Sovereign, Entering Elysium

Even though it had been some time, the mountain range of fate's respite was still a familiar sight.  From what he could tell the wolves of Elysium where good people, and they may have some clues on where to find Vera, or at least provide a good launching point for his explorations into the deeper south.

Having done his best to keep a low profile, this whole area was likely traveling grounds for Reiko's minions or Ira's thugs.

So when the big cat reached the feet of those mountains, he stood there for a moment looking upward at the pass.  Flipping his tail he took a long moment to consider calling.  Opting to keep with his low profile, he sauntered in, ascending the slopes up into the mountains.  

He was sure Elysium would forgive him, it was better than calling for unwanted attention. Still his ears where perked and the tiger remained alert with each passing stride, coming closer and closer to the choke point of the mountain pass.  

@Mordecai
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 If he wasn't tending to his pups, eating, and sleeping then the rotund man was patrolling or otherwise guarding. It was why he caught sight and smell of something new that had wandered beyond their borders. His protection mode was activated as he went full speed ahead towards a flicker of orange. He felt his hackles rising initially.

 Trespasser. Stop him. Protect. Apprehend.

 Not going to be a repeat of the boars... He played that scene over and over in his mind as he drew closer and then...

 Stopped. The part of him that had grown serious fell away as he recognized the creature as someone that had been mentioned before. A striped feline. A tiger. Harper had mentioned a tiger before. A friend tiger. Was this the friend tiger? Whether this was the man or not would determine how the rest of this encounter went.

 He let out a woof to get the other's attention, then asked, with a huge smile on his face that offset the intensity at which he originally approached. "Saaaayy, aren't you that tiger, Koonie?" That was right... right? Koonie? Kunner? Karn? No... those weren't right... Koonie had to be it. He'd never officially met the man himself so he wasn't sure.

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Gonna make the assumption that Kuhn has been mentioned off-handedly before to Mordi.

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The sound of a bark initially startled the cat, jumping ever so slightly. Stopping his advance up into the mountains, his eyes where guided by his ears, eventually meeting the rotund form of a brown wolf.

"Uhh... Maybe?", he replied with some sarcasm. Unless there really was another tiger with such a similar name. "I'm Kuhn. K-un.", he added spelling out the pronunciation of his often misspoken name with a smile. Its not like it was the first time.

Looking up the slopes at the man, he let his tail just glide back and forth. "So, are you with Elysium?" , asked the cat as he began to take another step.
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 Maybe? The brown fellow was visibly confused by that. How could he "maybe" be Koonie? That didn't make sense at all!

 Fortunately, the tiger explained further and Mordecai gave an, "Oooooohhhhhh." As it clicked into place. "Kuhn! Yeah! I have heard about you!" He wagged his tail, realizing that 'yes' this trespasser was not so much a trespasser as a friend of his pack. "I think I remember Harper or Valeska talkin' about you or somethin'!" And now Kuhn was in danger of getting his ears talked off.

 "Eeyup! Sure am! I'm a," He paused, looking intensely focused as he tried to remember the name that his rank was. "Blessed. Shadows. Bane." He got it right! "Which is just a fancy way of sayin' that I'm a real trusted guard and a knight of Elysium." He seemed awful proud of that, puffing out his chest and grinning. "What're you up to, then? Visiting Harper and everyone?" Probably so, why else would he be here. Unless he wanted to make new friends too. That'd be fun!

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Now that the ice had been broken, the cat walked closer into the pass, coming to greet the guard more in person.  Padding in to close the distance without apprehension, the tiger took note of the man's scent, holding his own tail aloft just a bit. 

"Ahh that makes sense...", he replied with a rumble, noting the man's odd fruity scent.  He smelled like those little red plant things that collected low to the ground.  "Well...Ya, I'm looking for a way to get into Elysium, maybe you know the way through this pass?", he asked cocking his head.
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 Mordecai didn't stop the fellow as he came closer, and even seemed to be inviting him with an encouraging tail wag. As far as he was concerned, this was a friend of the pack and he was certain that all was alright. In fact, it sounded like he'd even been complimented! He certainly had to have the look of a warrior, right? He knew that he was one but it was always nice to be recognized. "'Course I do! I go this way all the time when I'm patrollin' and y'know, just goin' in and out of the territory." He turned and waved a paw for the other man to follow him. "C'mon! I'll take you back to the camp." Plus, if the tiger came with him it would put everyone at ease in case they didn't know him.

