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Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Printable Version

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Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

The sound tore him from slumber. A great wrenching sound that split the air and sundered his dreams to dust and rubble, and roused him groggily to his feet. A calloused and rugged hand went to the back of his low head, the matted white hair that was there meeting his touch and his body shuddering at the feeling for the cold that had seeped in began to slough off with his waking warmth. A low growl rose in his throat and he shook himself dry and free of the sleet that had accumulated, despite his shelter.

It was always like that in these places of respite. These burrows in the tundra. And despite the rude awakening, he felt good. Deep set eyes gazed out toward the exit from the small cave, and as he made his way forward, the sound came again, though this time much longer. Something had clearly happened, and as he peered around the edge of the cavern, he spotted it. The train tracks that had been laid carefully and supported strongly with a variety of crossbeams and heavy iron struts had failed in their duty, and a passenger train had been flung from its natural course and careened across the thick, nigh-impenetrable layer of permafrost, shattering the layers of ice above it and scattering shards of glass-like frost in every direction as it came to rest, finally, at the base of a low hill.

Rau's curiosity blossomed, and his grin widened at the thought of what treasure could be found inside such a wreckage, and carefully, gently, he started toward the accident. It was then that sounds began to catch his sharply tuned ears, and he hesitated, taking refuge behind a snow drift to gather more information.

There was a sound. Motion, perhaps. Something moving around inside the train, or near it. He couldn't quite tell at this distance; the noise was too vague. But he knew it was a bad sign. Though it was a passenger train, he didn't know what kind of passenger was on board, and despite his size, which was large when compared to a human, he knew it was never a great idea to charge headlong into what could be a nest of dangerous venomous creatures.

Rau did not like poisonous animals one bit.

So for now he waited, green eyes locked on the dark shape of the wreckage against the pale blues and whites of the snowdrift it had come to rest near. Those eyes prowled the surface as he himself longed to, searching for any glint or hint of treasure, trap, or survivor. If he was lucky, he would find something of use. If he were luckier, he would find food. If he were having a particularly serendipitous day, he would find himself the proud owner of a pet, perhaps. Or of easy access to fresh food. And if he was unlucky, there would be danger.

Thick, crushing teeth were exposed by his wide grin. Maybe that rude awakening wasn't such a bad omen after all.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Kat - 11-10-2014

"It's only a business trip." He kissed her forehead before taking a few steps back. "You'll be home in no time. I'll even change the sheets."

"Riiiight." Kade simply shook her head and adjusted the camera bag on her shoulder as the train whistled a warning. "Try not to have too much fun while I'm out in the sticks."

Parting with little more than a backwards wave, the photographer marched off to find her seat, boarding a mostly empty cabin with a welcoming of quiet grumbles from fellow passengers. With any luck, she could sleep most of the way, and be at her destination within the next day. Of course, life had never been so simple, and six hours into her on again off again nap, something happened. At first, the screech was barely noticed. A shrill and startling whine that earned a shaken chuckle to show she wasn't frightened. When the mystery sound turned into a crunch, Kade's face whitened while the rest of the passenger's switched into full panic mode. Screams deafened her, accompanied by sickening batterings as bodies were flung around the open space, knocking violently into the seats on their way to the ceiling of the compartments as the derailed vehicle spun in nauseating somersaults.

Still seat belted in place, Kade groaned quietly when the movement ceased. Her waist ached where the thick binding kept her hanging upside down and at some point, something had found a way to bash her left temple. that too ached, but she was more concerned with the fluid dripping along her features. How badly was she injured? "H-hello?! HELP ME!"

Shakily, the woman fumbled to release herself from her seat, though in doing so, dropped heavily onto the flickering lights of the once ceiling. Scattered around where she crouched were various pieces of luggage and mangled bodies, many of which had been so drastically thrown about that they no longer resembled people. It was a sickening to see, but she was a photojournalist, and the death in her cabin paled in comparison to the years she had been active. Bringing a sleeve to wipe at the blood from her sight, she prodded at the various strewn items to find her bag, and once more shouldered it when it was retrieved. The smell of raw meat and warm death made her stomach turn.

Crawling away towards a fissure in the wreckage, the train seemed to have been torn in two, twisting itself apart upon impact. Again, she tried to call for other survivors, but to no avail. "Someone?! Is anyone alive?"

