After All is Done... [Kaden]

by **Spirit Frostfawn** on October 26th, 2013, 12:39 pm

As Kaden spoke, Spirit realized he didn't really understand her statements. "Touching a human is not bad" she insisted, wondering why he would make such a comment. She sighed, rubbing her temples, but waited for the rest of the comments to come. She blushed when the Kelvic mentioned 'breeding', avoiding the man's gaze. "I don't know... but... gah, that was what it felt like... sort of... not really. Can we not talk about that? It's sort of awkward." She gave Kaden a slightly exasperated look, wishing he hadn't gotten that part of her statements. "Hitting you... probably nothing" she admitted with a grim smile. "But it would be better than nothing."

When he decided against breeding, she frowned, a little disappointed. "Not all play is for breeding" she commented, raising an eyebrow. "Tag isn't for breeding... but that play you did before felt like it... again... off the subject please." Consciously, Spirit glanced around, hoping no one was listening to their conversation. It was pretty awkward. Luckily, no one was in sight, and she relaxed visibly.

"I guess I can teach you how to ride, but I'm not very good myself. Cmon." She re-shelved the book before starting out of the library, hoping to Morwen that Kaden had no more awkward questions. Apparently he did, since another... another question about breeding came out. "I... I... I just don't like it, ok? It's something personal I haven't gotten into yet, and I'd rather not for a while. So...please... drop the topic." She was nearly begging now, irritated and a little frightened by the subject. She shook her head, and blatantly ignored any other comments about the subject.

Their walk to the Frostfawn hold was short, but Spirit tried to spend a lot of their time explaining the basics of riding. It was a little hard without props, however, so she doubted Kaden understood half of it. "The horse... has a saddle. A leather seat. You sit on that. There's little... dangly things... stirrups... with holes in them that you put your feet in. The horse has leather strips coming from their mouth called reins... you use those to control the horse. You pull on the left one to go left, right to go right. Pull both to make the horse stop... but don't pull to hard. Also, to make the horse start walking, you kick it lightly with your heels... ok?" It was a flurry of information, but held most of the important basics of directing a horse. Once the explanation was done, they found themselves in the stables.

Immediately, the Frostfawn headed to Silver's stall, petting and crooning to her horse. She'd missed the mare, if only for a day. Silver nudged and butter her friend, snuffling an open hand for food. Sadly, there was none, and Spirit simply led the horse by her halter into the open area. "So... this is Silver, my mare. You should recognize her." She handed the halter to Kaden, patting the horse when she whinnied at the scent of cat. The groom fetched the animal's saddle and bridle, passing the latter to the Kelvic while dealing with the first herself. She wasn't going to allow him to try this for now, at least. She lifted the heavy piece of leather onto the mare's back, placing it so it sat comfortably on Silver's body. She looped the girth strap under and tightened it, before taking the bridle. She then slipped that over the horse's head, removing the halter, and holding the reins herself. "Right... follow me!" she instructed, leading both mare and Kelvic out into the riding pen.

There, she stopped, before continuing her instructions. "To get on, you put your left foot in this stirrup and stand in it, holding onto the saddle. You then swing the other leg around to sit on the saddle. Ok?" She patted each thing as she said it, before demonstrating. She followed each step, wobbling a little when she stood, but managed to take a seat easily. She then swung a leg back over and slipped off, before offering the spot to her companion.

by **Kaden Swift** on October 26th, 2013, 2:01 pm

Not bad, yet she sure seemed scared of it. Three times she stammered over his questions and Kaden found himself wanting to poke at her just to see her do it more. It was, fun. “Not really, pain makes me angry.” He got up from the floor and followed her after taking up his bag. Ticker followed along silently. “For you not liking it, you sure act like you know what actions it takes to do it.” He didn’t look at her as he said it, finding dark amusement in her floundering. Oh he had no interest in it himself, but he knew from instinct how a tiger would go about it.

How a human might was another thing but the whole of it was amusing enough that now he wondered if he couldn’t ask her how it was done. He decided on silence as she started explaining all things about horses, but as she explained he saw the horse evolve into a strange beast. One with holes in dangling things; hunched back, and he shuttered. “Kick it?” Really, that was how you made a horse move? He had seen the slavers use straps of leather to strike at the beasts to get them to pull his cage even as they were tired. He wondered if horses actually liked pulling things or letting people ride on them.

