[Flashback] Remembrance (Miharu)

[Amondaris]

Remind me not to say anything that might startle someone who's stitching up my face. Sound advice, but he wasn't entirely sure whom he was talking to. He had come close enough to losing his eye today already, he didn't fancy going another round with fate on the matter of keeping it. To his credit, though, he took her surprised reaction in stride, barely batting an eyelid as the needle swung back and forth across his cheek like some macabre pendulum. He merely raised a hand and waved the matter aside, clearly not in the least bit bothered by the fumbling. Difficult man to annoy, then. It had technically been his fault, anyway, so he would have felt churlish even contemplating holding it against her. "Still. If I wished to experience the thrill of the hunt I would hunt down slavers, or poachers. Things that actually deserve being hunted, not just for the sake of men's egos." He watched her as she attempted to pass the thread through the eye of the needle, her hands evidently unwilling to co-operate. Was she cold? She lacked the Gnosis he possessed, and she didn't have her wolf form's thick coat of fur. "If I take my fur-straps from my hands, will you wear them? I do not feel the cold, so I wear them for camouflage purposes, but they will keep your hand warm and help with tricky tasks like that." So she didn't have a solid place to stay. The thought did not sit well with Amondaris, who possessed a deep-seated protective instinct towards females of any species. "I can carry a tent just fine, and I don't have to shift. If you wish to sleep in a cave, I can stand watch for you. I would prefer you come to our hold, though. I'm from Frostfawn, and we have plenty of room for you, and it would be warm. Free food. You could use my bed while I sleep elsewhere. Nobody would bother you at all, and you could leave whenever you liked." He made to grimace, then stopped mid-expression, the strange lack of sensation in the majority of the left side of his face reminding him that moving it too much was a bad idea. "I know you don't know me well at all, but think about it. I'll give you the chance to know me, if you like, and then you can make your decision. My family will be nice to you as well, don't worry about that." That had been the most the young man had spoken at once, to anyone, since Rhanor's death all those years ago. He abruptly felt a little embarrassed, uncomfortable with having talked for so long. He was distracting her from her work. That was rude. He'd shut up now and stop making an idiot of himself. Thus, the young man lapsed back into silence, eyes a deep, warm orange to all the better show his embarrassment.

[Miharu Mindi]

She finished off the last stitch while he was halfway through his speech, and made to reach for something else in the kit - and then just froze, staring up at him like a deer caught in firelight.

"You don't... you don't owe me anything. I certainly don't mean to have you dragging my belongings through the wilderness simply because I gave you a few stitches," she said, blushing a rosy pink. She couldn't even imagine it - a human serving her. Such a thing never happened, wasn't supposed to happen.

His offer of welcoming her into his house, though, shocked her even further. Golden eyes suddenly jerked around them, as if she were expecting to find herself caught in some trap. She'd been warned by her father of men who wished to grab Kelvics and sell them into servitude, had seen the passing of slavers on the trade routes. They were given wide berth. She finally settled on his gaze once more, and saw the embarrassment there, the awkwardness in the broken lines of his face. She finally just busied herself with getting out the little leather-roll filled with a clear, oily ointment. She reached up to dab it across the stitches, something to help the skin stay moist and heal better. "It's a kind offer, she finally murmured, unsure what else to say. "If you... if you truly wish, I'll return with you to your hold. But I will earn my own way. I have no wish to be a burden to your family. They can have what we've taken today, and I can hunt for them more as well, or use what little medicine I know to help your kin. And if you've a warm fire nearby, I've no need for a bed. They make me nervous anyway," she chuckled, the laugh itself an attempt to make him more comfortable. She hadn't meant to make him feel out of sorts, and now that she realized it she did her best to assuage that.

When she was done, quick fingers repacked everything back as it'd been and rolled the kit up again to shove it into her pack. The astringent-covered cloth was then rubbed against the leg of his pants where he'd wiped off his blade, covering up the scent of blood in case they were tracked, before she balled it up with the other cloth and tucked it into her pack. "How far is it to your hold?