The cold did nothing to breach the shock Kade was in, but she had come prepared to face it. At least for short amounts of time, over the course of her week long assignment. Clinging to the strap of her camera bag, she wondered if it still worked. If, in all this chaos, she would still be able to take pictures. Maybe even pictures of this catastrophe.

"Fuck..." Sinking into the snow a few yards from the train's ruined body, Kade brought her knees to her face and rested her forehead against them. "FUCK! FUCK!"

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

From the wreckage a small figure emerged, and Rau's eyes locked on almost immediately, focusing as the figure settled curled up near the wreckage and sat facing away from him. He could now easily imagine what the sounds he had heard earlier were, given that this wreck seemed to have a survivor. His grin sank a little, and his gaze grew a touch more stern as he began the arduous process of his approach.

He was a large creature, to be sure, easily taller than the average man by a few hulking feet of muscle and scar tissue. His body was thick, and his limbs were tight, bulging cords of sinew and flesh that carried him easily enough as he crawled forward. His feet were less muscular than his arms, though this was to be expected, given that he used them so much more. And perhaps from a cursory glance, he could have been mistaken for a human. But the proportions were wrong. His head was too square, too large. His mouth was too wide, his body too large, and his arms too thick for his much smaller waist, hips, and legs. He was, in an uncomfortably honest word, a hulk. But it was an honest word, and while Rau preferred terms like Jotun, Giant, and Titan, he couldn't dismiss the pejorative so easily.

Despite his size, however, and his build, he still moved with a hunter's grace and skill, carefully moving through the ice and snow with a practiced care and concern that led to nearly no sound escaping his movements. It wasn't until he was close enough to smell the blood and see the details of the wreck that he stopped, taking a moment to dig in enough to hide his form further as he watched. He could hear the little human woman now, and he could see the red in the snow around her. She was wounded, and if she was out of the train, it meant most everyone else was not as lucky as she seemed to be.

His grin returned, great square teeth gripped together as he lowered his body further into the snow, now buried up to his eyes. It was a fortune that he had adapted so well to his frozen land. His hair had grown out, as he lacked the tools to cut it presently, and it hung around him like a heavy cloak: long and thick. It was white with rime, and helped camouflage him against the terrain when he was buried like this. If she spotted anything amiss, it would have to be his eyes peering at her.

From what he could see, the wreck had been catastrophic for the passengers. He saw a body here or there on the other side of the vehicle, and they didn't seem to be very much intact. This meant that inside was likely to be worse. This woman was very, very lucky.

Or unlucky, depending on what he decided to do with her once she was captured.

His eyes narrowed a bit. The train was a passenger train running through dangerous terrain, but it shouldn't have simply derailed. Surely something had occurred to cause this accident. A sliver of fear embedded itself in his thoughts at the notion that the crash had been deliberate, and he began to search the area for any sign of tampering. But, so far, he found nothing. Rau decided to get back to the matter at hand that was most pressing: The woman.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Kat - 11-10-2014

By human standards, Kade wasn't terribly small. At 5'8", she boasted an above average height for a woman, with long golden hair that fell in messy waves around her injured features. Attractive was usually used to described her, though in her current state of vulnerability, a confused mask seemed to take away from that fact. It left her seemingly lost. The canvas of her situation was miles of forgotten snow draped taiga, and one would be hard pressed to believe there was anyone within screaming distance to assist her. her breathing was a mix of ragged pants and heaving sighs, an attempt to keep calm when there was no good reason to be calm. Moments passed in near silence, with her small, pitiable noises all she was honed on. Expecting someone else to come crawling out of the wreckage was becoming less likely with each second that passed. Something inside one of the cars was burning, or had been burning the whole time, because plumes of smoke were trailing fluidly towards the expanse of clear sky above.

Kade looked up and focused her light blue orbs on the sun, which seemed to be creeping it's way east in a hurry. By her guess, there was an hour or so of daylight left before sunset, and the temperature would drop even more so when that occurred. As if her luck could get any worse...

Sights flickering back down to her belongings, the leather satchel bag was flopped open and her camera was brought out, inspected by still shaky digits running the course of the body. No cracks were caught or seen, nor did it rattle when she gave it a light shake near her ear. Of course, when it seemed to be in working order, the lens was directed to the currently burning train. Audible shutter snaps indicated how many photos she took, and within the span of several minutes, Kade must have taken at least a hundred shots. Padding in a half crouch, she moved closer and closer to get the images she wanted, stopping only when something popped nearby. practically leaping backwards, Kade landed in snow while whatever had exploded caused the fire within to engulf even more of the train.

