Locking Up the Sun [Blink/Jace]

[Cheesigator]

The brush of evergreen boughs against his cheeks were a fresh welcome to a forest that, while an old constant in his life, was always new in some way every time he came to visit. Their rough touch on his equally rough and scarred skin always brought back old memories, and old emotions.

He paused a moment, the early morning crisp, dew fresh on grass and the buildup of leaves and twigs on the forest floor. Golden bestial eyes glanced over it all; hovering momentarily at the stretch of wildlife and trees ahead of him, made lighter in brightness as they stretched farther away with the evaporation of last night's moisture turning to mist. He let out a breath, the cloud curling in front of his face before fading into the air. He loved this, this peaceful morning quiet.

A loud noise erupted throughout the forest however, breaking the silence and echoing through the trees. Birds scattered into the air, chirping and cawing in disgruntled disapproval as they were stirred from their perches. His pupils contracted as he listened carefully, using his supernatural powers once again for the millionth time in the years he'd been alive. That sound was trouble--he couldn't remember if it had been a scream, or the snapping of a trap. He hadn't exactly been paying attention when it happened.

With a new urgency to his cause, he quickened his pace, running through the trees, yet remaining unchanged--he didn't know what it was he was running into. There could be a hunter nearby, or it could've been a trap set off to lure people like him, people who liked to help because they had nothing better to do. At first that thought sounded like a desperate grab at straws, but it made sense for someone looking for an immortal--humans didn't have the time or lifespan to help others for fun. Not in this time period, when there were still so many dangers for doing so.

He broke through trees and branches, never blinking an eye at pine needles and sharpened twigs trying to stab and slash, as he leaned on his senses of smell and hearing to lead him to whatever had created the commotion. A bit early in the day for an adventure, sure, but he was always curious.

He slowed down when he smelled the presence of another creature--another person. Well, almost. A wolf. He knew them well enough by now to know one when he smelled one.

Coming to a near stop, he took a few more steps and pushed some last branches out of the way, ducking under one and coming upon the sight of a young girl who appeared to be caught in a trap.

"Are you alright?"

[Blink]

Rumors, that's were it always began anyways. Every time anything seemed to happen lately to Karida a rumor was what triggered the reactions to follow. Even when rescuing the beast Farthok it was simply based upon a rumor. A rumor that would lead to a chain of events that altered her life forever.

The last few days Karida had distanced herself from others in order to clear her mind. It was during this journey the rumor of hunters in the area caught her attention. Finally she had found somewhere she felt safe and refused to let beings that greedily hunted the week ruin it. Of course the smart thing to do would have been to gather a few of her newfound allies to assist her in the matter. But Karida was never known for her patience....

Leaving without even sending a word to the others she had set out to put these rumors to rest. And if need be, do whatever she had to in order to protect her newfound peace. It was this chain of events that managed to lead this poor girl into the most unfortunate circumstance.

Karida had chosen to wander in her human form in order to deter any suspicions of what she was up to. Relying solely on instinct she had managed to stumble into a small clearing that reeked of the smell of humans. It was not long after that she found herself hanging from a net suspended in a tree. It had all happened so fast she couldn't even tell if she was upside down at first.

The trigger of the trap took her by such surprise she even let out a shriek as her body was catapulted upwards into the canopy, only to bungee back downwards a few times.

As the reality began to set in that yet again Karida was confined she began to panic. If anything could falter her mild manner it was the thought of going back to a prisoner. Frantically she began an attempt to escape the trap, her scattered mind not helping in the escapade. In an admit of defeat her body slumped against the netting. Tears began to well up in her eyes as the reality of her fate slowly set in.

Karida sat in silence for a few moments as she contemplated what was next for her. Surely the hunters would come and find her and if she were lucky they would kill her right then instead of prolonging her agony any further. But this time it was different, there was a small glimmer of hope. If she were imprisoned at least this time she knew he would come for her. She had to believe it at least, that his promises were valid. "Please let him come" her voice but a whisper.

It was then that her attention turned towards a line of brush and trees as a man appeared. In the beginning she assumed he was one of the hunters that caused her current demise. However, he question of her well being changed her perception completely. Although he was a stranger to her he was most definitely a welcome sight.

"It seems I have landed myself in a bit of a predicament. Could you be so kind as to cut me down?" Karida reached her arm through the netting to point at the other tied bit of rope near the ground. "I would surely be forever in your debt if you chose to do so." her voice was still a little shaky and full of unease, but her attempt at remaining at least a bit calm was enough to be commended.

