Fighting doesn’t make you a hero.

^^@Kuhn

Her toes touched the snow and for a moment, she wiggled them there. To her front, the massive tundra and to her back, home. It was an interesting thing to think about, how the Tundra was literally in their backyard and Harper had never really noticed before. Of course, Valeska was the tundra’s mistress and likely had planned this all along from the start - you could never truly convince her to settle down in the forest. 

And for a hot second, Harper wondered how Valeska would have turned out if Dimas had exiled her instead. Would she have grown to like the swamps and the heat, like Harper had, or would she just become as miserable and bitter? Harper barked out a laugh that seemed to echo into the tundra, as the Amazonian woman shook her head; Valeska, bitter? Yeah, maybe if something ended up happening to herself or Amaranth. 

Glancing back towards home, Harper barked a few times to bid her sister a brief farewell; she was off to hunt down flowers for Crux’s memorial that she was going to make, as well as put together something special for Valeska, in addition to checking out all of the packs that were nearby for potential alliances. Valeska liked alliances, and Harper liked anything that made Valeska smile. 

So she ended towards the first thing that she could see - the Everfrost, without really knowing who lived there and what to expect. Surely, a forest meant that there were good plants hidden within, so she took a few steps in the forest which seemed to be dominated by a smell that she’d never encountered before. So she took a few steps in and glanced around barked a greeting.

Who or what would she find here?

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It was a typical day, where his princessa was away, doing her diplomacy, exercising her more social nature, Kuhn often opted to stay behind and listen to the sounds of silence.  It felt pleasant to return to a more solitary lifestyle now and again.  Feeling the wind once again speaking to him,

He who walks the sacred grove,
The endless march goes on and on. 
The heart of hearts beats, for a place beyond. 

Lost in a place that was not here, and sated from a recent kill the large cat would just appear lost in thought, blissfully unaware of the adventurer.  Suddenly he was pulled from his zone, he herd a greeting of a wolf called nearby.  Investigating couldn't hurt, it was a good day after-all.   Cresting a small ridgeline, he looked down over the border showing himself.  Tossing his tail back and forth, he cocked his head curiously, never sure how to start a conversation with a stranger.
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^^Whilst the Amazonian plant nerd waited for some sort of magic to happen, she pondered the source of this new scent; a scent that was strangely dominant but not canine. It was much unlike any other scent she’d come across, though subtly familiar in a way that she could not place.

Was it friend? Was it foe? Was she in any sort of danger? Though the idea of Harper stumbling upon something so close to home that she couldn't handle was laughable. 

She stood there standing still - though probably not the best idea, as Harper wasn't quite sure what she was about to face -  and going through the archives of her mind palace, trying to sort through all of the scents when her heliotrope vision settled upon the beast that emerged.
 

Harper gasped softly though loud enough for anyone in the immediate vicinity to hear and immediately withdrew her previous thoughts. It was something of an oddity, for Harper to face something bigger, larger, and more powerful than she and here it was, found in Elysium’s backyard.

He was the most beautiful creature that Harper ever did lay eyes on. His fur was the color of sunshine, and his underside and the details of his face were the color of frost. He was large, riddled with prime, lethal muscle could easily tear through his enemies. His muscular body was covered in lightning that was as dark as Harper and the master gardener pondered if that was a symbol to indicate how fast his reflexes were.

Almighty. Power. Beautiful. Oh, was this a god? They actually exist? Could it truly be that Harper had been wrong her entire life, and that they actually did choose for her life to go the way it had been going, with so much loss?! Which one was he, then? Was there a god of loss? Truth be told, Harper could not recall any one of the names of the almighty Five that Valeska worshiped, and the dark Thornweaver wondered how Valeska might respond to meeting one of them. 

An ear flickered backward, Harper would have glanced to look over her shoulder, but alas, she didn’t - no, she couldn’t take her eyes off this beautiful creature that she suddenly desired to know about - god or not.

“I… uh… ” Harper chuckled nervously, smiling awkwardly like a child experiencing and approaching their biggest crush to ask them to the school dance - but this was no dance, though she now wondered – No, Harper, must not think unwell, dirty thoughts! - despite this, Harper's eyes would still lower, and she gave a defeated sigh and a slow wag of her tail.

