Tukv groaned and stamped his feet upon entering the drafty albeit warmer, smokey confines of The Frozen Casket, a tavern located in some nondescript village in the middle of freeze-your-nosehairs-off-nowhere. Not caring how loud he was, he continued to complain about the extreme inconvenience it was to hunt down his client and deliver jobs to her when she was so inclined to make her home in the middle of an icy tundra and frequent the bottom of every barrel from Hyoite to Fell and everywhere in between so that it was impossible to track her down.
A string of expletives reached his ears followed by the screeching of chairs as men withdrew from the center table. There in the center of it all proudly sat Tyler Brice, raking in a large pile of coin with the largest shit-eating grin she could muster, the stem of a pipe caught precariously between her teeth.
"Well if it isn't my old friend, Tukv. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Just when I thought I was free of you for good, you come wandering in like a tumbleweed in the desert."
"Well maybe if you weren't so damn hard to find, you'd get paid more often and I wouldn't have to go tramping through every marsh, bog, and ice block in search of your sorry ass!" Tukv plopped down in a chair opposite his old friend who had already leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on the table.
"Buy me a drink and let's get this started. There is supposedly a hot spring somewhere nearby in this godforsaken land with my name written all over it. And make sure it's the expensive stuff, none of your hog's swill for the fun of it Brice!"
The woman laughed, puffing smoke rings in his direction as she motioned for the bartender to bring over two foaming mugs that were soon haphazardly slammed down on the table. A swig of ale, a belch and then a pleased sigh later Tyler finally motioned for Tukv to get on with it.
"So what's it to be this time," she queried, "Thieves in Zantaric? Mages in Connlaoth? Vampires in Essyrn?"
"Vampires in Essyrn? What do they have a death wish or something?"
"Hiding where you're least expected is the perfect place to be...so no vampires then?"
"No vampires this time, just some weird fanatic and his mangy mutt. Nothing special but the buyer has placed a large sum of money on this one."
"How much?" she inquired. Tukv paused to cough and swat at the smoke trails she kept sending his way even as he tried to gulp down his drink. "Enough that you won't see me the rest of summer if you can manage to pull it off without pissing off the buyer."
Tyler whistled in appreciation, leaning back so that her chair balanced on two legs instead of four. "So what, I have to travel to the ends of the earth to get him and then drag him to the other ends of the earth for payment?"
Tukv shook his head. "They want him dumped off in Hyoite. Hardest part is tracking him down since he's a bit of a wanderer and a recluse but I'm sure you'll manage. I took the liberty of gathering up what information I could though it wasn't easy," he preened, puffing up with self-importance that quickly deflated in the face of Tyler's snickering. "The usual stats then," Tukv growled tossing a leather-bound package onto the table in front of her, detailing every scrap of information he knew on the target.
While he leaned back to sip at his drink, Tyler engrossed herself in learning everything she needed to about her newest target, from his physical description to his interests and regular haunts, completely oblivious to the raucous nature of tavern's patrons as her pipe began to smolder and her drink turned warm.
Hooded eyes watched a fire as their owner's ears burned. Alpha smiled. It seemed, by all outward appearance, that his target was now tracking him. Not that hard to believe as she was, according to his info, also a bounty hunter. But still, what were the odds? Alpha had been given this contract three weeks ago. Capture on Tyler Brice and deliver her to the Timbered Valley, north of the Kilanthro mountain range, alive and relatively unharmed if possible. He had finally found her last week.
Alpha half wondered if he should go through with his plan to try and take her now, as he had originally planned. Fenrar and Titan waited behind the tavern's bar, waiting patiently for the signal while the paid off tavernkeeper did his best to ignore the two dogs. Alpha really didn't want to get this Tukv character involved for fear that he may be with organization that ran the Bingo Books, after all, the lycan was listed in and regularly hunted targets from the Bingo Book. All contracts within the book were listed by someone outside of the organization, they were just the middlemen. Most bounty hunters would find their names listed within the bingo books is they lived long enough to become good hunters.
Alpha decided to wait, see what became of the night, things that may change. He kept his back turned to Tyler, watching all corners of the room why viewing through the reflection on the side of his knife.