Thinking of it, he couldn’t find himself caring. Horses were food, just happened he had found a new use for them other than his helping captors. Kaden wondered how you got a horse, was it like Ticker? He realized he needed to find a home for himself before thinking of getting another creature to care for. When they came to a building he followed Spirit inside to see the bright mare from before. “Yes.” He looked at the mare. “She doesn’t have dangling things with holes.” Thank goodness, it looked like a normal horse. He took the halter handed to him and stared even as he noticed the horse balk from him.

“She is jumpy,” and he looked at Spirit as she brought more items forth. Like the mares owner. He looked at the other bit of leather thrust at him, and had no idea what to do with it. Keenly he watched Spirit put the saddle on the mare; then the reins were taken from him and fixed on the mare. She led the mare out as much as she did with Kaden; only he had no reins. Now he could see the dangling things with holes; but they were not part of the horse like in his imagination. Watching her get up and down he learned the purpose of the saddles stirrups but he couldn’t see why she needed them.

“Do you have to have the saddle on the horse? Wouldn’t it be easier without them?” He approached Silver cautiously, eyeing the horse as he wondered if he could get on it without the saddle thing. He didn’t like the idea of putting his foot in a hole that looked as if it could tangle his foot if he fell. The Kelvic placed his hands on the mare’s saddle. “Wouldn’t it be nicer to her?” He saw the use of the reins from when Spirit led the mare out, but the saddle. With a small grunt he pushed himself up and onto the horse; feet free from the stirrup. He used his muscles and the mares back to pull himself up but as he sat down he didn’t know what to do.

The saddle changed his balance and Kaden felt himself wobble before Silver shifted and he yelped as he fell. Kaden’s back hit the frozen earth with a smack and a gust of air as his breath was knocked out. Coughing he rolled to his hands and knees then pushed himself up to stand again. That had hurt, but not as much as he suspected it could have if Silver was moving. Rubbing the back of his head he looked at Spirit imploringly. “Now what?” he felt silly, and clumsy. Not something Kaden often had to deal with.

He stretched and looked back to the little mare. It would be good to learn how to ride; he couldn’t talk when he was shifted and at the moment he couldn’t shift at all, or hunt. Rubbing the back of his neck he returned amber eyes back to Spirit. He had suddenly thought of something fun to mess with the human further. She seemed so very jumpy. Reaching out he made to grab the back of her neck in a firm hold; to let his sharp nails just touch her skin. “This is a touch not for play.” He flashed his teeth in his way of smiling, but also to show them. “Only think of my teeth instead.” And he tightened his grip just a bit, nails pushing closer to the skin.

ooc :

by **Spirit Frostfawn** on October 26th, 2013, 8:33 pm

"Yes, kick it. That's the command they know for 'walk" Spirit explained patiently, knowing it seemed odd to some. 'Kick' wasn't exactly the right word - more like nudge with your heels. She disagreed with spurs or hitting to hard, as that hurt the horse... something you didn't want. The question about the saddle was a legitimate one, and one she... sort of... had an answer to. "It might be nicer to the horse... but not on all occasions. The saddle is build to be soft at the bottom, and there is a pad to go with it for comfort. A plain human on your back might be... odd. Also, without the saddle, any inexperienced rider will fall off. You or I would just slip off in a second... though some practiced riders go bareback."

She almost giggled when Kaden fell off the horse, but stifled it, not wanting to insult the man. She didn't blame him for falling off, it was something every new rider had to do... she'd fallen off herself multiple times herself. Learning to ride wasn't a journey without pain. "You try again" she commented, grinning to herself. However, his next actions quickly erased that expression.

As the sharp nails grabbed the back of her neck, the Frostfawn stiffened, all muscles freezing in alarm. She took a few deep breaths, attempting not to panic... calm... stay calm. The Kelvic's comment about teeth didn't help, and her heart started pounding faster and faster. No... wait. No. Just... no. She wasn't going to deal with this anymore. The stupid, annoying Kelvic needed to stop this. Now. Was he trying for dominance? He could at least make it obvious. Her fright suddenly turning to anger, she clenched her teeth and glared at the ground. Without another word, Spirit ripped herself out of Kaden's grip, not caring that his sharp nails caused a few scratches on her neck. Taking a few steps and turning, she forced her glare on the man. Her eyes were a bright orange and held all the anger and annoyance at being grabbed like that.

"No. No. No. Please stop messing with me. It's not appreciated, and NOT fun. If you're going to keep doing stupid things like this, just leave. If you'd actually like to learn, or do something sensible, stay. I like you when you're happy and actually understandable... but not when you're like this. I don't like it. If you want alpha, don't go around it like this. Even dogs are smart enough to make their intentions obvious." She mostly snarled that, not looking entirely impressive in the current situation, but if she was a dog, her hackles would be up, attempting to make herself look bigger. Though she knew this might hurt his feelings, honestly... she didn't care. She was tired of being played around like this. He could at least be straight forward with his intentions...