[Amondaris]

His head canted to one side as he watched her with an amused air, the right side of his mouth twitching up in a brief flicker of a smile. She was an odd one. So jumpy, and - Was she blushing? A soft, quiet laugh welled up from his throat, the sound rich and full of warmth, the man's eyes turning a glorious shade of deep, burnished gold. It served to soften the hard planes of his face, and if it were not for the ruin caused by his recent wound, he would have been handsome indeed. As it was, however...Well, he wouldn't be winning any prizes or stealing any hearts any time soon, that much was for certain. Sobering up some, he gave his head a cautious shake, waving his right hand in a dismissive arc. "I decide to whom I owe a debt to, and how I am to repay it, not anyone else. And I say I owe you a debt. So deal with it." Again, that lopsided smile curved his lips. "What, don't think I'm strong enough to carry a few things for you? Think of it practically. You can't carry a tent because you shift into your wolf form, but I don't need to, so there's no reason I shouldn't. Besides. Without this stitching and your help, I'd either have my face rot off, or be dead. Neither of which I'm partial to, personally..." One again, his head tilted, this time to his other side as he frowned at her in a quizzical manner, a half-smile playing across his lips. "You don't have to be so on edge, you know. I'm not going to bite you or hurt you. I'd never do that. I'd rather you have let that wolf eat me, really." Here, he paused, his expression returning to what appeared to be it's habitual,grim countenance as he dipped his head in a slow nod. "You can earn your keep, aye. My sisters and mother could likely use you for their work, though I'll want you to try to stay out of their devious machinations. I can't have another female plotting against me in that place." A pained expression crossed his face, though it was more for comical effect than any real upset. "Morwen knows what they'll say to me when I bring home a pretty girl, with my face have clawed off. It's going to be an insufferable few days, to say the least..I seriously hope they don't try to set me up with you. I hate it when they do that. I usually just flee into the tundra..." A strangley one-sided frown creased the right half of his brow as he mulled over the situation and his options of dealing with it. "Probably best to take you out hunting with me when I can. Can't have them swaying you to their side, the girls would have you gossiping and wearing pretty bows within a week." He waved a hand again in that increasingly familiar, dismissive wave. "There's never a fire in my room. I don't like the heat, but you could sleep with my little sisters, if you prefer. They always have a roaring fire on.Mother would likely insist, too." He barely seemed to notice as she applied yet more ointment upon his wound, nor did he react to her dabbing at the bloodied patch on his leg. Squinting into the distance as if considering her last question, he chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully, eyes fading to their usual, glacial blue hue. "Not too long. Five, six candlemarks if we make good time and jog bits of it. Less if we go at a leisurely pace. I have my tent and supplies buried near here, though, and it'll be dark well before we get home. We could set up camp, if you prefer?" He flicked his gaze back to her, his right brow arching expectantly.

[Miharu Mindi]

She blinked up at him when he laughed - and her own mouth broke into a bright, cheerful grin in response. How long had it been since she'd heard someone laugh? Months? Half her lifetime at least. She had been a long time in the wilderness.

"Why would I help women with housework? I know nothing of cleaning or sewing or... whatever it is they do," she said, her distaste and confusion expressed with another delicate wrinkle of her nose. "And if they try to put bows in my hair, they'll get bitten. I am no lapdog to wear an adorable sweater and eat treats from their hands," she snorted, setting the pack in front of her and shoving everything around until there was more room at the top. "Let's get as far as we can before dark. If we jog, we should be able to make it to one of my old campsites. I've marked it before and I'll do it again to keep the animals out. About a candlemark that way. Let's get your things and I'll lead the way." She pointed, a little west of where he'd indicated his hold was, but that difference could easily be made up once they were under the morning sun.

With that, she unstrapped the roll of fur-wrapped meats and pulled off her cloak, twisting it around and tying it back onto the bottom of her pack. Boots were kicked off, and she hauled the dress over her head again. She gave no indication of understanding that nakedness was anything more than impractical in the cold, crouching down and shivering a little as she stuffed the dress and boots into the top of her pack.

