[Flashback] Southbound (Tierranalin)

[Cathan]

Something in her voice when she talked about the farm made him look up. He could sense there was more she didn't say, but wasn't sure how to approach the topic. Instead of dwelling on the subject he remained silent, waiting to see if she wanted to add anything. When she continued talking he he started to feed once more even though his hunger was mostly gone by now and he just fed since he had the chance to.

"I would not have gone near one either, if there had been a chance to avoid it," Cathan admitted over the carcass, blood running down his muzzle, coloring his grayish brown fur in a dark red. The mud had crumbled away during the chase through the woods, only a layer of dust and rare dirt fragments remaining. It gave him a slightly shaggy, slightly wild appearance. "I figure dog on dog fights are getting boring in the long run. Once in a while people want to bet on something else." Some dogs even had the luck to win against a bear, but he had never been one of them. Looking over to Ra, he suddenly felt like adding an explanation. "I entered some dog fights back in the day. Or was entered rather. It is not so bad when you are more clever than the average dog, but it is hard still."

And he didn't plan to enter one again when he could avoid it. There were a lot of things he planned to avoid in future and alone coming in the situation to get ordered around had lost its appeal after his first big hunt. His first success. "I never thought we could live on our own so well," he started, looking down the dead deer before him. "Somehow I imagined it to be harder."

Not the hunt, which had been hard, but to make ones own decisions. Live was easy when you didn't have to think and you just did what you have been told. It still felt strange to think of a life where he was his own master, but when he looked at the other kelvic it suddenly didn't seem all that illusory anymore. It had become seizable, a chance to be taken.

"Getting some of the meat sounds like a good idea," he agreed after shaking his head. "While I don't mind to share a meal with some crows, they tend to be greedy little bastards, the lot of them." And without knowing the animals and beast of the southern woods he wasn't sure what attention a deer carcass would draw. "A fox you can at least catch, but birds...," he sniffed with an amused grin on his face.

"If you like, I can wait while you get the blades. Or you wait and I go, I don't mind."

[Tierranalin]

Ra' laughed "yeah. I mean who would be silly enough to go looking for one?" she said sarcastically. Seeing the blood running down his muzzle, coloring his grayish brown fur in a dark red Ra' couldn't help but feel a little lust and longing for a companion. Someone strong and loyal. He was rugged, shaggy and wild in his pelt after the chance, the kill, the feast and the mud. Ra felt herself staring at Cathan and quickly looked away, if she was human right now there would have been a scarlet blush. She could only hope he hadn't noticed.

He spoke and she casually looked over to him "you fought for them?" she asked with a puzzling tone. How could anyone willingly fight their own kind for someone else's entertainment? He explained and she stopped to think for a moment "I can't even imagine a life like that... I can imagine however being what you are that you had an upper hand" she said. "What's it like?" she said looking up at Cathan with golden orbs "Living with humans?" she said with a hint of longing in her voice.

Ra' gave off a half laugh "I've practically only ever lived by myself" she said also looking down at the kill. "It gets harder" she said looking back to Cathan "trust me. You kill rabbits and pests for food and when you think you can't take it anymore you hunt bigger, a sheep or cow from someone's farm. Thus you get hunted down by them. You may even go for a deer and end up hurt or possibly dead. You survive, then you try find warmth away from the wind and winter, you can't and you die. You find shelter there is a risk it is taken. You go to sleep there is a risk someone will come get you. It's a hard life. Always is and always will be." she said looking down. "It gives you scars" she said then laughed "Listen to me.... It's not all doom and gloom. Sometimes you find a wolf pack to live with." she stopped the sentence short as if she was going to say something more but then didn't "hey, look at me, I'm still alive so it can't be that bad" she laughed.

Ra' had grown to like Cathan over the last two days and she was enjoying his company. Ra' nodded "Crows are a pain in the ass nothing more" she said looking to the sky again. Ra' laughed at Cathan "You've tried to catch birds?" she asked amused with a smirk across her muzzle. "That I would like to see" she said with a laugh. "I can go get them" she said with another smile "You might catch a cold if you run around naked" she said with a cheeky grin before running off to fetch the blades.