[Cheesigator]

The shaking of the girl's voice told Kirkley everything he needed to know; clearly she was in trouble, she needed help. And he wasn't going to hesitate to offer it to her.

He nodded in response to her question, the shock still evident about her, but she was managing it fairly well and doing a good job at trying to remain calm, he'd give her that. He pulled out the old knife from his bag, standing underneath the net and grabbing at the singular rope that was holding her suspended in the air; he sawed at it, the pieces fraying bit by bit.

In the time it took to cut the rope he noticed a few things; first of all, the way this woman smelled made it clear to him that his initial observation was right; she was no ordinary human. He'd met lots of creatures in his long life, and some you come across more often than others, werewolves being one of those kinds of creatures. And that was most certainly what she was.

He grabbed onto the rope with his other hand and held on tight as the last bits of string snapped under his blade. Relying entirely on his strength he kept her momentarily suspended in the air, long enough to put the knife away in his bag and get into a better position; he let go of the rope and the net trap fell--and mystery girl landed perfectly bridal-style in his arms. Just in time for the breaking and cracking of twigs to reach his ears, followed shortly by the sounds of growls and the yells of men not too far off.

Kirkley quickly set her down, helping her pull the net off and pulling off his own vest, stuffing it into his bag. The animals surrounding them were regular wolfdogs, a hunter's pet. They'd picked up on the female werewolf setting off the trap and it looks like they were only a few moments behind Kirkley in finding her here; he counted his lucky stars he'd gotten here first.

He stood right up against the woman, trying to block as much of her from the hunters' dogs with his own body as possible, every muscle tense as he prepared himself for what was about to happen next.

"On the count of three, change and run." He hissed under his breath.

The dogs snarled, starting to close in. "One," One dog barked, "Two," The growling grew louder and a man's yell signaled that they'd been spotted, "Three!"

The dogs lunged and Kirkley started to shift; his transformation was never as smooth as a regular werewolf's. Each bone snapped and cracked, breaking and realigning into place as his skin stretched over rapidly and painfully expanding muscles. He went down on all fours just as one dog jumped at his backside; in a flurry of movement he bucked it off, the full transformation happening in just under a second.

He let the she-wolf run first and he took off after her, to keep the dogs at bay and protect her from their snapping jaws. At least his hulking form did a good job of that; roughly the size of a rhinoceros, the smaller dogs would definitely have a hard time at first getting around him.

[Blink]

A sense of relief fell about her as she noticed him going to release the rope. Even more so when she realized he was not going to just let her plummet to the ground. Once she had landed in his arms Karida got a good scent from him. She was puzzled by what she smelt, having never encountered such a scent in her life.

The moment was very short lived as she also heard the commotion making its way towards them. Almost in an instant he was in front of her, making himself a shield. Not knowing whether to be offended or flattered Karida's face twisted into a confused glare. Who on earth was this strange man? Or better yet what was he?

Her thought process was interrupted yet again by the commotion headed towards them as well as his statement for her to change. "... How on earth di-" the question not quite making its way completely out before she realized the imminent danger they were both in. Slowly she started taking steps backwards, her legs moving to the beat of his voice counting down.

Once his countdown ended Karida took off in a full sprint before lunging into the air, landing in her wolf form. Excitement rolled over her entire body as she ran as fast as she possibly could, her muscles burning from the strain. She loved every moment of it all the way down to the feeling of her heart about to beat out of her chest. Her only worry would be if this man could keep up with her wolfish form. How he would fair only time would tell, since Karida was known for being a very fast and agile wolf.

Jumping over a downed log she skidded her paws on the earth turning back around to see what was happening behind her. Foolishly Karida had anticipated her lead a bit too much as one of the dogs seemingly appeared out of no where and lunged at her.

It had managed to sink its jaws into one of her fur covered back legs before she could react. Turning her body she gripped at the dogs neck with her canines and ripped it away from her. With the motion the dogs jaws also ripped at her hind thigh as it was pulled away. Not even letting out a yelp Karida finished the beast off by ripping out the flesh within its neck.

Once again she started running as she ignored the somewhat serious wound to her leg. Turning her ears she could hear the other dogs were still present as well as their masters. At this point she could only hope that her newfound ally could finish off the other hounds so that she may exact the revenge she always craved... those hunters would die today.