Another flash of golden light flared bright and swirling, lasting only a moment, before the silver wolf stood in front of him once more. She gingerly took the strap of the pack in her teeth, then looked up at him expectently as if waiting for him to lead the way.

[Amondaris]

So she smiled, after all! He had been beginning to wonder if the girl even knew what a smile was, let alone if she was capable of one. To be fair, he allowed, there was precious little reason to smile out in the wastes. It did tend to make those who inhabited it as bleak and unforgiving as the landscape itself, and he himself was no exception. He was glad to see it hadn't sapped all the colour and joy from Miharu's life. At least, not yet, anyway. Again, the corner of his lips twitched up in a flicker of amusement at her comments, the blue of his eyes banded with that rich gold from earlier. He had smiled more in the time with her than he had in the past few seasons, a fact which was not lost upon him. It hurt to smile, with the wound on his face, so it was rather hard to ignore. He rose, the immense fur cloak spilling out from behind him to brush the surface of the white powder beneath him, and said, his tone wry, "Why indeed. I confess I know little as to what they do, either. Women are ever a mystery to me, and most other men, I suspect." He turned from her, gazing off towards where she had pointed, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that there was an attractive female divesting herself of her clothes not five paces away. Best to wilfully ignore it, really. Made things easier. "Though I do know my sisters will not take being bitten all that well. Even if the image of you adorned with bows and clad in a bright pink sweater is ah..Endearing. Unfortunately enough, I am the only one in the family that is in any way quiet of temperament, so biting them may be inadvisable if you don't want them to retaliate in kind." He paused here, tilting his head to one side and added, almost as an afterthought, "...They have sharp teeth." He lifted a hand to rub at his cheek only to flinch back as the calloused pads of his fingers made contact with the freshly doctored wound that split his face in two. Scowling, he muttered something sourly beneath his breath and lowered his hand to his side, giving a short, thoroughly unamused growl. He flicked a quick glance over to Miharu and, noting that she was now in her animal form, twitched a hand at her and said, "Alright. I buried my supplies about a chime or two from here, so this won't take long." With that, he turned on his heel and strode off a ways, trudging through the snow and heading south of their current position until he came across the large stick he had planted in a bank of snow earlier. Crude, but it was an effective means of locating a buried cache quickly, and the height of the stick meant you could find it even if a particularly thick flurry of snow fell atop it. Kneeling, he dug into the frozen powder, scooping out great handfuls of the stuff that he flung behind him in a spray of white. It took little time for him to clear the majority of the snow off his little stash and in short order he had straightened, the large pack in hand, tent rolled up and strapped to the bottom, and set about slipping it on over his cloak, the bulk of the item making the task a cumbersome one. When he was finally finished shrugging on the pack, he turned, inclining his head towards Miharu as he said, "I will carry that pack of yours, if you wish. I imagine carrying it in your jaws gets both tiring and makes movement awkward." If she accepted his offer, he would simply grasp the pack in his hand and loop it over his shoulder beside his own, but regardless of her decision he would fall in behind her as she took the lead. He was no marathon runner, but he was fit as a man was likely to get and set a steady, measured pace, breath pluming from between his lips in brief, staccato bursts of white. His incredibly long legs allowed him to bound over the worst of the snow in a peculiar leaping run, pushing himself up and over the clinging matter in an attempt to keep up a decent speed. He was running with a wolf, after all. Not exactly something he had ever expected to do in his lifetime, but here he was, enormous white wolf moving over the snow before him as they traversed the beautifully bleak wasteland of the Talderan tundra. It was like something straight out of a fable, really. A man being led to comfort by a wolf who had just saved his life and healed his wounds. He wouldn't be terribly surprised if Caiyha showed up and gave some speech about how man and animals could co-exist. Or something. Traveling through the tundra was a monotonous, boring thing and having an active and vivid imagination helped things move along marvelously. He allowed his thoughts to drift along aimlessly as he jogged along, content to simply follow Miharu until they reached their destination.

