diplomacy, baby

@Kuhn @Reiko

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The cat had decided to go with Tiberius' offered idea and though he hadn't shown it outright, the man was relieved. This was potentially a start to ending the added stress that had been lining his shoulders and a start to ensuring the peace Shiroshika so desired and believed in. That and to befriend a cat was a curious thing, though Tiberius knew that despite it going somewhat right for the moment -- there was always a chance that it may go sour.

It was obvious enough that the cat was quick to anger, but he wasn't entirely sure it was something that the cat realised. Perhaps it was miscommunication between species or that the cat was quick to go on the defense -- he didn't know but he had done his job in soothing the cat enough to agree to this, so Tiberius was confident enough that should it go sour, he could use Reiko's method before he'd have to possibly use his teeth and claws. That being said, Reiko herself was the diplomatic sort, elegant with her words and he could only hope she'd not offend the cat with sugar coating things.

Clearly the cat appreciated things being told outright, perhaps not in the rough way that Tiberius came across but perhaps with Reiko's womanly touch, the truth could be said softer. In the end, if it came down to it, he would put himself between Reiko and the cat and seek to protect her, defend her life and take the cat with him should he seek to act more childish than adult. He had some faith, however, for the way the cat had been open to listening to him.

His tired bones carried him forward, "ain't much longer," he rumbled to Kuhn, keeping the cat in his eyeline yet still leading him to where he'd like to go. He was not stupid; he'd not turn his back on the cat and allow vulnerable sides to appear open and ready. "I won't bring ya righ' in, ain't got tha power ta allow tha'," Tiberius stated, knowing that Reiko had been sus enough of the cat and to then bring him right in was likely one she'd not appreciate straight off the bat. "Lemme give 'er a call now," he grunted, a few feet before the marked borders of Shiroshika.

Moments later, he tilted his head back and sent out a howl, hoping that Reiko would hear him and know that he was attempting to draw attention. Hers, specifically. ^^

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What she would find on the other end of the call was unexpected. With bouncing steps she quickly followed to where Tiberius had called her to - only to slow to a momentary stop at a distance when his dark figure was accompanied by a larger, striped figure. There was mild recognition toward the feline, one that she had met in the Everfrost during her sickness - while her voice was stolen the feline had came bounding out of nowhere and his wounded paw was taken care of.

A nervous flick of her ear while there was still distance between them was offered before the petite woman continued forward. Feet no longer bouncing excitedly with every step, but instead had a smooth gait to them as she approached. Cerulean eyes landed on the beast at first, a little nod to dip her head in a silent greeting before turning her attention to Tiberius for he was the one to bring her out for.... whatever this was.

“Tiberius —” Keeping the unease away from her tones as she spoke, Reiko's voice was as levelled, warm and welcoming as always. “I see you have brought a companion today. Is there a reason for such a turn of events?”

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By the descriptions given by others, he figured this woman was the empress.  But, now his suspicions where confirmed. She carried herself with an elegant gate, befitting of a confident ruler, it was a bit different to the very same woman he had met in the ever frost before this, she seemed to carry a different demeanor in her own land. He simply watched her pass by, sitting quietly on his haunches, tail dancing slowly to and fro.  The cat remained silent, opting to let Tiberius do the introduction before butting in. After all this was a negotiation and un-necessary words would be foolish.
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The feline said nothing as Tiberius called for Reiko and remaining silent even on the approach of the Iceling. He felt bad for the way she had first approached, bouncing and full of life only to falter with what was likely confusion, nerves and wonder when she realised that at his flank was the tiger. Tiberius rolled his shoulders, he'd done what he thought was right and he had faith in Reiko's heart as leader and as wolf to do the best and smartest thing.

"Seems we go' sum confusion," Tiberius rumbled to Reiko, her signature tone falling from her lips. Warm, welcoming and soft. "Figured we all tired of tha back'n'forth, migh' as well sort it out, yeah?" He flicked his ear as he turned his vibrant gaze to the cat that had, somehow, caused a good portion of Shiroshika's problems. Tiberius would lay the rest of the blame on the creamy-necked gremlin. "Got sum shit confused between our kinds. 'e says 'e got sum lands tha' we go inta and 'unt, so 'e be doin' tha same," Tiberius rumbled, giving the information.