While sprinting again she turned her gait to attempt to make a circle around the entire scene in order to sneak up behind the hunters that controlled the hounds. She didn't care about her injured leg or the fact that she was outnumbered, this was what she had set out to do. To rid her new home of these vile beings, the fact that she had a newfound ally a perk in its own way.

[Cheesigator]

She was definitely fast, Kirkley had to give her that. He watched as the little wolf shot away from the scene, but he didn't really have time to admire her for long. One hunting dog overtook him as two more jumped him and latched on. He immediately buckled down and rolled; he felt one dog squished and broken underneath, but the other held on fast.

It was a whirlwind of teeth and powerful jaws as the massive beast swung his long muzzle around, catching the other dog and crushing its ribcage in between his jaws like it hadn't been more than a soft cookie before flinging it into a tree. An arrow was shot into his shoulder and he let out a sharp roar; he heard a scuffle up ahead as the dog and the she-wolf fought, but Kirkley couldn't divide his attention long enough in order to help her. Another dog ran up and lunged for Kirkley's muzzle, latching on, snarling and near foaming at the mouth as it viciously snapped and scraped at his face. The slashes stung like a bitch but after a brief moment of confusion from the sudden onslaught of action, he was able to throw off the dog with a swipe of one huge paw, its back breaking when it hit a tree.

And then he found himself squaring off against three humans, all poised around him with weapons raised. They had no idea what they were dealing with--neither did Kirkley, to be perfectly honest. He was just as much of an unknown creature to them as he was to himself; they were baffled and confused as he snarled and growled at them. He was very big, much more than the one or two werewolves that they had initially bargained for.

His ear twitched just slightly as he heard the sounds of racing paws nearby, but didn't give it much thought as the hunter launched another arrow and he lunged forward. It caught him again in the same shoulder but he immediately knocked one human down, powerful jaws easily overpowering the man's frail body as he bit down and ripped, blood spraying before he swung around to get the next nearest human, before the man could react and attack again.

Kirkley swung the torso of the man's former companion and threw him back with it, but with his attention on the second hunter, it left his backside completely open for attacks from the third, who was steeling himself to try and aim for Kirkley's head, unaware of the she-wolf that lurked nearby.

The beast lunged again and with the powerful swipe of a forepaw the second hunter was thrown with enough force against the tree to knock him out, not that Kirkley would be done with him then; he picked him up in his jaws, the man's body flopping like a ragdoll as he crushed him, blood streaming from his mouth as well as the wounds on his shoulder. He was normally a nice man to deal with, but today he'd decided to side with the she-wolf, and in a situation of us vs them, it meant these humans had to accept the cards they were dealt by choosing this line of work.

[Blink]

It did not take long for Karida to close the distance between herself and the hunters, their numbers seemingly dwindling as her new ally took them down one after the other. This left but one... and she was determined to end him. Slowly she crept up behind him, her shoulder-blades flexing as she somewhat crawled towards him.

Ears flat to her head she lunged for him in a cat like motion wrapping her canines around his skull. Unaware that the man had an arrow in his hand he whipped his arm around and managed to lunge it into Karida's shoulder before falling to the ground. The two bodies slammed against the earth as Karida viciously mauled at his head, trying to end him as quickly as possible.

Blood splattered all over her as she completed her kill, the mans hands now laying limp at his sides. Standing up on all fours one of her ears turned almost backwards as a noise from behind took her by surprise. Had she missed one? All in an instant a forgotten hound had jumped Karida from behind managing to slash at the side of her face with its claws before latching its muzzle around her neck.

Once again she was on the ground, pinned by what was presumed to be a weak beast. A loud yelp escaped through her teeth as she attempted to get the hound off of herself to no avail. She could slowly feel the world around her growing fuzzy as the lines of the grass grew less sharp in her eyes.

Was this really it? Would she really be taken down by such an insignificant creature? Surely if she had not previously exerted her strength she would have been able to buck this hound off with ease. Black began to edge in on her vision as the world faded even more.

Her body began to shift back to its human form and within seconds her frail human body continued to lay under the hounds grasp around her neck. No doubt a basic wolf tactic, an attempt to strangle the life from its prey. Her eyes opened just barely as she began to hallucinate the world around her. There he was in her imaginary world. Caressing her hair from her face before placing his warm lips to her neck. "J... Jas-" she attempted a whisper before her world completely faded to black.