Kade rose to her full height then and rummaged once more in her bag, placing the camera inside before continuing to peek around for her phone, though knew true disappointment when she found it shattered at the bottom of the bag. Cursing, she kicked the snow and stomped away towards the treeline in an agitated state, replacing her sorrow with visible irritation. Could nothing go right? Was there really nothing she could do about her situation? "I don't even know where I am!" She found herself yelling, her voice carrying a very noticeable South African accent to it, so even when angered, the words were properly enunciated.

"This is bullshit. This whole thing is fucking bullshit!" Stopping at the thinned border of trees, she leaned into one and wished for a cigarette and a clue where to go. If she headed west, there was towns she passed on the train, but she didn't know how far they were. It had occurred to her she could look for some sort of in house recorder on the train, but with the fire spreading at the rate it was, there was no doubt it was already too dangerous to poke around in the wreckage. "Home in no time... Fuck, what a time it will be if I have to walk from here to Nordvik. Fuck."

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

She was inspecting her things. Rau watched silently from his spot, observing as she checked to see if everything worked before she began to take photographs of the train. Rau's expression darkened a bit. She was a journalist, perhaps. Possibly not, but that was the worst case, and also one of the more likely. Journalists meant exposure, and exposure meant death. The camera would have to be destroyed, whether or not he chose to kill this woman. But she turned now, heading towards the treeline and off to Rau's left. His eyes followed her before he rose from the snow, trying to continue his pattern of quiet as he tailed her still, keeping low and steady as she got to the trees. Then she turned around and rested on it, and Rau froze.

He was out in the open, though he was still low, and if she wasn't paying much attention, it would be easy enough for him to be mistaken for a snow drift. Still, he couldn't bear to move now. Unless she brought up that camera, his best bet was to stay still and hope she didn't spot him.

His mind raced. He had a number of options from this exposed position. He could rush her and risk her having some kind of weapon. He could retreat quickly and hope she didn't get any kind of quality photograph. He could remain still until she inevitably lost her ability to keep her eyes in his direction. None of these options were particularly appetizing, but he decided he would take the one that required the least amount of hope from him. He steadied his gaze on her and fixed his joints, preparing himself to settle into this stance over a few minutes, just in case she didn't avert her gaze.

He was still ready in case she went for that camera. Weapon or not, photos of him would not be a thing he could live long with, and he would put a stop to them regardless of the damage it would cause him. Green eyes watched her hands. Waiting to see what would happen.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Kat - 11-10-2014

Raising her finger tips to her lips, they were moistened and cleaned of now dark blood, then used to wipe away the crusting from her eyelid. Likely, Kade looked like hell, with that gash down the side of her temple and a somewhat hobbled posture due to the injuries her midsection had sustained. Maybe she had grown accustomed to being in shock, but things were starting to clear up significantly. having expelled the negativity in her usual vocal fashion, the blonde listened closely to the distance. It was faint, but she could make out something moving through the snow drifts, like the shuffling of loose grass by the wind. Sights rose from her feet and narrowed, squinting at the massive figure closing the gap between their two bodies. Was that another survivor? She didn't dare move in her attempts to assess the situation, more comfortable taking a stab at just what she was looking at. Her mouth was agape, eyes widening at the foreign figure, who paused just as they made eye contact.

"A-are you alright?" Kade called out, but immediately regretted asking, as if seeing the flaw in her inquiry as it passed her parted lips. they hunkered down in the snow, large and imposing, but ultimately too far to make out in great detail. Of course she thought about getting pictures, but after the unfortunate event of the train derailing, it would be insensitive to just take a picture of a possible survivor. They were so large though - inhumanly large. One hand sneaked into her bag to touch her camera for comfort, while the other steadied her against the body of a tree. "Look, were you on the train? I-I'm a survivor of the wreck, you see, and I don't know if you are as well... But I need help. Uh, I-I need a way to contact a rescue team."