 With that, he began to lead the way back towards the heart of the territory. He seemed quite happy and at peace with everything, with carefree steps and a lazily wagging tail. "My name's Mordecai! But if ya want, you can call me Mordi. Don't make me no difference." He said with a chuckle. "So, what pack're you from, then? An' are you a warrior too? Or like maybe a messenger?" He knew of the tiger but not all of the little details beyond that he collaborated with wolves.

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Following behind the round man, the cat took the que to join him up at his side as they continued into the pass.  "Thanks Mordecai.", Kuhn purred thankfully with a nod of his head.  Looking around at the snowy mountain, he wouldn't know where to start.  

Following along with the carefree man, the cat watched his step, taking after the man, and the way he traveled.  "Duskguard...", responded the cat, carefully stepping as to not sink deep into the snow.  "I have been into a fight or two... But really I'm content just being called a hunter."  In a way that was what he was doing at the moment, hunting.  Even if it was for a wolf.  

Still following in the footsteps of the brown wolf, the cat's shoulders oscillated rhythmically, holding his tail high for balance as he focused on navigating the new terrain.  "You are a warrior right?  That seems to be the type that guard the edge?"
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 "No problem!" While the cat stepped carefully gracefully over the snow, Mordecai held no such regard. He plowed straight through. Stepping into and onto the snow, cleaving great footprints into their path with no regard to how he went, only that he got to go where he wanted.

 And that he had good company while doing so!

 "Duskguard, hm? I mighta heard of them" He furrowed his brow, wracking his brain as he tried to remember talk of them. "Yeah! Yeah, I think I have. They're up further north or somethin' like that! Never been myself that far..." Hm... maybe he oughta make the effort to go. "Bein' a hunter's a noble job! Who else is gonna put the prey on the pile? Haha!" And, as the cat could probably tell, there was nothing he loved more than a good meal. "I'm not really that great at huntin' myself. All the prey's all quick and slippery an' I'm not great at chasin'em. So, I gotta lotta respect for guys like you that're real good at huntin an' bringin' the food back!" Although if someone chased prey to him then he was adept at dragging it down to the ground.

 "Yup yup! That's my job! Guardin' borders, patrollin', fightin' all the fights that might pop up. Y'know, that sorta rough stuff." He said rather proudly, puffing his chest again as they walked through the pass and over snow. He stopped briefly to scratch at his folded ear, then he shook his head, and lead them onwards. "Not much happens 'round here though... well, not since the boars, anyway. Those guys were a whole lotta bad news... but they're gone now!" For a moment he'd seemed upset but then he was back to his jolly beaming self by the end of his words.

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Pulling his eyes up from his feet the striped cat noticed that his guide actually paid no regard to his foot placement, simply trudging through the snow.

Letting Mordecai act as a snow plow, the cat attempted to follow in his wake. "Everyone needs to eat...", stated the cat as his arm punched through the snow, sinking in up to his elbow. After a short stumble, he sighed to himself, continuing his haul.

Stepping a little faster to catch up, the tigers ears cupped the brown man. "Oh? You had a run in with those boars too? The big talking ones?" Paging through his memory, he could remember the horror of those pigs.
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 "Yeah! We do all need to eat!" He said with a sage nod of his head. "And food is so really great! Any kinda food really but berries an' nice fresh stuff is real great." Gosh, he could go on a real tangent about food. All sorts of eat. Elk, deer, strawberries, blueberries, fish, carrion, you name it and he'd eat it. Literally, he would eat words if he could.

 Of course, the conversation naturally progressed to the stinking boars and he remembered the occasion with a frown. "Yeaaahhh... those nasty ones." He shook his head, huffing as he remembered what had happened. "Some big, mean so-and-so came up here and kidnapped Valeska!" He looked at Kuhn, the expression on his face quite perturbed. "Can you believe that? They just rumbled up in here and took her." His ears sagged a bit then. "I tried to fight that big ole boar off but... he got me good. Knocked me out and there wasn't nothin' I could do about it." Mordi was a big man with big emotions and he spoke emphatically, relaying all of the terrible events that day with ease. As if he'd known the tiger for years. "Theeeennn, when everyone went to go attack'em, Harper forbid me from goin'. So I missed all the fun there an' didn't get no revenge for poor Valeska. I thought she was dead for the longest time..." He huffed and sighed sadly, getting so into the story that he nearly walked into a tree. In face, he stopped right short with his muzzle nearly touching it before he laughed and walked around. "Whoops!"

 "Wait... 'too'?" And he just realizedfully what Kuhn had said. "Did you get into it with the boars? Were you at the big fight?" He asked, interest alight in his caramel gaze.

