If you were to look at me now,

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The sickness had made her sleep in longer than usual. Through the night and through early morning which was normally reserved for heading to the gardens to check on the drying herbs and bring them back to Tsukiishi all before the morning sun had completed its rise. As the Empress slowly made her way out of the isolation den, she took a quick stretch to wake up still slumbering limbs - a long, drawn out yawn that  brought a single tear to her pale eye in an attempt to wake herself up.

Still stuck in the early days of the illness, she was still suffering from a fever and sore throat (and unbeknownst to her, had lost her voice through the night). Newly mute for the day, she obliviously wandered away from the den to stretch out her legs. To keep them moving just enough so they wouldn't atrophy. A little stroll toward the small river for a drink would do no harm.

Even the small walk to the water's edge was tiresome. To drink the resting Empress laid down in the snow as opposed to dipping her head for a drink, wiggling herself closer to the edge until her head was close enough to lap it up while lazying about on the ledge. As she lay there with her belly in the snow, head hanging over the water to drink its cold, refreshing body, the cool tough felt good against her warm skin. She wouldn't want to stay here forever, but for now, it felt nice.

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Set after this thread  https://canismajor-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=2058 

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The river... the place of weak and unsuspecting prey.  They would always avert their gaze to drink.  

Another one of these strange northern wolves had entered his hunting grounds.  The vegetation here was good for the large beast, giving him something to hide in. That smell, it was that of the sick and weak. The cat kept himself concealed in the browning summer grass, quietly observing the pale wolf as she went about refreshing herself at the river. Instinct gave him a sudden excitement as the sick woman dipped her head to drink. 

In a lapse of judgement, the massive feline broke his cover barreling towards the sick woman only a few strides away.
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^^

The sound of the babbling water as it cut through the silence of the winter wonderland was soothing. It consumed her as she focused on the sound between laps, listening to the distant chirps and songs of winter birds such as the single waxwing chattered in the trees behind.

— Then silence.

An eerie silence took the woods that caused for enough alarm that her ears stood to attention, seeking for the reason it all fell still. Lifting her head from the river, pushing up with front legs to crane her neck and take a look around, all just on time to see the feline come running out toward her.

For a moment she thought it was Rainier, here to come and check on her and Reiko smiled for a moment, ready to greet her new and strangely beautiful daughter... but this wasn't she. This was someone else, and the same gentle pale eyes who were warm and welcoming for a moment widened in fear at the sight.

Scrambling to her feet she tried to run. A squeak coming her throat with an attempt to scream but left with nothing to give. What was she to do now? Should she run to Tobias for aid? 

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In that moment, the feline realized his lapse in judgement. It was probably the way she looked at him initially, it wasn't a look of fear, like that of prey.  It was almost as if she recognized him.    

So he hit the breaks.  The massive tom dug in his front paws to the loamy gravel below, but it was too late; momentum would continue to carry him. Her face turned to that of terror, his did likewise.  And so, the skidding feline unable to stop made contact with the strange woman, plowing into her at low speed.  He tried to avert his massive momentum, but it only made him stumble, landing somewhat on top of her in a heap.
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^^

Even with the attempt to move, to run, somewhere - anywhere but here. Maybe toward Tobias because at least with him here he could seem more daunting than the fragile little snow flower. But she didn't move fast enough and the two collided. A plume of white and dirt erupted as the fell.

She caught sight of their fear as well, the change in their expression and the desire to stop - but both of them failed in that endeavour to avoid each other. Now she was under the large feline, trying to free herself from their muscular body weighing down from above. A long drawn out whine crying from her sore throat with a couple of raspy coughs, frustrated that she felt so useless and weak that she could free herself.

At least they didn't fall in the water right? The only way this could get worse was for her to fall in and be lost in the current. Things could definitely be worse and yet it didn't seem to make things feel all that better.

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A massive pang of regret washed over him as he realized how out of control he had been. He didn't really fall on her very hard, so neither of them should have taken to much damage, right.  He heard her whine and scrambled to his feet as fast as he possibly could, as if trying to undo the damage. 

He looked down at the white canine, the cats eyes locked to a small swath of red staining the snow flower's coat.  Noticing how close they where to the rivers edge they where, Kuhn counted his luck taking a timid step back.  As soon as his paw hit the ground a shooting pain made its way up his arm.  Looking down to his paw, he had torn part of his pad off in the skid, that was probably his blood on her white coat. 

