what it's really like to bleed

(backdating this to when she's still pretty injured)
 

Goddamn, this place was cold. It had been expected when she crossed the threshold from grass to snow, but the scent of nearby packs was not something she could ignore. One of them had to have a healer, but which one? All the scents danced together in a writhing ball of confusion, but eventually she locked onto a scent and went with it, steering more eastward.

Occasionally she paused to rest her leg, the angry pink skin glowering at her for exposing it to the cold. The numbness was better than pain, however, and every so often she rolled in the stuff to prevent it from warming back up. There was still plenty of congealed blood matted to her fur as she limped along, but Midnight was in surprisingly good spirits overall. Bitch was weird.

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Alduin tries his luck to leave his ever greedy castle if Banesteppe. Maybe he’ll have more luck this time around. He knows he won’t though. The sickness he gets that produces blood in his throat and forces him to gag is due to his tie to the castle. Banesteppe will never let him leave unless Banesteppe permits it. He is a greedy entity — greedy for Alduin’s attention and presence it seems.

So when he steps from the walls and into the snow he looks back, face stern as he watches the castle. Mentally communicating to the entity that he will be back so he better not fucking thrust that wretched sickness into him until then. With that he walks and walks. Explores and explores. Moving eastward further than he’s been able to make it ever before. Maybe Banesteppe allowed him this — took pity on him.

That is until the sun begins setting and he feels that familiar ache within his skull that means he’s being summoned back to his cursed castle by the entity himself. He doesn’t listen. He carries on until he spots a limping form of a wolf just off in the distance. His ruby red eyes zero in on them and the bloodlust within him surges to the surface.

A deep, rumbling voice in the back of his mind blooms within his skull,

Go to them, Alduin. Sate your curiosity then. Come. Home.

The voice spits the last words at him and Alduin’s brows furrow with irritation, but he listens anyhow. He will not kill them, but he is curious. So he will do as he’s told and satiate his curiosity.

With that he moves through the thick snow, trudging through it like it’s nothing as a blanket of the soft substance collects on his dark pelt and the top of the skull he adorns on his massive head. He doesn’t stop until he reaches them, flaring his nostrils to inhale their scent — which comes back distinctly feminine. Their fur is dark, a stark contrast just like his in this barren tundra wasteland. He offers them space at least, stopping a comfortable distance away as he peers over to them with dark but curious eyes.

“One shouldn’t be wandering around in a place such as this while injured.” He rumbles out in that strong voice of his. “There’s much worse dangers than I in these lands.” The World Eater points out uselessly.
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The voice that rang out across the tundra was surprisingly deep, catching the shadowy wolf off guard. How long had this dude even been there? She scented the air and found herself upwind, unable to detect his presence and immediately feeling uneasy fixated by his stare. Midnight paused in her arduous journey to drink him in, wondering at the curly-q tail quietly. She hadn't a bloody clue what a dog was or that it was possible to breed with one of them, so for all she knew, the stranger had simply broken his tail as a pup and the healing process had not treated him well.

Still, he was unsettling.. and also the speaker of hella obvious shit, apparently.

"Well, yes, that's why I'm looking for help to get patched up." Her brow furrowed as she turned to him, sizing him up as though she would possibly be able to take him.. or perhaps morbid curiosity. "I'm sure there are worse dangers out there, big boy, but not all of them have a tendency to just.. stare." Midnight flicked her tail, canting her to politely ask what it was that he wanted from her.

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She turns to look at the nightly beast, he meets her icy eyes with the red of his own. She looks over him, he knows not what she notes about his appearance but he catches her eyes wondering just as his did moments before.

She speaks then and he quirks a brow at her curiously. A funny one then. He merely hums at her words, acknowledging that he heard them but not responding to them directly.

I'm sure there are worse dangers out there, big boy, but not all of them have a tendency to just.. stare.

Was he staring? Maybe a bit. Not too heavily though. She seems like a feisty one though and he wonders what she’s do if he pushed her buttons. Maybe another time if there would ever be one.

“I wasn’t staring too hard now, was I?” He asks with a touch of humor to his usually emotionless voice. “What happened to you then?” Comes his solid inquiry over the state of her injuries.
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Midnight remained where she was, eyeing the man with an icy gaze. It wasn't that she didn't trust men who stared, it was just that -- no, actually, she didn't trust men who stared. She didn't trust anyone, really, so it wasn't entirely personal. Maybe a little bit. Still, he hadn't creepily advanced on her or done anything besides exist, so she supposed for now he would get exactly one molecule of her attention.

