[Flashback] Even Pups Bite(Miharu)

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden suddenly fell to his back as Mihru began rolling up the pant leg that hid the injury, mainly to avoid any immoral peeking at a girl who's physical appearance was obviously to young for Jaeden to leer at. A slight wince appeared on his face for a moment as the cloth of his pants rolled over his leg. He then heard her shifting back to animal form once again and then felt the smooth tongue of a wolf sliding over the wound. There was a bit of a sting to the sensation, but in the long run Jaeden simply voiced how it felt when he slowly muttered, "Oh, that feels sort of weird." He slowly sat up again, just as Miharu was finishing up. He took a moment to look over his leg. He would need a decent amount of time before he was back to his full mobility once again. He considered himself lucky that it didn't break his bone, however. His hand dipped into a pouch, pulling out a small cloth as he wrapped it around his leg to keep his blood from making a trail that could be followed back to their camp. "Well, I guess we'll settle with fish tonight," Jaeden said as he slid himself back down into the pit to retrieve his sword. "Neither of us is in any condition to clean the beast of it's meat and by the time tomorrow comes around, it'll be spoiled and picked over pretty good by other predators and scavengers of the forest." "Still," Jaeden said as he pulled out a small knife and began cutting away the meat near the rump of the beast, pulling out a decent chunk and tossed it up next to Miharu, "fish need bait." Jaeden then walked over, grabbing the hilt of his sword as he gave several strong jerks along the handle before finally wrenching it free from the beast's head. He wiped the blade clean along the leg of his pants before finally slipping it back into it's sheath. A slow grunt was then exhaled as he once again pulled himself free from the pit as he gave another exhale, dragging the back of his hand along his brow. Bending over, he picked up the meat once again and gave a slow glance around. "Well, let's head back before the other animals catch the scent around here," Jaeden said as he began limping back towards camp as he looked towards Miharu. "Hopefully that stream is stocked with fish, then it likely won't take as long to catch some."

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu blinked up at him, and gave a confused blink. No words traveled between them, but some strange sense of disappointment that they'd gone to all that work - and gotten themselves so banged up - for nothing.

When he started walking back towards the camp, she gave a soft whine, and then sighed and bounded up beside him, stopping him with a wet nose to the front of his shirt. Then she ducked her head and caught the handle of his dagger in her teeth, and pulled it out before padding back over to the pit.

She had no clothes here, everything packed away at the camp, and she'd only taken a shoulder wound - she could bear the burden of the meat. She looked over her good shoulder at him and tipped her muzzle in the direction of camp in a clear sign that she would just catch up with him if he was going to be so stubborn about this whole naked thing.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden slowly shook his head, sliding his hand along Miharu's head as he gave a slow pet when she whimpered slightly. "It's fine," he said with a smile on his face. "You win some and lose some. You learn to deal with that." Jaeden then watched as she snagged his knife from his belt and meandered back over to the pit. He gazed at her for a moment as his hand fell to his waist. "No, really. It's fine Miha," Jaeden said as watched her pacing over the beast for a moment. "We should really get back to camp. It's not so much an issue of carrying it back, it's the issue of lingering around with injuries. We shouldn't. Any predators the show up we'd be hard pressed to defend ourselves against, injured as we are."

[Miharu Mindi]

She gave another low whine, looking from the carcass to Jaeden and back again, but she finally sighed and limped back over to his side, dropping the dagger lightly in his palm. He was probably right, and besides, this had been his idea anyway - if he was happy just leaving it, who was she to argue?

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden chuckled slightly, slipping the knife back into it's sheath before a slow rub and pat was given to Miharu's back. "Come on, don't be like that," Jaeden said with a encouraging tone. "We're alive, and in the end that's what counts most, above anything else." Jaeden then peered down to her as he quirked a brow. "You going to make me pick you up and huggle you again?" Jaeden then teased as he began making his way back towards camp.

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu gave a sharp, high-pitched bark that echoed off the trees, then just let her tongue loll out to one side in a wolfish grin at his threat of hugs. But she followed along beside him, close enough that he could lean on her if he needed help getting over a fallen log or if his leg began to trouble him too greatly.

