The Cat and The Dog

@Kuhn

Thickened pelt would blanket the shoulders of the individual who dared to walk the jagged rocks of the mountains. Limp limbs would fall across her chest, tied in a loose knot that she would have to fix every so often. Toppled along her rump the shield would caress her form easily. The outline of what was a bear's head rested on the top of her skull. Fastened by the thickened skull of the animal she had implemented in the hood of the makeshift cloak. Amphitrite would proudly wear her find during their hunting festival. She had the first pack of what was to be the prize feast. She chose the pelt, allowing the others to eat their share while she stripped it. It was large and she had to rip it a few times for it to properly fit across her form without dragging behind her like the trail of a wedding dress.

The hide would be adorned with the fallen snow that caressed the ground around her. She had been trapped in Elysium since she joined. Deciding it best to take a little walk… to discover the mountainside that was close to their counterpart of the tundra. It was colder here than where she started in the Temperate. She had to admit, it was still bittersweet the way she implemented Elysium. Valeska had been nothing but welcoming and the others held a peculiar religion around them. Something she was not used to… Amphitrite was a goddess… one who was worshiped in her other life. Now she was of flesh and fur, no more sea to command and her husband lost for eternity. It was of no matter now… she would accept her fate. A cruel and heartless fate that was thrown at her.

The woman did not indicate where she was headed, perhaps it was time to turn around and go back. Though, she had to admit the quietness of the forest made her breath hitch. Falling from her nostrils in a thickened fog, looking like a monster to others around her. She walked towards the flowing river, moving to press her paw against the surface. It was icy… though not thick enough that she was unable to crack into the flowing water below. Pressing harder, it erupted under her paw. Allowing a path for her tongue so that she may drink.

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After the supposed end of Vera, the tattered and bloody tiger figured that letting Elysium know of what happened would be a wise choice.   Taking Vera's bloody tail with him, he left in a huff, not getting the opportunity to finish her in the sure was in which every cat was accustomed.  The fact that he had to leave her fate up to the forces of the frozen river left a twang of anxiety in the cat that he couldn't shake. 

Heading towards the hold of the good people of Elysium, the scent of bear eventually hit him, reminding him of how hungry he was.  Still holding his wolf tail and spattered with the blood of the wolf, the tiger stalked closer to the bear wondering if it was the edible kind.  But, even if it was, Kuhn wasn't sure he had the energy to deal with one right now.  

None the less, silent paw came down one after another, getting closer and closer to see what kind this was. From the cover of a treeline his tired musculature coiled as his tail twitched inquisitively.
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Pink muscle would dip further into the stream, and each moment passing would elevate the dry throat from the constant push of cold air in her lungs. Shifting her weight, the wind would howl across the mountainside. Pushing back the hood against her skull, exposing her identity was a lie. Much to be a wolf in sheep's clothing… but instead, it was the outline of a large bear. Teeth would grip the scruff as she folded it back over her face. Carefully eyeing the world around her, unknowing of the scent that was pushed from her direction. The cat may just get lucky in invoking his prey.

Eyes of sea-foam green fell across the stream outlining the wooden area that could house several opponents if they were to see her alone. Metallic… heavily scented… would caress her nostrils. She understood the scent and what it was - not so much who it belonged to though. Gaze sharpening her tongue would lash across her muzzle, exposing the pointed teeth from behind. Whipping around, her hood faltered slightly though still held up. The disadvantage of wearing such a large garment was that her ears were covered. Faltering in her state to hear those around her. It mattered not when she had a nose that guided her.

Amphitrite turned herself around, keeping them as a source to bond with if things were to get rocky. She had tried some training back in the day, though… She had hands and understood the anatomy of where to kick if a man tried to come for her. There was a reason why they called tigers the silent killer… she knew there was danger and just did not know where it was coming from.

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The nose was still telling the cat that this was a bear.  But when the woman's hood faltered the eyes disagreed, as the head of a wolf revealed itself.  Confused now, the cat's ear twitched as he kept himself concealed.   What was this creature exactly? 

He had know @Torben to wear a pelt for his daylight travels.  Perhaps this was the same sort of thing?  

Still even with the scent of the bear heavily clinging to this creature the scent of fear began to peek through exiting the striped hunter a bit. He had certainly been scented.  After drawing out his observations for some time, Kuhn concluded that this was a wolf with a bear pelt.  Luckily he had seen something similar before. 

A dark chuckle rumbled from him as he stood up, leaving Vera's tail hidden.  Tossing his tail from side to side the cat revealed himself taking a step forward.   With dilated eyes and perked ears the cat advanced, curious.  "Relax...", he purred, forgetting that he was still stained with the fresh blood of a different wolf.
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Silence, only that of the bustling winds, made it tolerable as her muffled ears lay encased in her hood. The wolf stood where she was, deciding it was better to flee or fight. Certainly the latter would land her with a few scratches but it was of no use if they decided to sneak up on her. She was prepared now. Would have been proficient if they had left what blood stuck to them somewhere else. Pursing her lips, a scowl registered on the goddess' face. One in which she had not inhabited in a while since being with those of Elysium.

