That's Not Food! (Silver)

[Neekra]

1st of Fall, 512 AV

With fifteen days of constant travel behind her, Neekra pawed her way through the snowy forest of Avanthal back to the jungle of the Spires. She had planned a round trip, spending only a few hours in Avanthal and returning home to avoid Sharai’s wrath as much as possible, but she didn’t expect the distance the weigh on her like it did. Yes, the short time in Avanthal was nice. Even though the harsh memories of her parent’s master had returned, all was made right by the warm feelings she remembered from her mother.

She had made the trip to collect a few items to bring back to her new house in the Spires that remember her of her childhood, and she did but it wasn’t what she expected. Out of all of the beautiful things in Avanthal, she bought a dog, a puppy that would possibly be a huge burden on her life. But it was love at first sight. Its big round eyes and little whimpers. How could she leave it? It reminded her so much of herself.

At this point, she was learning how much of a burden she had really taken on. The little dog she called Lupa restlessly shifted and pawed at the sides of the backpack that Neekra held between her teeth. It was distracting her focus from the dangerous wilderness around her. She had tried letting her walk on her own but the poor puff ball just sunk in the snow and it would yap loudly at everything that moved. Lupa was becoming more of a hassle than Neekra had ever imagined. That’s when she decided to stuff the little fur ball in her bag and carry her as so. Still, Lupa yelped and brought on unwanted attention. She was already a clear target, being fully black on an all-white background. They were just asking to be attacked. Neekra had to be careful. With this much attention, Neekra forced herself to keep her eyes and ears panning her surroundings.

To her surprise, they had made it a long time without any interrupts. So when Lupa started to raise an untamable fuss, Neekra decided that it was time to stop and eat. Of course, this couldn’t be done with the bag in her mouth, so she dropped it off behind a tree, signaled for Lupa to stay put, and walked out into forest. She didn’t travel out very far by any means but it enough that Lupa was out of her sight.

It wasn’t long before her nose’s range of vision trapped the scent of a snow hare. She crept, slowly with her muzzle close to the ground, not wanting to startle her prey and cause it to run farther than she was willing to go. At last, she spotted it nibbling on winter greens not to far off. Neekra chose her route carefully and closed in from behind. Only ten feet away, she lunged but the hare was fast. It tore through the snow involuntary making Neekra chase after it. She could already taste it, there was no escape. The hare jump into a hole in the trunk of a grey barked tree. Despite its efforts, Neekra had another plan. She slid to a halt in front of the tree and sniffed out its hiding place, poking her muzzle in once or twice. She could felt its body heat and the creatures heart rapidly thumbing in its chest. Then Neekra swiftly took a couple of bits into the hole hoping that she could draw it out without having to do to much work. Of course, that wasn’t the case so she began to claw at the edges of her preys hiding place, slowly making the hole bigger. Finally, she knew the hare was hers. She reached in, lips peeled back and fangs ready, and snatched the hare from it lair then shook it until she concluded that it was dead. At that point, she returned to her backpack.

When it came into view, fear melted over her mind. It was laying on its side and open. Little investigation was needed to know that Lupa was gone. She put her nose to the ground once again and picked up on her little dog’s scent.

[Sliver]

It was nearing the end of Summer. Of course summer in northern Taldera was like the dead of winter most any other place, but Sliver tried to think of herself as getting accustomed to the chilling cold. She liked to think that the benefits of her new home far outweighed any of the negative traits, and having found a place in the Icewatch, somewhere she could serve even if she was still without a bondmate, it gave her hope for the future. Today she was exploring the tundra. It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last, but Sliver was determined to master this icy landscape one step at a time, and so she enjoyed journeying outwards in wolverine form, catching what scents she could and learning about the flora and fauna of the wastes. For instance she had never before seen a lemming, tiny round creatures even strange than voles. They were delightfully delicious and surprisingly easy to catch once you stuffed their hole with leaves so as to prevent theme escaping down the tiny tunnels to get much too far out of reach in their warren she had discovered earlier that day. She managed to catch three in all which provided the perfect snack. Somewhere on her way she thought she caught the scent of wolf, but it faded as quickly as it had come and the wolverine shook the thought from her mind. Barely a bell had passed by after that particular scent faded from her senses when she caught a new smell. This one was similar to wolf, but cleaner newer, without the stench of death that many predatory animals carried on them even when they were clean. Deciding to follow the trail the wolverine made a mental note of where she had left her pack of clothing and a few other necessities not too far away and lowered her nose to the ground, shambling forward. The creature, perhaps a wolf pup by the size of the tracks and the way they were scattered apart, like the thing was leaping and lunging in a more playful manner than one bent on survival, was leaving a clear trail for her to follow. There were the occasional full track, but judging by the thing's size it was too little to take on the amount of snow so most of the prints were leaving the full weight of its body in the snow as it floundered around. Amused because it was the same kind of trail Sliver herself left if the snow was too deep, she followed this curious pathway, four legs keeping her at a casual trot as she followed the pup's antics. It took her about ten chimes to find the little beast rolling and yipping in the snow as if it had found its perfect spot. Her paw stepped on a dry twig and its attention was immediately drawn. Big black eyes glanced inquisitively at the new creature, which looked like a stocky dog in many respects, and yipping excitedly the creature dashed headlong towards her. Sliver was unsure how to respond. The fact that a puppy, and not a wolf pup either, was out in the middle of the wilderness seemed bizarre, and she didn't exactly have the time to find the little one's owners. A thought came to her mind as she looked at the tiny creature, one more feral in nature. Her stomach growled a little bit the lemmings only keeping her for so long and as the pup batted her she placed a paw on the back of the tiny creature, she contemplated consuming it then and there, after all, clearly its owner didn't care too much for the babe if it had been left to its own devices out here in the wilderness.

