Walk of Shame

After some time, step after step, his own wound earned in their pointless battle began to throb as any scabbing seemed to instantly split back open with every step. Coagulated blood layer after layer built up on the hide of his thigh as the duo got closer to the mountain hold.

Eventually the mountain gates opened up their maw to offer sanctuary within. Anxiety built as they entered, obvious by the erratic thrashing of his whip like tail. Kuhn would have to explain what happened and reveal his carelessness and paranoia.

Not knowing who could be home, the cat had learned by now some manners, and knew it was polite to call. Lacking a howl the striped beast could only emit heavy low rumblings from his chest loudening into something like a roar and a yowl.

Heat filled his face, anxious, wondering who would greet them.

@Olive @Hank, but all welcome
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The brute was doing what he did best, scouting and guarding the place that he now called home. It didn't take him long to catch the scent of another on the wind, two it seemed. Quickly the man would walk towards the scent, the sound of a large feline yowl making him pause for a moment. Was there a tiger? He hadn't even met a tiger before though he wasn't really scared of them. Even as a dog, he was confident in his strength if this turned south. So, with a deep sigh, the Mongolian canine would move forward, finally coming out into the open to spot the tiger that seemed to be accompanied by a wolf. 

With a quick sniff to catch both of their scents, he would shake out his coat, watching them both closely. "Can I help you two?" His accent was light, hardly there but could be heard nonetheless. His legs were tense under his long coat, as he didn't know either of these men or their intentions.

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What was in truth a relatively short journey became long and arduous due to his injury. But Hank didn't have it in him to be particularly bitter about it. If the circumstances were different, he would be; he wasn't above vengeance, mind you.

Eventually, the odd pair made it in one piece. Kuhn stopped at what he presumed was the pack's border, which he keenly took note of thanks to his cool dog nose. However, having a strong sense of smell came with its drawbacks. Though Kuhn confirmed the existence of medical care in this world, it appeared the animals here still weren't very technologically advanced. How did he come to this conclusion? Well, it was apparently commonplace to mark the borders of your territory with shit and piss. Just lovely. He wrinkled his nose but decided against complaining about it. Maybe he'd get used to it, bizarre as the practice was. Animals were weird... why was he here again? He wondered if it was meant to be some kind of lesson to "open his mind" or some shit. Who knew? Most likely no one living here.

On that line of thought, how did you let people know you were there? The territory seemed huge, and barging in was obviously out of the question (wasn't that the point of marking your territory with pungent shit?). But it's not like they had doorbells or anything...

He got his answer when Kuhn let out a booming roar. It carried far, reverberating in his chest before ricocheting off of the mountains that towered above. His sensitive ears flattened against his skull of their own volition, retreating from the startling noise. He was used to deafening noise: gunfire, explosions, the whole nine yards. But his hearing also wasn't half as good then as it was now.

Someone answered the call swiftly enough. The man had a wary look in his eye... did he not know Kuhn? Also, he clearly wasn't a wolf, but some kind of domestic dog— a huge mastiff. So were there humans in this world? Was he himself a wolf, or was he also a dog? He badly needed a mirror. Anyway, Hank would let Kuhn do the talking, as even if this individual wasn't familiar with him, he was familiar with this world and (allegedly) this pack, unlike himself.

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The two injured men, where greeted by a large canine of some sort.  Whatever he was, he had a lot of fur.   One way or another it wasn't what Kuhn expected to see here, and had no idea who this guy was, expecting to see @Olive or @Tiberius.   

Looking over to Hank, the cat gave a small shrug.  Half turning back to the man with the long coat, "We are looking for Olive, or Tiberius?", he asked tentatively; seriously thinking that they could be in the wrong place.  "I was hoping to have Olive look at something?", those somethings being needlessly inflicted injuries that both men where clearly wearing.
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The man glanced between the two of them, noticing the normal look he got. No one really knew what he was, but unless they asked, he wasn't one to speak out on it either. Instead, he would glance over at the feline, taking in his words with a nod. He noticed their injuries but said nothing of it, not wanting to point out any weakness of the two. "Very well, they should be here momentarily. The name is Genghis, welcome to Duskguard." With that, he would turn to face where the pack called home and let out a serious of loud barks to call upon his leaders, letting them know that someone was here but that it wasn't an emergency. 

With that, he would turn back to the men, looking over at the wolf with a curious expression. "Are you alright over there?" The wolf seemed in deep thought and for a moment the canine wondered what he was thinking of. 

