Return to Sender

For @Kuhn originally but his girl @Valmúa is welcome too!

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It had been a number of days since a pregnant Serenity and her young adopted pup had come to Northfall. Another wolf from the Ford, realizing the cold nature which their leader had to offer.

Ragnar took a deep breath, the air even more crisp here then the lower elevations. Up here on the summit, the greenery of the coniferous trees was gone. Snow still resided on the rocks. Everything, savor himself, was shades of grey and white.

The golden-blonde returned to the spot he had once found with @Krakarak, who had guided him safely when he was still young to these lands. The pools of water were still milky, colored green and blue. The water from them overflowed and ran off the side of the cliff which overlooked the land below. Ragnar dipped unto the pool of blue and grinned.
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Injuries had healed and his confidence was returning to him. So the tiger's range was expanding once again. Always exploring aiming to keep himself fed and entertained, the borders of Northfall had not been off limits. Climbing high the snow seemed to fall year round even in the midst of the spring.

Still running water could be heard. Curious, the big cat made his way in that direction. Picking his way through the rocks, Kuhn saw this land's regent, looking out over his domain below.

He owed alot to Ragnar, but didn't really know much about him. Letting out a deep vocalization, the cat let his presence be known, while making his way down to the pool.
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As Ragnar settled in the warm waters, he heard the approach of another break the silence of the highlands. Ragnar turns to meet the attention of the great cat. Had he not known him, Ragnar would have been forced to face off a tiger or straight up dive right off the cliff.

“You must be healing well, having made it all the way up here in one piece.” The Northfall King spoke with a grin as he looked over the stripped cat. “Come, choose a pool. It will sooth your muscles from the climb.”
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The cat knew little about Ragnar. But, from what he could see: the man simultaneously, held a confident mystique, and seemed to keep things simple.

At the man's invite, the large feline, gracefully weaved his way down to the edge of Ragnar's pool. "I have been feeling better lately..."

Stepping into a pool, he quickly pulled his paw from the water, it was warm? Dipping it back in tepidly, one limb after another, he lowered himself in.

When the water reached his shoulders, the cat rumbled in relief, settling into a laying position, letting the warm water soak his coat.

"You whernt kidding.", the feline purred, closing his eyes.
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Ragnar smirks and wriggles his furrowed brows as the tiger dips his toes in first and then back out in the shock of realizing it was warm. Had Kuhn never the pleasure of encountering hot springs before? He seemed to take to it quickly, as many did and soon the two were laying out in the shallow pools together. Like two bros sharing some time in the sauna.

Ragnar laughs to Kuhn's words though says nothing as he too closes his eyes briefly. The crisp, cold air on his face and the warmth of his body was a nice mix. Bot to mention the touch of a wonderful scenery, too.

“Harper must be some healer...” He murmurs, eyes still closed as he picks up the lazy conversation. “We've one in our ranks if your still in need but,” He pauses with a shrug as he opens one sharp eye, “He is still building our trust. Didn't think to take my chances with him when you were bad off.”
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Inhaling, the cat lowered his head beneath the water only for a moment.  Re-emerging the the thick fur that clung around his neck clumped together, now soaked.  Exhaling, his breath pushed the steam across the surface of the water. This really was nice. 

"She really is... ", he agreed, the cat's voice noticeably looser now.  "I appreciate the offer, though I think her work will hold up for now, though I will let you know", speaking through a clean pink scar across his lip.  

Ears drooped to the side of the cat's head, not out of dismay but relaxation. "So... What brought you to that battle? Its funny how we haven't properly met before."  Ragnar was an anomaly to the cat, his mannerism's differed greatly from the other pack 'leaders' he had delt with.  From what he saw, Ragnar had a quiet way of confidently keeping himself in the background, yet his word was iron to so many.
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Ragnar nods silently to the tiger's words in regard to Harper's work and letting him know if he ended up needing any follow-up threatment. Unknowingly just yet, Eirene also had interest in the trade. Northfall would no longer need to rely on allies for help in the after battles to come though hoped they would be helpful to them as Northfall would continue to be.

“We are tied by our allegiances. This is good. It means we have more allies then we think.” But the same could always be said for their enemies. Ragnar had left a bad taste in the mouth of Vanderfell's leaders. The wolves in the high North had it our for Kuhn. Now those enemies aligned, as Ragnar and Kuhn had.

“I had come to aid because of Olive directly. She and I had met along the neutral lands between our packs. Frostchant and Northfall our not exactly allies anymore... but some within their walls we can count on as friend.” This is including (and mostly) Olive, of course.
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For a moment, the bliss of the hot waters was lost on the cat.  Hearing useful words come from wolf, the feline's attention was completely occupied.  Like everyone else, Ragnar had a story even though Kuhn knew very little about him.  