[Neekra]

Neekra focused Lupa’s trail. Like bright pink on the white snow, it was apparent where the little dog had been. She activated her Auristics every once and a while to heighten her senses and hopefully to detect any predator that may have already targeted her puppy even before it caught the sound of her full sprint. Pink. Pink. Pink. Prints. Lupa’s tracks were obvious as well. Playful and clumsy. She felt a prick of shame when the thought of food flashed through her mind. Yes, when hunting she did pick out creatures that were young and irresponsible with their actions in the wilderness but Lupa was her dog and she was now its guardian. Neekra would have to learn to guard her mind from those dangerous thoughts.

There is was. Like a light being flicked on in her head, she sensed another pair of fangs in the area. It was predator for sure but what kind, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t another canine or a wild type of feline. This animal was small being that the scent was thin but still a threat to a puppy like Lupa.

The absence of blood made her slow her pace when she neared the two. Neekra found it strange that a predator was so close to the dog yet it wasn’t yelping for help. She hoped that it wasn’t that naïve. Every animal is born with an innate sense of danger, it would be sad if she’d have to teach this dog to have one.

She made her footfalls light as she closed the distance between them. Finally, she saw the entire scene. Lupa was under the paw of a wolverine, which was probably deciding how to devour the foolish little dog, and was wagging her tail as happy as could be. She really would have to teach this dog everything.

But one fact shocked her more than that. This wolverine was not a true animal, not by a long shot. It was Kelvic. Now confused and not knowing how to approach the situation, she watched as it observed the dog under its paw. Surely, it wasn’t thinking about eating it. Or could it? Either way, she could tell the Kelvic had picked up on her position so she decided to make herself known.

Stepping out into clear view, she stood at her full height with her head held high and looking down at the wolverine. She wasn’t trying to be threatening by any means but she did want to claim her territory. She stepped closer to the Kelvic and lowered her head then let out a little sound whine. It was a call. Immediately Lupa jumped and awkwardly ran in her direction.

[Sliver]

It was one thing to have this puppy in the middle of nowhere, not hungry or starved, yet completely unaware of its surroundings, but when the wolf appeared and it whined a strange call that summoned the puppy, Sliver's confusion couldn't have gotten any higher. For an instant the wolverine raised her hackles, ready to defend herself when she realized the wolf was a fellow Kelvic. She had never been sure of this innate sense that identified her kind was like a second sense of smell of just a magical ability that every Kelvic could be born with, but sure as she knew she was Kelvic she was aware the wolf was too. It only slightly explained the puppy, but the puppy was no Kelvic, which begged the question of exactly why the wolf had it. For companionship? This struck the wolverine as exceedingly odd. Now the two creatures stood there, able to identify each other, but unable to communicate in any real fashion. The wolf did not seem to have violent intent, so Sliver relaxed and settled back down on her hind legs, glancing around. She wondered if the wolf hailed from Avanthal, or perhaps just lived in the wilderness, she had heard of Kelvic preferring to remain in the wild...though if she had a puppy, unless it was stolen she would have needed to enter civilization to obtain it, so that theory was swiftly debunked. Sliver realized that the easiest was to solve this problem was to grab her pack and get dressed, but didn't especially want to transform in the cold tundra where her fur kept her so much warmer than any jacket. Instead she decided to see if the wolf wanted a conversation or needed to move on, if need be her pack was not so far away that she couldn't grab it and bring it back. As it was the wolverine gave an apologetic snuffle at almost eating the wolf's puppy, though for Neekra the noise the strange creature produced could have easily been a laugh or even a cough.

[Neekra]

She tilted her head when the wolverine made a sound. Apparently it was trying to communicate but there would be no hope in that when they were in animal form. To talk they would have to be in human form which could be easily arranged if it wasn’t twenty below, maybe even cold than that. Neekra did want to talk to this Kelvic so she only had one option and that was to flash from one form to another quickly with just a few words in between. But again there was a problem, how many times could she do that before being completely drained of energy. That was a risk she couldn’t afford, especially with a limited time schedule and a few more days of travel ahead.