"Hard? Dunno about that. Sure looked like you could see my bones, though. Right through me." Midnight relaxed somewhat as he chuckled. It may have been a dark laugh, but it was a laugh nonetheless. Sociopaths couldn't laugh, it was science. "I don't know what happened. Just woke like this, no idea where I am. Or was. I'm just trying to find someone who can patch me up and I'll be on my merry little way." To where, she had no goddamn idea.

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She analyses the cursed one cautiously. That’s good, for anyone who’d blindly trust a man that looked like Alduin would be practically brainless. He looks like a brute — a killer, tyrant, and conqueror. What with his deathly red eyes, little to nonexistent emotion written on his face, and massive size, he seems like a formidable opponent. Or at least he’d like to think he does.

In the least, she offers him insight on what’s happened to her to which he offers a nod back. He doesn’t comment on her outlook on his apparent staring, doesn’t seem as important as her injuries seem to be.

So he too regards her carefully. He can tell she’s smart — she doesn’t trust him after all and he couldn’t care if she did or didn’t. He would offer his services to her either way.

“I reside in a castle to the west on the coast called Banesteppe. There, I have two females who could patch you up if you so wish.” It’s an offer, not a threat, despite his rough and emotionless voice.

He turns a bit, looking back in the castles direction and as if on cue his head begins pounding again. Another summoning from the entity himself it seems. He would visibly wince, the motion is small, merely a furrowing of the brows and a minuscule squint of the eyes, but he would continue.

“That is if you want.” He repeats just in case. “I don’t care if you get help or not, but it is just to offer.” His tone isn’t patronizing or rude, merely realistic. She is a stranger to him, just as much as he is to her. He’s sure she doesn’t care about him either.
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Midnight had.. several questions. Her eyes narrowed on the hulking man from afar, taking in the rather intimidating physique with a grain of salt. She'd seen baddies before, yeah, she'd hopped on the bandwagon of pursuing them as well. What kind of young gal didn't want a bad boy? Her brows knitted together as she listened to him speak, saying a whole lot of shit she didn't really understand.

"Alright so firstly, what the hell is a castle? Secondly, two females? Do they not have names or, dunno, are they not worth being called 'friends'? Thirdly, why is your tail so damn adorable?" And then he went and ruined the mood by saying he didn't care, and Midnight huffed. "If you didn't care, ya wouldn't have offered at all. Probably woulda killed me on the spot. It's okay, big guy, I'll keep your secret safe. No one has to know you've finally found the one of your dreams," she said with a bleed head.

"Ah, fourthly, is this some kind of trap where I become forced to be your slave? So you can refer to me as one of the females," she tried to imitate his voice with that. If that were the case, she was like, at least ten percent less interested.

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He awaits her answer and watches her squint her eyes at him. Which he does in good humor back until she’s spewing out a whole bunch of nonsense. Asking what a castle is, which he doesn’t blame her for not knowing, it was a word unknown to him as well until he stepped foot on Banesteppe. Then, he really should’ve seen it coming, but she comments about him calling Dove and Meldresi females. Which he doesn’t truly see an issue with because that is what they are. They can’t be females while also being his companions? He doesn’t understand her point of view. Her last comment, or rather question, comes out of left field as she asks why his tail is so ungodly cute. At that he quirks a circular brow upward in question. He’s never been referred to as cute.

She doesn’t stop there, she goes on — very sprite this one seems to be.

If you didn't care, ya wouldn't have offered at all. Probably woulda killed me on the spot. It's okay, big guy, I'll keep your secret safe. No one has to know you've finally found the one of your dreams,

His brows furrow in part confusion but they smooth out just as easily as he shakes his head with a huff of a laugh. A colorful personality she has. Still, she decides to mention that she also thinks it’s a trap, which is perfectly reasonable of her. Again, he’s untrustworthy isn’t he? So after she’s gotten everything out he huffs out another breath through his nose before speaking.

“The castle, Banesteppe, is where I reside. It’s made of stone and seems to have been shaped by the gods. Quite beautiful actually.” He adds with a pinch of a smart tone to his voice, but she could probably tell he means it in good humor.