It was a short time before she returned with the blades in hand and her pack at her side. She wore only a loose shirt with rolled up sleeves and breeches as she walked through the bushes. Her pale feet and toes padded along the soft ground, crunching leaves and sticks. Her hair was hanging low just under her bust with a slight wave, her dark eyes looked upon Cathan again seeing him through her human eyes. She bent over and started cutting into the meat with her hands and blade, once enough was free from the bone she wrapped the pieces into a leathery cloth. "This should be enough for you to take with you" she said pushing some to Cathan and putting some in her pack. Ra' winced a little as she stood up. "We should just make camp here" she said looking around "What do you think?" she asked before sliding her back down a tree to sit at the base. She winced again but made it subtle so Cathan wouldn't see.

[Cathan]

"Hard. Easy. Depending on how you look at it." Cathan's voice trailed of, shaking his head he looked back up to Ra. "It is very satisfying to know one has a purpose. To know one is needed. You do whatever you are told and it just feels... right. At least until you are handed over to someone else, who wants entirely different things and you start to question what you did the past few seasons and why it never bothered you back then."

Their kill forgotten, the kelvic stretched out on the ground, gaze fixed on his pawns. "In the end you are happy as long as it lasts, afterwards... it depends. You can be lucky and find one who appreciates you. Or you are not. And you still don't mind until it is over." He smirked, but his expression remained hollow. "I hope you are lucky when you find someone. And maybe I will run with other wolves one day. Who knows." Again he smirked, but this time it was more genuine. He was no ones subject anymore, he could chose who and if he wanted to follow someone. Eventually.

"I don't think life ever gets easy unless you like being a lap dog for some spoiled brat." His smile grew wider, more genuine. "Although it is questionable how easy that would be." A chuckle came over Cathan's lips, almost like a relief. "Let's not brood over the past. We had a good hunt today and tomorrow things will look as bright." Or at least so he liked to tell himself. He wasn't one to worry about the future, living in the here and now. Worrying about current problems and not such which might or might not arise at some point in the future.

Falling silent he watched her for a long moment. It was a tempting thought to just stay, to continue running with the female kelvic. They were a good team and he got the distinct feeling she wouldn't mind if he actually offered to stay. Yet he knew he still wanted to head to Zeltiva, felt it was the last thing he could do for his late master and vaguely wondering if it was the bond still holding him in his clutches or if he actually felt like going.

"I will wait then for you to return," he nodded when she offered to get the blades. He had already forgotten that he would need his hands to pick up the blades. In future he really had to pay more mind to his clothing. With his luck someone had stolen what he left at the road side too. Cathan frowned. He really had to think ahead the next time he did something. Quietly he watched Ra vanish between the trees and he admired how quickly she cut the deer up once she returned. He had helped her, but something told him he would have only been in her way.

When she asked him if he would like to camp for the night he nodded, wagging his tail the way a dog might. Still, there was something in the way she moved which slightly concerned him. He just couldn't put the finger on it.

[Tierranalin]

"That it is" she said with a half smile. "you know... Thinking about it... I think I might get a job" she said with a laugh. "I wouldn't mind working a farm again" she said. "I guess people always want what they can't have" she said she looked over to Cathan when he mentioned her finding someone. "Who knows" she repeated after him. "What is it like to live in a home?" she asked before stopping herself. "you are right. No more brooding" she laughed "Tomorrow is a brand new day" she said.

She could feel Cathan's eyes upon her and she smiled to herself, in human state she would have blushed. She knew he would have to go and complete his mission and she would have to move on herself and find something to do with herself other than wondering. She smiled heading off to get the blades.

It was a short time before she returned with the blades in hand and her pack at her side. She wore only a loose shirt with rolled up sleeves and breeches as she walked through the bushes. Her pale feet and toes padded along the soft ground, crunching leaves and sticks. Her hair was hanging low just under her bust with a slight wave, her dark eyes looked upon Cathan again seeing him through her human eyes. She bent over and started cutting into the meat with her hands and blade, once enough was free from the bone she wrapped the pieces into a leathery cloth. "This should be enough for you to take with you" she said pushing some to Cathan and putting some in her pack. Ra' winced a little as she stood up. "We should just make camp here" she said looking around "What do you think?" she asked before sliding her back down a tree to sit at the base. She winced again but made it subtle so Cathan wouldn't see. Ra' reached across to her pack and pulled from it a canteen, she took a swig and gave off a grin before cupping her hands and poring some into her hands. It was a wine red colour, she stretched her hands out "Want some?" she asked softly.