"I...Uh..." He stammered taking another step back before nervously pacing to and fro, obviously trying not to put to much weight on his front paw. He had half a mind to just run back into the grass now, and forget this ever happened.
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^^

Pulling, clawing at the dirt and snow within her reach to try and set herself free - she almost tumbled forward with the sudden weight being lifted off of her and immediately taking a moment to shake it off. The vigorous shaking had left her a little light headed from the sickness, feeling as if her paws had come away from the earth as she swayed lightly before the world stopped spinning within seconds.

Much better. She thought before turning back around to set her eyes on the feline, he didn't look threatening... in fact he almost had that same innocent look on him like Rainier did. The red along the pale snow was hard to miss as her eyes were immediately drawn to it as the feline left tracks in the snow while he paced. Taking note of how little he used the one paw, everything fell into place.

Slowly she approached, oh how she wished her voice would return instead of having to need to play charades. Seeking his gaze, a sway in her tail and light welcoming smile on her lips, she would gesture to his paw as soon as they'd lock eyes. She wanted to look at it, see what she could do. They had a rough start, but he didn't seem dangerous or mean spirited, perhaps he could even help her raise Rainier as they must be of he same species.

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At this point, he would have expected her to be terrified, if not running away at full speed.  Not many creatures could brush off an event like that without reeking of fear.  Yet, she held herself dignified and open, as if what just happened was nothing.

Instead of running the woman approached him.  To the cat this was so out of place that he took a step back, angling himself towards the dense grass.  His discomfort was noticeable, fur standing a bit on end. However, his face didn't show it, mostly still laden with confusion and regret. 

Swishing his tail, with aggravation, he noticed her gaze had caught on to his injury.  This only caused his posture to load further into his hind legs before lifting his paw slightly.  Looking down at his injury, it seemed to confirm what he thought: a torn pad.  Kuhn felt as if he should say something, but the words escaped him.
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^^

Had their collision ended in any other way, she would have ran. Ran as far and as fast as she could go. But she could not shake that look he gave moments before they collided, the fear they both felt in the moment before the inevitable. There was no ill will here, if there was she would not be standing here only possibly mildly bruised but nothing more.

When she approached they backed away. For such a small thing like her to cause fear in their posture, the hairs along its back rising in discomfort - it seemed even with their worlds being so far apart, they still had some common ground in body language. Of which she listened. Reiko would not approach any further and instead let their silence speak with a different - but similar language.

It was like they both spoke with a heavy accent but managed to get by. 

From where she sat in the distance, as if she was some kind of meerkat - Reiko sat back on her hind legs and pushed up. Head craning and eyes straining to see what he was looking at. Her balance was awkward as front paws crossed over one another, tail stiff as it worked hard to keep her from falling over. Once satisfied, she would lower herself once more. A torn pad, lets see if she could do something about that.

Continuing her little charades, Reiko gave the feline the same distance and simply trotted over to the water's edge again, her eyes asking for him to keep on her as she would show what she wanted him to do. Placing her same paw down into the water, the frigid waters sent shivers up her spine but it would be good to clean the wound. There she would wait for him to do the same. 

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She may have been right.  He didn't really have any intention of harming her in the first place, it was more that... he was compelled to chase, by something primal; her back turned, the smell of sickness.  Still it didn't feel like much of an excuse, the weirdest part is that she didn't seem mad about it.  It actually made him feel worse.  If she had become a snarling mess it would have been easy for him to toss her around, and walk back into the grass.  But what she was doing just made him feel bad.

The great cat's ears drooped, simultaneously showing an expression of guilt and a willingness to cooperate.  His fur and posture returned to its natural state as she attempted some sort of strange communication sitting on her hind legs. He simply cocked his head, not having a clue what she was doing.  Could she not speak?  

He did understand the gesture to follow, as she once again turned her back to him, extending yet another gesture of unearned trust. Ah... he was supposed to copy her.  "Err... I, um... Sorry" He apologized all so elegantly, while choosing to follow her at a distance to the rivers edge.  After a moment of hesitation, he placed his damaged paw in the frigid water.  It hurt a bit, evidenced by a slight baring of the teeth.  However, it wasn't anything to special, in the solitary life in the harsh tundra.
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^^

The water was so cold, and in her current sickened state it was not a welcomed shiver that shook her core. The smile on her face was almost forced as she hoped he would get the clue soon so she may pull back her paw and warm it up before going to the next step.

