rolling over to his other side. When Miharu persisted, sliding her way into the tent while trying to rouse Jaeden from his deep slumber, she found Jaeden suddenly rolling over in his sleep once again as his large arms suddenly wrapped around the wolf's body, grasping her in an embrace as a sleep filled cuddle was suddenly invoked. Jaeden's cheek slowly nuzzled along the top of Miharu's head, his nose brushing slightly along the tip of hone her ears as he readjusted himself to regain a comfort in sleep. His chest pressed fully along her back as he slowly muttered out the phrase, "Warm." But most likely the most shocking revelation to Miharu, was when her gaze lingered over towards the corner of Jaeden's tent to see not only his belt of pouches lying in the corner, but his pants as well, indicating that he wore nothing under that thing blanket that covered the lower half of his body.

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu froze mid-cuddle.

Didn't know what to do, shock threading right down to her bones, and a soft whine escaped through her nose. Hadn't been touched in months, hadn't been hugged in longer. Not since her father died, and her Master could no longer stand the sight of her.

She didn't know what to do, mind frozen in confusion and fear - but her body knew, and she instinctively shifted and rolled over a little to better accommodate his arms. Soft, that silver fur, cool on the outer layer that snuggled against his chest and warmer in the inner layers where his fingers curled. Her tongue flickered out to skim her muzzle, and she settled her head down on the ground beside him, her face tucked against his throat and nose buried in his hair.

She slept again, maybe another hour before she awoke - comfortable, happy, snuggled up like a full-body pillow beside him, and before she even realized it her tail thumped joyfully against his legs. Thwack-thwack-thwack!