Being a solo creature by habit, it wasn't usually important to know who was friends with who or, who would seek out another's throat.  Probably not this many tigers got this far when it came to pack politics, or even cared for that matter.   Nodding in agreement, the striped man would have to agree that he had picked up quite a good group of friends lately, evidenced by the fact that he was even alive.  But, with that came its fair share of enemies too. 

"Mmm...", he hummed in agreement. Listening, he nodded once more.  Obviously, the cat thought saving Olive was a good reason. "I didn't know you had a falling out with other packs...  I did hear that you are having issues with your southern neighbors.  Would you care to tell?", he asked keeping his question loose and vague. The Regent of these northern mountains was free to tell what he wanted, Kuhn would not press, though he was pointedly interested.
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A 'hummm...' passes over the cat's lips as he listened. Ragnar bad been amazed that day when they had all come together to save Olive and equally have themselves a feast in the aftermath. A tiger, a mountain lion, a polar bear and wolves of all different packs coming to save a little wolf that had been stolen by a walrusI. Strange shit just kept getting stranger.

It was good though, Ragnar felt, to not only finally formally meet that cat which Valmua was so fond of though also having been the one who housed him very willingly when he was attacked. He knew Kuhn little and once before maybe he wouldn't have wanted to know him. After all, Ragnar thought @Valmúa a beautiful wolf and housed the kind of bold and daring nature he would have loved for a woman at his side. That and obviously Ragnar had a thing for redheads.

Seeing the pain Valmua had held when she thought she might loose Kuhn. Seeing the way in which they embraced. How silently protective Kuhn was over her. How Valmua dedicated herself wholly to Northfall for having given them sanctuary. It was something Ragnar could not touch and jealously so wished it for himself. Sure, he had fathered quite a few pups now but none knew him as father and he did not have the Queen at his side he wanted. Ragnar had accomplished much and yet still he wanted moreI.

“Ah, yes unfortunately we cannot appease everyone.” He says with a small laugh and rolling of his shoulders, stirring the water around them. “That and the thought of a fight is frightening to some. They would rather stay neutral even if it means turning away their allies in need...” A soft huff then.

Kuhn asked of Ragnar and he would openly tell. There was no weakness in having an enemy. It only meant you were seen as something worthy of a threat. “When we first arrived to this mountain chain our closest neighboring pack was in Cloudrest across from the Moors. We were both newly grouped, just our pups really. We stood together and Riannon was willing to prove herself to us as a good ally...”

He pauses and focuses his vision out on the beautiful northern landscape before them whilst in the high elevations of Northfall. “Then the lands became more populated. I was informed beforehand that a woman wished to claim the islands out from our shores for herself. None of us were particularly happy of it but we did not have the ability to do anything of it either. We wanted not to risk our children's safety. We agreed to make peace with the establishing pack should they stick to their islands and leave us be. Our children were informed to visit the islands no longer despite resistance. But Dragonford did not stick to this claim. They sought the Brim, the mainland to the south of us, as well. One of my young was killed for this tresspass. She was crippled you see, with only three legs... she could not have made it to the islands.”

He pauses, a deep sigh and turns to Kuhn then. “We had hopes that those in Cloudrest would help us to run them off and free ourselves from them. But they did not and so our war began.” Ragnar stretches his body then, stepping up and out of the pool to stretch out over the warm ground near it and offer Kuhn more room. “We have been in a few fights with them since and have many times visited the Brim with a hopes to rouse their leader out from hiding but it seems she is evading us well.”
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Knowing all to well that it wasn't possible to appease everyone, the cat listened as the man laid out his story.  It stuck with him when Ragnar seemed to lay out his ethos.  The regent of the north was not afraid to fight. Relaxing in the warm waters, the cat didn't dare interrupt the man as he laid out the status of their neighbors. 

As Kuhn would have predicted the story was concise, and decisive.  Ragnar said things as they where and didn't seem to spin anything, unlike the parasites of the east.  The story that was told lined up with what @Vendrussel said.  It seemed like their stories didn't differ much.  Save for Ragnar including more details.  Frankly, the entire situation was repulsive and familiar.  Vendrussel was another leader that sought to prove her tongue iron, and the cost was in the blood of a child.  Wolves killing wolves over borders of piss. It was sick. 

The scales had been tilted irreparably.  Still, the remorse that the woman of the ford seemed to show, weighed heavy.  It seemed she had realized her own nature to late.  There wasn't an easy answer here. Watching Ragnar leave the pool the cat stared down into the water deep in thought, letting the man finish.  Taking in the entire story, the tiger attempted to make an observation, taking a moment to look up at the man.   "What I have noticed about your kind, is that some desire their words to be iron.  They so desperately want to be taken seriously that they will go to any length to achieve that, even if it means killing a child over a border of piss, a neighbor for a trespass.  Their words are useless, all they really understand is the language of the claw, the fang."