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Kuhn was beating around the bush and fidgeting for some reason. Hank didn't see the point in it. Wouldn't it be better to just tell him they needed medical aid? His friends would probably get here faster if there was a sense of urgency.

The dog found his vague explanation sufficient, and he called for who Hank presumed were the head honchos around here. Were different sounds codes for something? How else would they know who specifically was being called for without words? The way these creatures found ways around their lack of technology was admittedly a little fascinating.

Then, the man (who'd introduced himself as Genghis) turned his attention to him and asked if he was alright. Well, since Kuhn wouldn't cut to the chase, he'd do it for him. “We need medical assistance,” Hank explained plainly, voice rough like gravel. The only reason he didn't go into the fine details was merely because he didn't find it necessary. Hank wasn't one for gossip or idle chat, which was an unintentional boon for Kuhn's ego.

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Aside from Rin's bear attack, there wasn't much going on in Frostfang Vale — which was just fine with Olive, who was greatly enjoying the quiet interlude. Activity was always certain to come and go, so when it was gone, she did her best to relish the moments until her curious nature inevitably got her wrapped up in something yet again.

Hearing the roar of a large cat — she immediately recognized who it was, despite never having heard such a call from him before — Olive lifted herself from her repose and decided to make head way towards the borders, though answering such calls was undoubtedly Tiberius's forte. For a moment, the waif glanced amusingly at the gentle swell of her belly, her mind loitering on how strange it was to see her twig-like body rounding out as it was; but her thoughts were fractured by several short barks, and Olive remembered what she was doing, and she made headway towards the borders.

The scene she came upon was grisly, but not as ghastly as when she can come upon Rin. Her lips pressed together and she pushed forward, nodding towards the sentinel Genghis (whom she had still yet to become closely acquainted with), but appreciating the man answering the call as promptly as he did. "Kuhn, my goodness," she breathed, letting her attention bounce between the two other men and their various woundings. A million questions popped into her head all at once, but she had clearly been summoned for one (very obvious) intention, and that's where all of her focus went.

The woman took a step towards the foreigner, thrusting her nose forward to test the air with series of sniff. "These are incredibly fresh..." she observed, as if the bright-red, freely-flowing blood didn't connote such already. Her ears pressed against her skull in concern. "What happened?" Was it the same bear, yet again?

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As Olive entered the scene, Kuhn nodded to the strange dog, showing his thanks for his call. Figuring that this must be one of the couple's new pack members, it seemed this little idea was already growing.

'What happened', was the last question he wanted to hear as Olive showed her concern, but he already knew he would have to answer for it. Nervous, his fur puffed up a bit, as his tail whipped in aggrivation. "Well... I was.. I was in the Everfrost again.", He stammered thinking of the most diplomatic way to phrase this.

"I was jumpy, I got in a fight with this guy... and it's all my fault.", he continued, deciding to just fess up to what he did.

Exhaling, just a bit of life returned to the cat's face, probably just happy to get that over with. "This is Hank. It seems he can give as good as he can take.", he joked a bit while showing off the damage the wolf did to his thigh; as if to brag on the man's behalf.
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The wolf spoke of needing healing and the large dog would nod simply, not pushing the issue any further. He was of the thought that if someone was important, they would speak up about it. Before he could say much else though, Olive appeared, which meant that his job was done. Silently, he would nod in greeting to the female leader before nodding in farewell to the others. 

Quietly, he would turn to leave, not having a reason to stay here now. So, unless anyone called to him or asked him to stay, he would leave, moving to continue what he did best, guarding the borders.

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A pale, waifish woman appeared. Her eyes were like his (or at least, what they used to be. Again, he was dying for a mirror), except the gold in her green irises was metallic flecks as opposed to starbursts. She moved with feminine grace that was a criminally rare sight to behold for the war dog. She was... beautiful. Was that weird for him to think? He was a man like, what, less than 24 hours ago?

Too many questions in one day. His brain was starting to smoke. Enough thinking. Time to pray he wasn't staring, and on the off chance he was, pray that the goggles masked it.

The wolfess he took to be Olive asked what happened, and Hank kept his mouth shut, lest something stupid come out. Kuhn got to explaining in more detail, and his praise didn't go unnoticed. Hank gave a lopsided smirk and nodded in silent greeting. Genghis took his leave, and he was anxious to follow him. God did he need to get off this leg. He'd just woken up a few hours ago, but he felt like he could sleep for another lifetime.