Finally, after much deliberation, she arrived at a conclusion. Right there, with no warning she changed. The icy cold sunk into her human skin in seconds. She said, knowing that the Kelvic would understand, “I want to talk to you. I have my clothes with me. Give me a second to get them.” Then in an instant she flashed back to her animal form with warm fur. She could feel the effects and the power drain from just one change.

She made eye contact with the animal once again before trotting off and realized something. Even if she had clothes, doesn’t mean that this other Kelvic did. Either way, she had to have faith that it did and that it belonged to Avanthal. Neekra couldn’t afford to use the energy it took to perform a full change cycle again or even twice more.

So with a nod of her head, she nipped the skin on the back of Lupa’s neck and carried the puppy back to her backpack. Once there, she changed again to her humanoid form and quickly pulled the clothing over her bared skin. She wrapped a cloak around her shoulders and held the dog close to her chest then she traveled back toward she left the Kelvic. Even the clothes that she brought, the cold still bit at her skin, but a conversation seemed more than necessary.

[Sliver]

The wolverine was more than a bit surprised when the wolf transformed so swiftly from human and back again. It seemed to her like a needless waste of energy, but she supposed the message had been put across. When Neekra returned she would notice the wolverine was gone, but she only had to wait a single chime before a woman broke through into the clearing, clearly the Kelvic from only moments before. Sliver recognized the woman's yellow eyes and canine demeanor even in human form, and for the wolf, she would notice a short and stocky woman, head shaved save for a protruding mohawk with tattoos covering almost every visible inch of skin save her face. Sliver sat down in the snow. Though she was curious enough to conduct a conversation with a wolf, she saw no reason to be overtly friendly to a beast which normally was a constant enemy in the tundra. She extended a hand towards the snow white pup. "Good thing you came when you did, I wasn't sure whether to eat her or try to find her owner."

[Neekra]

After she fought her way back through the thick foliage in her human form, she stepped out into the clearing once again hoping that the Kelvic would be there. For a short period of time, it was gone but a few minute later, it reappeared. The woman was fully clothed but shorter than Neekra had imagined. Her human form was obviously similar to the low and heavy build of a wolverine but the body markings were a bit surprising. Then again, she wasn’t very familiar with tattoos in the first place. But then again not to many people in Avanthal looked as she did, assuming that she was from Avanthal since she was in the area.

Neekra let a hint of a smile show as she watched Lupa rub again the Kelvic’s hand. “I understand, Lupa would look like an easy meal to any predator. That’s why I was so scared when I discovered that she had gone missing.” Neekra closed the distance between them and sat in the snow across from this new woman. “My name is Neekra. What’s yours?”

[Sliver]

"Most call me Sliver, it is...interesting to meet you Neekra." Sliver let out a lungful of air, letting it steam in front of her face as dark eyes watched the pup playing and panting as the young are want to do. The idea of adopting another canine was at least a bit more satisfactory than a bird or something equally as strange, but Sliver was still clearly perplexed, furrowed eyebrows struggling with the concept of a pet. She cleared her throat head tilted a bit, blinking a couple times before continuing. It was clear by her tracks and trajectory she was headed away from Avanthal, so Sliver could only assume she had picked up the puppy in the city from a Frostfawn. Where ever she had come from it was probably quite a journey for just a puppy, but perhaps that was not the case as it seemed to be. "So I assume you did not come from...where ever you are from just to get a dog?"

[Neekra]

Neekra shook her head. “No. That wasn’t my original plan. Actually, I was going to buy a trinket of some sort to bring to my new home that would remind me of my old one,” she explained as she wrapped her cloak tighter around her shoulders. “But then I came across this little one in the Menagerie and he reminded me of myself…” Neekra paused, slightly embarrassed. Was that really why she had picked bought the dog. Honestly, it was. She continued. “It’s nice to have someone that understands you and…” She looked down at the snow. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”

[Sliver]

A canine was a canine was a canine was a canine, and so Sliver was entirely on board with a young dog reminding a Kelvic wolf of herself, so she attempted to put herself in the wolf's paws as it were. She tried to imagine herself perhaps a year or so ago, wandering the wilds alone, making do, but not well, scavenging what little food she could find and sleeping in trees to avoid the majority of deadly land bound creatures. It was a solitary life to be sure, but Sliver didn't mind much. Then again, wolverines were generally solitary creatures, whereas wolves tended to travel in packs, so clearly this comparison was doomed from the start. Sliver snuffled in a disgruntled manner, much in the same way that she had in animal form upon first meeting the Kelvic. This was far too much theoretical thinking for her taste, so instead she decided to focus on the topic that she could have a legitimate conversation about. "You traveled all the way to the Everwinter City, for a trinket? It must have been quite important." She tilted her head to the side and settled into the cold snow, hopefully a story would follow. She had barely resided in the city at all and already she was used to Vantha laying out their life stories for her at the drop of a fur lined hat.