Her fingertips slowly went from their balled fists to limp hands, her breathing grew even shallower as each moment passed. Well at least he had tried to save her, this stranger that happened upon her path today. Her mind was still somewhat alive as the seconds passed, only muffled noises could be heard through her ears.

By now Karida was in a dream, her body sinking in an endless ocean of water. Attempting to speak only bubbles escaped her throat as breathing seemed to be impossible. All she could see was the blue growing ever darker in her mind, the depth her body sinking to growing more vast by the minute. Only a shimmer of the sunlight above the water could be seen, its shape distorted by the aqua landscape. But still she reached for the sun, seemingly only a fingers length away from her.

She wasn't ready to die just yet. She still had so much she wanted to do, so much more life she wanted to live. She had just now found her place in this world and wanted nothing more than to keep living it. It was this desire that kept her body from completely shutting down. She would not just allow herself to fade away like this... she had to hold on, so she held on to the thought of him. He was the fire in her veins, he was her stars that shone bright in the night, he was everything to her.

The fantasy of her love faded as her mind somewhat snapped back to reality. She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes and she could still feel the hounds jaws wrapped around her neck only now beginning to puncture the tender flesh and sinking in. I guess she could be thankful that the hound still believed that it was only there to subdue the prey, and not kill. If only the stupid beast knew that her new ally and herself had all but decapitated its owners... poor thing. Even still, if this thing did not release her neck soon she would surely become nothing more than a memory to the few she had just recently intertwined her life with.

At this point all she could do was prey that this man beast that happened upon her on this fateful day would choose to save her, should he still even be alive. At that thought a horrifying scene of images crossed her mind. She could see it all now, her new pack mates coming just a day or so late and finding the decaying remains of all of them wasting away into the earth. There would be greenery splattered crimson from the slaughter that had taken place... and the bodies. Not only would the bodies of the hounds and hunters be scattered about but so would her ally's and her very own.

She couldn't let them deal with that burden. It was her own fault she had ended up in the mess to begin with. So used to being alone all the time she thought nothing of going out and taking care of the hunter problem on her own. Only now was she truly realizing the importance of teamwork and comrades. The regret of every decision she had made on this day was flooding her now. But at least she was still feeling something, this meant she was still alive.

Her body still lay limp on the ground almost appearing as a blood covered corpse if it weren't for her chest still faintly rising and falling with each breath. She could feel the pain radiating from her ribs, no doubt she had managed to break a few of them. Her slightly copper toned skin was almost completely covered in splatters of her enemies blood, and surely a large amount of her own as well. Had she been just a plain human she would have surely been dead by now.

But even a werewolf like herself had its limits... her body could only heal so much on its own.

[Cheesigator]

Kirkley heard the sound of an arrow go off behind him, a scatter of paws and feet; he whipped around in time to see her take the man down, despite the arrow in her shoulder. And yet within a fraction of a second a dog tackled her, its jaws latching around her neck.

Kirkley ran to her, watching as she changed back into her human form, lying there limp underneath the hound. With a bone-chilling roar of a snarl, the dog was pulled from its automatic reflex long enough to realize that it wasn't winning this situation--it let go of the she-wolf and ran, tail between its legs. Had Kirkley tried to swipe or pull it off, it surely would have ripped the girl's throat.

He quickly changed back, not caring about his lack of clothes for now as he took a look at her; she was in poor shape, even for a werewolf. He looked around, noting the gruesome mess around them, and decided it would be better to get out of here for now. Reaching up, he pulled the two arrows from his shoulder, his blood splattering across the ground. It hurt like a bitch, but it'd heal quickly enough; for now he focused on scooping the girl into his arms and fleeing the scene. Any decent tracker would be able to tell that the creature that mauled those men and dogs was big, so hopefully her pack would be safe from speculation.

He carried her through the forest, following the sound of a stream and locating it quickly. He ripped a piece of his vest off after digging it from his bag and soaked it in a bit of the water, wiping the blood away from her skin and then shredding what remained of his vest to use to tie off her wounds and hold off the bleeding; sometimes he wished he traveled with Ain more often; had she been here, these wounds wouldn't have been a problem. Being able to use fire at any time was handy like that.

As soon as the she-wolf was taken care of, he pulled his pants on, since he sincerely doubted that the first thing she would want to see upon waking up would be a naked stranger hovering over her.

Yeah. Definitely not.