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Olive looked at the foreign man, first letting her attention trickle over his leg, which had been blasted to smithereens, then up to the dusky wolf himself. Her eyes glanced up towards the strange, red apparatus he wore; but her liaison with Benry had taught her to see these things as normal, and not always needing explaination. Really, it was the least of everyone’s concerns, bleeding in the northern snows as they were.

Olive lifted her head and directed her visage towards the suncat as he spoke honestly about the events, and at first she was rather astonished at it all — so this was what a tiger could do —- but when she fully steeped in the gravity of this misunderstanding, she felt compassion for Kuhn in the very pit of her gut. She felt sympathy for his newfound sparring partner too, of course, but she saw in his remorseful, stone-slate eyes the same guilt that she often felt after suffering from her own trauma; whatever was left over, when one lashed out from fear and feeling backed into a corner.

The woman drifted backwards several paces, allowing the ink of her eyelashes to close over the acuteness of her succor. “What unfortunate circumstances,” she modulated softly, nodding along with the rest of his words. Eyes opened once more, and landed on the dark man, Hank. Olive offered him a demure smile, happy to abide in their efforts to ease the the tension. Kuhn had brought this man to her doorstep and Genghis had felt it safe enough to leave, which all boded well for this stranger, of whom she knew nothing about — only that he must be new here, and unawares that the Everfrost was strictly verboten.

“Come in, come in.” she tittered, she came forward and spun a tight circle to come up alongside Hank, and brace whatever uninjured part of him she could.“I am Olive, the Priestess of Duskguard,” she introduced, bracketing up her musculature against his. It was more of a show of support than anything, as she was far too small-boned and gravid to be carrying anything of such weight. But here she could feel his breathing and assess his energy, two easy indicators of how well he was carrying on, as he was seemingly nonverbal. The sylph glanced up at him. “Can you make it to the lake?” but the lake was some distance, and the terrain was mountainous, but there they could wash their wounds and reside for some time.

Lifting her nose, she spoke more loudly. “I am still working to procure medicines here,” she admitted amongst the three of them, “but here you both can find rest, and we can mend as best we can.” Olive would argue time and time again that a any healer worth their salt would find herbs helpful at best, and understood that most healing was in the hands of the Gods, and within one's own mind.

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Olive voiced her sympathy for the both of them. They were all on the same page here, far as he could tell; no hard feelings were harbored. That made things simple, and Hank liked simple.

When she opened her eyes and smiled at him, however, things quickly became... complicated again. Hazel eyes met one another, and he felt trapped within her gaze. Emotions built and swirled around inside him like a whirlpool, their edges blurring together as they spun. Hank wasn't good at pinning down his emotions, but he could at least note how he was feeling as either "good" or "bad". Right now though, he couldn't even say that for sure. He just felt... weird. It was both welcome and unwelcome in its foreignness.

Olive was the epitome of femininity, overflowing with empathy and modest emotion, and moving with unmatched grace. Muddied as his memories were, he knew with absolute certainty that this— people like her— was something he didn't encounter in his previous life, especially not after becoming Nevada's most wanted. The world he came from was hard and cold. And from the mere hours he'd spent in this one, it was evident it was the same in that sense. But in the presence of such a comparatively pure soul, he felt... warm, like he was melting. Again, not sure if he liked that or not. Hank guessed it just depended on how you looked at it. On one hand, he felt weak, which is loathed. But on the other, the warmth was comforting.

It would suffice to say that Olive broke him by just existing. His brain needed rebooting. A normal person would return her smile, but Hank was too swept up in the current of his own mind to do so. He just gawked like a bird, a really stupid bird.

She welcomed them in, spinning to press her rawboned-turned-plump form against him, flank-to-flank. Her touch sent a shock down his spine like he'd been struck by lightning, fur standing on end. “I am Olive, the Priestess of Duskguard,” She formally introduced herself. Even her title sounded ethereal, like she didn't belong in this realm— or rather, he didn't belong in the same realm as her. And well, he supposed he didn't, in a literal sense.

Hank swallowed. Oh God, he actually had to use his words now. Mentally shaking himself, he forced some semblance of composure. “It's, uh... a pleasure, Olive,” Hank managed. Such formality was unnatural to the war dog, but it felt criminal not to try.

“Can you make it to the lake?” She asked, all the wholehearted concern in the world finding a home in her soft voice. He stopped zoning out like an idiot for a second to survey the land ahead of him, eyeing the uneven terrain. Hank didn't know exactly how far the lake was, but it didn't matter; there was no way he'd let her even try to support his massive weight with her fragile frame, especially when she appeared to be pregnant.

