SNARED [ Husher ]

[Tonjes]

The sands of the desert shifted with the wind, which made it all that much harder for her to keep a sense of direction. The red wolf blended fairly well with the warm surroundings, surprising since it was rather chilly in other places around the dome. There was a change in her from the last few times she had been seen, no longer did she skulk around the borders of the Bellator; instead she rather insistently followed around her adopted mother figure, Hestia. She was also meeting with Cezar more and more, much to Hestia's displeasure. Maybe that was why she had been sent on this errand, not even really sure what she was supposed to be looking for. The sand was warm against her paws, the smell of the Fallen strong all through here.  She paused for a moment, lifting her head to glance around at her surroundings. Her nose could smell hardly anything, the strong scent of sand and Fallen making it hard for her to scent out prey in these lands. What really could be hiding out here in the scrubby bush anyway she was not certain? A lizard skittered across her path and she jumped, hesitating before instinct made her give chase. The lizard stood little chance, being batted by her large, goofy paws until it found safety under a scraggly bush nearby. The wolf folded her ears, giving a little whine. All she had wanted as to play! Her paws gave a little dig, her nose sticking under the bush as her tail gave a little wave as though trying to apologize.  She would get nowhere though, as that lizard was rather sore with her antics and retreated farther into the bush. Disappointed, she pulled back, tightening a snare around her left paw. Confused, as she could not see the rather invisible line...she gave another tug and tightened it further. This continued, but no matter how hard she pulled, the noose only tightened until it was cutting into the flesh. Such a snare was not intended for the feet, but rather the neck of an unfortunate bush creature to strangle it to death. Tonjes gave a yelp of despair, kicking up sand in her attempts to get to freedom.

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[HUSHER]

Husher knew down to the day how long it had been since he’d lost her. Every day since then, the weight on his chest became more and more heavy. They say it gets easier with time. In some ways he was better off since joining the Fallen community. Not so much in others. He stayed because he was needed here. His daughter was more well-guarded than he would like to give Slansky credit for, and Cole seemed to benefit from the stability as well … and Husher would not leave her alone again. Little Sister needed the consistency to heal, to trust, and too many times people had disappointed her. Husher would not.

So here he was, and in his spare time he’d volunteered enough that they had officially made him a Hunter. The community was another story, and truly part of what held him together. Husher had always been a family man, and the people were what made things bearable. Akane was farther away from him now than when she was missing, and Cole was such a free spirit – heh, Little Sister remaining in the area was a miracle in itself.

In the evenings, he had taken to strolling through camp. Sometimes helping look after the kids, lending a hand to fix something, or simply sharing a fire to swap stories. This, this was where Husher’s heart was … in the people. Still, there was a part of him that felt the ache of loneliness.

He missed her. He missed her so badly; often it was all he could do to breathe. Dreams and memories of her tormented him at night. Lately it had been worse though he did not know why, and in these moments h had taken to vanishing from the camp for long hours. The wolf knew loss, the wolf knew sorrow - but sometimes Husher felt that he was stronger in the safety of the beast’s mind. And so he would run and patrol and hunt and run more.

Sakura, what am I doing? Akane is still so young but she no longer needs me, and Little Sister needs freedom and time … I’ve done all I can for her. Things are just so damn strange and all I want is to wake up at home in Alaska with you in my arms, kiss your sweet smile and never let you go. Her chagrin would have settled on him, followed by a lovely flow of Japanese telling him that he was an idiot, that his family though new still needed him, and to stop being so depressing. His Sakura was never one to tolerate gloominess … or dirty laundry.

That got a small smile out of the lone man that paused to scan the desert landscape. The wind was harsh that day, making him thankful for his sunglasses. Pulling them from his nose, he cleaned the lens on his shirt before setting them back on his face and continued to walk. This would be his second patrol today, and a third would be in order tonight before …

There was movement in the distance, and instantly Husher lowered into a squat. Smoothly, he dug his hands into the sand as he crawled to the top of the hill to peer down. There by a bush, a ruddy colored canid thrashed - must have been caught by the snare. Reflexively, he shifted into his other form. His legs narrowed and bent, his nose protruded, and thick, dark fur covered him from nose to tail. Light eyes settled in the face of a near-black Tundra wolf. His prey drive ruffled at his control, for a thrashing animal meant food. Lifting his nose he sampled the air. Wolf, female, youngish, rouge-ish? … she carried the south with her too and that was the retro’s land. Interesting.

After a few minutes of watching the she-wolf struggle, he slowly padded down the dune in plain sight his large paws leaving divots in his wake. He was curious how she would take his presence. How one reacted to another said a great deal about them, and their intentions. Coming within ten feet he stopped and his ears and tail rose, a low growl rumbled from him but it was quieter rather than excessive. Stranger, why are you here - his body language said with more curiosity than aggression.