[Miharu Mindi]

She followed quietly behind him as he went to retrieve his cache, her massive paws making little sound on the snow of the tundra. There was a small rattle of the things in her pack, but the wolf herself made almost no noise.

When he shrugged his own pack on and then reached for hers, she blinked huge golden eyes and took a hesitant step back. It took a moment of indecision - having never been offered help before - to conclude that yes, it would be easier to run without the pack. And he was a big man, could probably carry her little pack without stress. Finally she gave low low growl and nodded, and delicately dropped the pack at his feet.

When he was ready, she gave a sharp bark and turned her nose westward.

Thus began a full bell's worth of running through the frozen wastelands. The wolf set a pace which was not too hard for the long-legged Amondaris to keep up with, more a loping jog than an actual run. Every now and then she would dart off in some direction, and sometimes he would catch a glimpse of her bolting down a mouse or some other small treat. But she always returned immediately to his side, never distracted for very long.

She finally slowed near a little gathering of bushes, panting a little as she did a quick survey and sniffed out anything that had changed since the last time she'd been here. She looked over at Amondaris and gave another sharp bark then pointed her nose towards the abandoned firepit she'd dug out the last time she was here. There was an obvious tone of get a fire started to the look she gave him. Then she bounded off, circling wide around the campsite and pissing at regular intervals to mark it as hers and keep other animals away. When she finally returned, she simply curled into a ball and tucked her nose under her tail, keeping as much of her body heat in her system as she could.

[Amondaris]

His heavy footfalls threw up clumps of snow as he approached the campsite, the white powder spraying into the air like minuscule pieces of shrapnel. His breath came in great and gasping gusts of mist that plumed into the frozen air before curling off into faint whisps, fading into nothingness as the panting mixed blood strode into camp. Staggered could perhaps have been a better term for how he entered the site as the bell long run had definitely taken it's toll on him. His legs felt like they were simultaneously on fire and made of solid lead, such was the pain and effort each step required. His lungs, too, made their displeasure at this marathon length bout of exercise they had just undergone, each breath as enjoyable as sucking down liquid flame. Wasn't running just grand? Miharu seemed none the worse for wear, however. There were several distinct advantages to having a lupine form. Benefiting from the natural stamina of a wolf when it came to long distances was one of them, but he wasn't envious of her in the least. No sir. Not him. He was perfectly happy with his barely functioning limbs and painful breathing. Speaking of his tireless, furry companion, she had just -literally- barked an order at him, and had set about finishing the task of re-marking her territory. The practice didn't so much as make Amondaris bat an eyelid. He did it himself sometimes, after all. The scent of human urine tended to drive off all but the biggest or hungriest animals and it behooved him to make his presence all the more obvious if he were in the right location to do so. Not something he would need to do now, so he focused on more immediate matters. Like a fire. Not necessarily something he himself needed, but Miharu would certainly appreciate the extra warmth it would provide. Dropping the two packs, he dragged his own over to the fire pit and crouched down beside it, unstrapping several long, dried sticks from it's sides and unclasping the flaps to begin rummaging through the myriad contents. Pressing aside carefully wrapped packets of dried meats and various other survival gear, he extracted several small, rectangular packages and set them to one side, the items quickly followed by a handful of bark shavings from one of the side pockets and flint and steel from the depths of the rucksack itself. Closing the bag, he nudged it out of his way and gathered the necessary supplies before him. Sticks and squares of dried horse dung for the fuel, bark shavings for kindling and flint and steel for ignition. All the ingredients for a healthy fire, even in the chilling tundra of Taldera. Clearing the fire pit of any residual snow, he set some of the sticks down into the pit, placing the bark shavings in the center. Following this, he set the flint and tinder to one another and began striking one off the other, sparks landing amongst the dried curled pieces of bark. A short while of this, and the tinder was aflame, Amondaris quickly adding a small handful of sticks atop the fledgling tongues of flame. He waited patiently as the growing fire took hold of the dried wood, doing his best to shield the newly born heat from the wind lest it be extinguished. When he judged the flames to be strong enough, he added several bricks of dung on top of the merrily crackling sticks, steadily adding more and more lengths of thin wood until a healthy fire had sprung to life in the pit. Neatly putting the remaining supplies back in their respective places within his rucksack, he stepped back and admired his handiwork. Not too shabby. Granted, a blind man with no knowledge of how to set a fire could have started one with all the ready-made, facilitating supplies Amondaris had with him, but that didn't take away from his sense of accomplishment! Rolling his shoulders forward lazily, he unfastened his furred cloak and set it before the fire, close enough to bask in the heat yet far enough away it wouldn't get singed. He settled down on one side of the immense cloak and crossed his legs beneath him, utilising it as a blanket, and gestured at the empty space to his left, saying, "Easier to lie on a cloak than the snow or hard ground, I find. Settle down for a bit and warm yourself, then I will get started on setting up my tent. And yours, if you like, though mine is large enough for four men so we needn't share a bed or such. Your preference, as I am fine with either."