“Yeah, I got it.” He assured with a lap of his nose before hobbling ahead, indicating he wouldn't burden her with his weight unless she absolutely insisted on it. He'd hauled himself all the way out here, and if he could do that, he could take however far the lake happened to be.

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Clenching his jaw, he was sure it was coming. Any moment know he would have the small pale woman up in his face for his carelessness. Though, it never came. When it didn't come, and they where walking deeper into the mountain, he couldn't get his mind off it. He deserved to be scolded.

Keeping pace in the back of the group with a small limp if his own, the big cat stayed near by in case Hank might need his help, though he didn't want to step on the man's pride if it wasn't asked.

It was kind of funny how the man's words where so strained upon meeting Olive. Hank hardly even flinched when feline claws where jammed into the his leg, yet this small woman got more of a reaction from him. He couldn't be blamed, Olive was quite magnetic.

Lagging behind a bit, the cat tried not to draw to much attention, still obviously down about the whole thing. As they continued on he would catch scent of the man's blood from time to time, bringing the topic up in his mind over and over. Peeking over Hank's shoulders, he wondered when the best time to ask about that strange red device was.
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^^

Tiberius had heard him and he had been on his way when the scent of Kuhn and a stranger became stronger within his trees. Olive was rampant as expected though he suspected she had come to his call and had been closer than he. The titan would furrow his brow, Kuhn knew he was allowed in and out as he would like though he realised then it was likely due to the strange scent accompanied him.

The titan found a small smile playing on his marred lips as Kuhn respected what he had been learning of wolf etiquette and had opted to call instead of entering straight away. Pride, respect and affection for the feline blossomed before it died away as the man drew himself after Olive, the twang of blood filling the air and his features became stormy. Had he suffered another ambush?

His long legs carried him faster and through his trees did he see the trio, his molten gaze being drawn instantly to Olive -- as it always was. "Olive," he rumbled before he drew his gaze towards the stranger that she walked by. His chin jut out as he observed though noting that it was not Olive who held injury he would look to Kuhn. "Mate," he frowned as he stalked towards the cat, "yer ambushed again?" His fury was palpable as he approached, seeking to oversee his injuries though would do as Olive instructed, the art of medicine being her forte.

"I'll 'elp yer darlin', tell me wha' yer need fer them an' I'll do wha' yer need," he rumbled to Olive as he felt no issue of the stranger. He was injured and came accompanied by Kuhn, though certainly words would be had as he sought the origin of their injuries.^^

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If Olive’s intention was to get a taste of outlander’s energy, then she certainly got a mouthful; and what a fuzzy, gray, unintelligible mess it all was! The overarching feeling she got was that of confusion, but the waif couldn’t pin if that stemmed more from him, or from her — and beneath the befuddlement, there was mystification (and what was that, but another type of confusion?). The frisson of it rippled across her skin, and the Priestess glanced up at him, and then quickly away, back towards the heart of her Vale. At the same time, he seemed so solid and unperturbed, despite just having been mauled by a tiger.
 
It wasn’t often that the Priestess couldn’t get a read on those around her. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was inviting into her hearth and home.
 
The man affirmed that he could continue on onwards, and the woman peaked ‘round him to glimpse at Kuhn, now able to find a macabre sense of humor about it all. She hadn’t ever seen Kuhn when he wasn’t brandishing some new wound or scarring — and if no one was particularly cross about things, then who would be the one to press charges, anyways? Olive couldn’t help but think of Shiroshika, and if these sorts of instances were what drove them to such measures. Still, it was all very much a chicken-or-the-egg situation; the truth and responsibility depended on who was viewing it.
 
She heard him before she saw him, “Olive,” but the sight of him came soon after.
 
Tiberius, ink-dark and stalwart, standing upon the threshold and assessing the situation at hand. Almost instantly, there was an iota of space between she and the stranger, put there by Olive and done so automatically. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with providing a supportive touch to another, but it seemed like a more imminent priority was to assuage her Chieftain and not entice his beastly nature. After all, the situation would appear quite distressing.
 
Olive cleaved herself from Hank, and paced forward towards the Titan, her tail sweeping and swaying to convey that all was fine. Drawing close, she clarified the situation for him in a quiet tone, lest Kuhn linger on his wrong-doing in front of an audience (again). “There was a misunderstanding in the Everfrost,” she stated succinctly, still genuinely pleased to see the man, in his cloak of authority. She strafed her side against his, then turned to look at the bloodied pair, happy to hear that Tiberius would provide no objection to Duskguard taking on another convalescent.
 
