Everyday, I'm getting closer

Located south of Frozen Ground. For @Harper and @Farren

The brute moved through the land, still trying to learn his new surroundings. Everything was new and different to him and, though he welcomed the change of pace, it certainly wasn't something he was prepared for. Some warning was needed before the universe yeeted someone into a new world. It seemed like the creatures here were rather against tigers for some reason, though maybe it was just that one wolf he met. He wasn't entirely sure about that yet. 

Nonetheless, the man was a wanderer and moved through the lands, nose sniffing the ground and air as if he could paint a mental picture of everything around him with just scent. He damn near could, closing his eyes to take everything in. He felt the snow on his paws and the chill in the air. He normally wasn't one for wide open spaces, but he didn't mind this, though he couldn't see it being his normal home.

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Let the Russian meeting BEGIN :excite:

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Winter was beginning to loosen its oppressive grasp over the tundra, but it was not a loss the season took lightly. Each time the sun strode across the horizon, brash and bold in its gilded chariot, small flecks of green peeped from behind their domineering blanket- shooting delicate buds upward, like victorious soldiers having freshly pushed back their enemy. During the abyssal nights, when the brumal cold roared to life with renewed vigor, the green turned brittle and brown. Their half-dead shoots stood like white flags against the frost, bending in submission to the weight of its fury. Farren had grown accustomed to this repetitive cycle, relishing in the mild -if anything in this barren wasteland could even be referred to as mild- embrace of the sun’s gentle caresses. 

It was during these times that she took to wandering, etching the lay of the land within the crutches of her mind. 

Naked shrubs sent small pinpricks of discomfort through her cloak of brown, embedding fragments of their splinters beneath the tender lay of her skin. Farren would turn, disgruntled, nibbling fruitlessly at the impossibly small objects until the itching ceased. It was then that she would peruse forward, her eyes of gemstone blue spanning across the wide-open space. Here, prey was scarce and she had deviated to foraging on more than one occasion. Edible berries, unearthed roots, the stray rodent or two. They paled in comparison to the delicacy of a real meal, but if she was to carry on her body needed sustenance, and that was what she would gift it.

Even if it turned her stomach on occasion.

Every so often Farren would plunge her snout beneath the thin, dampened layer of snow- sifting carefully in an attempt to pinpoint a smell which was vaguely reminiscent of something edible. She struck something soft, pliant- and with a swift movement of her paw deposited a batch of young mushrooms atop the thin layer of snow. Their consumption was always a bit of a gambling game, but one she had played her entire life.

When she plucked the spongy things within her mouth and began to chew, the displeasure contorting her face would have been visible for miles around. 

“... Chewy.”

If she ever had to devour the things again it would be too soon.

Farren spat a remnant caught between her teeth and continued on, oblivious -and upwind- to the obsidian beast which lurked nearby.
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^^With the tundra in Northfall’s back yard, there was sure to be something more to eat than lousy mountain goats. She didn’t know the area well enough to trust climbing a mountain for food and the one time she had actually managed to make a kill had been due to pure luck.

She’d rather to chance herself in the tundra, even if she didn’t really blend in and one could spot her from a very long distance away - but apparently, the tundra called to others like her; Harper was quick to notice at least two other spots of darkness in the tundra today, one of them appearing darker and larger.

The scent of feline in the wind, similar to Kuhn’s, but different. Another tiger? What other type of big cat could live in the tundra? Leopards? She’d never seen one of those, either. It didn’t matter, she supposed; she was here to fill her belly.

Following behind the brown female, Harper was hoping she would lead her to a caribou herd or something - not that two measly canines would be a match for them.

^^
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The man moved swiftly through the lands, finally slowing down as his eyes gazed upon a small herd of caribou, watching them closely as his blue eyes landed on every single one, the scents hanging in the air. It seemed like they were without a male, a rather small herd that may have gotten separated from their main herd, leaving about four of them left. This would be perfect for him. He kept his body low as he pushed forward, muscle filled legs carrying him swiftly as he finally moved to charge, aiming for a rather large and healthy doe. He knew it was a risk, but he was a glutton for punishment. He was able to bite its flank, opening a large wound before he felt a hoof connect with his shoulder. A soft hiss escaped him but he continued on, jumping onto its back and biting down. 

The antlers from the creature dug into his side, creating a few puncture wounds, but nothing that would kill him. It hurt like a bitch, but he was more focused on taking down the creature. And finally, he did, biting down on its neck and draining it quickly. It was about then that he had caught the scent of what seemed like two wolves, female wolves that is. He thought for a moment before letting out a loud chuffing sound, calling for the two of them to come join him for his meal.

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A stampede of hooves.

A chorus of bellows.

A strangled, dying cry.