“Yes, my healers are females as well as companions. I do not see the problem there.” He mentions next, very nonchalantly.

As for her comment on his tail and the fact that she’d ‘Keep his secret’, the tiniest quirk of a smile would show on his maw. “Right. It’s a family heirloom. Comes naturally, I was born with it. And thank you I would appreciate if you did keep that daringly destructive secret. Make sure you don’t tell a soul.” He plays into her game just enough, but not too much.

“As for a trap, no. It seems I’m the only one trapped there.” It’s a loose reference to the fact that Banesteppe won’t let him take a trip any further than a day or so away from its glorious walls. “I assume you’d feel more comfortable knowing there are women about there. Simple as that. Dove and Meldresi,” he references their names. “Are very well versed in their trades.”
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Boy, did this guy seem like a smile would crack his face. Midnight didn't blame him for being so taken aback, after all, what were the chances he would have ever been spoken to in such a way? A way that screamed she didn't give one fuck who he was or what crown he wore, or whatever a castle was or how many women he had under his control. She had a tendency to pride herself on being that one bitch with no filter, and thus far she had survived 100% of her encounters. She thought, anyway.

Her eyes danced as he explained what a castle was and why he referred to his companions as females. "Well, don't suppose ya want me goin' around saying 'ah, mm, yes, it was the male. You know, the male. He has a dick and a set of balls, presumably.'" Midnight shrugged. "We got names for a reason, big boy." She flicked her tail to drive the point home.

"Family heirloom, huh? So do I gotta fuck your ma or your pa to have cutie pies with tails like that?" She assessed him with amusement, but she was still quite injured and above all else -- lonely. "Alright, I'll come see ya females if they can work their magic. Help ya hunt and stuff in return, but no chains, boyo. I'm not joinin' your harem, deal?"

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Well, don't suppose ya want me goin' around saying 'ah, mm, yes, it was the male. You know, the male. He has a dick and a set of balls, presumably.’

He shrugs indifferently but there’s a glint of humor in his eyes. “I wouldn’t mind. Don’t know if others would.” Comes his rumbling and moderately careless voice.

Assuming he gets an answer he would continue on as she does. He’s moderately surprised by her next words but truly nothing really shocks him nowadays. He’s been communicating with fucking ghosts so her mention of fucking her ma and pa to get pups with a tail like his doesn’t truly surprise him. However, it does amuse him, but he answers dryly.

“I suppose you would.”

Alright, I'll come see ya females if they can work their magic. Help ya hunt and stuff in return, but no chains, boyo. I'm not joinin' your harem, deal?

A laugh rumbles from his chest, it’s short and sweet, but full of base. “Deal.” He says and with that he’s already turning around, walking slow enough for her not to strain her injuries to stay at his pace. “This way. Banesteppe is located quite a few hours west. We’ll make it by nightfall.”

“If you’re so enraptured by referencing others by their correct names, then what is yours?” Comes his final question as he turns his crowned head towards her.
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"Is that what I should call you, then? Dick and balls?" Midnight tipped her muzzle down, almost as though she was peering over a set of glasses judgmentally. She had none, of course, but the look was the same regardless.

Her brows furrowed as he replied yes to an open-ended question. Not helpful, but it only deducted a few points from him thus far. Maybe he was hard of hearing. Maybe he just wasn't paying attention. Maybe it was Maybelline.

Whatever. She doubted his parents were around to fuck anyway. Still, she would've loved to see where that heirloom came from.

Alright, so they were going westward and he was being slow intentionally. Nice fella, this big giant man. "Name's Midnight. What about you, big guy? Did you tell me already? Ah, I can't remember. You look like a Mortimer to me, am I close?" Not in the least, kiddo. Not in the least.

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Is that what I should call you, then? Dick and balls?

He chuckles once more, puffs of mist forming in the cold air around them. He merely shakes his head snd doesn’t grace her with an answer.

They go back and forth until shes finally telling him her name. Midnight. How fitting, what with her dark pelt and icy eyes. He hums in acknowledgment but continues to look forward as they move. All of a sudden she’s guessing his name and throwing Mortimer out into the wind carelessly. Couldn’t be further from his actual name so he shakes his head with a small smirk on his maw.

“Worst guess I’ve heard yet.” He adds deeply, but teasingly. “It’s Alduin.”
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