OOCUh oh... I think Spirit just snapped a bit. I think Kaden might feel a little hurt about that... ouch. Either this is going to completely ruin their relationship... or make it even stronger. Who knows. I love how she relates everything to dogs and the pack XD

by **Kaden Swift** on October 27th, 2013, 10:33 am

ooc :

He huffed. He had fallen off because of the saddle. It had made him move his leg oddly so that as soon as Silver moved, he lost his balance and fell. He hated losing his balance; it was like a blow to his pride. He knew Spirit wanted to laugh but it didn’t matter as she panicked. Again she seemed so scared, did she think he was going to eat her? The comment of his teeth might have confused her. Before he could say anything she jerked from his hold and Kaden’s eyes widened in fright.

She had cut herself. Wide eyed he looked at her as she glared, then his confusion grew. Alpha, what was an alpha? She kept talking, and compared his with a dog. Alpha must be a dog thing. “I’m not a dog; I am a very large cat. Cat’s don’t have alphas.” Least the word didn’t ring in his ears as something he should know. His intentions, he couldn’t think of any. “Messing with you. I want to know why you are afraid and see if I can’t stop it.” He gave her a look as if he felt sorry for her. “Not going to eat you, if I was it would have been before we hunted.” He sighed.

“You thought I was intending to breed when I was trying to play with you.” He rubbed the back of his own neck. “So I showed you what I would do if I had been; only no claws but teeth.” Really had Spirit never seen a cat? “Not a dog, a cat.” He stared at her and tried to puzzle out just why she kept thinking he was doing something to be alpha? He wasn’t a dog and he wasn’t even sure what alpha was. Glancing at Ticker he half wished the puppy could talk and tell him. That wish wasn’t so grand however, since if the puppy spoke it would never stop. Kaden knew, after his story he felt the words come easier.

“I thought I was making my intentions known.” He struggled over the word intentions, not one he would have picked. “You keep trying to teach me so I returned it. Now you don’t have to be afraid if I hug or touch you.” Least that what he had tried to do. He looked at his nails to see one or two had blood on them. He hadn’t known she was going to jerk away like that. “If I wanted to breed I would grab the back of your neck.” He simply said it matter of fact, there wasn’t anything to it for him. That she seemed to react so poorly confused him. “Why do you keep saying alpha?”

He gave Silver a pat since he didn't know if like Spirits dog; she wouldn't try and bite him with her owner upset.

by **Spirit Frostfawn** on October 27th, 2013, 1:03 pm

Spirit sighed when Kaden explained he was a cat. She didn't understand cats, hence why she kept speaking about dogs. This was a conversation between a dog-person and a cat-person... literally. His intentions made sense, but... still. At least he knew what he was doing, what he wanted... rather than randomly trying to scare the snowbecause why not... out of her. When he related this to breeding again, the Frostfawn couldn't help but groan. She didn't understand the difference between claws and teeth, and really, at the moment... she didn't want to.

After his explanation was finished, the groom decided she did feel a little bad about her outburst... but it was nice for Kaden to be direct about this. It wa sort of a realization that... after what she'd seen... he wasn't entirely a dog. He was still a cat at heart... and she didn't understand cats. "Right..." she said, feeling a little overwhelmed again. Abruptly she sat, before falling down to lie in she snow, and stare up at the pale sky. "You can be so annoying" she mumbled, more to herself than anything. But... it wasn't meant to be mean. It was meant to be sort of nice, irritated, and a tiny bit bewildered. The Kelvic kept putting her off balance, and it was strange, but... refreshing. Nice to have something new and exciting in her life. Sure, nearly dying in the Wastes again was exciting, but this was a different kind.

Grinning, she paused, then her jaw dropped. "Kaden! Look! Look!" she pointed up at the sky, nearly bouncing with excitement... except she was lying down. Pushing herself into a sitting position, Spirit stared at the world above them in awe, craning her neck. The sky was full of bright, swirling lights, greens and purples and blues. Though they were paler than they would be at night, the aurora was just as obvious and beautiful. All irritation forgotten, the Frostfawn gasped, letting out a tiny squeal. Sure, the aurora wasn't exactly an uncommon sight, but she loved spotting it every time... and you always needed to remember to look up.

x

by **Kaden Swift** on October 28th, 2013, 2:00 pm

Kaden huffed as Spirit just stared before seeming to collapse on herself. “I’m a cat.” He said it proudly, his head lifting just a bit. It was his unregistered job to annoy people, to make them question things. If he were a house cat it would be his job to stare at nothing and make his humans panic at what could be in that one spot to interest him. As a tiger, it was his job to scare people without letting them know he knew he was doing it. People seeing a giant tiger it does tend to scare them.