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"Oh... uh ya.  I was there for that.  It took so many of us to bring them down.  They where the biggest boar I have ever seen", he said getting a bit of a chill, remembering the crying mother.  "That is saying something, boar is one of my favorite meals", though the tiger ended up going hungry that night leaving the pigs to rot after what they had done, fearing what he might find in their innards, and preferring to tend to Valmua.  

Shaking off the thought, the cat perked his head back up continuing his pace, following cleverly in the mans tracks, still getting the feeling that the rotund man would outlast him on this trek, despite him acting as a snow plow.  "Im sure you did fine considering. Those things where no joke."  

Stopping for a moment, the tiger just waited for the man to re navigate around the tree. "But you should have seen @Valeska, she came back up like a wolverine.  Have you ever seen your kind and pretty leader with teeth full of blood?", he laughed with a smile, trying to lighten the mood around the topic of the boar.
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 So many.... "How many was it?" He was all in on the conversation, hanging on Kuhn's words as he tried to live vicariously through the tiger's memories. Now that it was long done and his loved ones had made it out just fine, he was dying for all the details. "Hehe, they are pretty tasty." He wished he could have been there for the feasting, because surely there was some of that too. "I remember the one that came here was all huge. Like reeeaaall big, bigger'n me." He eyed the tiger, was that boar bigger than him too? "Yeah! I think bigger'n'you too! Wonder if we fought the same exact one?" Most likely. How many huge boar could there be?

 Well, the answer was likely none now.

 He was going along, only now starting to huff and puff a bit more at all the extra snow. He could take a different route to make sure there was less snow to walk through... but that hadn't occurred to him. He knew the most direct and quickest route and was heading that way rather than the roundabout likely less snow route. "N-no! I didn't even think Valeska liked fighting much!" The man said with a laugh, brightening a bit as he paused to catch his breath. "Aww maaaaannn, I really wish I'd been there! I would've loved to see it!" He looked at the tiger with a smile. "But those boars were prob'ly enough to get anyone's anger goin'!" He remembered being really infuriated at the boar king. He didn't normally get that upset but he remembered that clear as day.

 "Sorry, Kuhn, I gotta... gotta catch my breath a bit." And then he plopped down on his rear with his lolling tongue accenting his friendly face.

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Glancing up, the tiger had to page through the details in his mind to try and remember.  "There was about a dozen of us? Maybe... five of them?", a bit of uncertainty in his voice, it was a chaotic fight.  Unlike the brawl with the Walrus' of the north it lacked the fanfare and the afterglow, only leaving a sick feeling in the stomach. 

"Oh ya, I felt small against those things, I helped kill a huge female.  But, on the other side of the fight there was a handful of wolves who took down what I only thought could be a legend. Huge male, Huge tusks."  

Still continuing gracefully in the wolf's wake, the cat really started to wonder how long this living plow of a man could keep this up, carefully padding in his tracks.  "Ya, I didn't know she had it in her.", chuckled the cat with a dark rumble.  "We could have used another set of jaws, but i'm not sure the eating would have been that good, I kind of lost my appetite after what I saw", he added with a tone that changed. "Who knows though... a few got away, maybe you will get another chance." 

When the brown man stopped to catch his breath, the cat released a reassuring chuff in exchange for the sight of the friendly face.  Not wasting his own chance to rest, the cat stretched out his back, complete with a wide yawn before joining the man on the floor.  "Uhh... if you want I could take over the front for a little while, but... I don't know where i'm going."  
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 Gosh, that was so many combatants and yet the boars had still put up such a major fight? He hoped they never got the gal to attack again. Although one part of him did want to test his might out again but he didn't want his loved ones hurt, especially not now that he had his own pups to care for. He didn't know what he'd do if any one of them was injured.

"Yeeaahh... I bet is was real nasty and violent, huh?" A pause and then something occurred to him. "Were there some heavy casualties on our side?" Was that why he didn't feel like eating? Although he was at the other end of the spectrum. He would have eaten them out of spite. Like Kuhn said, maybe he would get the chance.

 And if it was away from his loved ones, he would very much enjoy enacting out revenge on those who were felled by the evil boars.

 Plus! He was always down for a snack!

 "Are you sure you'd wanna do that?" The man asked, puzzled but equally happy that Kuhn was willing to do him a solid. "Hmm... that might be a liddle bit of a pickle." He raised a paw and rubbed his pads against the side of his head as he tried to think of a solution. It messed the fur up there but he didn't seem to notice or mind... it was hard to tell which. "Oh! Hey! What if I tell you where to go? It's not too hard to go from here, I should be able to point you out in the right spots. Plus, we ain't got too much further to go." He sat his paw back down and gave a wide yawn. He wondered what had been brought back to the prey pile at this point.

