"You were human once, then?" Kenji was amazed that Krinn had picked out the reason he left behind so much stuff so quickly. He wasn't sure if he'd have preferred that Krinn think he was a finicky eater, or that his system couldn't handle much more than raw meat. "Being like this has some perks~" he couldn't help but be a little sad, being reminded that it's not the best way for an elf to live his life "~but I do miss my home, though as I think back on it, I can't remember what the draw of it was, other than Risa." He looks back to where she's sitting and eating an apple, her tail tip twitching happily. He could almost imagine her purring, if she could purr yet. "I won't let us get lost between who and what we are. I somehow survived three years without guidance, and I'm only at this stage of 'wild'."

Merisa was watching Kenji and Krinn talking while she ate her apples. She was thrilled to be eating such a delicious treat, it was rare that she'd get such a sweet apple before one of her aunts or her parents. She didn't even notice that her tail tip had begun to twitch back and forth, though she would have noticed if she'd started to purr, which she wasn't able to do just yet. She didn't want to admit it, but seeing Kenji eating the dead hen made her kind of jealous. Perhaps something was waking up inside of her that she hadn't thought existed. She'd have to remember to ask Kenji later when his craving for flesh began.

Yuzo started on the red berries as he listened to his companions converse. Merisa's tail twitching caught his eye and he noted that it was very much like how a cat's tail would behave when it was watching a mouse. His family members, of course, did nothing of the sort. They would either roar, fly, or swim around when they were happy. If they were feeling content, they would curl up into a ball if they were serpent like or rest under their wings if they had any. The green eyed boy himself felt like curling up into a ball right about now. If he were in his dragon form, that is. "Maybe the magic stone they're looking for could help you as well Krinn." he suggested.

"Yes, of course. I need to find somewhere to clean up anyway. While the meat is something I've come to accept, being covered in blood is something I'm not yet used to. Yuzo, do you think you can help me find a river close by? Or any form of water is fine." Kenji bows his head to the wolf, moving away from him to give him space while he finished Kenji's hen. When he was living in the forest with the other wolves, he picked up on a few mannerisms they had, one of which was that wolves didn't like to eat with a lot of strange company hanging around. It tended to make them nervous.

Merisa was still enjoying her second apple, not paying much attention to anything else. She hadn't noticed that Kenji was bloodied from the hen, nor had she noticed that he gave the last parts of it to Krinn. Her attention was solely on the wonderful apple in her hands. The small bite of heaven that she held within her grasp. She didn't even realize she'd begun to purr while eating the apple.



((My last post for tonight guys, I gotta get to bed. Don't wanna risk the fever coming back.))

[Alrighty :) Goodnight]

"There's a small stream out in the fields over that way." the dragon said, pointing to the vast grassland away from the hill. "It's small but it has a strong spirit." He led the man out into the grassy open. The blades of the fields were taller than those on the barely traveled road and almost reached above Yuzo's knee. He hummed a little tune as they moved though a few minutes of walking was all it took for the two tall boys to reach the brook. "Well! This little one has more spirit than I thought!" the horned guardian exclaimed after seeing the small fish that swam through the clear rushing waters. "Looks like it will turn into a great river someday. I can't wait to see who will be its guardian. Hopefully one of my younger siblings." He reached down and swiped at the surface of the brook. The water seemed to dance up and around his hand before falling back down to the stream.

"Yuzo, go get Krinn. Tell him to follow your scent here, and keep Merisa safe. I'll be back as soon as I can." Kenji knew from past experiences that when a feline creature started to growl at you, it was time to either fight, or flee with every bit of your essence. He wasn't in the mood to flee, however, but he knew he couldn't win the fight alone. Just in case Yuzo didn't get back fast enough, Kenji did wonder how good the wolf's hearing was, and if he'd hear a howl and know what it meant. He figured it couldn't hurt to try, and put as much of the urgency as he could into the cry.

Merisa heard the howl from the gathering spot, but she didn't know what it meant. "Krinn, what's going on?" She'd finished her apples, and was looking forward to walking some more, but everyone seemed to have split up suddenly. "Was that Kenji that howled?"

Yuzo was hesitant to just leave Kenji to face the potential threat alone but agreed with his suggestion to get help. With one last glance at the white tiger-like being, the teen ran back to the abandoned road. He could hear Kenji's howl as he moved away from him.

"Krinn!" He started calling out to the wolf as soon as he saw them. "Krinn! There's a white tiger at the stream and Kenji's facing him by himself!" The dragon boy stopped short of crashing into Merisa.

[I'm getting off after this so you guys can skip me. I thought I had more time :)]

Kenji was smart enough to not say anything upon Krinn's arrival. He also knew when getting into an offensive position was a good idea. Dropping down close to the ground, his hackles raised and a growl in his throat, he stands beside Krinn, waiting for the attack to come. He might not have the claws of a wolf, or the jaws of a wolf, but he had the speed of an elf, and the sheer fighting power of one that learned how to fight in the wild. He could hold his own against most opponents.