Her eyes widened, she had been looking in the wrong direction of where the fiend was. From the brush came a larger figure, orange with blackened stripes that rounded his body. He reminded her oddly of a candy cane - just with a different color. His voice was sultry, deepened with the horse of the chilled air. Blinking, momentarily… did this… did he tell her what to do? She was relaxed. He had to be intimidating for her to show fear. Her eyes darkened and she shuffled, “Here kitty, kitty.” She called, making sure to mimic the sounds she would do a stray, “Seems condescending, doesn’t it?” She smirked, “Don’t tell me to relax when you’re prowling around here.” She scuffed. He seemed badly injured and judging by the older scares this was not his first run-in with danger.

Inexperience with the whole… fighting thing. She would try her best if the tiger decided he was hungry. Her tail lay low, swishing behind her calculatingly, “Well… if you aren’t here to play nice then head on your way.”

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"Ya... a little bit.", replied the cat with a small frown looking just a bit hurt.  Continuing forward the stiped man lowered his head looking up under the bear pelt to verify that this was indeed a wolf.   When he was satisified with the wolfishness of the stranger, Kuhn sat back on his haunches.  "Sorry.", he said with a simple shrug of his shoulders.  For once he wasn't in the mood to argue.  

Feeling the gash on his brow break free again, his own blood began to run into his eye.   Pushing the back of his paw up against it, he let the blood soak into the back of his wrist, waiting for it to stop.  "Telling me not to prowl is like me asking you not to howl you know..."  

It was sort of his thing after-all.  

"Play nice?   That's why I told you to relax..." , smiled the cat looking into the dark hood of the woman, catching the glint of two green eyes that would look more at home in the sea.  Still sitting back, he saw that the woman was coiled, her tail telling of her readiness.
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Widening her gaze, emerald orbs in disbelief at his passive agreement. Was she thinking that he would have tried to mull her? Indeed. His paws still showed movement, Amphitrite was certainly testing her luck but she stayed still. Holding her ground as her gaze looked down to the individual that crouched to get a better look at her. Surprised… his eyes were a hue of gray with subtle notes of blue. She blinked and he was back in front of her, she peered at the other through the top of the hood. An apology pushed past his velvet lips, flabbergasted at how this was going too well. In her previous life tigers were mere pets… of course, her pets were not as fluffy as those of the other gods. Amphitrite preferred aquatic life over those on the land. Why could she not have been incarnated as a shark?

She watched as the red liquid would fall from the widening gash across his brow, frowning behind the hood. Was she stupid or just not thinking? He was much larger and she was sure if he wanted to he would have killed her already.

“Your hurt.” No dip sherlock. She said inwardly, “Something tells me the receiving end had it much worse.” A soft laugh escaped from her lips. His commentating about the howling… so perhaps he was right. Still, Amphitrite was too stubborn to admit it.

A softened sigh escaped her, and slowly her muscles relaxed in a less threatening manner. Poised that if he were to try anything she would easily smack him in his head to make that gash bigger. Tilting her head back, the hood flowing off once more. Fur no longer obstructing her vision, the large coat still hung against her pelt. Hiding the rest of her body, “You’re bleeding again.” Even though he had just wiped the remnant away, “Solid gash. I am no healer but I have dealt with cuts in the past.” Moving to grab some snow, compacting it to form a makeshift ice pack, “May I?” She asked, totally not thinking about smashing her face in his fur. By the gods, how is he so fluffy?

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Whoever this bear woman was, she was firey. But, with a simple gesture, the woman's hostilities where for the most part disarmed.

Hurt? "Just a little bit." , the big cat attempted to downplay, still pressing the back of his wrist into his brow. The truth was that the gash hurt a lot more than a little bit.

Flashing back a small closed mouth smile to the woman, it was a response to both laugh of the green eyed bear woman and a defection at the insinuation that the other party got the worse end of the fight.

If she was well attuned to feline gesture, than it would be hard to miss the nervous lashing of the tail. His fight with and eventual mauling of Vera wasn't something he felt particularly proud of; nor was it likely a good idea to go around telling wolves about his maulings of another wolf.

"Um uh... No its ok... It will stop on its own.", the tiger stammered, putting pressure above his eye. It stung like hell and it probably would have been good to let the woman help. But, they had just met and it was hard to know someone's intentions, when they where mostly covered until now

Taking a few steps back, it was the first time the cat got a good look at her face now that the hood was off, looking once again at her exposed ocean like eyes set on an multicolored face of peach.

Hackles slightly started to come up now, only serving to make him fluffier, but his breathing seemed a bit panicked. Trying to skirt someone's kindness wasn't exactly something the cat could simply fight his way out of.
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Men. They seemed to be all the same. No matter what form they took, he would watch as he would downplay the pain in which he felt. There was no doubt that a gash like that would cause a blistering headache. She wondered if Elysium had any herbs… understandably there was a healer there but she couldn’t lug a big ole tiger in the territory and ask for help. Her tail would twist inside the large cloak that hid her figure. His features would twist into a smile, her eyes narrowing momentarily but she decided it was best not to pry in on what happened to get such a wound.