“Good day. My name's Harper; I'm your neighbor from just beyond the mountain.” She smiled and wagged her tail some more, tearing her eyes off of him and glancing behind her as if to gesture towards the mountain; it would have been easier if the mountain had a name, but alas, it didn't - to Harper's knowledge, anyway.  She would turn her attention back towards him with more smiles and more wags of her tail; anything to prove to him that she was friendly. 

“I'm making a memorial for a departed loved one, which includes pretty flowers and plant life that I can not find anywhere else, and was wondering what you might know about the plant life here?” 

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What he found over the crest was of course a wolf. Female by scent, and yet curiously large. The dark woman presented herself in a humble manner and didn't reek of fear upon seeing him, even though she did seem surprised, evidenced by her gasp and his cupped ears.

A piercing purple gaze dashed over him, as he opted to sit down, showing that he wasn't interested in any sort of fight. Those who entered the Everfrost where under his protection.

"...I am Kuhn", licking his chops nervously, he would never get used to meeting new people. "Welcome to the Everfrost."

Lashing his tail, his stare might be considered rude to a wolf, as he looked her up and down in curiosity, noting her formidable size. Curiously, she came asking about herbs and flowers, expecting her to be some sort of warrior.

"I'm no expert on plants, though a couple of others come here for the same thing, you are free to look around though."

She seemed friendly, the cat wasn't sure how to return the gesture, smiling a bit, hopefully it wouldn't look to weird.
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^^Kuhn would not be the first animal nor creature to assume that Harper would have taken up the life of a soldier or warrior for her size alone. It would have been an easy life for someone like Harper to live, wouldn’t it, to take advantage of the cards that she’d been given - but fighting and bloodshed did not make her already small heart grow three sizes larger. In fact, Harper was not the sort of canine that enjoyed taking the high road. She liked doing things that others would not expect of her.

Harper was still very much a warrior; a passive warrior that did not use aggression and fighting unless it was totally necessary and otherwise deemed unavoidable. And the only time she took pleasure in her size and kicking ass, was when it involved protecting a smaller creature, such as her sister. Heck, the only time she liked the violence was when it came to her sister, such as also sitting on dear Valeska to prove a point… or just to be mischievous.

Harper was given a welcome to the Everfrost, by the almighty Kuhn, and Harper dipped her head respectfully. “Thank you for having me, dear Kuhn. I am lucky to have found such a lovely neighbor.” Harper commented happily, nodding her head some more as she eyed the plant life that surrounded them.

She moved to slowly - in respect to Kuhn, of course as she did not want to move too aggressively - to sniff out some plants that were here and there as she hummed lightly. When she glanced to him next, there was a bit of snow on her face.

“So, you’re no expert on plants. What is your area of expertise, aside from looking beautiful and godly?”

Her eyes widened softly with a nervous, awkward chuckle. What if Kuhn took that as flirting? Was she flirting? Her head tilted, realizing that despite being previously married, she didn't know how to actually flirt.

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Watching the large woman move about as she entered his domain, he relaxed himself. She seemed to be very formal in a way giving him a nod of sorts. Kuhn retuned the gesture with a friendly chuff, not sure what it really meant, but sure it meant something good.

Once again he was struck at her complete lack of fear of him. Typically, just his scent would usually cause some wolves to think twice. Though for this one, it didn't seem to be the case. She was a good neighbor too, his face a bit warmer now.

Watching her probe the ground for useful herbs he watched her intently. Curiosity getting the best of him, he stood silently padding his way closer to see what she was seeing, until he was basically at her side listening to her hum. Looking at the snow on her nose, it was cute.

What she said next caught him off guard. Reeling his head back, his face filled with blood, metaphorically blushing, as she called him a god and beautiful. His tail lashed back and fourth in embarrassment, re shifting his defined shoulders.

Wolves didn't typically call him beautiful or a god. Usually he was more used to being called terrifying, or a demon. "I...I'm " he stammered not sure what to say caught off guard.

He took a step back starting to prowl around her in a circle, returning to what he knew to burn off the nerves. "I'm no god..." .