At last, Tyler tossed the stack of papers onto the table before crossing her arms and huddling down into her chair. her forgotten pipe was rekindled agitatedly followed by a heavy cloud of smoke blurring her brooding visage. Tukv knew better than to interrupt her at such a crucial stage as if he did he was likely to not only risk a knife to a rather delicate area but also lose his intended income on this job. His usual 35% cut would be more than enough to pay off his debts back in Zantaric and Connlaoth, leaving only those in Essryn to be concerned about.
Despite the cold, sweat formed on his brow that he kept wiping away. When she finally spoke though it did not even begin to alleviate his tensions. He knew he was not in the clear quite yet. Tukv knew Tyler had seen the little tidbit of information he had buried deep in the notes in hopes that she would not given her particular brand of hatred.
"He's a fucking mutt," Tyler accused roughly. Tukv nodded his head once, not daring to utter a word. "He's a fucking mutt!" she repeated louder and angrier than the first. "I won't do it. I won't fuckin' do it, do you hear me? I won't, I won't, I won't!"
Tyler slammed her feet on the floor, her hands on the table and after downing her drink in one go, the tankard as well. "Oh I can't believe you're fuckin' making me do this. Oh I don't believe it," she bemoaned to herself, leaning back in her chair and letting her head fall back to stare at the ceiling. "This is ridiculous, Tukv!"
She huffed and puffed, throwing a bit of a temper tantrum before falling into a calculative silence. "I won't do it for less than double," she declared coldly. Tukv's eyes nearly fell out of his head as his voice cracked when he at last tried to respond.
"Double? You saw how much it was and you want double?"
"Double or nothing, take it or leave it Tukv."
He gulped and fidgeted about in his seat, rearranging papers under her stone cold stare. "I'll see what I can do," he mumbled only to be met with a deadly silence. "It'll be taken care of," he finally submitted, at last earning an easy-going smirk from the now happily smoking woman.
"Excellent, payment upon delivery and don't go cutting your portion until I get there and I see you counting it you weasel," Tyler growled good-naturedly.
The knife Alpha was using as a looking glass slipped back into it's sheath on his belt. "He's a fuckin' joke" the lycan muttered to himself, "No bookie would let himself be pushed around like that." He stood up and set some coins on the table. To any onlooker, he was just a guy paying his tab. Granted, a big, muscular guy paying his tab.
He casually walked to, the past the table. Grabbing the man named Tukv by the neck in the process. Very casually walked over to the nearby wall, slamming the man against it before tossing him to the floor. Two notes whistled from his mouth, the first low followed by one several octaves higher. The two hidden wolves jumped from behind the taverner's counter. Titan, the larger of the two, stood over Tukv with his fangs bared dangerously close to his neck. This happened in all of about three seconds. "Stay very still if you want to come out of this, friend." Alpha advised the spineless man. That dealt with, her turned back to his target.
"I guess he failed to inform you, Ms. Brice, that I have taken up a contract placed against you. Now, if you will kindly come with me, or my 'mutt' will rip his throat out and you can come along just the same. Albeit, unconscious and draped over my shoulder." Alpha's voice was calm, with a cold steely edge. Meanwhile, Fenrar, while smaller that titan but appearing far more feral, snarled at the other occupants of the tavern, daring them to get out of their seats.
Tyler could not help herself. She burst out laughing and began to clap her hands. She certainly did not seem at all phased by the situation at hand, going so far as to ignore the impressively still Tukv as she eyed the stranger turned target up and down openly.
"Let him go, or keep him as a chewtoy for all I care. It doesn't matter. No skin off my nose. So why don't you cut the bullshit and sit down, have a drink." She waved her hand towards the recently vacated chair across from her. "Surely work can wait 'til morning. Not like you'd get far in the dark. Or are you afraid some little girly's going to out-drink you, run off with all your money, and then leave you bound, gagged and naked for some big-nosed, tight-lipped ponce that is willing to pay a fortune for you?"