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"It really was...", the cat returned softly. What he heard second hand was that the pigs had eaten some pups alive, making the mother and a few others watch. On top of that another brave warrior lost his life in the battle, with numerous injuries, including his own mate. Whipping and sliding against the snow the tigers tail, expressed his discomfort at the thought.

The striped beast obviously thought the boar deserved worse than they got, flexing his claws into the snow. There should have been a point made to keep them alive while they where devoured, very slowly. "Ya, some died... A lot of injuries."

"Still someone had to do it.", continued the cat as the duo sprawled out in the brown man's wake. "Maybe I would have stayed to eat if my mate didn't fuck up her shoulder"

After letting a moment thoughtful moment pass the feline tried to cheer up, "I don't mind pushing snow... I have been living up north for more than a year now...", the tiger reassured with a shrug.

"Just let me know when your ready to move again.", he continued, resting his head on the back of his paws, closing his eyes for a moment. The snow was always so bright.
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 "Oooooffff..." The man remarked. The word he said was quite simple but there was feeling there. He sympathized with the situation and felt for those that had died in the fighting. "Well... at least they died doing what was right." That's how he would want to go out. Well, besides dying with his loved ones all around him, he figured dying on the battlefield was an incredibly honorable way to go.

 "That's understand-able. Ya gotta make sure the missus or mister is well taken care of." Imagine losing your mate in the fight because of an injury. He shuddered to think about Harper dying in such a way. He was glad that she had made it home safe and sound. He fell silent then, letting the heaviness of the topic wash over him. What a sad day... but at least they were victorious. They could look back on it and eat to their fallen comrades.

 "Oh yeah? Did you get plopped down here in this place too?" "This place" being this nameless world that they'd all found themselves in.

 The brown wolf plopped down on the ground, needing no more persuasion to take a bit of a load off. He rolled over onto his back, letting his tongue flop out while he splayed his forelegs out. He wriggled a bit to get some snow on him, then lay still with a content expression on his face, happily letting the snow and cool earth soak into his coat and chill him down. "Aaahhh... that hits the spot... Yup yup, I'll let'cha know! Just gimme a couple'a minutes to chill down a bit..." He was quite the happy and relaxed fellow for the moment. Just a couple of minutes and he'd be good to go again, it was tough work carrying around all his extra weight through the snow.

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"Ya, they definitely did...", the cat responded a bit tired. The guard was right, it was probably a good way to die, rather than getting sick or starving to death.  It would be good to get flashed out of the world in a way you would be remembered for.  Only one thing truly never dies:  judgement over dead men 

"Woke up here and haven't left... I think the snow is perfect for the winter coat.", he said before his words turned into another tired yawn.  

 

Looking down at the brown wolf, the cat scanned him over as he rolled around in the snow, which admittedly was a quick way to counteract overheating.  Closing his jaws again, the big cat set his chin back down on the back of his paws, returning to his last resting position, only now, his eyes began to flutter.   "eeeh... It is really comfortable right here.", slurred the tired cat, the two of them just tucked into the snow bank.

 

 

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 "You're like me then! And my friends! And... well... uh... I guess everyone else too." He hadn't really thought about that before he said it. No one was a native here. "I guess the only ones who ain't got poofed here are the pups." Like his sweet lil kiddos, birthed by his beloved, and his sweet lil' nieces and nephews. "I can't really blame ya for that logic." He said with a laugh. "If ya find somethin' you like, why leave?" That was his motto. Unless his higher-ups or loved ones wanted to leave, then he was content not changing anything.

 "Ain't it, though?" The yawn was quite contagious as he let loose one of his own. "It's like the perfect spot to just relax. I usually ain't got anyone to just relax with." In fact, it was so relaxing that he could feel himself starting to doze off. Just a few minutes... yeah, sure. He was a few seconds from starting to snore.

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"Mmhmm...", was all the cat could hum in response, as sleep clawed at him from the other side. It would be interesting if he could remember anything before coming to this place. But, the brown man's words made the tiger appreciate his own winter coat just a bit more: making resting places like this all the more comfortable.

Half way gone, Kuhn responded, "Ya... Its nice...". His words where slurred and half asleep. Mordecai was right, it was nice to just relax.

Slipping out of consciousnesses, anyone could tell that the tiger was asleep, a bit of his pink tongue poking out as he went to the other side resting on his own paws.