He was simply the middle man and the protector. Reiko and Kuhn would be the ones to do the negotiating. "I figured is best ta ge' an understandin' than ta be at eachothers throa'," after that, the man fell silent. Kuhn would give his side, Reiko would listen and shit would be figured out. At least, he hoped so. There were more important things to be getting the arseache about. Better things for him to focus his attention on. Cat and wolf could become allies and utilise the friendship on the mountains for all their gains. ^^

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The feline remained silent for now. Opting to let Tiberius do the talking for him. So her attention remained on the dark man of her kind for the most part, letting her eyes only flicker back to the feline every now and then to ensure that she was not ignoring him but simply listening to what was being shared.

In time her features fell, taking a more serious tone on the matter as this turned out to be the feline who had hunted on their lands. The feline in question that had brought stress to both Tiberius and Reiko within the past month or so - if not longer. Time had slipped by her quicker than usual it was harder to keep track as of late. With a thankful nod toward Tiberius for explaining a broad part of the story, she turned to the feline.

“Please understand we do not have any quarrels with cohabitating and sharing prey, however our main concern was to bring it to a neighbouring pack's lands. It is concerning to us as we cannot afford to feed us, you, as well as a whole other pack elsewhere.” Hopefully he would understand that.

“May I ask where your grounds are?” Either way, she would reach out and listen to him too. See if they could come to some kind of peaceful understanding.

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Listening to the woman speak he sat quietly, tossing his tail here and there.  His ears where fixed on the pale woman but, occasionally his eyes wandered looking for any signs of treachery. He knew who she was, they had met before, and the tiger found it odd she didn't bring up their last meeting, speaking with no formalities.  Further it was odd that his scent wasn't a brought up with Tiberius earlier, perhaps she might let is slip as well.  If one was perceptive enough a feint note of @Valmúa could still be detected. 

Standing off his haunches the big cat rose to his feet. Eyeing Tiberius, Kuhn acknowledged the part he played to set up a meeting like this.  The pale empress' words where to the point, and the gears began to turn behind the cat's eyes, digging into what she said. It seemed she had conceded what he wanted already, yet his nose crinkled back.  "You call it feeding me? Sharing territory?"  He responded, talking a step forward toward the empress before continuing with a toothy half devious smile, "You know where my grounds are, you have been in them before don't you remember."  Looking down at his paw kneading the earth with his claws, he then looked her in the eyes
 
Sitting back on his haunches his demeanor suddenly changed. "I think we are on the same page. Though I would have to ask, what makes it ok to cede ground to me but not to them?"
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Was it a good idea to bring the two together? He had wanted it to be, after all, he recalled Reiko had requested diplomacy first and foremost. Yet... as he stood there, Tiberius wanted to not be standing there. Reiko spoke, making sense to a wolf but perhaps not to a feline. What Tiberius had come to learn from Kuhn was that the two species worked so differently and it was certainly a barrier between the two as they worked to iron out their issues.

Tiberius' shoulders stiffened as Kuhn stepped forward, his own words falling from his fanged lips and Tiberius cast him a warning gaze but bit down on every instinct telling him to lunge. Peaceful, Tiberius, peaceful. Kuhn was not holding himself in a manner of aggression but it still put the man on edge. Rolling his eyes to the sky momentarily, he thought that soon, he was going to completely grey before he even touched 3. The cat settled and Tiberius exhaled, tightening his lips against his teeth as he listened to the mans latter question.

"Wolves are different ta felines," he rumbled, "we go' different ways of livin'. Wolves, we ain't one big community. We got all sorts of packs under different leadership wit' different ideals." There were too many wolves in the world to operate beneath one ruler, stretching across too many lands to offer any amount of accord. "Would ya be ok allowin' a group of cats ta come inta ya land an' eat tha deer ya fancied tha' evenin'?" Tiberius mused to Kuhn, before dipping his head and falling back silently.

He was here to mostly offer protection and be a middle man but hey, sometimes he felt like piping up. He cast his gaze to Reiko and offered a little shrug; that was his reasoning for not wanting to share with other packs in such a way when they were just surviving. She perhaps had different reasonings. ^^

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The delicate notes of the poppy coloured woman hadn't gone by her - the light fragrance was simply chalked up them being allies and nothing more. Nothing alarming enough to take note of other than a simple passing thought. The feline had already shared a kill with the mountain dwelling wolves, what was so strange about him spending some time with them as well, especially the female who had defended him more than the others during the meeting?

“My apologies, I did not mean to insult with my chosen words. To be patronizing was not my intention.” Of course she didn't mean it as in they were "feeding" the feline. “I should have said that these lands cannot support you, us, and another pack.” Perhaps that would help to clarify his feelings on the matter. That they weren't being "generous" but instead just cohabitating in the same territory.