A sigh escaped the lycan's lips as his target burst out in a fit of laughter. Looks like he would have to improv, oh how he hated to improv. Taking up the glass that had most previously belonged to the man now pinned by Titan, Alpha sniffed tentatively at the hard liquor before finishing what was left of the glass, now certain that there were no toxin or agent within the drink. The cold burn of the drink barely touched him. Savoring the taste, he inclined his glass to her and said, "You have a good taste in drink, I can give you that much" before he righted the tipped chair and sat across from her.
She snorted at the compliment before snapping her head back and downing her drink quick. "Now then what do you say we have another drink and then we talk yeah? Good," Tyler replied without waiting for an answer already signaling the rather tense bartender for another round of drinks.
"You know you really should work on your introductions though," she continued casually. "Your was is just so," Tyler shrugged. "It lacks flair or any element if surprise when you just go and announce your business like that. Puts a rather large damper on the only thing going on here. You understand?"
Alpha half drained the next drink as soon as the timid young bar wench handed it off to him, he had a taste for strong drinks, gods know it's more safe than drinking water in just about any location. His eyes lingered on the woman who had served them, she was so timid and afraid, Alpha half wished there was some way he could reassure her that she was relatively safe, as long as none of the bystanders did anything stupid.
Turning his gaze back to his target, Tyler Brice, he shrugged at her comments about his introduction. "The majority of my targets are spineless little fuckers or aggressively paranoid bastards. A show of immediate aggression generally breaks what willpower they have to fight back. Nine times out of ten it works every time." He took another swig from the glass before adding, "It is rather curious though, that we have both been contracted against each other, seems the old gods are bored."
Tyler puffed on her pipe, completely unfazed by his attempt at small talk. What he found curious she saw as business and nothing more. Her second drink was snapped back as easily as her first before she was beckoning the wench back and pushing three of her highly stacked thick, gold coins towards the woman with a knowing smile.
"You know what I want. Keep 'em coming; keep 'em how I like 'em." With a wink, Tyler returned her attention back to her rather boring job, her own companion completely forgotten where he cowered on the floor.
"I rather find," she addressed the other bounty hunter, "that all of my targets are macho men with a need to compensate with extravagant displays of their so-called prowess and luxury." Tyler smirked at the intended insult while pointedly blowing smoke in the man's face as a third set of drinks were set on the table.
Titan had grown bored of watching the man, he didn't move, he didn't fidget, he didn't make it fun. But the large dog was not going to disobey Alpha and not watch him, instead, Titan flopped on the man, laying his heavy canine body across his captive's. Fenrar had taken to sitting and watching the bystanders, following the poor bar wrench as she moved around.
Alpha waved away the smoke, and her comment, before taking a large swig from this, his third glass. Things seemed to shift a bit, like he were looking through a lens. He should have eaten more, he should have not drank so quickly. He should stop drinking and go about completing his contract. But some part of him tugged at him to stay, it was freezing outside, in here, the fire was warm and brew warmed his core as well. He cast a very pensive gaze at his target. He noticed that her drink was of a lighter shade than his, but with two and a half hard liquors already down, he couldn't place what it meant.
The huntress cocked a brow at the non-response before challenging it. "Nothing to say for yourself then? Or do you readily admit with your silence that you indeed fit the profile? You know most of the men I hunt try to deny that. What does that make you then?"
She drank more of her watered down drinking, wincing slightly at the lack of flavor before resting her arms on the table and leaning forward to stare down her adversary. "You don't honestly think you'll manage to bring me in, do you?"
Alpha shook his hand slightly and gently, watching the sharp liquid swirl withing the glass. "Your comment is, in of itself, a trap. I try to rebuke it, and you call it out for a trite response. But if I in any way accept the falsehood as it is, then I have emasculated myself. Better to refuse to acknowledge the statement altogether and leave it up to your imagination. It is obvious that you cannot be coerced by mere shows of force, why waste my time embarrassing myself?" Fenrar came to Alpha's side as he drained the glass.
That was a mistake. Alpha blinked several times as the lens he was looking though seemed to get a bit hazy. "Rather, I am trying to gauge why Mr Cuchulain put out a contract on you, such a high one at that. Warning me that you were dangerous. As a bounty hunter myself, I expected no less than you being a dangerous target. We live lives akin to that of criminals, usually with less stigma attached to it." He glanced up, there was now another drink on the table for him. "Sorry, I tend to philosophize when I drink, and very rare do I drink with my target."
