Frost Hide (Bandit!)

[Listenbeastie]

The stranger was able to support the beast with no resistance beyond an irritated, quivering growl. He leaned on the woman rather heavily while trying to fight dizziness, bowing his head notably and drooling slightly. The leg was bent so that it wouldn't touch the ground and blood continue dribbling down it, dropping off of claws and tufts of fur.

[A Quixotic Knight]

Gently, she withdrew the object she had reached for from within the confines of her cloak - a moderately sized square of cloth, likely for the polishing of tools or for use as a towel. However, this was not to be it's purpose today. The woman cradled the beast against her, grimacing faintly at the drool, although her focus was elsewhere. She reached down, shifting a bit as she worked to try and  bind up the injury with the cloth. She wrapped the material around the break and the fur, careful to put pressure only where needed - it wasn't a splint, but it was the best she could do on such short notice. After tying off the injury, she reached up to pet the wolf once more, scratching him lightly behind the ears as she fell into thought.

"How are we going to get you to camp?" She mused aloud, her voice as quiet and low as a whisper.

[Listenbeastie]

The creature snorted as her hand moved over his ear, briefly pausing in panting to lean towards it slightly while he was being scratched. The beast otherwise squirmed, trying to step away once the splint was done. The object on his foot struck him as very confusing and, whether successful in escaping or not, he'd reach back and try to sniff or gnaw at it.

[A Quixotic Knight]

The woman continued to scratch his ear, petting him carefully and thoughtfully. As he tried to pull away to mess with the bindings, she continued to stay close enough to support him as much as she could. When he began to reach back for his bindings, she tried to coax him into turning his head away by scratching him beneath the jaw and running her fingers through the fur at the top of his head. There's a good pup, she thought, bemusedly.

As fun as this all was, however, dark was falling.

[Listenbeastie]

Luckily for the woman the distraction was successful. The animal turned away from the binding, awkwardly limping along and occasionally resisting out of further nervousness. He was surprisingly flexible for a hardened beast of the north.

[A Quixotic Knight]

The strange woman continued to lavish affection on him, although every so often she made to pause in an attempt to help him further along. She glanced down the path she had come, darkness settling heavier in the trees around them, and frowned. Both she and her unexpected companion would need to hurry if they wanted to reach shelter before night fell.

Armored hands attempted to guide and comfort the beast, cautious of his injury. Her stomach rumbled.

I hope we reach camp soon.

[Listenbeastie]

It seemed that, between the distance they had to travel and the wolf's constant pausing it would be miraculous to reach the camp before nightfall. The pack some ways away began howling again, the chorus of cries lasting for a few minutes before finally dying down. The stars and northern lights were out in full swing this night, unfortunately doing nothing to illuminate the snowy ground below.

Somehow, they managed to reach the camp on the very brink of nighttime. The wolf grew curious of the small settlement but was far too weary to thoroughly explore it. That didn't stop him from sneaking in the smallest inspections of eyes, nose and tongue upon objects that were close enough.

[A Quixotic Knight]

The woman didn't stop him from inspecting what he could, leading him patiently and carefully into the safety of her tent. Once there, she searched around the pelt-covered floor for her tinderbox, collecting the tin in her hands and working around in the dark until she produced light with the aid of fire and lantern. The golden glow bloomed from within the glass, filling the small enclosure with light. The woman shrugged off her cloak, the fur mantle and heavy material falling to the ground with a sound like a sigh.

She moved around, allowing the wolf to inspect the tent as he would, knowing that she had kept anything valuable hidden away in the bags she carried with her on her person. Finally in the safety of her camp, she leaned back, sighing, and took a moment to deliberate.

Dinner, she realized. I'll need a... fire. In spite of her thoughts, however, sleep was already beginning to pull at her mind, trying to drag it into the realm of the unconscious.

