I relish in chaos.

^^Once upon a time, there was a wolf that had died and was reborn as an adolescent tiger. Mother Earth had swallowed Agrona and spit her back out as a different creature, whereas everything else - her memories, her scent, and the languages she knew - remained the same. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the story of how Canis got its first and probably only ever, Catdog. (Or should we say: Dogcat?)

The only problem was that Agrona didn’t know. She awoke feeling two things: as if her coat was on fire, and with this odd pressure on her shoulders, and - of course - hunger. None of these things told Agrona that her soul had been put inside the body of a younger animal. So Agrona, being Agrona, just shrugged it off and went to hunt.

She did not notice that her paws were thicker, wider, and more powerful or that she now had claws that could go inside her paws. She didn't even notice that things looked different, or smelled different. No. None of these things even registered, because the only thing that registered was hunger, and therefore, Agrona prowled through the forest as she normally would, without any other thought.

The only other thing that was noted was the crazy weather. Super heavy rainfall. Gusty winds and hello, fleeing animals. It was as if Mother Earth had wanted Agrona to eat something. The tip of her tail flickered, and for a moment, the tiger waited. She wanted something bigger. Something better.

An elk, or deer, perhaps? If only she could be so lucky.

^^
the staff team luvs u

[narrow width=700]

---

B U C K

---

Why were these little dudes so damn mean?

Buck stood at the base of a tree with weird winding roots that swept around and totally would be a tripping hazard if he was running right now. Inside the tree's roots was a hole and inside that hole was a ball of venom and anger and teeth and why the heck was it so mean? It had red fur and there were little versions of it hiding in there too he was pretty sure but damn, he just wanted to hunt it! He crept closer, sniffing sniffing sniffing and it hissed and bit at him and he jumped back, tail wagging slightly though it stuck straight out.

Something else spooked the thing because now it was hissing in a different direction and he took that moment to leap forward and snap at its neck. Ok, so, he got its neck but it totally wasn't dead because it started kicking and biting at air and trying to get away from him! He growled for it to be quiet and it got even LOUDER!

Like, the heck?

---

---

[/narrow]
the staff team luvs u

^^The goddess of carnage and battle, Agrona waited for the perfect little critter to bless her view. There were some critters fleeing the storm, and Agrona eyed them with an empty stomach and the twitch of her tail. They would be considered snacks, and Agrona didn’t want to hunt again in the next hour.

And there, by the base of an interesting tree, was something big and brown, and my oh my, didn’t he just look tasty as ever? A wolf, trying to get at something by the tree, or in the tree. She could hear the hissing and snapping, and wondered what could make such a sound, but the amur tiger did not want to give her position away, no.

So she stalked him up until she was getting hissed at, and suddenly, the wolf took the furred red demon by the neck, and she’d thought that was it. But a demon was a demon, and the thing started getting louder. Her ears flickered and Agrona licked over her lips. She was getting two in one? A combo deal?

She moved to linger behind one of the trees, peeking over at him from the side and an intent gaze. For now, she would wait, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

^^
the staff team luvs u

[narrow width=700]

---

B U C K

---

The fox writhed in his jaws and he shook shook shook and - oh fuck what was THAT?

He froze and stared at the pale shape peeking out behind a tree. That was no wolf that was huge! The fox in his jaws was either dead or was staring at the monster too. He clamped his jaws shut tight, trying to force down the scream he felt rising up in his throat. He coughed, hair climbing up his throat, and then he heard the little whimpers from the hole.

Oh shit he could hide in the hole!

He leaped into it, trying vigorously to scratch and dig his way into a hole that was made for a creature half his size. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

---

---

[/narrow]
the staff team luvs u

^^The wolf shook at his prey; shaking and shaking until - oh look at that, she’d been spotted. And then he stared for a hot moment, and for a second there, Agrona had thought that there was some sort of monster behind her, ‘cause wowie, look at how his fur spiked up like that. As if he was some sort of house cat that got spooked by somethin’ awful.

Looking behind her, Agrona was curious, too, but oh - there was nothing there. So he must have been lookin’ at her: Agrona, who was still not aware that she was not a canine. Maybe whatever it had been, had gone by the time she turned around? It was a little frightening weather they were having, and by the time Agrona looked back - the wolf was… trying to fit himself inside a hole would not fit him.

Other wolves didn't usually react to her in such a violent manner. So why had this one? Crimson eyes narrowed softly as she sniffed around; he didn't smell diseased. Ah, but there was only one way to figure that out, wasn't there? Her eyes narrowed, going between him and the fox several times before she finally decided on a fox - it was already dead, and less effort - eating it there, as she placed a big ol' paw on his ass to keep him there while she devoured the meal that he was so kind to offer.