He watched Spirit sit down before he warily eyed Silver whom he held the reins of. He wondered if he let the mare go would the animal wonder off. When his name was suddenly called he looked up as told and stared in awe at the skies dancing lights. He had seen them as a tiger, muted as they had been to him they had still been beautiful; but now he could see them and all its colors. “Morwen.” Kaden let the reins go and sat down beside Spirit.

He drew his knees up to tuck under his chin as he stared watching as greens and blues swam together. Ribbons of yellow flowed around it all and purples would bloom in the middle before fading away. It was even more beautiful with this forms eyes then his tigers; but it was also missing the glittering falling sparks. He swore he had seen pieces of it fall. “Spirit, does it ever touch the ground?” he wanted to see it closer, to touch it. Twisting around he followed its path and tried to see all of it at once. It was impossible though, the sky was too big.

He didn’t wait for her answer as he continued. “I want to find it, and when I do walk into it.” It was beautiful and surely something like that could wash away what water wouldn’t. As he watched the light changed to oranges and reds, the greens out lining it all his fingers twitched. Kaden wanted to reach out and trap it but he doubted he would ever be willing to keep such a thing if he could even catch it to begin with. The lights belonged to Morwen, and he wouldn’t ever want to take something from the goddess. It didn’t change the Kelvic’s longing to see where it came down and to run his hands in the light. “I bet their warm,” he didn’t think they could be anything else.

ooc :

by **Spirit Frostfawn** on October 29th, 2013, 12:05 am

OOCI was making a boxcode for another of my PCs when I found this... so I made one for Spirit too. Not my best work, but it'll pass XD

Spirit found it funny how Kaden called the lights 'Morwen'. Though the goddess did have a lot to do with them, they did have another name. "The aurora. It's called the aurora"she explained quietly, smiling as he came to lie beside her. It was funny after such an intense but short argument that they did something so... calm... together. This was the kind of time she liked, quiet, and calm, without the Kelvic trying to test her reactions or being annoying.

"Touch the ground? I don't know if it ever does that. Maybe... but I've never seen it so close. It's always high into the clouds... though there usually are none." She grinned at the thought, imagining the bright lights tapping the ground during their ripples and swirls. She found his wish to walk through them amusing, but didn't want to destroy it. It was such a... childish... dream, one so nostalgic of younger Vantha seeing the aurora for the first time. "I don't think it's warm... it's like Avanthal. Cold." It was a complete guess, but it made sense... Morwen and the Vantha were all about cold, so why would their symbol not be cold as well?

"You know, the Vantha are the children of the aurora. It's why our hair is so colorful, and our eyes too. Normal humans just have plain hair... but not us. We are of the aurora, and also of our Queen..." She grinned, glancing up at the Kaden to show her expression. "What do you think? It might just be a story, but I don't think so... it explains all our color." She giggled, before sitting up to join the Kelvic, mimicking the position. Silver was wandering around the pen, nibbling at an odd sprout of grass that had managed to poke through the snow... and had been missed by all the other horses. Spirit watched the mare for a while, before returning to stare at the lights for another little while.

x

by **Kaden Swift** on November 1st, 2013, 1:40 am

ooc :

Aurora? He stared at the lights, why would they be called that? He wrinkled his nose feeling as though he missed out. He would rather have named it Morwen since it was hers. He was thinking of nothing as he watched the sky. He was relaxed and sleepy. As Spirit said she didn’t know, he sighed. “I want to find it, it has to touch somewhere. Nothing stays in the skies forever.” Rubbing at his face he suddenly yawned enough to cause his jaw to pop which only made him grumble. He threaded his fingers through Tickers fur, feeling the soft warmth.

“Morwen is warm, so ice and snow. You just have to be brave enough to let it cover you up.” He remembered freezing, then suddenly Morwen made him warm with just a touch. The ground around them was frozen and packed dirt from thousands of horses walking across it. Here and there was snow but when more horses came through it would be gone turned to water and more mud and packed earth. Now it was cold, but he knew from experience that sleeping buried in snow was not only safe but very warm. You just had to remember to wake up and make sure a hole was clear so you could breathe.