"I think that answer alone was emasculating enough combined with the fact you've already immensely humiliated yourself but if you wish to further do so by all means go right ahead, I certainly am enjoying the show."
The wolf's approach though forced Tyler to lean back in her chair, a wary eye and a twitching sneer marring her features as she continued to keep it within her line of sight. "An apology?" she mocked sarcastically. "Well they certainly don't breed 'em like they used to. No wonder you have to resort to such garish displays; you're not even a proper hunter."
She tapped out her pipe in disgust. "To think I'm being hunted down by the likes of you. Ha! It's no wonder an asswipe like Cuchulain could afford to pay your commission. Mutt-lovers come dirt cheap these days. He could afford to pay twenty or thirty of you what he paid me when I chose to be in his service. I'll tell you this business has really gone to the dogs."
Normally, while sober at least, Alpha could take all the flak that anyone dare dish out. But his alcohol soaked fuse burned quick and hot. "Don't worry, better people than you have mistook kindness for weakness," He said quietly, too quiet to be heard over her gaudy laughter. In half an instant, he had reached across the table between them and whipped his arm around, with a speed and force that seemed to surprise Fenrar and Titan both, he backhanded her. Knocking Brice clean from her seat.
One moment she was in her seat and the next she was sprawled out on the floor, pain blooming across the left side of her face. Instinctively, Tyler rolled to her feet, rubbing her jaw as she leaned back against the bar behind her.
"So you want to play that way. Then by all means," her arms raised out from her sides in challenge. "Let's dance!" Then, uncaring of the other occupants of the tavern who were already recoiling to the edges of the room, Tyler full on launched herself back at her opponent in a head-on strike.
With the adrenaline and alcohol working to overpower each other, Alpha was on his feet and in a readied albeit unstable stance, ready to intercept the woman charging at him and deal only as much damage is needed to force her to submit. Not that he would need to at that second.
A shape crashed into Brice's side, sending her sprawling. Fenrar had recovered from the initial shock and now moved to assist his alpha, snarling at the woman who charged at the lycan.
The wind was knocked out of her as she let out a pained grunt and several pounds of pure muscle and fur collided violently with her midsection. Wheezing some under the weight of the beast on her chest, Tyler did the first thing that came to her mind, she swung.
Pain instantly lanced through her forearm as knife-like teeth latched onto her wildly swinging arm. Hot breath washed over it as a fierce, rumbling growl emitted from the wolf above her. Refusing to let it stop her, the bounty huntress pushed her arm back into the male's mouth, refusing to shred her own arm in trying to remove it or allow him to try and shake his head and tear it apart on his own.
"Call your mutt off and fight like a man!" the blonde howled defiantly.
Alpha gave a sharp whistle and Fenrar immediately detached himself from her arm and lept back before she could possibly strike out at him. Alpha braced in his ready stance again, this time much more stable now that some of the alcohol had begun to run it's course.
"Are the bite marks deep?" He called out in half interest. Titan was watching with a peculiar disinterest, still flopped atop Tukv. The half dire wolf had seen his alpha in many fights, many of which were against more people, he wasn't too worried.
Tyler hunched over her injured arm, tucking it in close to her abdomen. Slowly and fluidly she rose to her feet. Her uninjured reached out and curled about the neck of a wine jug. However, before she could do anything else a heavy hand clapped down over hers.
"Not in my bar you won't, Brice!" boomed the voice of the bartender. "Out with ya, out with both ya!" He growled as he dragged the squirming, bounty huntress towards the door, shouting and pointing at the stranger with his wild mutts to follow suit or suffer the consequences.
Alpha raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture towards the large bartender. It would do him no good to stir ill will towards him in the heart of the locals. Setting a small sack of coins on the bar, he clicked his tongue twice and followed the man out, the two dogs hot on his heels.