^^
the staff team luvs u

[narrow width=700]

---

B U C K

---

His claws scrabbled against the soft earth of the inside of the hole under the tree frantically, trying to get purchase and make his way in. He could hear the pitiful whines of the critter's babies curled up to his left, just out of reach. Oh, those poor lil guys. They'd be tasty little meals but he wasn't really thinking about food right now. He was more thinking about not becoming food!

So when the cat's great big paws slammed down on his butt, he crumbled under their pressure and froze, panting nervously and wide-eyed.

“Please don't kill me, miss smilodon,” he whined over his shoulder. I wanna be in the sequel.

But then - oh - if he was stuck here, look at those tasty morsels. He eyed the kits, who whimpered in fear. If he was gonna die, he might as well be full! He started wiggling his body towards them, trying to keep his rear end pretty still so the cat didn't bite his butt or drag him out by his tail. Once he got near enough, he snapped, claiming one of the kids and trying to give it a quick, clean death by crunching its poor little spine.

---

---

[/narrow]
the staff team luvs u

Daily patrol, not much was new. Though curiously Buck, his fellow warrior had been nearby. His scent was everywhere, Remus was left wondering what he was rolling around in today, the boy was dull witted, but capable enough. Sometimes people like that just need a bit of guidance and they could still be useful.

Curiosity drove the hardened dog forward, looking to see what Buck was doing. What he saw when he turned the corner was a scene of carnage. Buck's rear had been flayed and that very same cat, was there eating him from the hind. Stained in blood and ripping at the gore her head continued to tear.

So Remus dipped back to cover. Buck was surely dead, there was no time for surprise or morning, and now he would have to gather a warband and be clever in order to fell this beast. Firstly, the wolf got low, and began to circle the scene, trying to map out the field of battle. Though as he circled, his perspective changed.

Something was off. A few more steps and Remus' posture relaxed, seeing a different mutilated corpse, smeared across bucks side and all over her pale pelt. It was a fox... It was reliving, but also a let down, there would be no battle here today.

To further add insult to injury, Buck's body shifted ever so slighty under her massive paw as it looked like he was still rooting around in the hole.

Remus' eyes squinted in annoyance as he left his cover and calmly began to walk forward. Never had he seen something like this.
the staff team luvs u

^^There they were, like two peas in a pod, just hanging out. Agrona, stealing his food and eating it in front of him like the tease that she was, and Buck was hiding out with the baby foxes. Ah. Was this canine a mutant fox? She lifted her head up from her meal when he’d fallen - not even registering that she’d caused him to do that - when he spoke to her.

Ah, his voice was like smooth whiskey that Agrona could drink from all night. “Agrona or Red. Pick one. I’m not Miss Smiloden. I don’t even know who that is.” Agrona grunted, wiggling her nose at him as she leaned in close to get a good sniff at him.

“You didn’t save a babe for me?” Agrona pouted, sitting down with a lowered head as she peered up at him with the most innocent, puppy-dog eyed expression that she could give, in order to make him feel guilty about not sharing, despite the fact that she’d just stolen his meal. Probably looked like a really weird expression coming from a tiger, though..

And then it hit her. Please don’t kill me. Uhh, what? “I beg your pardon. Do I look like a cannibal to you, sir? Actually, don't answer that. ” Offended, Agrona scoffed at him, licking over her lips as she turned, took a few steps as though she were about to walk away, when she spotted the golden-brown man from before.

So she paused mid-step, eyeing him carefully, as she glanced back towards Buck. Lots of brown wolves, in this forest. “Are you following me, dear Remus? Should I be concerned?”

^^
the staff team luvs u

[narrow width=700]

---

B U C K

---

Agrona? Red? What?

He was stunned by not only the fact that she was talking to him but that he could understand her words. Usually Smilodons just spoke in RAHHHRR and GRRRR. Which, thinking about how he'd been thinking the other day about how rabbits could probably understand him but not talk back, he figured that this must mean that sabres spoke with a different language. Until this one. Wait. Where was he going with his words? His thoughts?

There was a cat with her claws in his ass!