It was instinctual to back up, or so it seemed when Kade took a few steps away from the hulk. In any other setting, it may have been easily explained, but when she was alone in the frozen north with nothing but the clothes on her back and her camera, she was cautious. the creature was the size of a small car and had been sneaking up on her this whole time. The tracks behind it were proof enough, coming from the distance rather than the train itself. Kade wasn't stupid, but she wasn't sure what options had been allotted to an individual in her current predicament. "Look, I don't know what you want- I don't want trouble!" Panic was sinking in, coupled with a practiced flight reflex. She needed to run and quickly, so turning on heel towards the wooded distance, she made to escape.

Not that she could run fast in deep snow, especially with her torso feeling like she had taken several jabs from a heavy weight boxer. "Fuck." She hissed for the last time in desperate sprint, fully aware of what an awful day this was turning out to be.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

She was more observant than he had been willing to give her credit for, and as she turned and ran into the woods, Rau cursed under his breath in a language lost to time, starting his pursuit. His movement now was rapid and fluid, though she had a good headstart on him, and his size made things difficult for him once she was in the woods. His eyes were locked on her retreating figure as he lumbered after her, face a grim mask of certainty about what to do with her.

That camera was doomed, certainly. At the very least, its film was. The woman however, well, she may have been less so, though Rau was making up his mind about whether to simply kill her or keep her as some kind of prize. Still, a hunt was on at present, and his mind shifted back to the subject at hand as he maneuvered between trees, huge hands pulling him forward and around tree trunks as he tailed her, steadily gaining. He tried his best to keep her in his line of sight, though in the woods, that was a difficult task that he couldn't succeed at. Still, he did his level best as he worked to close the gap between them.

Now that he wasn't making any effort to keep himself quiet, the soft huffing of his breath and the sound of his feet pounding into the snow was clear through the silence of the woods, accompanied only by the sounds she made as she fled him. He considered speaking to her. Seeing if she was willing to listen to his words and give him a chance to catch her, but he decided that such a ploy would only work if she hadn't seen him already. At this point, it would just be an attempt at goading her into making an error in her footing. He didn't think he needed it, wounded as she was and being forced to run in the thick snow was enough of a handicap for her that Rau felt comfortable closing the gap without the use of treachery.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Kat - 11-10-2014

Was that her voice? That awful screaming?

Kade trudged along at a pace brought upon by nothing more than dread and remorse. She cursed her editor and her boyfriend and whatever damned desire she had personally harbored that brought her up this far north. Nothing about the job had been worth the effort, yet in her heart, there had been some longing for adventure. Time away from the grind - a release from her usual schedule. Yet, it never went as planned, did it? In Bosnia, freedom fighters had raided her camp. In Haiti, the earthquake had hit and devastated the local population. Now, in fuck-knew-where Siberia, she was being pursued by something monstrous. A Predator. Her throat was sore, stripped from screaming for help, as if there was assistance to be had; mentally, she knew there was no way to discern her scattered yelps from the rest of that adrenaline fueled spur. Whatever was following continued to lumber behind, just thick enough to scrape against bark and branches, cracking downed appendages and knocking free heavier snow collections from the canopies.

At least her body hadn't given out hope. At least she could still run and then-

THUD.

Practically crashing to her knees, the blonde gasped loudly and buckled onto all fours as a vast chasm of valley spread beneath the cliff face. It had to be at least a quarter of a mile drop, and below was nothing more than broken pieces of the earth ledge that had eroded over time. The thoughts following a near experience death streamed by, but faded quickly in favor of the more horrific facts. She was trapped. Prone in the snow, Kade looked back with tears welling in her sapphire hues like she was waiting at the chopping block. In some past life, she had accumulated a lot bad karma, and it caught up time after time. Massive foreign figure was closing the gap as she tried to get back onto her feet, shaky and feeble, panting visible vapor trails like a woman possessed. Looking back and forth between the behemoth and the near certain death of the drop, Kade found herself debating the benefits of just ending the struggle.

Right then and there, she could jump, and there would be nothing left to concern herself with. The dead dreamed peacefully.

"I-I-" Words didn't come this time, and without a way to plead for mercy, she was left shivering and alone. Settling her blurry sights on the creature, she waited like a hare, wishing for camouflage and stillness that would bore him. The chase was done, the prey was caught, so maybe the beast would leave her be?