[Listenbeastie]

The wolf made it into the tent but not far beyond that. After some exploring the beast slumped back onto its side, curling up into a corner and resting his head on the ground. His size compared to the tent's made the vision potentially amusing; despite residing in a corner he took up quite a bit of the tent.

[A Quixotic Knight]

The weary woman paused, staring out at the darkening evening through a slit in the tent flap. She seemed to lose focus, her head dipping forward low for almost a full minute before she jerked herself awake, shaking her head. No, there was absolutely no way she'd be able to start a fire, cook, and then bank it tonight. Still, her stomach complained, and she crawled back further into the tent, trying not to disturb the large beast she had taken in.

She spared a thoughtful glance at the enormous wolf as she knelt forward over a sturdy bag resting along the ground. With a careless hand, she knocked back the bag's flap and rummaged through it's contents, retrieving something wrapped in brown paper that made a loud crumpling sound when handled. The object smelled odd and faintly meaty, although the potency of the scent was dulled, and somewhat different than that of fresh meat.

[Listenbeastie]

Despite the lack of potency in the meat's smell the wolf was aware of it as soon as she withdrew it. The 'wild' animal didn't make a move to take it immediately but did fix his unlikely friend a very specific look. There was no snarling or lunging or tail wagging, just the look.

[A Quixotic Knight]

With one hand, she unfolded the package and sat down, removing a large hunk of dried meat. She lifted it in the air briefly and tossed it the short distance over to him, so that it would likely land on the ground before his paws. She claimed a smaller piece of jerky from the parcel and bound the rest up, replacing it in her bag.

The silver-haired woman chose then to sit down and gnaw on her piece of meat. Gods, she was exhausted.

[Listenbeastie]

The beast she took in didn't hesitate to bite into it as soon as it fell, lifting his head back and chewing on it for a long period of time. Sure, it was a bit odd for meat, but it still tasted relatively well. As a wolf, he didn't have many taste buds to tell the difference in the first place.

[A Quixotic Knight]

She chewed on the tough meat, shifting back to try and find a place to relax and finding only wolf. With the bit of jerky clenched between her teeth, she crawled back along the ground and casually leaned back against the enormous beastie as though this were a perfectly normal activity.

[Listenbeastie]

Considering that the woman had given the large animal food, her leaning against him no longer made him tense. However he did tilt his head in the effort to reach the meat she was eating after he was done. Greedy son of a gun.

[A Quixotic Knight]

The young, silver haired woman tore off a hunk of the meat with her teeth, her cheeks puffing out as she stared at the large wolf's face. She drew herself back away from his mouth, trying to glare at him. The harsh look was admittedly dulled by the fact that she was doing a remarkable impression of a chipmunk at the moment, and he a great beast of the tundra!

[Listenbeastie]

The animal simply stared at the meat as it was moved away, licking his lips and slightly wagging his tail as she shot him a glower. He growled and rested his head on the ground again, giving up on his attempts at taking the other chunk of dried meat. There was something to be said for the beast's flexibility, still. Just a small while before he was threatening to kill the woman.

[A Quixotic Knight]

She swallowed, looking down at the disgruntled beast and hesitated for a long moment. Finally, with a sigh of resignation, she handed over the remaining portion of her meal. Her eyelids felt heavy, and his fur was so warm.. She shifted against his form, trying to stay awake. The meat was pinched precariously between her thumb and fore finger.

"On on and take it, furball. It's yours."

[Listenbeastie]

By the time she spoke to the beast his head was already lifted and his tongue lapped at the remaining food in her hand. Assuming she stuck to her word he'd gnaw on the meat for a small while before swallowing and putting his head down once again.

[A Quixotic Knight]

As soon as her unusual companion had taken the food, she began to relax. The armored woman's form sank slowly against him, her arms dropping into her lap like weights. She didn't make a sound as she drew her legs up closer to her torso, her head dropping down to meet them. Shutting her eyes, she began to drift off to sleep, even as he finished eating the small meal.