He munched away on the kit in pure panic response as she inquired about the thing in his mouth, of which there were definitely at least two more of. They were cowering now and probably super quiet so - he reached out and they yipped in panic as his jaws reached for them again and snagged around one. He was in the process of chewing on the creature to swallow it down when-

“Eh, what?” He peeked out of the holes to see her giving him a scowl. Cannibal? Oh fuck! What? She was moving, oh! He backpedaled out of the tree trunk hole, dropping a half-eaten kit and having his paws accidentally knock the living fox kit to the side, into the remains of its sibling. It squeaked in panic and flattened itself to the ground as he ignored it, ignorant of the trauma he'd just put upon the kit, and spun to stare at the sabre. Oh, she didn't have as big teeth as a sabre. What was she? “Ma'am, that's - That's not cannibalism, that's only if a wolf eats another wolf.” He shook his head in confusion, stumbling away from her.

Oh, wait, who was that?!

He saw the other form of a wolf who was looking as if he'd just walked in on the most bizarre scene ever. Which, granted, he had. The name clicked but the fact that she'd said it hadn't, nor did the fact that she was talking as if she knew Remus and had chatted with him before. “Remus, run, the sabre's gonna getcha!!” He danced back, paws scraping the earth nervously. “She ate my fox!”

The man started to turn to flee, which he would do if neither Remus nor the cat stopped him.

---

---

[/narrow]
the staff team luvs u

For a moment, it looked like the two where actually just hanging out, working together on some sort of screwed up fox hunt.  The type both a dullard and a feline could enjoy together.  Though, judging by Bucks reaction, their quality time didn't seem mutual.  Remus looked at Buck, with his typical stone like stare, judging him for being caught so off guard.  If Red, had been more hostile than it would be the simple boy's blood matting the pelt of the white cat.  Remus, knew he had to get out of here, and go somewhere he could find sturdy comrades, not that Buck was really half bad. 

Looking over the scene and remembering what he saw, the gears in the strategist's head began to turn.  Buck really looked dead, and if Remus hadn't taken a closer look than he would have been, at least in the opinion of everyone else.  Shelving that thought Remus relied to the cat's question with a sigh,  "No... I came to find this one."  Remus' eyes then narrowed at Buck, after acknowledging Red.  
"Buck..." He stated sternly, before giving him a long pause, and judgmental stare.
the staff team luvs u

^^Agrona had met her fair share of wolves, but none of them were so dense that they didn’t register Agrona as a wolf, until she’d met Buck. Strangely though, Buck wasn’t the first canine to treat her as if she were something more. Such things were impossible, though, weren’t they?

Agrona scoffed at him. “You think I am so foolish, that I would not know how cannibalism works? I am no different than you.” Agrona paused, glancing from Remus to Buck, brows arching as he proclaimed that some sabre was going to eat him - and that she had eaten his fox.

Sabre? Agrona blinked, prowling towards him with a growl. “I am a wolf. Just like you. Just like Remus.” And then she kept walking, right on past to him, to the fox kit that Buck had abandoned. “Aw, come here, you. Let’s get you away from this mean ol’ wolf, okay?”

And then she grabbed the thing, carefully, by the waist, and carried it several feet away, where she’d lay down to groom her new baby, while watching the other two.

^^
the staff team luvs u

[narrow width=700]

---

B U C K

---

Came to find - He looked over at him, mouth slightly agape. “What do you need me for, sir?” he asked, baffled. Upon the stern look and the judgemental stare, he lowered his head and tucked his tail, looking ashamed. The other wolf was older than him and was here way longer than he was so he figured he might as well talk respectfully, especially when cowed like this.

The girl seemed offended but also, why was she saying she was a wolf?

He peered at her, looking at her facial features, her ears, her piercing blue gaze. Even her tail and body didn't look anything like a wolf's! She had four legs, sure, but she was so much... more. Plus, he'd never seen a wolf with stripes like hers. “What's she talking about, Remus?” he asked a little loudly, “She doesn't look like a wolf?”

She was curled around the last fox kit and he blinked at it, startled. It was so messy and she was licking it like she was its mother! He watched this, mouth agape.

---

---

[/narrow]
the staff team luvs u

The scene was confusing before, and now it got just a bit more confusing. Buck's simplicity had spelled out something subtle.
Turning and twisting behind his eyes the hardened man, took a long moment to process this. No... She obviously wasn't a wolf.

Taking a look at her, groom the offspring of the duo's recent kill Remus felt slightly off put, suffering a bit. With a drooping face, Remus seemed to give into their chaos.