Her shoulder wound wasn't bothering her nearly as much now, but she had a splitting headache, and wanted nothing more than to flop down in her pile of leaves and sleep.

[Jaeden Kincade]

It took about twice as long to get back to camp than it should have with Jaeden's wounded leg. Not that he complained, it was better than a sword to the stomach after all. Sitting along the shore, Jaeden slowly gazed back to Miharu who rested herself for a bit along her bedding of leaves and twigs. His hands fumbled with a narrow strand of hemp rope and a small hook as he attached them to the end of a long stick. His leg had been wrapped in cleaner material, and the pain of the wound simply registered to a dull ache as Jaeden left it stretched out and straitened, keeping it's movement to a minimum. He would have to do this for a couple of days before he would even want to begin moving it more regularly again to prevent muscles in his calf from tightening up too much. Jaeden soon sliced away a bit of the meat he had brought back with him and stuck it along the hook. With a slow flick of the stick, it was sent into the water where Jaeden now just sat patiently, humming a slow tone he remembered his mother had sang to him as a child, as he paid attention to the tip of the pole and the tension he felt with it in his hands.

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu did, indeed, flop down on her makeshift bed as soon as they arrived, and closed her eyes for a much-needed rest while he tended to his bandages and settled himself to begin his fishing. Finally, though, she climbed back up to her feet and gave a little growly-bark to let him know everything was all right, she just needed to do something, and she took off into the woods.

Silence settled over the clearing, and Jaeden would have had the better part of a bell all to himself.

When Miharu returned, she carried between her sharp teeth a few branches that she'd stripped from a bush. She dropped them beside her pack, then shifted back to human form and quickly pulled her dress on.

"You should let me see your leg," she said, digging a medicinal kit from her pack and grabbing up the branches, which smelled a little of menthol. "Clean is good, but medicine is better. Did you catch anything?" she asked with a warm smile for Jaeden. That smile came so much easier now than it had when he'd first encountered her, something less feral in it and more like the girl she looked to be.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden was in the process of pulled a somewhat large fish as Miharu came back in. During the course of a bell, he had already missed out on several attempts before as little nibbles both stripped away the bate he had on some, while his premature yank of he pole scared away fish who had yet to take the bait and swim with it. This one, however, Jaeden timed just right, as a quick jerking motion of the fishing pole set the hook into the fish's mouth and kept it from fleeing. Jaeden slowly rolled the poll as he kept it pulled close to his body, his forearms tightening as the fish struggled to get away. When Jaeden had rolled up enough of the hemp twine along the poll, he finally gave another quick yank, pulling the fish free from the water as it grazed his shoulder and fell to the ground, flopping violently. Jaeden's hand went to the handle of his knife, yanking it free as he stapped the tip of the blade down through the fish, pinning to the ground and keeping it from retreating back into the water. The fish, like many of the creatures in the northern reach, was larger here than in other lands, as the fish itself measured to almost a foot and a half in length. Jaeden slowly looked up to Miharu as she posed her question. "Just got the first one," he replied as he sat himself up strait. He then slowly slid his leg towards Miharu as he pulled the hook free from the fish's mouth. "If you wanted to take a look, I certainly won't deny you that. I certainly could use the care your hands would provide. I'll just go to work on catching the next fish."

[Miharu Mindi]

She nodded and settled herself down beside his leg, folding her own beneath her as she snuggled the pack against her thigh. Small hands dipped into the stream and drew out two flat rocks, which she balanced on her knees.

"I hope you're not averse to stitches," she said, unwrapping what bandages he'd applied. "If it went through both sides, better to stitch it and be sure." She inspected the wound, prodding the edges of it carefully, and leaned over to sniff at it to see if she could sense any foulness beginning. Then she simply scooped a few handfuls of cold water up and rinsed it thoroughly. She stripped a few of the leaves off one of the branches she'd brought and began crushing them between the two rocks, releasing a pungent jelly-like substance reminiscent of aloe. This was carefully applied to the skin around the wound, but not the wound itself, and as she washed all trace of it from her hands a cool tingling would begin to spread throughout the area where the gel had been smeared. Then she began carefully prying out the few tiny splinters of wood that had been caught in his flesh.