"I think I might stay human tonight" she said looking across at Cathan. "Other than yesterday I haven't stretched my legs in a while" she said. Ra' pulled her cloak around herself knowing it would get cold. She looked at Cathan in wolf form and very carefully stretched out a hand towards him and without a word she softly ran her hand over his muzzle and across his ears. "I'm gonna catch some sleep, you should to" she said before sitting back and closing her eyes.

She fell asleep fast but awoke several times throughout the night. She had changed to wolf for warmth and at some point again she must have changed again. When the morning light shone down upon the two travelers Ra' stirred and awoke she wore no clothes but she lay on the ground covered only with her cloak. She tried to sit up but felt only pain, she couldn't help but grimace. The bruises were showing now across her ribcage and her pale skin now held the purple, blue and black coloration. She was lucky she was covered up so only she could see the marks. She sighed and lay flat on her back to focus on her breathing. In and out. In and out. Ra' reached for her canteen once more and drank the wine dark liquid. It dulled the pain, she moved her head to the side to look at Cathan and to check if he was awake and if he had noticed her changing over the night.

[Cathan]

Cathan shook his head when he was offered the wine, instead watching her. In the past he had rarely paid much attention to humans, at least not in the regard if they had to be counted attractive or not. He knew he had a certain appreciation for her animal form, the strength of her limps and keen senses. For the fact she was a excellent runner and hunter. Given the need he could have even thought of a few compliments of her fine reddish fur or her calm, friendly demeanor, but it was hard to find words to describe her human appearance. Human's tend to look the same for him. They faces tend to loom higher over him than he cared to look up to and when he distinguished between them then he did so using scent and the sound of their voices. Ra was one of the few he actually came to observe, just to memorize her features.

Watching her as she sat down to sleep, the kelvic curled up as well, comfortable in the warm evening breeze. It felt good to relax his hurting body and mere minutes after Ra had wished him good night Cathan drifted into a dreamless sleep, broken only from the rare sounds of the other kelvic which caused him to stir from his sleep more than once. He tried not to look, although feeling silly in the same turn. She wouldn't even know. It didn't bother him to study her wolf form, but when she appeared human it reminded him about the few things he knew about etiquette, convention and the fact one should at least wear a part trousers when wandering around a city.

Still, it wasn't her body which drew his attention, even though the contours were clear in the moonlight although she lay under the blanket. There was something about the way she moved in sleep, he couldn't quite place. A long moment his golden eyes remained resting on her, when he finally shook his head, trying to return to sleep. It wasn't until the next morning, he woke up again.

"You alright?"

Feeling Ra's eyes on him the kelvic looked up. At the break of dawn he had changed form. His back leaned against a tree, he had pulled his knees against his chest, arms wrapped loosely around them he rested his chin on his knees. "I hope you don't mind. Conversation is hard when I have to wag tail just to agree on something." A light smirk crossed his face, but it was a fleeing expression, quickly becoming concern. "You... didn't seem to have slept well last night," he observed, some strands of too long dark hair falling into his face. After ten days running through the woods he could have needed a good shaving as well, but such things had never been of too much concern to him. After all, few saw such things when he assumed his true form. Why bother with the few times a month he actually changed back?

[Tierranalin]

She laughed taking the wine herself. "Strong stuff" she said shaking her head a little. "Wouldn't drink it as a wolf ether" she said with a laugh.

She had fallen asleep fast but awoke several times throughout the night. She had changed to wolf for warmth and at some point again she must have changed back to her human. When the morning light shone down upon the two travelers Ra' stirred and awoke she wore no clothes but she lay on the ground covered only with her cloak. She tried to sit up but felt only pain, she couldn't help but grimace. The bruises were showing now across her ribcage and her pale skin now held the purple, blue and black coloration. She was lucky she was covered up so only she could see the marks. She sighed and lay flat on her back to focus on her breathing. In and out. In and out. Ra' reached for her canteen once more and drank the wine dark liquid. It dulled the pain, she moved her head to the side to look at Cathan and to check if he was awake and if he had noticed her changing over the night.

She smiled weakly "Yeah... just a bit bruised" she said lying back to look up at the sky again. A canopy of trees as her roof and leaves as her pillow Ra' felt quite comfortably numb. She looked down at her pale hands and fingers and realized she didn't wear clothes just her cloak to cover herself with. Ra' let off a blush and sat up to put her shirt on secretly being careful not to show off her breasts or bruises. She stopped and before she looked up to Cathan she realized he had spoken to her in english and she had understood him, meaning he had changed. She looked up out of curiosity as most people would but soon blushed a little and looked away. Once she had worked her breeches on again she tossed him the cloak. "Here, you can wear this" she said knowing it would be big enough for him to wear, after all it was her brothers.