"No Buck, it doesn't look like she is a wolf" , He stated, before returning a neutral gaze to the feline. It was possible that, he knew what was going on here, when he first awoke, he didn't know what to call himself either... A wolf, a man, a dog?
the staff team luvs u

^^Agrona remained where she was, laying down some distance away as she groomed the fox kit as though it were one of her own children, listening to two wolves talk about how she didn’t look like a wolf - as if she couldn’t hear them.

She didn’t look like a wolf, which meant, what, exactly? She’d pause every few moments to look up at them with arched brows, and the twitch of her nose. Could exactly, couldn’t she look like a wolf? So she sighed and cast them both a suspicious glance, before returning to groom over her poor, traumatized little fox. She would say nothing more unless she was addressed.

^^
the staff team luvs u

[narrow width=700]

---

B U C K

---

Remus seemed similarly confused, at least that's what Buck figured when he looked at him for the brief moment his eyes weren't locked on the strange sight of the cat licking her meal. Buck figured, well, she'd just eaten the critter's mom or dad, so why was she being so slow to eat it? His own stomach rumbled from the hastily eaten fox kits and he let out a huff of displeasure.

Yet about the cat's identity crisis, Remus seemed rather... blasé.

“Should we tell her?” Buck asked, “Never seen a cat think she's a wolf before...” which wasn't saying a lot, since all he'd seen of cats were, well, their teeth going into his throat. He remembered this suddenly, the shock of seeing the lions as he'd turned from their cubs. The cubs were going to be a great meal for his family, he was just about to prove he was ready to move up in the world and stop being a babysitter! Then they'd - they'd... Seeing her now as a cat proper and not just a weird stripey wolf, well.

He stumbled away, hurrying over his paws to back away from her. “I don't like it-” and then he ran.

---

---

[/narrow]
the staff team luvs u

The stone like gaze of the grizzled man went from Buck to the cat and then back.  His mind was seemingly locking down on the nature of reality here. The cat didn't know she was a cat but... Buck knew he was a wolf.  Unintentionally, Remus caught another glimpse of Red, doting over the offspring of their recent kill, while he listened to buck stammer.  

What good would it even do to try to convince her, if she wouldn't listen than she could find out on her own. Suddenly, and without much warning, Buck's expression changed and his morale suddenly broke, then the boy took off.  Shouldn't he know better to run from a cat. 

Taking a step forward Remus broadcasted his voice, "Leave him!"  He understood that he dared to command the gods, though the hope was to put that moment of doubt into her mind if she thought about chasing him.  If she did, his posture portrayed that he would be ready to join the frey.
the staff team luvs u

^^There was something in the air that shifted as Buck decided it was best to hightail it out of there, and Agrona felt the pull. The prey drive, or whatever it was, that commanded her to stand with a low, grumbling growl. Every muscle in her body was commanding her to follow him; to chase him, though she didn’t know what she’d do with him once she caught him.

Standing, with the fox kit’s head in her mouth as she didn’t know how else to carry the thing, as Remus commanded her attention as he tried to save his friend’s life. Her tail flickered behind her as Agrona approached Remus, prowling towards him with a low grumble, ears flattening and eyes narrowing. She dropped the fox, keeping it pinned down, though gently, under her paw, so that she may speak to Remus.

“If what you speak is true, then how exactly do you plan on distracting me, Маленький волк — Little Wolf?”

^^
the staff team luvs u

Remus' gambit seemed to work, her attention snapped from Buck.  Though, now she seemed offended at his boldness. Reading the cat, he could see that she was perturbed at the command. As she prowled forward, Remus didn't flinch, he was starting to remember the death that brought him to this life, so if he was to die again, he would go on to the next. His honor was more important.

Always turning and calculating situations in his mind, he figured he could make the best of this.  This aspect, locked in flesh was quickly moved by Remus' display.  It was an opportunity to raise a hero.  "I take it that you realize I have been telling you the truth." He said calmly, standing with dignity against a superior force. "If you where born a wolf in this life than why would you urge to chase a wolf.  What will you do now, tell me your destiny." 
the staff team luvs u

^^I take it that you realize I have been telling you the truth. Yes, that was the case here, wasn’t it? How else would it explain everything that had happened, or how others acted towards her? She could still recall the words.

I’m afraid I’m not used to hunting with lions..
          Only if a wolf eats another wolf..

Agrona noted, too, the differences in her strength. How wolves seemed three sizes too small, suddenly, and then there’d been the way that Buck had reacted to seeing her for the first time. Remus’ first reactions to her, too.

Yet, he did not flinch as she had approached him. He did not look away. No. No, he had a point. Wolves didn’t desire to chase wolves; they didn’t have a prey drive over each other, but anything else was a different story.