"The best you can do for them is to sing them the lullaby of obliteration, and your tongue will become the mighty roar of war, then wake up with a smile and bliss in your heart."

Pausing for a moment, Kuhn noted how easily that last statement dripped from his maw, as if compelled.  The cat's gaze softened,  "What would soothe your heart?" 

heavily inspired and adapted from: https://open.spotify.com/track/5P9qFmIiM...6f93624a39 ,a song about just revenge 

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Ragnar listens carefully to the tiger as he speaks of his experience among the wolven kind. Ragnar outstretched toes reach out in a stretch across the warm rocks he laid on. Ragnar smiles as Kuhn mentions it.

“It would be my wish that Northfall and its allies march upon them. That her people would hear the truth and sacrifice her to us for punishment.” He smiles, tossing his head to Kuhn with a toothy grin. “But that would be much too easy.” He couldn't imagine Vendrussel sacrificing her own self to save her people.

“I only could have wished I could have watched Ynness more carefully.” His words came out in a murmur. “Yet she was a yearling, wanting to explore this new world and an angry one. It was hard for her to accept her disability and she pushed us all, as children might. It would seem she pushed Vendrussel too far even without being on her islands...” There was no excuse. None. Even one of her own believed in such and left her rule because of it. Even so, whether the Isle leader was regretful or not, her pride and arrogance kept her from doing anything at all to appease the family which had lost their daughter and sister.

“I know Ynness' mother will not rest until she has Vendrussel's head and I do not blame her for this.”
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Kuhn knew well the spirit of vengeance, and he had lost far less in his own affairs. Ragnar has lost a child so he could not fault the man for wanting to find inner peace in such a way. He did not reveal that he had spoken with @Vendrussel only a few days prior. This entire story made his own seem so petty.  

Regardless of seeing the woman's remorse, the scales had permanently been tipped and there was no way to fix that.  "I can't blame you for that...", he would want blood too.

Watching the cycle unfold before his eyes, he could see it, like a machine.  Each player was a cog, it was unescapable.   As if to lash out for one last effort the cat asked quietly,  "So that is the only thing that will right the scale?"  He knew the answer, if he was Ragnar, nothing less than her head would do.  

It was frightening really, after one mistake anyone could find themselves in the shoes of that woman: self hate, clinging to life only to suffer with yourself.  Ragnar wouldn't be in the wrong to end her Though now she seemed so real.  

Now the regent of the north held the great scale.  He must have felt a great weight on his shoulders to return it to balance.   Now the weight the cat felt towards @Reiko seemed comparatively light, maybe it would be easier to just let it go.
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Kuhn spoke simply. He couldnt blame him. Ragnar had lost a child to this war. Vendrussel had lost nothing, other then her temper. Now, feeling regretful or remorse for what she had done did not mean she would weasel her way out of getting out of this without facing punishment for her crime. Though Vendrussel had expressed feeling sorry for what she had done to others, this was lost on the ears of the family, the ones who actually were deserving of such apologies.

“Yes.” Ragnar answers at first, a simple answer. And then, explaining. “I hope that my daughter has found peace and healing with the Gods that she did not have on earth. Maybe @Vendrussel will too, at her death.” Both dead. Both among the heavens. At balance and with came peace.

“Her death is justice and well deserved. A much darker man would not allow her death, but for her to suffer on earth for years to come. Maybe to have a leg taken from her and a few toes of another... so that she may live her days in self loathing and physical anguish and feel, truly, what it's like to be in pain.”
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Leaning back in the warm water, Kuhn listened to what the man had to say. He couldn't blame him at all for wanting the woman's head. Ragnar mused himself with possibilities of sadism towards the woman, though he was clear to dismiss them.

The cat knew that he must have spent many long nights dwelling with an all consuming hate for the woman, dreaming of ways to bring her anguish. First hand, Kuhn knew of nights like these: imagining the crack of @Reiko 's bones, the taste of the wolf's marrow. But that obsessive hate cut both ways, it was such a heavy burden to carry.

For Ragnar, it must have been worse, because what was done to his kin had an irreversible cost, and he was bound by his honor to balence that great scale. Though, the cat really only had a plethora of scars to show. So was it really worth carrying that weight?

Exhaling through his nose, the air pushed the steam from the water's surface away. "Then, you will do what you must to find your peace."

Still speaking softly, "What will you do...", he asked plainly.
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Wrap up here?

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Kuhn would not know the significance behind Ragnar's ideas of torture and it was likely so that he never would. Vendrussel would live the rest of her life crippled in the same way as Ynness had been. Yes, a swift death would be much better for her own interest.

“Everything that I must.” He answered, stretching the length of his body out and his jaws opening for a large yawn. The warmth of the rocks under him and the coolness of the air around- perfect. “For now, I rest...”
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