She looked up very slowly at Cathan as he sat with his back against a tree, knees pulled against his chest with arms resting softly on them. Ra' couldn't help but smile as she heard him speak for the first time through human lips "I don't mind" she said as she smiled "Indeed it's hard to talk without words" she said. Ra' couldn't believe he sat there before her as a man, in her head she expected to see the wolf and in some ways she could, such as the ragged facial hair and wild locks. Ra's smile faded slowly as she saw his expression of concern, "I didn't sleep well at all..." she said looking down a little. Ra' also noticed the long strands of dark hair as they wisped across his face. With wide dark eyes Ra' took in every detail of of the man before her. He was one of the first people she had talked to in years and one of the only ones that she felt no inch of killing. Ra' looked at his eyes and hair both on his head and facial in the sort of ragged way. She smiled and look it all in like a mental photo that she could recall and perhaps draw later. Ra looked to his leg "How are you feeling today? after the hunt?" she asked hoping he wasn't as sore as her.

"Forgive me if I stair, You are one of the first people I have talked to in quite some time and also the first man I have seen in a few moons that doesn't come after me with knives and such" she said feeling no control over her eyes that just observed and overlooked the details of the man in front of her. Ra' carefully put her hair into one long braid tied at the end by a smaller braid, few strands escaped to whisp across her face also.

[Cathan]

Catching the cloak with his right hand, Cathan draped the fabric around his shoulders without getting up. The cloak was large enough to comfortably wrap around his tall frame, leaving his face and hands the only skin to be seen. He nodded when Ra told him she had just not slept well. He was prone to stir in his sleep as well, had just been to tired to the past nights, sleeping like dead instead. It were dreams which kept him waking up most, but even for bad memories he had been too exhausted for. Not that the particularly minded. A full night of rest was nothing to look down on, when ones days were filled with running and hunting and hoping to catch up with a phantom you might never come to see again.

"Still full," he smirked after she had asked him how he felt. "Leg's still hurting, but it could be much worse." His toes dug into the soft soil when he tried to put some weight on it in his sitting position. It was still painful, but not enough to hinder him walking. At least when he wasn't demanding to much of himself. In the evening after a day or walking it might hurt more again, but he was no stranger to pain.

"I don't mind some staring," he continued a smirk playing around his lips. Even in his human form the expression had a distinct wolfish look to it, revealing the kelvic's long canines in the process. "Humans might be a bit concerned over it, but I always wondered why." It was natural to look, to watch. Observing prey, keeping an eye on the things which moved around you. That was what predators did. Spying for weak points and keeping an eye on the most vulnerable parts of an opponent. Throat, belly and loins, always good to know where to place a potential attack. It was not the reason why he kept watching Ra however. "Don't worry over it," he laughed half loud, shaking his heads.

Quietly Cathan watched her doing her hair. Another thing he had never much concerned with. Neither had been his owners, but the last and he had also been the reason why the kelvic had started to think about it in the first place. It was hard to pretend to be human when you looked like a bear even in your man form. Cathan found most people were not taking well to the sight of dirty, unkempt strangers. If it only wasn't so bothersome to keep up with appearance all the time. What was the point in shaving if you have to repeat it again in just two days? He didn't fully get it.

Of course, skin was easier to wash too. Everything seemed to have its advantages and disadvantages. His attention turned to the young woman before him once more. "Sure everything is alright?" He still wanted to leave, probably had to when he wanted to reach Zeltivas before fall, but in the same turn he could probably add another day if needed. The kelvic looked up the sky. "We got good travel weather today."

[Tierranalin]

Ra' laughed "I don't think I could eat another thing till midday" she said. It was odd saying such a thing. More often then most Ra' was hunting and finding food, she was always looking for a kill of rabbit and other pest like squirrel. No matter what they had never calmed the fire in her belly, but this kill however would keep her belly as tame as a cat for some time. Ra' watched as Cathan stood "Feels weird to be standing up right doesn't it?" she asked with a slight giggle "Feels odd to have fingers, thumbs and toes" she said watching him, observing all details.