Her tail flickered and Agrona prowled forward, meeting the smaller predator nose to nose, assuming he still did not move. “I like you.” The tiger growled softly, leaning down to carcass her tongue over the length of his nose and not stopping until he either moved away, or until she had licked between his eyes and over his forehead.

“I can’t stay in this forest. I need to go somewhere, where I can hunt prey without being seen and hopefully… come upon someone like me,” Agrona said thoughtfully, with a pinch of hope in her voice - though she didn't know what she was, or what she looked like to know if she could find another of her kind.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Though, he stood bravely it was just a bit reliving that she had taken his reasoning well. He did not break eye contact until  she passed her tongue across the bridge of his head, Remus only flinched a bit. It was an odd moment, the beast allowed him under her neck,  as she groomed him he stared at the spot that would contain her throat, musing with the possibility that this would have been the moment to strike and not let go.  But, this paragon gave him no reason to doubt the quality of her soul. 

It had been a long time since he had experienced anything tender like this, mostly it had been lifetimes of harsh treatment. Uncharacteristically, Remus' tail began to very faintly wag. 

Surprisingly, it seemed within an instant, she had a great part of her life thought out. It was a simple and humble plan, and Remus couldn't fault her for it.  "Follow me, I have something to show you..."  he responded, not stepping away from her presence; motioning with his nose in the direction of this unknown thing.
the staff team luvs u

^^Agrona’s large, spiked tongue made contact with his coat, and even that had felt - and tasted - different then what she knew it would have felt and tasted like with the smooth tongue of a canine. And the blood tiger would have been content with grooming him for the rest of the night, had he allowed it.

And then he spoke, causing Agrona to pause with her tongue sticking out as she glanced down at him, noting that he had not stepped away, or stopped her, but rather, was pointing his nose into the direction of… whatever he wanted to show her. She took several steps back and lowered her head, as if awaiting for him to lead the way. What could he possibly have to show her?

^^
the staff team luvs u

After walking for some time, Remus lead the cat to a small pool of water hidden amongst the rocky crags of Elkshire.  It was a secluded spot, that not many others where aware of.  These stones collected the rainwater that so often fell here. 

This was the spot where Remus first got a good look at himself.  When he came into this life, he to did not know what he was.  But images rarely lie, and in this pool he saw himself as a wolf.  The pool was also the clearest that he knew of free from impurity.  

With a silent gesture, he offered this sacred spot to Agrona.
the staff team luvs u

^^And so the tiger would follow the wolf into the deep thicket of the forest. He would eventually bring her to a large collection of stones that formed some sort of shape; a shape large enough to collect water. And for a moment, Agrona considered it; looking at herself, and realizing the truth.

She almost turned away, but realized that Remus was being kind enough to show her; to prove to her that she was not canine. Her rounded ears flickered and she cast Remus a glance of uncertainty as she stepped forward and peered at herself.

What she saw was not how she had remembered herself. Not exactly, anyway; the gray on her snout still remained; as did the red hue on her ears, and the reds of her eyes, but now her body was adored in stripes, too. Stripes that looked black from afar, and likely also when wet, but in truth, they - too - were deep red. Almost the same color of dried blood & Agrona could recall all the times she had rolled in blood after her kills. Was this some sort of karma? Yet it felt like an upgrade.

“What… am I?”

^^
the staff team luvs u

The centurion could feel the reluctance of the beast. Gazing upon the mirror like surface was a dangerous thing. Remus offered a silent reassurance, nodding softly. He would let her enter the crags first, she would likely need a moment alone.

After some time the wolf followed after the cat, viewing her taking in her image. She was easily twice the size of the large wolf, certainly a cat of some sort. Both equally terrifying and beautiful.

Remus joined her at the pool sitting at her side, giving the cat a degree of trust not typical of a wolf. She posed a simple question to either Remus or the heavens itself. As if the heavens spoke through his lips Remus only said, "You are you."
the staff team luvs u

^^You are you.

Agrona was, honestly, unsure what to do with this information. She had lived her entire life as a wolf, and did not know how to not be a wolf, and to suddenly be… this hunkering beast that she was now.

Eventually, Remus would come to join her, sitting at her side as if she were not twice the size of him. She paused to look at him, as he seemed completely content there, and trusting her, although he didn’t really know her.

She leaned down to gently press her big ol’ feline head against his smaller, canine head; holding the position there as she took in his scent. And then, at long last, she spoke; a whisper.

“Thank you.”

^^
the staff team luvs u