Farren’s ears struck upwards like that of a startled rabbit, though this time it was a rapt interest that commanded their attention. Her footfalls doubled backward, treading lightly over the upturned loam as a mighty thud shook the earth to its very core- presumably the beast that had been letting loose a series of anguished cries only moments before. The flattened pastures of the eccentric landscape lent her a clear view of the altercation, a kernel of surprise brewing in her chest as she did so.

For what she saw was nothing like a wolf, but a massive, tenebrous cat.

If it could even be labeled as such. The felines of her homeland looked like mere playthings in comparison.

Crimson dribbled from the dark eddies of its fur, staining the white zigzags that ran haphazardly atop its ebony canvas. Farren made mental note of the distinct, shadowed figure of a canine running parallel to herself, but evidently deduced the feline as the greater threat between the two. The beast was nothing if not a sore thumb in comparison to the pristine white it stood upon…

And she noticed, with some sense of curiosity, its head had turned directly toward the canines strewn about the open expanse.

But that wasn’t all.

It made a beckoning gesture as if… as if inviting them to dine alongside it.

Now the damn snow was crafting a mirage before her very eyes.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Had she… surely she hadn’t… but…

Had she eaten the wrong kind of mushrooms?
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^^Having hunted caribou with her tiger brother, Harper was familiar with the sounds of a successful hunt. The cry of a dying animal, too, was like music to her ears and Harper quickened her pace; she didn’t even try to hide the fact that she was following the smaller canine.

And why would she? She was as dark, if not darker than the tiger that summoned them; inviting them to dine with him. Oh! So either this was a ploy to end their lives, or this cat enjoyed feeding stray dogs! How nice.

Harper strolled on forward as though this cat was a long lost friend of hers. “For mee? How kind. Don’t mind if I do.” Harper cooed, that thicck russian accent rolling through as it typically did with strangers.

She moved to sat a seat next to the tiger, unfearing, and bold, smiling up at him with the sway of her tail. “I thanks you for the meal, Dark Lord. I am Harper, pleasure to meet another sun cat.”

Although he was more of dark cat. She would turn her attention to the other lady, arching a brow, and tilting her head. “Hurry up, lovely. Can't has the party without yous.”

Tea Time #2 was now in session.

^^
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If it was a normal day, he certainly wouldn't be sharing his meal like this, especially after he had gotten hurt doing so, however he was bored and rather lonely. He let out a soft sigh, his sides still bleeding slightly through his black fur, though it was hard to see against his pelt. The only way it would be seen would be from the small flecks of red that landed on the snow next to him, though he didn't make any move to help his wounds. He was interested to see how the she wolves would react to his invitation, laying himself down in the snow as he watched them. It wasn't like he had to worry about them doing anything, even two wolves against him, he was confident that he could win that fight. 

Looking between the two, it seemed like one was cautious and the other was bold, his attention instantly turning to the bold one, a grin on his lips. He flicked his tail slightly, raising an eyebrow at the Russian woman, speaking up with his own thick Russian accent. "The pleasure rightfully mine. It is quite odd to find wolf that trust tiger, it seem this new land prejudice again my kind. My name Rajani." He would be lying if he said doing this wasn't a test, a way to gauge the way the wolves in this place took to his species. So far, it wasn't looking the best for him, only really finding one wolf, the bold one in front of him named Harper, that didn't seem scared of him. 

Turning his attention over to the other wolf, he would sigh slightly, looking annoyed at the fact that she as well didn't seem to trust him due to his species. This was starting to really piss him off. Why the fuck would he be brought to a new land that didn't accept him? That was just pointless and idiotic. "I have plenty food here. I have no reason to attack you."

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They exchanged words on such cavalier terms, as if the entire incident was nothing to bat an eye at and merely commonplace. Two species, of which Farren had never seen the likes of intermingling, chatting good-naturedly like babbling songbirds sharing a tantalizing slice of gossip. Time and time again, this after- the after that had torn her from the fabric of before, spit her out in a land where nothing made a shred of sense, defied the customs of what simply could be and could not be. It sent her head reeling in a dizzying array of unfamiliarity.

Then they spoke, invited her, even, to their so-called party. The cat that called himself a tiger smiled, flashing the horrifying length of his fangs for a fragment of a second- but without even a trace of malice to accompany it. No, he was giddy, downright buoyant in the light of the woman’s faithful approach. Farren hadn’t been rooted by fear, but rather… skepticism. She could swear she would wake, rising groggily from the crook of a makeshift nest, and laugh at the scene conjured by her wild imagination.

But she didn’t.

She treaded lightly through the snow, through the dreary sludge and mush, toward the steaming belly of the ripe carcass. She only faltered once she had wedged herself between canine and feline, her eyes darting to the trickles of red that ran freely from his fresh ruptures.