“Perhaps you can help me transfer them to the lakeside,” the pale sylph suggested, though it was clear that neither Hank or Kuhn truly needed help ambling about. His appraisal of Hank was what she really sought. “I think it would be most comfortable, no?” she chirped, padding forward a few paces before passing the titan a sidelong glance and saucily remarked “You’ve never seen me have so much work, have you?” as if having to do healing work was ever a good thing. Such was the curse of those gifted with healing paws.

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Thankfully, Olive did not insist. Hank just tried to focus on walking. A vantablack man emerged from the trees. He assumed this was the 'Tiberius' Kuhn had mentioned a few times. His voice carried a very strong accent Hank recalled hearing in pirate movies. Except this guy was the real deal, had the sick scars to boot and everything. Probably wasn't a pirate though, considering they were nowhere near the sea. The image of pirate wolves with corny eyepatches, peg legs and a rickety raft projected in his mind's eye, and he flashed a ghost of a grin to himself.

Anyway, Hank wondered what sort of man he was. Since he and Kuhn were cool now, that'd hopefully spare him from accruing any debts for receiving their assistance. Being in debt day one in a new world would be pretty shitty. Tiberius knew Kuhn like Olive did, evident by how he addressed the panther as 'mate' and asked if he'd been ambushed again. He perked up, hoping their conversation would let him glean more about Kuhn to get a better read on him. That little tidbit already explained a lot about his paranoid behavior— probably explained where most (if not all) of Kuhn's scars came from, too.

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At most any other time, the cat would be happy to see the dark man.  Though in this instance the fur around his neck stood in discomfort. He would have to explain himself again.  If there was anyone to be accountable to it was Tiberius.  "The opposite this time. I was in the wrong today. I didn't think and struck first.", he announced still puffed up.  

Dipping his head for a moment, he showed a glimpse of his shame, it was unfitting of a creature of his stature.  Now he would have to do whatever it would take to tip the scales back with this man, and with the services used from Duskguard.  Olive continued to try to sooth things by prefacing the story to the Titian, which he greatly appreciated.  

Kuhn put himself on the sort leash and decided to say nothing more about it until he could gauge the mood of his dark friend. Anything else he said now could just make things worse.  Hanging behind Hank, the silent offer was always there to assist in his walk not that the 'assassin' really needed it.
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^^

He was stony in his curiosity, molten gaze flickering over the proximity of Olive to apparently, a new patient and though it was the norm when it came to Olive's job as Priestess, it didn't fill him with joy when it was at the side of a man he did not know. Regardless of his entrance with Kuhn, trust was built and Olive was his pregnant lady at his side. Though a man who had evolved to some degree, it was his more feral instincts that made him want to do the opposite of his current actions. They quietened the protective instinct as Olive withdrew from the mans side and came towards him, no look of pain or worry written upon her delicate features. 

Tiberius breathed.

The titan dipped his head to her as he spoke to him softly, alerting him of the situation at hand. She told him of a misunderstanding within the Everfrost and Kuhn would speak of his blame. It was clear that Kuhn didn't feel great about it, taking responsibility for his actions with an air of shame. Tiberius would curl his tail against Olive as he felt her against him, the gentle swelling of her belly making him almost purr. 

He appreciated that Kuhn was growing. It was an effort put forth by the cat that felt like more respect put between them but he was not a fan of the way he seemed to be... self loathing. "Shit 'appens," he cast his molten gaze to Kuhn and hoped the feline would be looking back at him. "So long as yer okay, wounds aside," Tiberius would rumble to the feline who seemed to hang back. They'd talk but not with others between them, the titan needing to reassure the feline that they all make mistakes but what matters is what they did after them.

His companion was silent but not in shame. He watched, just like Tiberius found himself doing yet the dark titan still spoke words here and there. This man did not. Olive suggested a way for him to help and he gave a nod of his head as he continued to look to the hazel-eyed man, "aye, lakeside it is." If she thought it best, it's what he would do. She moved past him and he withdrew his penetrating stare from the man and let it follow Olive without hesitance. He huffed a laugh, "let's not make a 'abit outta it, yeah Angel?" especially not with the days that would come where her stomach would do nothing other than swell further.

"Alrigh' lads, this way," he angled his head to motion them forward, keeping his molten gaze open for any signs that they would require him to shoulder their weight in assistance. ^^

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