Still he seemed flattered. Though perhaps uncomfortable showing it.
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^^Harper inspected the herbs and roots here, making an analysis of what plants she could find here. When she found a good plant that she was curious about, she’d stick her nose into the plant and sniff at it; sometimes, even, if it was a good plant, she’d nibble on a leaf and mutter things like: "ah, hm.. " before going onto the next plant.

He watched her; Harper could feel him watching her. He followed her around, too, curious, as if she was the manager inspecting his work area, he hung in the background. Sometimes he was at her side, and she watched him, carefully, from the corner of her eyes.

And then he reeled his head back, as if he could not believe what he was hearing, and his face looked like it got brighter. Was that what it looked like, for a primal beast to blush? Then his tail moved back and forth, and when he stammered to speak, that confided it for Harper that he was indeed blushing.

Then he circled her, and Harper wondered for a moment if she was in danger. She eventually decided no, that perhaps he just didn’t know how to act with being complimented in such a manner. So she didn’t move, merely arching her brows at him and watching him.

“That’s something a god would say.” Harper barked a laugh, smirking and waving a paw at him. And then the laughing stopped and she leaned forward and narrowed her eyes with her best smile. “You were wise not to deny that you’re not beautiful, though. You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid my eyes on – butt, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, and for that, I apologize.” Harper dipped her head again, bowing respectfully to him and then she stood and went back to checking out the herbs, assuming he'd allow her to do so.

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He couldn't help but grin at her play on words, at this point the woman was metaphorically manhandling him, and he knew it. Skilled with her words the solitary creature didn't stand a chance. He had to stop his prowling, he took a moment to stare at his paw, smiling, sort of entertained by what she was doing to him.

Looking up in time, the striped beasts gaze caught look of her piercing purple eyes, sharpened by the contrast of her dark face. Her best smile was impressive as well, once again contrasting from her dark features. Normally a stare that long could be taken a as challenge in feline world, though by now Kuhn knew better.

In another round about way she insisted that he was beautiful, she was clever, as well as charming. Yet, she had an air of meekness about her, shown in her abundance of care she gave to his feelings.

Kuhn's eye contact broke first, looking at his paws again, continuing to blush. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he half looked back up. "Well, you don't look like a bad catch yourself ..." he replied, resuming his circling, taking in more detail about his guest.
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^^The tiger did not take to her invitation immediately, and posed Harper with a question that caused her to chuckle with the shrug of her shoulders. “I think I would have smelled many a dead wolf if your kind devoured upon wolf flesh and bone - but the snow is not stained red and the herbs don’t smell as though they were planted upon a rotting corpse of an unfinished meal.”

If the big cat was trying to frighten the faux warrior, then he had failed; the only emotion achieved out of his little show was more excitement. Harper did not fear death, and while she did not want to leave Valeska behind, death would be welcomed if it meant seeing Crux’s face again. Perhaps that was why she did not fear him.

“I trust my heart, and my heart tells me that I am in no danger here, for I have not and would never challenge you directly. You have the potential to be a good friend, but if you are the God of Death and have chosen to take me, then by all means.. ”

Harper’s voice trailed off, as she looked into the other direction, as if offering her neck to him, should he desire for her to walk among the dead.

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^^Harper liked to think that she was friendly with anyone who deserved such, though she wasn’t a fool, either; she wasn’t about to come into the tiger’s home and be rude or disrespectful when he clearly could make easy work of any smaller creature; his distrust, too, told Harper a story and she wondered if she’d ever hear of it.

It was quiet now, as Harper offered her neck, and Kuhn took to investigating her scent and poking her with his whiskers. And perhaps it would have been a foolish move to do so, but Harper trusted her heart and her heart trusted him.

So instead of getting bitten in the neck, which would have proven to be fatal with the sheer size of his canines compared to hers, instead she got a curious kitty, checking out her scent, and then, of course he’d breathe into her ears, and Harper whined softly, toe-beans gripping at the snow and soil beneath her feet. “ты дразнишь, вот кто ты, Кун.” Here was hoping that he didn't know Russian, though Harper's never met anything other than fellow canines who knew the langage.