Finally he was able to kneel down by the stream and wash off the blood that was crusting up by his own wounds, however they were already starting to scab over, so he didn't think too much of it; his arm was a bit difficult to move, but overall it should be better by the end of the day tomorrow. At least this curse gave him such quick recovery times.

Once he finished, Kirkley glanced over to the she-wolf, standing and going over to her, sitting down at her side and waiting for her to wake up. She was fast, and had held her own well enough in the situation they were in, but she was still going to be weak for a while. He wasn't one to just leave someone wounded and alone to fend for themselves. Hopefully her pack (at least what he assumed to be her pack, from the smells on her person) would be coming to look for her soon. In the meantime, he just settled for watching the nature around them, soaking up the sun and enjoying its warm rays on his newest scratches and gouges. He closed his eyes and relaxed, relying on his ears and sense of smell to alert him to any possible intruders nearby.

[Blink]

Once again she was in the vast sea of water, reaching for a sun that could not be reached. She attempted to breathe once more, but this time she could feel the air filling her lungs. "So I am finally dead....." the thought rang through her mind before that strange smell hit her senses again.

It threw her into a whirlwind of thoughts that she now had time to process unlike before. Never had she came across someone who smelt like this... it wasn't wolf nor human, it was completely foreign. The question of his identity not even important anymore... what did it matter? She was dead... or so she thought she was.

Laying there she could feel the heat of the sun kissing her skin. Thinking of how nice the warmth of the sun was she shot up from her laid down position. "I'm not dead!?" It was all coming back to her now. Lifting her hands in front of herself she looked at her fingers, more importantly at how her skin was its usually copper tone.

Tears began to well in her eyes as she realized she had been given another chance at life. She would get to continue living... all of her hopes and dreams still had a chance. Her happiness was short lived as the adrenaline flowing through her veins began to disappear.  Yep, she could most definitely feel it all now... the pain in her ribs, the deep scratch on her cheek and thigh, even the puncture marks on her neck and the wound of were the arrow had entered her shoulder began to burn.

Looking over herself she noticed that the majority of her wounds had been banded by... a strange fabric? And it smelt just like the man who was helping her. It was with this thought that she turned her gaze to her surroundings. She didn't even realize he was laying right next to her!

"Th... thank you" she managed to gurgle out before beginning to sob. In a quick motion, even though painful, she turned her body to the man and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself towards him for an embrace. "Thank you so much! I would have surely died if it were not for you!"

[Cheesigator]

If there was one thing that wolves (and people like himself) could be thankful for, it was their speedy recovery. It was an added perk that came along to help soften the blow of the fact that you were forced to turn into a monster at least once every month. So he really didn't have to wait long for the she-wolf to wake up.

The shadows cast by the sunlight had only shifted slightly, the rays changing in color from a bright yellow to a softer golden hue as the day had drawn on. Sunset would likely only be an hour or so from now.

The sound of stirring drew his attention back to his unconscious companion, and he smiled. "Ah, you're awake!"

He watched as the realization slowly dawned on her that she was alive, and then she saw him--and he was doomed. She sprang forward and locked her arms around his neck, sobbing with her happiness that he'd saved her life; to him it really wasn't a big deal anymore, he was just glad that he'd been successful in his endeavors, though her sudden onslaught of affections certainly weren't unappreciated.

"Ah--y-you're welcome." He said with another smile, gently patting her head and letting her climb off of him of her own accord. "You were out for a little while there, but I'm sure within the next few days you'll be feeling fine. What was a wolf like you doing out here in the middle of a forest full of hunters by yourself, anyways? Isn't that your pack that I smell on you?"

He mainly just asked out of curiosity's sake, and also to get the topic of conversation shifted away from himself a bit. He didn't mind the thanks but he was too humble to really accept much more praise than that--he figured helping others should be a normality, not an extraordinary occurrence to be heaped with praise upon.

[Blink]

Pulling herself back from the embrace Karida moved one of her hands to her ribs wincing. Everything seemed to hurt, but the joy of continuing to live had taken over her from the moment she woke up until now. Even her quick motion to hug the stranger seemed to have slightly reopened any wounds that started to already close. But still... even the pain she was feeling at this moment was nothing compared to the joy emanating off of her.

She listened closely to his lingering questions before jumping in to answer them. "First of all I do believe I have not introduced myself...My name is Karida Beatu, formally of the Beatu clan before... well before I left them, or they left me I guess..."