They would get there eventually.
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 Aw man, not only were yawns contagious but the sleepiness was too. Or maybe he was already this sleepy and he just didn’t realize it? In any case, he hummed in an amicable assent to Kuhn’s words. Everything dark due to him having closed his eyes. It didn’t take long until he was asleep right next to Kuhn. In his loud slumber he’d managed to roll over and curl up next to the tiger. Whether it was through his own actions or the cat’s, they ended up entangled with one another. Mordecai curled into the feline’s soft fur rather peacefully while the tiger’s own body curled around Mordecai’s own brown fur.

 They looked like the perfect cuddly pair.

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Well now it's ruined.

Firstly, Violet hated tigers. Just because of that one meeting she met that one guy with Aunt Harper, and they kinda not only looked ugly, but smelled gross. Her nose wrinkled, smelling the familiar musk of such a feline — and she was smelling it all over Elsyium. Like.. Could he maybe, not? Secondly, she was looking for Mordecai. He was somewhat treated as her servant, not like he really did complain. Even she knew he was just dumb — but had use. Couldn't insult him like the rest.. Probably the only one she was somewhat, okay with.

"Mordecaaaiii!" So her screechy voice was heard, as she came across the pair, "oh. Gross. Why is he here." That was not the same tiger.

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^^

stylist skills

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Orel was off on the hunt for more flowers, feathers, and other pretty things to decorate his family with. He had something really special planned for Valeska, and needed all the right colors. So far, he had some blue feathers, and now he needed reds. Purples! Yellows!

He was just happily trotting around Elysium when his nose caught something new! Coming upon them, he saw the orange and got excited. “Alder?” He asked, forgetting for a moment that he and left with Muma and Rigby. Coming upon them, he realized this was not Alder.

This was a bigger, stripy, Alder. Big Alder who didn’t look very decorated. Sorry, Auntie, you’ll have to wait..

As Orel strolled right on up, and began to shove things into the tiger’s coat with joyful little giggles - and deciding that Violet did not exist in this moment. Nothing could ruin his good mood. Not even an ugly cousin.

^^
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"huh.. uh, What?", the tiger sprung awake with a snort.  Only a moment ago and they where walking thorough the cold.  But now he felt really warm.  Looking down at his own arm, he found it wrapped around the brown man, all cuddled together.  He could swear he didn't remember doing this.  

Everything was blurry for a moment as he woke but when it all came into focus, he was greeted by two young wolves running about and yammering.  Confused, the tiger's eyes strained to the side seeing that his fur on his cheeks  was now decorated with various feathers.  

Scampering away from Mordecai, he was on his feet backpedaling into the snowy bank behind him, simultaneously spooked at the decorations in his mane.  Tripping backwards, he landed his rump in the snow, sitting in an awkward position.  

"Uhh... Hi...."
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 He didn’t mean to! He swore he didn’t! He knew that he was sleeping –or he supposed didn’t know he was sleeping—and the next thing, he was waking up to a surprised-sounding Kuhn. ”Huh..?” He sat up, giving a sniff as he looked around blearily. One would think that his niece calling out to him would have woken him, but Mordecai could sleep through almost everything. Save for a tiger jostling him awake with his movements.

 Even so, if left alone, he would have fallen right back to sleep with no recollection of anything. However, that was not how fate dictated anything.

 He slowly sat up and looked around, eyes landing on first Violet and then one of his sons. The one that hadn’t gone with Harper. He grinned happily, not noticing that his fur was pushed into the side of his face on one side so that he looked rally silly with a goofy grin. ”Heeeeyyyy, kiddos! Ya’ll come to help me escort Kuhn to Valeska?” He wagged his tail, quite happy to see them… both of them. He knew Violet was a bit rough around the edges and prone to insulting words, but he knew deep down that she probably didn’t meant it. So, it was easy enough to put up with the abuse by not taking it to heart. Words were just words, after all.

 ”Haha! Lookit you, Kuhn! Orel gave you a makeover.” That was his boy! Always doing a little decorating and Mordecai certainly would encourage it. Anything they did was magical. ”Oh! This is my son Orel and my niece Violet. Ya’ll say ‘hi’ to Kuhn, he’s a friend!” He couldn’t really remember if they’d all met before or not so he’d just introduce everyone just in case!

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He was stupidly large. Most were often quite large compared to her, but she didn't like having to crane her head so upwards to just look at him face-to-face. Though even Orel came about, decorating as they would, some feathers falling out once the two adults were over with their slumber party.. Visibly, her face contorted, "No, he smells." 

She would find her uncle on another day, when he wasn't flirting with some beast. Came in like so, and left just as quick. She turned with a glare to the them before starting to walk off.

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violet is now skippable as she has exited

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