“You’s mentioned a meal, and now I’m hungry. If you don’t know about plants, surely you know where we can find some caribou? I’ve got a little sister back home that I’d like to spoil, and I doubt she’s had caribou lately.. ”

Unless he was finally going to take her up on that warmer welcome.

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Whatever he was doing to her, he was taking in on himself. Though looking composed his heart beat quickly all the same, and his thoughts where more of a haze now. Feeling her react to his breath, his own claws hooked themselves into the ground, once again reminded of prey in its final throws.

It was poetic in a way that she smelled of smoke and vanilla, the smoke matching her charcoal like coat.

Not giving up his position on her neck, he slowly ran the bridge of his nose to the back of her jaw, taking a piece of her smell with him and leaving his own.

"The Caribou, I can help you with..." He purred, breaking away, rubbing the length of his body up against her as he walked a full length ahead. Looking over his shoulder with a warm expression, and flitting his tail, "so... you are looking for a hunt?"
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^^Cats were much unlike wolves, from what she knew based on her travels, yet this one… cared more about relationships and bonding than the heat of the moment. How very interesting, wasn’t it, that he hadn’t taken her up on a quick lay, and would rather hunt with her? Nor, of course, did he seem interested in a quick slaughter, either.

No, no. Instead of making quick work of her, he ran the bridge of his nose to the back of her jaw, And then he would purr as he spoke, breaking contact, and rubbing himself against her. Marking his territory? He strode ahead, and Harper took this moment to look at his rear.

“Aye, but I have a request as well. Caribou, be me sister’s favorite meal. Would you be so kind as to also help me with carrying back a portion of the meal to our home? ”

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Decidedly, he liked her enough to trade scent with her, as he did with lots of things he liked.  In a way he was tagging her as something of his own, though he was just as much taking on her own scent. At this point he knew what the woman was getting at, it wasn't his first encounter like this with a wolf either.   Walking ahead of the wolf, her gaze wasn't lost on him; his face flushing with blood as he looked away with a nervous lick of the chops, his tail lowering a bit.

He did find himself liking her. For some reason, she trusted him, a large cat.  Still, she had just appeared like this, and he didn't know to much about her. For now, he wouldn't mind being around her, and find out more about this charcoal woman. 

"That mountain there? Sure, its not that far.", he responded looking back over his shoulder once he had cleared his expression. Motioning with his head he took a step forward, obviously leading her to the caribou. "Actually, hunting with a wolf makes things easy. I would do this with a friend of mine.  All you have to do is herd one into an ambush for me. Your kind can run for so long."
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So the two traveled north for some time until, the scent of caribou was apparent. All the while, his mind was stuck on this woman, her curious mannerisms, and utter willingness to trust him. Typically, the scent of a tiger would make the hair of a wolf stand on end, and yet she came. From time to time he would look at her, making brief eye contact a few times, looking away to break the looming tension.  Coming to a clearing the herd was there. Typical of prey animals they stayed in the center avoiding close contact with the treeline or tall grass, they knew better at this point. 

With a hushed tone, "Ok, so I will push forward as much as I can through that grass, round one up for me." His posture was already low, his entire demeanor more tensed and quiet, licking his chops at the choice of the herd.
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^^Kuhn thought of Harper, and Harper thought of Valeska. (Who was Valeska thinking about?) Ah, what a unique love triangle, wasn’t it? Harper wondered what her sister’s reaction would be to the tiger, and then when she got over the tiger’s appearance, what her reaction might be to the caribou.

Valeska, who was a small mouse compared to the goliath of her sister, who would appear even smaller to the tiger. But alas, she supposed she would just have to wait and see, wouldn’t she? And oh, how delightful it would be.

Kuhn’s hushed tones caught her attention, followed by the smell of the caribou, and Harper smiled softly. What a beautiful herd; too bad their lives were about to be as ruined as Harper felt like hers already was.

Here’s hoping that they didn’t see her, because you know, how hard was it to hunt in the frozen tundra, when you were both big and brown, and everything else just… wasn’t? Very hard. Harper was spotted immediately, though they didn’t stir.