~X~

"That was Kenji... What's happening?" Merisa was up and bouncing around, impatient for information about the two wolves.

Kenji shakes his head, sending his hair flying. "I can't do that. You might be a new friend, but Merisa wouldn't easily forgive me if I left and you didn't come with me." He doesn't move back one bit, but inches closer to the cat-thing. "I won't leave, but if you want, I won't join in right away."

~X~

Merisa stops bouncing as Mina makes her report from what she could hear. All things considered, Risa might have heard the same thing, had she not been bouncing around like a hyper bunny. "A tiger? Like a real tiger? Wow... Epic battle between cat and dog..." She bows her head briefly, then looks up to the sky, praying that Kenji and Krinn make it back to them safely.

Kenji cursed under his breath when Krinn took off after the large tiger. He would have followed, had he not picked up on the scent of the odd female. Plus, there was the added promise that Krinn made about returning with him to the others. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back with Yuzo and Merisa? She can't fight, you know. She runs instead." His voice held a trace of a growl, but it was more from his attack posture than anger toward the strange female.

~X~

"She vanished..." Merisa gasped at the sudden vacancy of the area. Only her and Yuzo remained on the road. "Okay, I can do this. These ears have to be good for something..." She sits down cross legged at the base of a tree, facing the way Kenji went earlier. She focuses all her attention on her hearing, listening for anything, voices, fighting, anything. Kenji knows I wouldn't want his to needlessly fight something, so maybe the message got warped in transit. After a minute or two, she picks up a voice that sounds a lot like Kenji, but had a more throaty sound to it. It kind of sounded, to her at least, that the person was trying to talk with a sore throat.

Kenji uttered another curse under his breath and took off after Krinn, following his scent through the woods. He didn't notice what he passed, too focused on the smell of the ones he pursued. Yes, Krinn told him to wait there, but he couldn't just leave a friend in case there was something he could do to help. Plains Elves had little need for healers any more, what with the lack of adventurers, but a wolf/elf living alone in the forest needs some healing ability to ensure that death won't come too soon, such as after a fight, or by eating bad food. It wasn't much, but he could wrap a wound if need be. He uttered another curse as he slowed down. He didn't want Krinn to know he'd followed them, but he didn't want to be left behind either.

When he caught up with them, he stayed in the shadows, not allowing himself to be detected by either side. I'm here if you need me, Krinn. His thoughts steadied his racing pulse, but he knew that uttering anything in any language would be a mistake. He just had to hope that Krinn wouldn't fall to this bully.

~X~

Merisa nearly tore off to the stream when she heard Kenji swear. She knew he would follow Krinn, but she wasn't really sure why. She liked the wolf, but they hadn't really known him that long. Perhaps his time alone in the forest changed him more than she thought it did. He seemed to have formed a pack in the mere moments that he'd been by her side again. It was the way he was acting, like he was the alpha wolf and one of his pack was singled out like prey for a weak predator that didn't want to take on the entire pack.

I wonder if that makes me the alpha female then?

Kenji growls out loud. Even though he didn't know Merisa's thoughts, the tiger/elf was right. He saw Krinn as a possible member to a pack he wanted to form. Perhaps it was some inner instinct that was still forming from being between forms for so long.

Even if the male human on the ground had the same hair as Krinn, he found it hard to believe that he and the wolf were the same, though it would certainly explain the human smell that was on Krinn the wolf.

Tearing strips of fabric from his shirt, he kneels beside the fallen human and begins to dress the wounds he can see immediately. "You shouldn't have pursued him alone, Krinn. Tigers verses wolves never end with the canine winning. Why do you think wolves travel in packs?"

~X~

Merisa couldn't hear anything from the stream, she couldn't hear anything that might be happening anywhere. There was nothing for her to do but wait for the others to come back. Like most cats, her options were limited for what she could do to pass the time until they returned, and since there was no string for her to play with, a nap in a tree was a decent idea. Come back to me in one piece Kenji.

"Why is it so important to fight him? What do you gain aside from new scars? Do you actually win any of the battles, or do you always end up on the bottom of the fight? I don't mean to criticize, but maybe you shouldn't fight him. Like I said, there's a reason wolves travel in packs." He carefully dresses more of the new wounds, trying not to wince at the imagined pain of the many scars. "One wolf isn't very strong at all, but many wolves can bring down even the fiercest of opponents."

His shirt was in tatters by the time he was done, so instead of looking like he got chewed up and spit out, he simply takes it off and ties it around his waist. Who knew, someone else might need bandages before the day was out. "Come, lets go back to the others. I imagine they're worried about us."

He kneels down to offer a hand to Krinn, and hesitates a moment. "I imagine you see me as a child, don't you. You who look younger, but your eyes say you're far older. I might be younger than you, Krinn, I might be new to the wolf thing, but I'm not completely clueless. What I know is what I've learned from the packs near home. They're always saying that rogue wolves don't last alone. Packs are stronger."



((Last post, gotta head to bed. I work tomorrow.))