Tiberius interjected by trying his best to explain the differences between their social circles. He did just as good as she would have as well. Reiko wasn't quite versed in the ways of feline social interactions other than what she has seen, and that was that they were secretive, and more or less usually always alone.

The feline took his turn again. Saying that she knew what lands he was speaking of, was he the feline she had met while sick and in solitary with Tobias? It was hard to tell to be certain, but maybe the stripe of fur was an unusual thing to see in his kind? Rainier didn't have such a thing on her after all. “Is it the Everfrost? The place where the pines are always covered with powdered snow? Are you the feline with the injured paw?” If he was going to be making things vague after all, she may as well try to narrow things down. She had only met two felines like him as of lately anyway.

“The difference is what Tiberius explained. These mountains can sustain a pack and a feline or two, but to provide for two packs and felines will only drain the resources dry.”

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Tiberius was correct, the cat hated sharing it was instinct that ran deep. But, nonetheless, Kuhn had tried to practice a bit of giving as a virtue contrary to his nature; so Kuhn could empathize. The duo had made alot of good points and where giving him absolutely nothing to argue about. Huffing from his nostrils, it was apparent the tiger expected more entertainment or adrenaline from this than he was going to get.

The only thing that stuck out was the fact that the white woman didn't recognize him from before; perhaps she really was in a bad way, or she was screwing with him now. Whatever...

"No... You didn't offend me, I know what you meant." He smiled, revealing his cards, and intentional difficulty. "Yes, the Everfrost as you call it, that's where I usually hunt. So, If you will allow me to stalk your claim, then mine is open to you as well." he continued, tail dancing behind him.
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With each word that was exchanged, Tiberius found his stiff muscles unbunching and breathing became easier as he did not continuously hold it from anticipation and stress. Prior to the realisation that the interaction was going better than they could hope, he had looked thoroughly disgruntled and tight lipped, stress evidence in his posture.

"Next time ya catch a deer, call me. Fuck knows ya mus' take it down easier than I could," he rumbled, offering a playful set of words in low vocals. He could breathe now, Lord have mercy. Could he sleep now, for eternity perhaps? Still, he felt quite happy in the outcome. Befriending a cat would certainly have its advantages and Tiberius wondered if he could learn any techniques from the striped feline -- hunting alone in such a fashion was one that intrigued him. "Or terrorise some deer together, yknow, bonding." He rasped, a small smirk settling on his lips.

He could only hope that they could continue to offer each other benefits so that this remained peaceful. Tiberius could focus on other dangers that way and perhaps he would seek to extend his own invitation of friendship to the cat -- whatever that may look like. Regardless, he had helped to check one thing off the list and it was a portion of the weight released from his shoulders. Tiberius remained purposefully ignorant of the light scent of the gremlin that clung to the cat, opting to think he had feasted on her.

It was the only way he would retain whatever shred of sanity that he had left. ^^

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Smiling in return, she was glad that things had worked out well and that finally the feline would chose to ease up on his accusations. That both sides were equally heard and would leave today seemingly satisfied with what was agreed upon. Mayan eyes turned toward their Samurai as he offered some friendly hunting between them, and she would offer him a pleasant nudge with her shoulder, pleased with the outcome of how today had gone despite her earlier reservations about the feline.

It was just a simple misunderstanding of customs. A lack of communication.

Attention turning back onto the feline, she would offer a curt nod. “Then we have come to an agreement.” After all, sharing hunting grounds was important for survival of all. They couldn't share with another pack, but they could certainly open their borders up for one feline - especially if they had @Rainier with them who would do well to see another of her kind roaming around. “Before we part, I am certain Tiberius has already introduced my name to you before, but I shall again. I am Reiko, and you are?” So she could have something to call him other than "feline that isn't Rainier".

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The cat was surprised it was that simple, in fact he knew he made it harder than it had to be out of a sense of entertainment.  After all, he did walk all the way out here.  In fact, the empress' first  offer was all he really came here for.  But, it still vexed him that she didn't remember him.  What was she playing at?

Further surprising, was Tiberius' offer to hunt.  It was an odd concept to the solitary cat, to hunt with another, to share...
At first he didn't like the idea but in the spirit of what had just transpired he wasn't going to say no.  Obviously not enthused Kuhn responded with a barely audible mumble,  "Mhmhm... hunt together, would be interesting" 

Kuhn had obviously relaxed, giving up all posturing; he began scratching an itch behind his ear with a hind leg while responding to the empress.  "Yes...  this is all fine with me" he replied, loosing attention, his social battery getting critically low.  "You can call me Kuhn" he added, ceasing his itching and rising once more to his feet, obviously posturing for an exit.

Can power play for a wrap

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