[Tonjes]

So concerned by her entrapment, the she-wolf did not register the approach of a stranger. She was whining in earnest now, her teeth unable to find the strange invisible thing holding her poor foot! A spider's web! She thought, just knowing that the creepy thing would come and wrap her up in more invisible string until it was ready to eat her! Hestia was going to be quite angry! When she heard a growl, she nearly jumped out of her skin, unsure of what a spider actually looked like. She hit the sand, the specks picking up in her coat in a fine coating. Wide, fearful brown eyes glanced at the stranger...and found it to be a large black wolf. Cezar?! She bounded up, tail wagging fiercely to see a friendly looking face. She gave a happy little sound, stepping in his direction but then she was stopped by the snare. She looked down in distress, the wire cutting into her paw. The wind shifted direction, blowing his scent to her...and she was confused again.  This wolf did not smell like her friend. He smelled like this place...like one of the Fallen things that Hestia had told her to be wary of. Her ears flattened, clearly in uncertainty. She gave a low whine, hoping to appease the stranger. "I'm stuck." She said in shifter tongue, licking her lips nervously. She was unaware that stating such a vulnerability was a bad idea.

[HUSHER]

The she-wolf thrashed herself to the ground, startled by his prompt and Husher did not move. The moment her chocolate eyes settled on him, the odd little wolf was suddenly as cheerful as a pup and stepped his way with a wagging tail - eager to get closer. His first instinct was that she might be a retro indeed but she was too mature as a lone wolf to treat a stranger like a pack member.

Harsh winds shifted and instantly, she retracted in doubt. Still, the large dark wolf watched as she recoiled and whined. Her mannerisms were very puppy like, but her cowering did little to help his dominant wolf’s asserting instinct. I’m stuck, she said and that did help. The lupe paused to scan their surroundings and lifted his nose. To all appearances, the little wolf was alone.

She really was little; Husher’s own wolf form was massive. Seven foot from nose to tail, three feet at the shoulder, and on a good day over a hundred and twenty pounds. His undercoat was dark as pitch, but his guard hairs were a myriad of black, dark brown, and steely grey. She was lithe, red and cream, and her ears and paws were a touch too-large. Always fascinated with wolves and dogs as a boy, Husher had a fair knack of naming shift forms, and if she wasn’t a Red Wolf straight out of the Animal Dictionary App he didn’t know what was.

Smoothly he shifted back into his human form and though standing as a wolf, as a man he half kneeled in the sand. A knee down, his other supported his elbow in a crouch as his hand ran over the stubble on his face before pulling the dark sunglasses free and folding them. His light hazel-blue eyes were the same as when he was animal, and no less keen as he watched her.

His eyebrows rose and he nodded, ”Yes you are.” But who was she? Why was she here? This was not the first person he had come across trapped in this very snare, but she was one of the more interesting. Usually they begged, or cursed … once he’d even come back to find nothing but a bloody limb. He needed more information about her before deciding what to do with her.

Thank goodness the wind was beginning to die down. Husher shifted his weight, his free hand pulling a long buck knife from his boot as he sat, settling his feet to the sand and supporting his elbows with his knees. It was a relaxed posture. He had decided she appeared not to be a threat; however appearances could be deceiving … hence the knife.

”You, are in the Fallen territory little wolf.” He said matter-of-factly. This was why he loved to patrol and hunt ... it kept his mind off things.

[Tonjes]

The thin line was strong as it was intended to strangle animals, to kill them, even if she did not realize that was what it was for. Tonjes lowered her head as her tail swept at the sand as she tried to appease the stranger; who had become a man. He was like Cezar, and Hestia (Although he was not a Zebra), and her. Wolf and Man, two things instead of one. There were many things like that here as she had started to realize. The little red wolf gave another low whine, pleading with the stranger in the only way she knew how by using her body language. He was big, like her father had been…her mother’s husband, not her real father of course. And this was scary in its self. Her father had been the most unkind to her. Her ears twitched and fell, her paws shuffling her back until her foreleg was extended out before her…still held by the snare that was rubbing her skin raw with every movement. She watched the stranger pull free a knife, her whining increasing in volume. She was afraid, with every right to be. Sixteen years of being nothing but a prisoner, someone to kick, hit and scream had made her terrified of people and the like. Hestia and Cezar were starting to wean her off that fear, but this was not one of her friends. ”Please.” She said softly, deferring her eyes to the sand. ”Don’t hurt Tonjes.” Panic swelled, threatening to overwhelm her sense. She was often more animal than she was girl, preferring the red fur to the creamy, delicate skin of humans. Her pink tongue darted out, running over her dry nose with its rough texture. She rolled on to her belly, kicking all four feet in to the air, the snare twisting with her captured paw. ”Nice….Tonjes is nice…strange is nice too?” She said, rubbing her back into the warm sand before going utterly still with her soft underbelly exposed…a dangerous and submissive move. She was exposing the soft flesh of her belly, prime target for predators in the hops of showing this stranger that she was not bad. Hestia had sent her here, but that had not meant that her intentions had been bad either.