“твое плечо - оно болит?” — Your shoulder- does it hurt? Her Mother tongue lolled from her mouth like a coat of molasses- a bit slow from lack of use, but formal all the same. That was the beauty of their language- it resonated with a rugged elegance.

Her gaze turned to the woman who called herself Harper, indulging in the fine intricacies of her coat. From afar, it appeared a solid tone, but she had been mistaken- it was a complex canvas of ebony, sterling, and brown. Farren made no move to offer her own name, instead nestling comfortably at the foot of the bloated caribou. A valiant fighter, it had been, costing the tiger, Rajani, a piece of his own flesh.

All the more baffling as to why he would throw it away so freely.

“You’ve gone through a lot of effort just to dine with strangers,” she mused, nosing at the tender flesh of the ungulate. “Why?”

She could have sworn he looked lonely at one time, and yet…

Cats were meant to be solitary, were they not?
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^^It did not matter if Harper could not see the wound upon blackened skin; she could certainly smell it. Having worked on Kuhn just recently, as it was the reason she was in this part of the lower tundra to begin with, Harper glanced up to cast the Dark Lord a concerned glance.

“You has given me no reason not to trust you, so why shouldn’t I? Hm, Rajani?” Harper smirked with a playful narrow of her eyes and a playful growl, too. “You are injured. Would you like me to take a look at that for you? I am a healer.”

Harper found her own annoyance with the distrust, wondering why it mattered at all to the ‘why’ he was sharing- especially in the tundra, where food was hard to come by. She thought about the attack on Kuhn, and wondered if it was due to a miscommunication, or the lack of trust that she was seeing here.

“I will save some of this for me tiger brother,” Harper said happily, knowing that he was likely getting tired of the taste of mountain goat as she cast her gaze south, to where Kuhn was.

^^
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He most certainly wasn't expecting to become so popular with the ladies, though he wasn't going to say no to that. He was a lady's man after all. Turning to Harper, he would chuckle softly, nodding in agreement to that. If anything, he had tried his best to show that he was someone she could trust. He would turn slightly to the other wolf, noting that both of them asked about his wound. A quick shrug but a charming smile before he spoke up. "It not bad, but I would not turn down help from beautiful women."

Eyes would train in on the other wolf, known to him as they hadn't given a name. "Call it a ..... what the word?" Gods he hated forgetting English words. "эксперимент — experiment. Want to see how wolves feel about tigers. So far, mostly dislike." He would shrug slightly as he said that, letting out a deep grumble. "Thought perhaps food would make me less scary."

He was a lone creature, yes, but perhaps this would be a new start for him. His ears flicked as Harper spoke, cocking his head to the side. "More tigers?"

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A subtle change in demeanor from Harper conveyed a wordless message- one of annoyance at that, given the telltale glower which surfaced from her amethyst depths. Maybe the tiger hadn’t given any indication of harboring an ulterior motive. Maybe the debonair was desperate for company, enough to let loose and flaunt his enticing smile at creatures so vastly different from himself. Whatever pristine patch of earth Harper had been cultivated from had clearly failed to outline the apparent shortcoming of her own species- and of others, at that. If she wanted to succumb to such a foolish endeavor for the sake of socialization and ostracize Farren for harboring her own doubts- well, that was fine.

At least one of them could act with a shred of rationality to their name.

Harper called herself a healer, claiming herself capable of alleviating the man’s wounds. Perhaps that was why she put so much faith in other creatures- she herself was, at least from what little Farren had gathered thus far, a seemingly benevolent soul seeking to mend that which was broken. “You have a brother… who’s a tiger.” Her brows furrowed with dismay.

This was startling to send an ache through her brain.

Did all species here intermingle and speak freely with one another?

How?

What enabled them to speak a common tongue?

Weird. This place made no sense. Time and time again, Farren found herself at a loss for the nonsensical things that threw a wrench in what she’d thought she had known.

“So this is normal,” She started, gazing back-and-forth between wolf and tiger. “For cats and dogs to speak to each other.”

“It’s not that I dislike your kind,” she added, squinting against the sun which now peeped from above the distant mountains. "So much as it is... unfamiliarity. сюрприз." — Surprise

She still wasn’t convinced that mushrooms weren’t addling her brain.
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^^Had all of the cards of Harper’s life lined up the way it should have in order to achieve that Happy Ending status - you know the one, with the magical fairy tale ending and not about what happens at certain nail salons - then perhaps Harper would have been all of two degrees more careful and more timid of the large predator..

But alas!!! — the gods did not seek to favor Harper; not once. She had been born of a multi-fathered litter, and her mother’s eventual mate had not known. It had not been his business to know, so he had been kept out of the loop. So when his mate, a striking silver lady much like himself, gave birth to not one but TWO dark sinner children - well she had clearly been unfaithful.