She cared little for what the cat had gotten up to leading to their conversation together, instead, her gaze would move across his thick form. She had only met a few in her previous life; they seemed to be a favorite of Dionysos. He was adorned with larger cats… though he was arrogant he knew how to make wine and because wine mostly led to children he was also labeled as the god of fertility. In this form in general… her thoughts would pause. She decided not to go down the path of birds and bees and how it all came together in this canine aura.

Holding the ice, it began to form harder in her paws. Motioning that he was okay and didn’t need the help. She dropped it easily to the ground, “Prideful little kitten are you?” She questioned. Perhaps it was more so that she was a stranger but the goddess did not think that way. Moving her paw, “I suggest you get yourself fixed up then, could get infected with you holding your dirty paw over it.” Amphitrite soon began to move away, “Well it was nice meeting you, kitty, but I should be off. I don’t care about this conversation anymore. You’re boring.” The wolf pushed her hood back up over her face. A bold move but the goddess did not need to play nice to those outside of Elysium anyway. Perhaps she wanted to provoke the tiger further, maybe her insults could cause him to come out of his shell a bit more. Either he would walk away or prove her wrong.

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Though there odd conversation, even with the scent of the bear hanging about it became obvious that the tempered woman was associated with Elysium.  Still applying pressure to his wound the tiger's eyes tracked the woman's own as they went over his form.  Looking over himself, the cat didn't see anything out of the ordinary, wondering what she was looking at.  Watching her expression change and the ball of snow fall to the ground it appeared that his aloofness had offended the woman, evidenced by her string of insults.  It would be easy to feel bad if it weren't for the way she reacted.  

Maybe on a different day, he would smile or circle around the wolf, looking for a reaction but today:  with the pain and the injury, and the general fatigue, he would just sigh.  "Alright..."  Watching the woman go, irritation clashed with tiredness and nothing seemed to come of it.   

Elysium.  The pack flashed in his mind, they would likely want to know.  "Before you go. Would you take a message to @Valeska?" , asked the cat with a cocked head, itching at his side with his hind leg.
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Paws would continue to move her form along the edge of the river, ice had flowed down as she watched the crystals take shape and venture off. Amphitrite was hoping for a different reaction from the cat, though he had decided it was best to let her win. Hmph. She didn’t like winning so easily she enjoyed a challenge. She would sigh inwardly and just continue on her walk, perhaps she would be able to catch something for their food pile while out. Bringing it to the pack would be a good way to show her appreciation. Tucking her head inwardly in her hood, she decided to forget all about that cat. Her paws came to a halt, ears would flicker even though he was more muffled than usual. So, he knew where she held from, and even more, he knew who Valeska was.

Eyes of the sea would narrow, marching back over to the tiger. Keeping her distance, obviously, no matter how much she wanted to snuggle herself in those chunky fluffs against the side of his face. However, his personality needed to be a little more <i>cat</i>ty - hah get it? Because he’s a cat. She would look at the other, he had piqued her interest a bit more, perhaps he wasn’t so boring after all. She wondered how the two of them knew each other, would it be a question she would have to ask Valeska, no.

“Okay… go on.” She prompted, deciding now she wanted to just get back to Elysium, “How do you know Valeska, anyway? The question that had been stirring in the back of her mind popped out. Was he an enemy? She moved further, her snout inches from his face. Taking in his scent, her eyes would widen, “Well, never mind… Duskgard fellow.” She expressed understanding of their alliance with them, “Alright, what is the message?” Amphitrite would slowly move her paw a bit forward, “Also… weird but… could I pet you? You look so soft.” There was no stopping her now! The goddess didn’t march her way back over to the kitten and not boop the snoot.

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Half expecting the woman to just continue on her way, he was prepared to turn and go himself but after a moment, he could see her graceful and confident gate hitch with a bit of apprehension.  An then her steps came to a halt.  Fliting his tail it seemed like that was enough to get a little 'win'.  Still sitting there, the tiger removed his paw from his wound, for now the bleeding had stopped.  Unable to help himself a little smile escaped him.    

But that expression didn't last long as he shuffled back, as the woman brazenly entered his space, green eyes blazing toward him.  Feline eyes widened and hackles came up.   Though once again: with his winter coat, it only served to make him look even more fluffy, and without a snarl, it didn't make him look one bit more frightening.   "V...Valeska?" , he stammered, thrown off by lupine confidence.  

His expression hardened a bit,  before he answered , "You can tell her that Vera is gone... and that the river has taken her."

With the bold woman only inches from his face the cat was tense, with wide saucer like eyes and ears pinned back. Even with the blood of a wolf on his muzzle the woman was not deterred.  With her paw right there, there truly was no stopping her, he was far to tired to run.  "S...Sure.", he fumbled in a moment of surrender.
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