AWolfMeetsACatIndex | HomePage | GameLogs | MarshendGameLogs | A Wolf Meets a Cat Reunited with the direwolves around the side of the cottage, Catriona paused to give Keir a light scratch behind an ear. She then motioned for the black direwolf to heel. Mist stayed put as Keary had bid. Direwolf and handler moved back over to the far corner, from which they were able to survey the road and surroundings for any sign of trouble. Catriona positioned herself in a partly shielded position and kept her bow at the ready, Keir sitting on her haunches beside her. The rise and fall of different voices from Derron, Corryn, and the Boltons, reached her here, but aside from their rhythm and tone, she could make out none of the content of their regular speech. The machinations of the upper crust held little interest for her, and there were witnesses enough at hand to keep the Septa safe. If trouble erupted between the Boltons and Corryn, the screams and commotion would undoubtedly be loud enough to roust her attention. A light breeze blew towards the pair from the north. Keir raised her nozzle and sniffed, then lowered her head once more, her tongue lolling to one side. She nudged Catriona with her head, then stared at her expectantly. "I know, but it's not time for us to wander yet, Keir," she murmured. "Guard." The direwolf gave her mistress a reproachful look, then lay down, putting her head on her paws. Despite the wolf's deceptively inattentive appearance, Catriona knew that Keir would be up at a moment's notice. And all of the direwolf's senses were vastly superior to her own. As was shown when Keir's head lifted again and she gave a low drowl, rumbling deep in her throat. The cause of her annoyance was not far to seek. Some ten yards distance, a girl of perhaps fourteen was standing, a rather sulky, half-defiant expression on her face, as though she was determined to hold her own against the world. And seated at her side was a singularly smug-looking half grown shadowcat. Catriona recognized the pair from the day before. "Easy, Keir," Catriona said in quiet voice, laying a restraining hand briefly on the direwolf's shoulder. "It's just Shade." She raised her hand then in greeting to the girl. "Hello, Aerin. Has Shade eaten yet today?" A thumb gestured towards the other side of the cottage. "There's a fresh batch of horses just in if he's hungry." The scowl lifted slightly. "We went out hunting," she said. "Shade likes rabbit - and he caught three." Shade, whose ears had pricked at the mention of the horses, affected indifference now. "Did you kill that awful man?" asked Aerin suddenly. Catriona's countenance noticeably darkened. "Unfortunately not. The slimy bas-" There was the briefest of pauses as she considered the tender age of her audience. "...eel escaped from us as we were questioning him." Her boot lashed out to kick a small stone, sending it skittering off into the brush. Keir tracked its trajectory diligently with her eyes. "I fully expect he'll turn up again before too long, probably with more just as bad as him." The hunter surveyed the girl with a measured glance, noting her injured arm once more. "You're probably as hardheaded as I was at your age, but be careful when you're roaming about alone. Shade's a good guardian, but he's not invincible." Aerin's scowl came back. "Shade can fight anything!" she said. "And so can I - Niko's been teaching me!" Shade deliberately began to wash his face - the supreme insult of the feline to the canine. Catriona suppressed her first instinct, which was to laugh. Out of the corner of her eye she noted that Keir was staring straight at the cat. She snapped her fingers and murmured a single word to the direwolf, who then relaxed a bit, tongue lolling to one side. "Then by all means, run off as you will. Reject everyone and everything that might help you stay alive," Catriona replied in as solemn a tone as she could muster. "Clearly your mastery of survival and the martial arts is greater than my own." She reached over and gave Keir an affectionate scratch around the back of her neck for a moment. She then scanned the surroundings, her eyes looking through Aerin and Shade when her glance passed by them. "No more games today, Keir. Let's go scouting." She addressed the wolf when she spoke, but her voice was pitched just loud enough to reach the girl. Catriona turned her back on the girl and her shadowcat, and gave her direwolf a hand motion. The two started to move further towards the perimeter of the Septa's lands. Mist looked at Aerin and Shade, then to Catriona, whined once, then followed, her tail out and bristled. "Wait!" said Aerin hastily. "Can we come? I mean ... can we come and learn how ... how you hunt and things? Niko is more used to fighting and deserts." But her tone made clear that her swordmaster was someone that she did respect. Catriona smoothly pivoted to face the girl. Keir and Mist paused, eyeing Shade with skepticism. "We're not hunting game today, girl," she barked. Noticing the expression on Aerin's face, she grit her teeth and forced herself to soften her tone slightly. "We're checking to see that they," she jabbed a thumb towards the conclave on the other side of the Septa's cottage, "aren't merely distracting us while a bigger threat sneaks close." She gave Mist then Keir each a steady look in turn, almost as if exchanging silent words with the wolves. "If we let you come," Catriona continued, "you have to do as I say. If I tell you to come forward, you come forward. If I tell you to stay quiet, you stay quiet. If I tell you to run back to camp, you run." She leveled her gaze at Aerin. "You're injured, and even the greatest of warriors can fall when weakness is exploited." A grim half-smile hinted at an untold story. "Sometimes the bravest of actions is to retreat and regroup until a better day dawns." Aerin nodded, her young face serious and intent. At that Catriona turned her attention to the shadowcat. Training a half-grown, unschooled shadowcat was a task which required more time than Catriona had in a score of days like this one. She just had to hope that the beast had some respect for his mistress, which might allow her to keep him under just enough control to keep them safe without having to loose the fury of the pack upon him. Instead of greeting the shadowcat as she had the day before, with a blink and then a deferred gaze, the hunter stared directly at Shade and did not avert her eyes. "And as for you, Master Shade, Aerin has your fish." She kept staring directly at the shadowcat until he reacted. Shade at first met her eyes with cool deliberation, returning stare for stare. After a little, he appeared to become uneasy. His tail lashed to and fro, although his gaze remained fixed on Catriona's. Finally, unable to endure it any more, he rose and walked to Aerin, butted the back of her legs with his blunt head - and then weaved his way all around her. Then he sat down again and looked at Catriona, clearly trying to pretend nothing had happened. But he clearly knew that it had. (Continued in Wolves and Cats and Hunters, Oh My! Catriona, Hex, and Aerin) |