Once outside, the barkeeper leaving them out there, Alpha gave a long whistle over the wind, and was soon flanked by all five of his dogs. His eyes glanced the darkened sky. Nothing new really, in Hyoite, it would be night for all of the winter and several weeks into spring. However, full dark was approaching and that was not on opportune time to travel. What with the leopard seals, and the snow stalkers, and all other manner of things that love the darkest parts of the year. Returning to his camp outside the village wasn't worth the risk that one of those many creatures might try to pick off one of his dogs. "Miss Brice, do you have a residence somewhere close by?"
The arrival of the other hounds was anything but thrilling to Tyler who clutched her injured arm close to her chest. Her eyes narrowed to the thinnest of slits. "Fuck you!" came her harsh, unladylike response. "Like hell I'm going to take you home with me. I'm not that drunk or stupid, shithead, and none of your "Miss'ing" me is going to change who you are or why you're here. So buzz off!" With an angry growl, the bounty hunter turned on her heel to storm off into the frosty night.
Alpha looked Akela, the older dog matched his gaze before the lycan shrugged and trudged after the woman, the rest of the dogs falling into rank around him. "What shall I call you then?" He called out to her, "Because either I am taking you a hundred kilometers south, or you are taking me eighty kilometers to the north east. Either way you look at it, were are stuck together for quite a while and I am pretty sure you wouldn't enjoy being called Uppity Bitch the entire way!".
At his pace, he nor the pack following his lead were gaining on Brice, but they sure as hell weren't losing distance.
Tyler laughed, stumbling slightly into a snowdrift as she lost her balance before plodding onwards in a bit of a staggering fashion. "It would be a vast improvement!" She called back over her shoulder. "Although it's Queen Uppity Bitch to you, Mutt!"
Eyebrows raised with amusement, Alpha loved banter. His only qualm with being a bounty hunter was that too many people valued their life too much to smart off to a person who could very easily end their life. "Very well, Your Highness." He then continued to follow Brice, his dogs following around him, waiting for her reply. A battle of words was like any fight, you react to their actions, never make your own.
"Oy!" she shouted, glaring at him as he fell into step behind her. "What did I just say Mutt? Off with you, shoo!" Tyler waved her hand at him as if to send him on his way like a stray dog. "You're most certainly not coming home with me and I am not going home with you so beat it before I beat you!"
"HA! I'm not so second rate a bounty hunter that I would let my bounty go ON PU-" Then a thought occurred to him. He was also her bounty. Eventually, she would come hunting him. "Very well, you are right, it's quite rude of me to try and barge my way into the home of the Queen Uppity Bitch. Farewell." He turned on his heel and headed to the small inn, The Heated Hearth.
Tyler turned around and waved her finger in his general direction. "Now wait just a second! This is not how this works. What do you mean go on what? Hmm? I'm sorry I can't hear above the sounds of your own idiocy!" With a frustrated growl she scooped up some snow and chucked the lopsided ball at his head. In her tipsy state the fact that she had several knives that could have done a much better job did not even cross her mind.
Alpha watched the snowball sail overtop his head by a solid three feet. "Idiocy? Me?! Look lady. You have been screaming up and down this street that I need to leave you be. And know that I am giving you that, you wanna have a fucking snowball fight? Two can play at that game." He quickly scooped up some snow and sent the packed ball sailing at her. He was having fun.
She easily dodged it with a roll that allowed her to scoop up large amounts of snow into her arms for packing and using as projectiles. "You think this is a game?! This is war! And I most certainly am going to win it!" With a howl she threw several balls towards him and his wolves, aiming both high and low with much better care than she had the first carelessly tossed one.
One very poorly crafted snowball exploded against Alpha's shoulder in a harmless puff of the white fluff. "Oh get fucked." He whistled three short notes to the wolves and they all took off, jobs clear in their head. Alpha started rolling one snowball against the ground, hard packing it quickly so it grew bigger and bigger. Fenrar and Titan came to either side of the bounty huntress and started digging into the snow, kicking up piles of it and launching it at the woman with great haste.
Tyler snorted before taunting back, "why, you offering?" She batted away at the snow that the wolves were tossing in her face even as she worked at retreating back towards her home. In her somewhat inebriated state, she wondered if he would be distracted by his snowball-making long enough for her to toddle off home for some much needed sleep.