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu sat quietly as he went about making the fire, for the truth was she could have done without it too but would have had to stay in her wolf form. In this, her body was made to withstand the cold - she could have dug a hole in the snow to insulate her body heat. But if she did that, she wouldn't be able to talk. And she very much wanted to talk to this strange man.

When the fire was blazing high enough that the heat made her uncomfortable in her fur, she unwound and stretched carefully, first her front half and then her back as she kicked up a bit of snow. She bounded over to the packs he'd set aside, shaking herself a little and seemingly more energetic now that the fire had been built up, and changed in a bright flash of light so she could dig her clothing out of her pack. Pale skin, as white as the surrounding snow, glowed in the flickering firelight. "We should cook the meat we took today," she said over her shoulder, shoving the riot of blond curls out of her face before yanking out her boots and shoving them onto her feet. "I can always hunt for more once we get to your Hold, and we can still give your family the fur. And i think I have some cheese left from the last time I was in Avanthal," she offered, pulling the dress over her head.

She untied the rolled cloak from the bottom of the pack and then skipped over to his side, sliding gracefully into a seat on his cloak. She seemed to have no real concept of personal space, snuggling close to his side for warmth as she unrolled the cloak and pulled the wolf's pelt out to hand over to him. "You can cook yours if you like," she chuckled, glancing up at him with a flash of a smile before throwing her cloak over her shoulders, "but I eat it raw so I've no idea how to cook it so it'll taste good to you. There's some salt in my pack too. Any cooking makes it taste wrong to me," she said with a shrug. "And I don't have a tent, remember? So we'll have to use yours. Oh! And I have some tea and a bit of honey left if you've something to boil water in," she said, bouncing a little in her seat, obviously excited to be able to offer him something.

[Amondaris]