They kept watch. Did they notice Kuhn, or did they keep their eyes on the wolf? Harper couldn’t tell. It wouldn’t matter if they could see her, so long as one of them ran into Kuhn’s direction.

Once she was behind them, the huntress sprang forward, snapping her jaws together and watching as the herd divided… and four of them ran into Kuhn’s direction.

Here’s hoping that Kuhn was swift enough to handle all of those.

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Watching closely the tiger laid in wait watching as the wolf strode out onto the open field. Contrasted with the snow on the ground of the early spring, she stuck out wildly. He couldn't help but look over her silloutte, as his gaze moved between the well built huntress and the herd. Luckily for them, it didn't matter to much if she was spotted, as long as he stayed concealed.

It was always odd to see someone barking and snapping for the first time, almost revealing another side of themselves that was normally kept hidden.

The Amazon did her job well, so well that not just one but four came his way. Loading his power into his back legs, his mouth hung open as he attempted to pick his mark.

Letting the first three pass him, he released his power into a short highspeed dash, kicking up dirt and snow, as he burst from his cover. The creature almost half ran him over as he latched on with his claws, seizing the caribou's chest and shoulder.

The tiger held on upside down as the ungulate continued to run forward, hindered by the cat's weight. Decisively, the tiger buried his fangs into the base of the creatures neck, clamping down. Within moments the cadence of the prey began to slow, as it's balance gave way.

It's knees buckled from the asfixiation, it's blood blocked by the cat's grip. Holding tight Kuhn rolled to his side, pulling the beast to the ground with a flex of his back, straddled around the prey with buried claws.

From his grip, Kuhn eyed Harper, as the prey weakly kicked at the air with futile effort. Holding down his vice, this could take a moment, unless she felt like she wanted to help out.
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^^Despite being a total plant nerd, it was always alluring to watch muscles, so when Kuhn went to work doing his tiger-y thing with the caribou, Harper might have drooled a bit. Okay, she totally drooled a bit and went into an admiration mixed with total arousal induced trance like stare as she watched him go to work.

Almost like she used to watch Crux.

Oh, how that made her heart weep, and she even uttered the smallest of whimpers. She didn’t think that she could ever get over losing him.

It wasn’t until she noted that Kuhn was staring at her, that Harper blinked and smiled at him. Did he want her to help? Or was that a ‘stay back, this is my kill’ type of stare? Actually, Harper realized, especially with her new ‘i don’t care if i die anymore’ motto, it didn’t matter, so Harper walked right up to him and would assist him with putting the beast down.

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Busy in his craft, he didn't notice her watching him. If he had seen her stare, his face would have flushed with blood, nervousness and excitement .  Though, in this moment the man was caught of with his current task of killing their prey. It was one of the only moments that he cat found himself wholly immersed in the moment, the thrill of the chase and eventually, the stopping of the heart. 

As she approached his, their kill he had to choke down the urge to growl at her. It was a force of habit.  Instead, he left his fangs planted where they where, remaining silent, his eyes tracking her as she helped to end the kill. 

Confident that it was over, he removed his blood soaked muzzle from the vitals of the prey, looking at the woman up close. Remaining quiet, he slightly raised a brow, ears slowly perking to focus on the lupine woman.
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^^Was it wrong to admire the muscles and tactics of another creature that could so easily tear into her, like he had their prey? For a moment, she glanced over the kill that they’d made, picturing instead, a dark furred wolf beneath the tiger, instead of the caribou. A pang of guilt to her heart very quickly followed. Valeska was, very literally, keeping her alive at this point.

“Would you care to feast with me, back at home, with my sister, or would you rather leave your portion of the kill in your home, while you carry the remaining half to Elysium?”

Whatever was decided, Harper would respect and lead the way back home.

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The cat had no way of knowing what images where flashing through the woman's mind. Instead he was eagerly eying the fresh kill that steamed in the snow, his eyes darting between the woman and the food. With eyes dilated, a bit of drool was already building up at the corner of his mouth. 

"Maybe a little now and a little later...", eagerly pawing at the fresh kill. After all, he would love to feast with Harper and her sister, but right now it didn't look like he could help himself much longer.
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