Alpha looked up from snow ball, still slightly drunk but more or less in control, "You yourself said it, Queen Bitch. Maybe I outta treat you like any mutt would treat a bitch!" Less, less in control. He lobbed the heavy snow ball at her, without aiming, he would be lucky if it landed anywhere near her.
She paused and slowly watched as he lobbed the snowball at her. It arched beautifully before landing with a muffled thud several feet in front and to the side of her. For several moments, Tyler seemed to blink uncomprehendingly at it before shaking her head and looking over at her the man before her. "Yeah you have about a snowball's chance in hell."
Alpha just stood there, breathing in the chilled air. After a few minutes in the sobering cold, he spoke up, "So now what? We just gunna stand out here and yell retorts back and forth until hell frosts over? Are we gunna go for each others' throats until one of us lie near dead?" The dogs had already circled back around to stand back beside their master.
"Men and their unimaginative brains. Well if you can't think of any other options then I vote getting the hell outta here because I don't have the time to be wastin' on mutts like you. Come back when you think of something better to do with yourself." Tyler turned her back on him and proceeded to head towards home, uncaring if he followed or attempted to apprehend her now.
Alpha eyed the retreating figure of his mark. He became aware of another snowball in his hand. He let it fall around his feet. In truth, he was boring of the back and forth, but it was getting to be far too late to head out for the next outpost, her in tow, especially with a wind that threatened to kick up a snowstorm. So he and his pack started following her again, more to just see where she was going. He didn't think her foolish enough to head out into darkness at this time of year.
Tyler flounced her way through the snow, trying to ignore her tail as the idea of a roaring fire and hot soak firmly embedded itself within her head. After tipsily stumbling her way through and around several snowdrifts, she finally made it to her own front door and managed to disable the deterrent security she had created herself before casting a beleaguered glance back towards the wolf pack.
"You comin' or what? I won't have you skulkin' about here like some fumbling teenager. And you can leave your mutts outside!"
After a quick click of his tongue, he followed her inside. Sure that if she tried anything, he could definitely take her. Even without his pack as they all stayed outside. It was cool in her house, not the biting and sobering cold of the outside. Quickly, Alpha found that his head was becoming quite muddled. He leaned his back against the door, further blocking out the cold that tried to creep inside. Surely the alcohol had not been that strong as to knock him off his feet. And she'd had as much as he did! How was she still standing?!
He had not been within her domicile long before she was throwing her weight against him, pinning him against the door he already rested upon. One of her hands bolted the door behind him while the other sank into his dark locks, yanking his towering form down to her level for an aggressively, bruising kiss.
Alpha's body tensed as the woman molded herself against him. Her hot breath flooded his mouth as she wrenched his head down to her level. So the fighting was beginning already. A growl rose from his chest as her lips formed a seal over his. His arms shook with tension, bestial strength flooded into his limbs as he prepared to break her if it meant overcoming her.
Then instinct kicked in. Something feral recognized what this woman was doing, it was an opportunity. His hands viced onto her thighs and hoisted her into the air. He took a few staggering steps forward, hindered by the consumption oh an hour earlier. Luckily enough, he didn't fall immediately, a few more confident steps forward before is shin caught on something and they fell forward. The pain that shot up his leg caused his growl to become more reverberant. Landing atop her, the lycan could feel soft fur beneath them, but that was merely an afterthought. He kissed her back with a frenzied and instinctual passion, he would devour her.
Tyler grunted as they toppled over and landed with a soft thud. She was vicious in her attack, tearing at his clothes with primal need. The huntress was not going to go down without a fight. She bit, she clawed, and she struggled for dominance as she did in all aspects of her life.
Where most would blame it on adrenaline and alcohol surging through their systems, Tyler refused. This is who and what she was. She was a woman of action who took what she wanted without shame or consideration. In a single moment the assassin had decided she wished a bit of personal pleasure and fun and therefore she sought to claim it without care of consequence. On the contrary, Tyler goaded and taunted her prey on, growling out words that would make even a sailor blush.