When the feline finally mimicked her and placed his paw in the water to be washed off, all she could do was give an excited squeak of approval. Pulling her paw out and licking it a couple times to warm it up. How long the feline chose to hold his paw pads under the water was up to him now, she would not force him to risk frost bite and surely he would pull it out as soon as he had enough.

Now she had to go gather something else. She had smelled these somewhere among the evergreens and was certain it wouldn't take long to find... As she began to trot off to find the herbs, Reiko would turn around and try to make sure the feline would stay, grunting and squeaking with gestures to make him wait. But would the feline do so? There was no certainty.. with the lack of a voice, there was only so much she could do.

Even with the dizzying fever, the Empress wandered the treelines searching for the signature smell of wild garlic. It wasn't hard. After wandering the Everfrost frequently before, she had a certain idea already of where they could be found and gathered a mouthful to run back to the feline with. She could only hope he had indeed waited and wished to see his brilliant pelt just over the snowy horizon.

^^

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feel free to have him stay or leave!! idm lmao do what you think he'd do!

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Kuhn had no idea what this was about at this point.  Who even was this squeaking at him?   He looked back at the mute woman, simply cocking his head to the side. --Water is cold--

...and she's gone...  He was left there in silence, only accompanied by the sound of the river.  The cat's curiosity was far to much for him to handle, where did she go?   After, spending that effort to clean his paw, he simply turned from the river to follow that white pelted canine, submerging his foot in some nearby muddy slush.  

He proceeded over the berm that she had vanished over, seeing her already far in the distance sniffing around and digging up some of those plant things.  He just stood there in the open with a muddy foot, watching her scurry back and forth through the tree line.
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^^

Oh thank goodness he was still there! Smiling with her mouth full of wild garlic - which honestly didn't taste very good and it would awful that her mouth would stink for the next while thanks to them, but such is the life of a medic. @Tobias would have to just deal with ye 'ol garlic breath over here for the night. At least it was good for her and her own ailment to ingest some of it as she carried it to the feline.  

With a joyous bounce in her step as she approached the feline, it slowed... and then stopped as she looked down to where he was standing. Shoulders dropping lightly at the sight, a light defeated frown forming on her lips hidden by the greenery. It was like watching her children when they were whelps all over again. Keeping their paws clean was a daily, hourly task until they began to wash themselves.

In a silent, light scolding she approached. Eyes darting from his face down to his paw. Pointing back to the river with a paw, she basically demanded for it to be cleaned again or she might just break their boundaries to lick it clean herself.

Was she actually trying to mother this strange feline here?

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As she came bounding up to him with those odd plant things, the cat still kept a curios demeanor about him, head tilted, eyes tracking her movements.  What where those odd smelling plants?  

He was mostly keeping his weight off of the problem foot as he stood there proudly at the top of the food chain.  That was until her eyes snapped to his paw once again.  It was obvious that she was ordering him back to the river bank.  First his eyes widened with fear, before his face contorted into a defiant barring of teeth. One more moment later he realized it was probably futile, and with an irritated hiss he pivoted himself around in compliance.  He sauntered his way back to the river bank checking on his heels every few steps, to make sure she wasn't nipping at them.  So he placed the paw back in the river, rolling his eyes.  

It was futile, and it was his fault.
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^^

Standing her ground as he defiantly, silently argued against her demand to get back in the water - her face lightened up again in the minor victory as even with his hiss and obvious distaste in putting his paw back in the water, she trotted behind him with a sway in her tail. She wasn't about to nip at his heels and hurry the man up, he could take all the time he wanted but it juts meant she would haunt him a little while longer.

While he occupied himself in washing the dirty paw pad, she placed the herbs down with haste as she felt a cough tickle her throat again. Turning her head to hack up a couple painful coughs, a few breaths to steady herself again before starting to rip apart the herbs. The snow would help to create some kind of mushy herb infused slush and if she can manage to convince the feline to keep his paws clean for the wound to heal, this should work wonders to help healing and fight off infection.

Once they were both happy with he cleanliness of his paw, she would offer her own - very small in comparison - paws to see if he would offer his own injured one to her. Given their original apprehensiveness, she would let him decide.