He sat with his elbows propped on his crossed legs, his fingers laced together to form a sturdy lattice of scars and pale skin upon which he set his chin. He seemed to have a face constructed for the sole purpose of frowning, all hard planes and stern lines, yet he seemed at peace as he sat staring into the fire. Almost serene, in a way, despite the wound that divided his features in a vivid, unsightly line. His eyes had reverted to their usual frosted blue, glimmering brightly as they reflected the gleeful revelry of the flames as they danced and twirled, licking at the air as if ecstatic at being alive. In Amondaris' opinion, it was part of the beauty of fire that it's dance was so vivacious, yet short-lived. It made you savour it all the more, he thought. In a way, Miharu's energetic movement, the flashes of light as she changed and the sunny smile she warmed him with reminded him of the fire he contemplated. Bright, joyful and full of life yet cursed with a short span upon this world. Or, depending on how you looked at these things, blessed because of it. Himself? No, he was no bright and revelrous, capering flame to bring light and warmth to the world. He was more akin to the ice he was so fond of. Measured and slow, terribly cold to get close to and not at all a source of comfort. A wry, faintly bitter smile twisted his scarred lips. Aye, that was him. So deep in his reverie was he that he didn't notice Miharu drawing close until she was pressing against him, the sudden closeness causing him to start, stiffening until he realised that it was only her. Relaxing visibly, he turned his gaze to the wolf pet which held the meat of the animal that had probably given him a rather unsightly scar, frowning at it slightly. "I suppose cooking it now would be best, yes. You may keep the cheese for yourself, or share it with the girls if they desire it. I dislike taking food from others, personally. I feel strange unless I've earned it, and I am already very firmly in your debt as is.", he said, a faint smile curling the corner of his lips. "I have some stock to add better flavour, if you'd like to try some of that. I'll boil up the meat, I think, and add in the stock to it." Rising, he made his way over to his rucksack and extracted an old and battered pot along with a small pouch. Scooping up a healthy amount of snow in the worn pot, he used the gift Morwen had bestowed upon him as a babe and turned the snow into meltwater with but a thought. As always, when he used the gifts of his Gnosis, he gave a prayer of thanks to the Lady of Winter, and settled the pot on top of the fire. Retrieving the meat from the pelt of the wolf, he plonked it into the pot along with a healthy sprinkle of stock, secreting the pouch back into his rucksack before unfastening the large tent from the bottom of the pack. Straightening, he strode to a suitable spot a safe distance from the fire and dumped the bundle of canvas and poles to the ground. Rolling his neck around slowly, he set to the task of erecting the structure, taking little time despite it's size. Practice and familiarity bred competence, after all, and barely ten chimes had passed before he had the four-man tent set up, blankets and bedrolls laid down and ready for going abed. Satisfied with how things were, he checked on the bubbling pot before settling down beside Miharu, stretching his legs out towards the fire and leaning back lazily. "If you would like tea, as I suppose I should have asked before using the only pot I own, you are going to have to wait, I'm afraid. Sorry about that.", he said, turning his head to face her and flashing her a bright, disarmingly roguish grin and promptly winced as the act pulled at the stitches of his wound. "That is going to take a while to get used to...So when was the last time you met someone? I'm not the first person you've spoken to in a while, am I?"

[Miharu Mindi]

"Oh, I probably won't eat the cheese anyway. I got it on trade for dagger I found. Well, I got a whole bag of stuff, and the cheese is really all that's left. Some mint, too, but I don't know how good that is. Ate all the jerky, and the sugar. I like sugar." The girl seemed to have no concept that she was rambling on, and one had to wonder if she talked this much when she was on her own.

While Amondaris went about preparing the pot, she dug into the pile of meat and pulled out the heart she'd tucked away. It was rather small, fitting into her cupped hand with ease, and she sniffed it first before biting a chunk off and chewing thoughtfully. "Last time I spoke to someone? Um. Well, I went into Avanthal a couple weeks ago to trade and get supplies, so I had to talk to the shopkeepers. Wasn't more than bargaining though. I guess I haven't had a real conversation with anyone in... two seasons, I suppose? Yeah. Beginning of Summer." That had been when Lliani had taken her own life, mere weeks after her father had been killed in a hunt.

The joy she'd felt in his company bled instantly from her face, and the suspicion and guardedness returned as she remembered her failures and the heartache and death it had caused. If I had been a better servant, or loved her more, or tried harder... The black thoughts spun around her head until she curled her legs in front of her and wrapped her arms around her knees, concentrating very hard on finishing the heart and not looking at Amondaris. I have to stop. I'll just hurt him too.

Her silence stretched on, sudden and uncomfortable, though she couldn't help but glance up at him every now and again. Maybe he would be different. Maybe I just had to wait for him. But he said he doesn't like being served, doesn't like another giving to him. Maybe he would hate me too.

That spiraled her downward again, and she sighed heavily and wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand, then carefully licked it off.