He turned to Spirit and looked closely at her hair. It really way pretty and he had noticed the eyes changed colors. “It makes sense to me.” He looked back at the light in the sky. “I guess I don’t have that, mine is just red. I wonder if I walked through the sky light, if it might do what yours does?” He wondered what it would do to his fur, but no matter what colors it turned he thought it would be worth it. “I would fit in.” That was an exciting thought. If he looked like a Vantha, maybe people wouldn’t be so wary of him. “I could get shining fur, maybe blue.” He closed his eyes feeling completely safe and happy.

“I have Morwen’s touch, now I just need her colors.” He opened his eyes again to gaze back at the light. All he had to do was find where it touched down. “How hard can it be to find where it touches? It’s a giant glow light.” His foot twitched as if it were his tail.

by **Spirit Frostfawn** on November 2nd, 2013, 2:03 pm

OOCI'm sorry for the delay on this myself. I'm focusing on another PC for NaNo, so Spirit's taking the backburner. Also, I feel like the thread's ending, so I'm finishing it here... feel free to end it and post if up for grading! Maybe another thread after? I still need one more job thread

Oh, and sorry for the short post as well!

Spirit listened to her friend jabber on about the aurora, not really paying attention anymore. Her mind was more focused on the lights and she was... tired. Very tired. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned widely, mentally drowning out the speaking. She wasn't meaning to be rude to her friend, but... her mind was half asleep. She stretched in the snow, accidentally bumping into Kaden through her movements. She sat up straight, leaning on her knees for a moment. "I'm tired" she announced, stifling another yawn. "Did you want to go back to the medical center? Or my Arvinta?"

She pushed herself up from the snowy ground, shuffling sleepily over to Silver. She led the mare back into the stables, lifting off the tack and bridle almost instinctively. When she returned the halter to it's original placement, she gave the horse a friendly pat on the neck. "Good girl" she whispered, before leading the horse back into her stable. Silver immediately began munching on some provided hay, and she slipped out of the quiet building, hoping Kaden would follow.

x

by **Kaden Swift** on November 5th, 2013, 9:28 pm

He looked from the sky to Spirit, watching her struggle to stay awake as she said she was tired. He thought for a while as she messed with the horse. He didn’t know what an Arvinta was. “We can go back to where I was before.” He stood up and gritted his teeth as everything hurt and pulled. How long could he stand not shifting again? He followed Spirit but as she seemed out of it he gently nudged and prodded her back the way they had come. “What happens when you try to sleep sitting.” He didn’t expect an answer from her so continued them walking.

All the while he watched to be sure no one approached either of them, but then he looked a sight even dressed. A bag slung over his shoulder with a large tattered fur; and with bruises and scratch marks visible even with his new shirt and coat. He had been unable to groom himself so his hair had decided to spike. Spirit hardly helped. So sleepy he wondered what it looked like as he nudged her to turn or step around something. Finally he had them back to the medical building and inside.

The male healer from before glanced up and Kaden hissed, his lips pulling back. The human just grunted and went back to the papers in his hand. Kaden didn’t bother looking at the others just went back to the room before. With Spirit so out of it he urged her to the bed. She had not been pleased with him touching her, looking down he saw Ticker jump into the chair and curl up promptly going to sleep and ignoring them both. Not a very helpful reply. He dropped his bag but not before pulling the fur from its ties.

With a flick it unwrapped and Kaden set it over Spirit. Now what was he to do? He could risk her anger but he didn’t think that was a good idea. She might not have the means to hurt him now, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t get them. He could shift, but she said no. Finally he got on the bed but at her feet. With a sigh he ignored the tug of the stitches and curled up leaving his clothes on. Distasteful as that was, least he wouldn’t wake up to someone screaming again. However as he tried to sleep things just wouldn’t work.

Finally he gave up and sat on the end of the bed. Tugging off his jacket and shirt he tossed them at his bag. He was covered in bruises and dried blood; the stitches ugly against his pale skin. To Kaden they were a mockery of his stripes. He stood and removed the rest of his clothes. Not letting himself think of Spirit telling him no; he just shifted. Such a thing never hurt before, but it did this time.

The stitches pulled and yanked but as he settled into his fur they stopped, all of them tight but holding. Tired but pleased he jumped back on the bed and settled down, far too big to just take up the foot he laid his head on Spirits covered stomach and went to sleep. Least he was warm now even if he hurt worse. Some of his back leg hung off the bed so he didn't have to lay on Spirit. Only his head touched her, but he was hoping it wouldn't make her scream.

ooc :

Closed After All is Done... [Kaden]