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"Ok, Ok!"  He protested as he dipped his paw back in the icy stream.  The funny thing was that she didn't even flinch when he bared his teeth, she hardly even cared about being charged.  The wolf had little fear of him. Who the hell was this?  

He could hear her cough, partly that smell of sickness had alerted him to her presence in the fist place.  It seemed painful, but there really wasn't much he could do for her.  Two and two got put together in a question that the cat thought he already knew the answer to.  "So you can't speak?"

She was playing charades with him again, pawing at him. Her attention had been on his recent injury, so without much protest, he offered her his massive paw, complete with a clean, torn pad.
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^^

The bitter taste of wild garlic was an awful one. It hung on her tongue in a thick layer, leaving her with something akin to "stink face" between every bite she took to mulch the herb with the snow. Oh how awful it was that something so good for them both inside and out tasted so foul.

The man asked if she couldn't speak and she sadly shook her head "no". Forcing a couple soft coughs to see if he would catch on that she essentially had a frog caught in her throat impeding her speech for the day. Coughs such as the one earlier had raked her throat raw, leaving her with nothing but squeaks and groans as the only possible sounds left to make.

Pleased that he offered his paw, Reiko would gently assist in holding it up with her own... dainty and puny mitt in comparison. It would do little to actually hold his up seeing as should he decide to let it fall, certainly she would go down as well with the weight. Should he keep it up himself and let Reiko steady it with her own, with her free paw she would place the mixture on his wounded pads. Humming lightly to herself, just below the need of her vocal chords to be used. The movements used to massage the poultice in was with the wound as to not aggravate the pain again.

With a little clearing of her throat, she would try to speak. Seeking his gaze with her own icy pair, it came croaking out softly. “Keep — clean.” Was that her voice right now? It was barely recognizable! And even those two single words were painful to utter.

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A cocking of the head, combined with a curious tail flicking was shown back to the strange woman as she chewed on the unknown plant.  That stuff had such a strange odor, she didn't seem to be enjoying the chewing. 

He didn't even know who this was, and she was touching him.  It took a lot out of the cat to keep himself from snarling, and showing fangs.  Somehow he managed to keep himself polite, his discomfort only showing through, as his fur puffed up slightly and his claws peeked out from his paw.  He could tell that she was trying to help, but he had to deny every instinct of a solitary creature in order to let her.  

Her gaze caught his for a moment, as she spoke to him.  That seemed to answer the question, she could speak...   A sudden though flashed over the striped beast: if she was sick, could he get it?  Its not like he talked to anyone anyway... could cats get sick from dogs, or wolves. How long would it take to go away, Probably not, what did she put on the paw.  

He had to reign in his thoughts for a moment, as he shook out his mane, snapping back to reality, he felt tired. None the less, Kuhn let out a chuff of approval, a generally friendly sound in response to her request. His social battery was running low, the cat knew it.
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^^

She too was getting tired. The energy that came from the fright of him barrelling toward her out of nowhere had faded. Adrenaline had been replaced with the fatigue that followed, as well as the feeling of the fever still present. Even the glimmer in the woman's eyes was fading as she massaged the poultice into the wound to make sure it was everywhere it had to be.

Once pleased with her work and seeing/hearing the feline do whatever that sound was... it didn't sound negative, but it was a strange sound. He could talk, they could understand one another that she was certain of. Oh well. Offering one last smile, all she could do now was hope he would keep the wound clean and let it heal - it was in his paws now as she would not seek him out, even if she did Reiko was certain he could disappear beyond her sight and senses.

With a silent goodbye she parted ways with the feline. Part of her hoped he did not follow her back to Tobias' den, wanting nothing more than to sleep away the day's events and let her voice recover.

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As quick as their encounter had started. It now appeared to be drawing to a close.  Kuhn stood there, confused and tired, holding his paw up off the ground. He didn't have any plans to further follow or stalk the strange woman out of curiosity, she had earned her space.  At least he could put a face to the scent one more of the travelers that passed through his hunting grounds. Though in the end, he felt like he would owe her one, after all she had made a fool out of him but; it was his own fault.  

Watching her travel out into the tree line, the great cat flopped down to sleep in the sun; exhausted from the socialization.  He would have to pay her back one day... to settle the score...  

Id say that's a wrap

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