He had never loved them and it had been so painfully obvious, casting his judgment and later throwing Harper and her mother into exile, robbing Valeska and Harper of their childhood together after their two other siblings had perished.

She had gotten over this; she had found Valeska and together, they were re-united back at the hip, like they had always been. And then lightening struck, confusing Cupid somehow, and striking her with an arrow of love with Crux’s name on it, and then he died.

With him, too, was Harper’s fear of death; with Crux gone, Harper feared just about nothing. Being a healer had its perks, sure, but not enough to make her bold in the face of a tiger. A tiger who had no reason to be sharing his meal with two strangers; a tiger who could easily kill her, but then he’d just be doing the world a favor, wouldn’t he?

Farren and Raj’s questions caused her to smirk - though she nodded, although it wasn’t quite true, now was it? Kuhn had no idea that Harper had just gone and slapped the fond title of Brother on him. They were good friends; perhaps one of Harper’s closest - even if he didn’t realize it; even if he may be blind to it. (And that was okay.)

Farren’s questions caused Harper’s hackles to rise and a very deep, very slow growl left her lips as she felt as though she were defending a tiger for what would be the third time now, against her own species. Just call her Harper, Defender of Tigers, at this point, yall.

“And in what world, pray tell, do you come from, where you must judge someone based on the outline and shape of their body, without having known them? How would you feel, being cast into this world, knowing not a single soul, yet being mistreated, attacked, ambushed, and simply not given the time of day, because he’s a tiger?!”

Woah, that was very specific, Harper.

Slowly, she stood, allowing the anger to bubble up into the form of raw emotion, as tears welled up in her eyes but not yet falling. Her tail raised as lips curled back to expose her canines and she just stared; toes gripping the snow, muscles hardening as if she was waiting for Farren to speak another word; another insult to this relationship, and to her relationship with Kuhn.

I dare you to speak any further.

“Покинуть.” — Leave.

^^
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Her questions had very clearly been taken out of context, and she had somehow managed to puncture a particularly tender nerve along the way. 

Great job, Farren- your first conversation in days is going dandy.

The woman swelled like a viper, her velvet springing loose in all directions whilst acid bubbled from her tongue. Hurling accusations without a shred of restraint, confining her beneath the weight of their meaning in an offensive tirade. Despite her outward air of maintained calm, an acerbic look- one of frustration, surfaced from beneath the rapid current of Farren’s stare. She knew full-well the connotations of harboring even the slightest of differences from her half-kin, and as much her instincts urged her to retort with a parrying of fangs and a collision of bodies- she restrained.

They had been invited to dinner, and now she was the one flaunting a poor etiquette. 

“I think,” she said slowly, evenly- a cimmerian undertone lying dormant beneath the honeyed edges of her voice, “There has been a misunderstanding. I wasn’t judging your friend when I questioned him. It isn't... wasn’t, possible to speak to other beings. Can't you see?”

“I’ve only just been tossed into the fabric of this… whatever this hell is, and I’m still trying to sort between what’s real and what isn’t.” A shudder traveled down her spine.

Farren's gaze remained dead-set on the bellicose woman- testing, gauging the effect of her words. If she sprung into volatile action, Farren would be no less prepared. The cords of her muscles ran taught with anticipation...

Waiting.
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The man flicked his eyes between the two, noting the cat fight that would soon arise. Cat fight.... wolf fight? It didn't sound as cool that way. Nonetheless, he would lay there quietly and watch, his body tense until his relaxed façade, not willing to let them kill each other over him. For now though, he kept himself low to the ground, eyes flickering between the two of them. 

Slowly he would reach out to start eating, eyes never leaving the two women. For a moment, his eyes would settle on Harper, a curious glint in his eye. He certainly had quite a few questions for her, but those could come later. For now though, he would turn back to the other woman, noting her response. Finally though, he would lift himself up, his body tense has he did so. "That enough you two.  успокойся. — Calm down I simply want lunch with two beautiful women. You can kill each other after." He chuckled softly at his own joke, though he knew he wasn't going to let them kill each other at anytime when he could stop it. 

"I do not take personally your wariness, this is all new for you." He would turn to look at Farren for a moment before turning to speak to Harper. "Thank you for standing up for me." A small smile he would offer her before sitting himself down and beginning to eat again.

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Farren’s exit

---

The tiger acted as if they could bypass the tension, abrasive and suffocating, to dine peaceably. 

“I don’t plan to stick around and find out,” she grumbled, shooting the woman a venomous glare as she backpedaled from the carcass.

“Enjoy your meal.”

With that, she made for a hasty departure.

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