Ra' felt herself blushing when he mentioned staring and she felt herself look away a little but not before she caught a glimpse of his smirk that pushed the blush right over her cheeks. "I was always taught not to stare but I always did" she said looking down like a child who had just been scolded. Slowly she turned back to look at Cathan. She could tell his eyes were on her as she did her hair in a braid. "You know..." she laughed "I met a bear once... But man he was the wildest person I had ever met. He had a huge beard all knotted and such and his hair was really long. I'm pretty sure he used it for warmth" she said with a laugh "You could tell he was different just by looking at him, you could see bear written all over him" she laughed.

Ra' felt herself go quiet for a moment as she thought about her answer to his question, with hesitation she answered "Everything is fine" before running her hand over the soft cloth of her blouse that covered her belly. The bruises hurt there was no denying that, it hurt like rocks were being piled on top of her chest till it caved and all the air in her lungs left her. She knew it would be like this when it all happened. Ra' looked up to the sky now also. The perfect sky, with not a single cloud to smudge its blue perfection and not a breath of wind. "Indeed you've got good travel weather today, probably wont be like this for long" she said rewording his statement into one all about him and his travel to Zeltivas than the 'we' that he had mentioned. She knew he would have to leave soon if he were to get to Zeltivas before the fall. They would both be fine anyway, they had been before. Ra' could only hope that their paths would eventually cross again one day.

[Cathan]

"Bears can be like that," Cathan mused, not without an amused smile playing around his lips. There were times he wished he had met more of their kind, not bears, but kelvic in general. When he wondered how those lived who had not yet found someone to follow. In his short live he had met a lot of humans but he had come to know very few actually. What he had learned about were the expectations they had in one and the punishment they would bestow on whoever didn't meet their wishes. In that regard he had always been a disappointment to his owners, no matter how hard he had tried. Trails he lost, prey he let escape and opponents not taken down in the ring had been the reason why he had been passed around, none of his masters eager to keep him for long.

Kelvics were different in the regard. They didn't expect one to bend to their will, become what ever they envisioned you to be. You didn't feel so compelled to please them either, although that was something he also missed. He had always found the rare compliments and praise he received to be quite satisfying. More than he wanted to admit. His eyes came to rest on Ra, the woman who had showed him that there was more to a kelvic's life than to truckle to others who might not even care about one.

"Are you going to stay here, in the woods?," he nodded out into the forest, yet no where in particular. A gesture which seemed to be meant to encompass the entirety of the forest around them. "In this area?," he specified further, wary curiosity in his amber eyes. He still felt the need to head to Zeltiva, yet it didn't mean he wouldn't pass through the area again the future. The kelvic had spend his youth in the north and while the live had been hard he was still more used to the woods there, the scent of snow through out the year, the feel or ice under his paws. At the very least he might come passing through her area again in the future.

Cathan shook his head. "It has been nice meeting you Tierranalin. I enjoyed the hunt we shared and the time together. You showed me things I didn't knew about," he tilt his head to the side with a smirk, "and some I never really thought about either." It was nice to imagine to just live with other kelvics, not bound to a human what so ever. It was an intriguing idea he was sure would make its way into his thoughts quite often in the weeks to come. Already his thoughts returned to it rather frequently.

"Take care and maybe we meet again at some point."

Light flickered around Cathan's body and from one second of the next the large wolf set before the tree, Ra's clock still half wrapped around him. Without haste the large animal slipped out from under the heavy fabric, ears twitching.

[Tierranalin]

His smile made her grin wider as she watched the way it gently curved around his lips. Ra' remembered the bear and thought back; other than her family the bear and Cathan were the only Kelvics she had met. Thinking back to it all she wished she could meet more and she hoped she would. Ra' thought of the lives they held and what kind of life she should have or could have.

Ra' looked back to Cathan and let out a sigh of content "I'm unsure yet, I'm thinking about going back to people... Finding a farm to work on or something, some form of work" she said looking out at the forest "it's always been my home here and always will but I need to be with people for a while I think" she said "I think I will find a farm close to here, that way if i need to run I can" she said with a nod.

Ra' felt a slight burn in her throat for reasons unknown as he said her name. She nodded "It's been a honor meeting you Cathan. I could not have hunted big without you, you also opened my eyes more to humans" she said with a smile "You travel safe" she said nodding "I hope good fortunes await you" she said. Ra' watched Cathan change, it was truly a beautiful process she had never seen before. She let her eyes rest one last time upon the wolf before her.

"Where I come from Cathan... Our people never say goodbye, they just say till we meet again and so we will" she said with a smile.