Lifting a hand she seemed to swat away an imaginary object in front of her before continuing. "I am now a member of a new pack. My alpha is... well hes...." quickly she became flustered as crimson began to flush her cheeks beyond the wounds already present. "He is kind of the nicest, sweetest, most genuine person I have ever met." Even just talking about him seemed to make her heart skip a beat.

"But anyways.... I came on my own accord to destroy those hunters..." her voice now began to take a vile tone. "I refuse to let them ruin the happiness I have found here." taking in a deep breath she continued, her words now like venom as her demeanor continued to darken. "I am willing to lay down my own life if it means protecting his pack... my pack.... my new home."

Of course Karida's want to protect everything had gotten the best of her this time. She still had to learn how to lean on her pack for support. She was so used to doing things on her own that going out to take care of these hunters alone seemed like the only option at the time. Thinking back on it now she realized that she may be in a bit of trouble when she got home.

The dark and angry Karida quickly faded as worry now flooded her face. "He is going to kill me...." she turned her gaze to the stranger with a look of concern in her eyes. "I am so stupid...." Turning her head away she now looked at the wounds covering her body, as well as the blood staining her clothes and the ripped bits of this mans vest. "I really am so so stupid!"

[Cheesigator]

It didn't take much to get all the information and more that he never really wanted to know from her; it seemed like he'd asked just the right questions, and she was just the right kind of talkative person.

She introduced herself as Karida, which was a pretty enough name, and that she had been abandoned by her clan and found a new home. Not really questions Kirkley had asked, but he wasn't about to complain, because that told him everything--abandonment, abuse, she had issues, put simply. It was a real shame, and it made his heart twinge in a bit of pain; the fact that anybody  had to go through things like that in this world made him upset. He knew what it was like to be left behind, all alone. But at least she'd found a new pack... A new pack who, yes, if they were any kind of a good family, would probably kill her out of their worry for her whenever they found her. He just hoped he wasn't around to witness it or get caught in the crossfire, or worse--held partially accountable.

"Hey now, easy easy." He rested a warm hand on her shoulder in an attempt to help ground her back in reality. "I mean yeah they're probably gonna be angry about you, but you should learn to trust them more, if they're such good people."

"I don't really know a whole lot about packs, I've never been in one--but if they're family like they always say they are, then they'll forgive you. But I think you should think about the consequences of your actions next time before you do anything; by deciding not to talk to them about these hunters, and going off to fight them yourself, you've essentially told them that they aren't worth your trust."

He paused for a moment, letting it sink in before continuing. "I don't know what you've dealt with in the past, and I know it's probably hard for you, but the best way to move on with your life from it is to force yourself to do things that are out of your comfort zone, like talking with people. Let yourself trust them, I'm sure that's all they could ever ask of you now."

She was probably a very skittish packmate, but surely a good one. She just needed to learn, that was all. These were lessons he'd learned probably thousands of years ago, and he liked passing these things on whenever he could. Communication and trust in a world where everything could be out to kill you was essential, and perhaps she'd learned that today. She'd been lucky, sure, but luck doesn't hold out forever.

[Blink]

He was right... she did need to learn to trust them a bit more. But the reasons she went off on her own had nothing to do with trust in her mind. She simply wanted to handle the situation herself. She would have never been able to live with herself if any of her new family had gotten hurt. "I did it on my own because I did not want any of them to get hurt. I figured it was better me than them..." her logic now not really making much sense as she listened to her own words.

Closing her opinions on the matter she turned her attention to him. "So I have a question..." this question had lingered in the back of her mind from the moment she was close enough to him to get a good whiff. "What on earth are you?" the curiosity of him now consumed her every thought. She needed to know more about this man, her curious nature prohibiting her from being able to think about anything else.

[Cheesigator]

It was clear by her short response and change of subject that the last thing she wanted to talk about was herself; it was a shame she wasn't open-minded enough right now to think things through, but she probably hurt like hell and life lessons were likely the last thing she wanted, so he let it slide. She'd learn on her own in time, or maybe she wouldn't, who knew.

She asked him what he was and he smiled.

"I don't know what I am any more than you do. I don't even remember my real name, so I just tell everyone to call me Kirkley." It was true, simple and sad as it was.

"It's nice to meet you, Karida." He pulled a knee up to his chest and sat there, resting his arms on his leg and looking out at the woods around them. "I suppose I should ask if you want my help to get back to your pack, or if you'd rather stay here and wait for someone to come get you. I'd understand if you'd like to be alone, you probably feel like shit right now."