[HUSHER]

Her speech was simplistic, as he'd heard retros use language in previous experiences. When she lowered to her back Husher couldn't help his wolf's surmounting leadership in wanting to dominate her. The man managed the wolf, for Husher was of a slightly milder temperament when it came to things such as this. While the wolf saw prey and a trespasser, Husher saw an innocent and a possible explanation.

"That all depends on your reason for being here," he said in response to her question. Though fairly immune to the whiles of feminine vulnerability ... it was the first time he had crossed a 'trespasser' that had yielded so ... gently, and gracefully. It sparked his curiosity, and in interest of soothing the red wolf's worry he sunk the knife into the sand hilt deep. Inwardly he flinched to take the edge off a weapon for no other purpose but for posture, but it seemed the cowed creature could use some assurance. Husher held out his hands once to show no weapons before relaxing once more.

"You are on my Ring's land, and alone. Why are you here?" he asked, almost hoping that she had wandered here by accident. It was one thing to kill a sniveling arrogant beast of anger or malice. It was altogether another against a creature that appeared to pose no threat. However, appearances could be deceiving, and Husher had no intention in getting suckered in by a pretty face.

It was a challenging task, though one the old soldier was accustomed to. A balance between intimidating a prisoner into the truth, and remaining nice enough not to terrify her completely.

[Tonjes]

Tonjes was stretched on her back, the sand warming her back through her fur as she tried to appease the stranger. She was not a bad thing, not like her mother and father had thought she was; given the chance…the little red wolf was a sweet hearted pushover. She watched from her back as he pushed the shiny thing into the sand, hiding the glint from her eyes. Maybe he would not be bad, maybe he would be nice to Tonjes. Her tail gave a limp wag of hope, eager to please him just as she would have Hestia.

It was a flaw in her, to please everyone because not everyone deserved it. Tonjes was a desperate creature after so many years of ill treatment, desperate to please everyone in her life so that she would not have to go back to the dark place. She liked it here in the dome, even if she did not understand everything about it. She could feel the wind in her face, the sun on her fur and that was all she had ever wanted aside from the love of her parents.

Her snared paw tried to pull back absently before the line caught it, reminding her that she was caught. ”Just looking, go look and see.” She said, and it was basically the truth. That was why she had come here, to look and see what was around here. Granted…she didn’t know why Hestia had asked her to come look, but Tonjes assumed it to be a test of her loyalty. She did not intend to come back empty handed.

”Tonjes does not want to fight.” She said, her voice very soft. She was not a fighter, had never raised a hand to her tormentors before her. She was a gentle soul, albeit a beaten one. ”Who are you?” She asked, feeling curious. The soft cream of her underbelly was still exposed. ”Stranger looks like Tonjes, one of me.” She said, hoping the connection would make him gentle.

[HUSHER]

His eyes narrowed as he caught the way she phrased ‘go and see’, the movement hidden behind his dark sunglasses. Outwardly he remained relaxed and picked up a small rock from the hot ground and turned it over, further attempting to relax her that his attentions were not wholly focused on her – even if they were. His thoughts mulled over in his brain, similarly as the rock did in his digits. Go and see means that she was ordered to come here, but from who? He could ask her, but he kept it to himself for now.

Tonjes does not want to fight. He almost snorted, yeah if he were in her boots he wouldn’t want to either. Who are you? Stranger looks like Tonjes, one of me. Husher’s mind was working furiously, gathering information from her manner, smell, and speech the way a hacker did with a Black program on the Internet (and just as easily.)

It was interesting to him that despite her fear, submission, and compromised position, she still held the curiosity if not the audacity to ask him questions. It told him that some of her actions were simply that – acts … behavior that she might have learned was what someone else wanted of her. His hand came up to scratch his stubble thoughtfully. He was not keen on telling her who he was. If he told every trap-held trespasser his name there would likely be a hit out on him. Then again not many a trap-held trespasser ever got the chance to tell anyone.

”Husher,” he said impulsively. He would have told her he wouldn’t hurt her but it would have been a lie. If she did something wrong he certainly would, and he wasn’t in the habit of lying for no reason. Besides, something told him that she was animal enough to trust his actions before his words. He was much the same.

”I’m a wolf shifter yeah, but of a different species than you. So, what did you see on your adventures to just look?” This far out he doubted she saw much of anything but he asked none the less. He continued to turn the rock in his hands, though he paused for a moment and tilted his chin down to peer at her over the brim of the sunglasses. The look was a warning, saying as clearly as words, 'I'll know if you lie.'