Again, she asked for too much when she had nothing to work with.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

When Rau finally caught up, she was on the edge of the cliff, staring back at him like a deer that knew it was meeting an end. Eyes wide and mouth struggling to form words, she stared at him, took him in as he got close enough to see clearly. He stopped a few feet away, peering down at her with the green eyes he'd been given, and meeting her gaze when she chose to.

He was a large thing, as was readily apparent, and nude, which was also readily apparent. His member hung flaccid and forgotten between his legs. His body was hard, however, thick scar tissue plain to see covering nearly every visible inch of his body. Not a thing was free of obvious damage. He was a hairy creature, as well, his chest, arms, groin, and legs dusted in a pale white fuzz that captured snow and let it accumulate. His features were hard, though the grin that rested on his face seemed ominous enough, especially given the thick, square teeth that filled his mouth.

Slowly, one of his huge hands lifted, stretched toward her, then dipped, and found her bag. This was, after all, the subject of his chase, was it not? It was the camera that Rau feared. A weapon worthy to call his bane. As he picked up the bag containing the camera, his eyes returned to her, that grin still holding as he watched her warily.

"Do you die?"

His voice was as you would expect from a creature of his size. It was deep and aimless. It had a grumble to it, and despite the fact that he clearly did not smoke, it had just a hint of that gruffness one could often find in experienced smokers. But the question was, perhaps, an enigma all on its own, and while Rau clearly had an intention behind what the question had ended up as, he also clearly was rather uninterested in explaining himself. Instead, he chose to reach into the bag and pull out the camera.

As he examined the device, he kept some of his attention on his quarry, watching her with his peripheral vision as he poked and prodded gently at the camera, searching for the release for the film. However, his hands and his fingers were very large, and his quest wasn't going terrifically well. The button could have been small, or he simply wasn't noticing it, but for now, the way to open the camera and retrieve the film which endangered his life was unavailable to him.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Kat - 11-10-2014

Standing stiff as a board, Kade kept a sharp breath trapped in her chest and throat as the mysterious figure loomed her over. Assessing her with bright hues, it took little time to reach for the bag that sat discarded in the snow beside her. How badly she wanted to snatch it back and spit snark his way, but when faced with the unknown, Kade often clammed up. There was no shame in being afraid when left defenseless, and the beast before her was nude, intimidating, and now asking questions concerning death. This was a fucking trap if she ever saw one, but again, before shooting venomous answers out without a care for safety, the woman blinked away her tears and tried to sound reasonable. Out of habit, a sleeved arm rose and wiped away the warm saline, replacing the streaks with a reminder of the cold.

"I-I hadn't... I was planning to." At least not today, of all days, after surviving the train wreck that continued to burn in the distance. Even with a thinned forest between the wreckage and their meeting, the smoke was plainly visible. "I really don't w-want to."

Massive fingers were wrapped around her camera, and she watched with the curiosity of a prisoner watching their own lethal injection. His words were the needle, and rather than fight back, she remained motionless. The game was over and the rules were changing once more. What did he want with her camera? She hadn't taken any photos of the scar ridden male, and if he wanted the camera itself, he was more than welcome to take it and be on his way. "Look, if it's the camera, you can have it. I promise I won't tell anyone about this, uh... This meeting? Eh?" Forcing a friendly smile, it hurt to try and play cool under current circumstances, but Kade did what was expected. For all she knew, there was a bargain somewhere in this line of questioning.

Yet she felt small in his presence. One didn't wish to be hovered over by such a monstrosity, and she knew how vulnerable their current position left her. If she were to shy away, she would be stumbling backwards into the chasm below, but standing still meant she could smell his stench, which wafted in an overwhelming manner with the draft. His size meant his warmth spread, and even through the layers of her bulky pseudo arctic wear, it was invading her personal space. Even his glances were invasive, because even if he meant her no harm, his sex was exposed and presented to her. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to avert her gaze from the flaccid piece, and keep them firmly planted on his face.

"No one has to know anything. I just want to forget about all this, alright?"


Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

As she spoke, Rau listened, his attention still mostly settled on the camera. When she offered it to him, his eyes moved back to her face for a moment, then drifted back to the device as he continued to fidget with it. But she was still talking, likely nervous in his presence. It wasn't unusual. Though he was a recluse, on occasion he had dealt with the little men and women who lived here and there. They were called crazy now, and occasionally returned to his area to try and kill him with whatever weapons they could come up with. Still, that she had enough will to speak in her defense was rather pleasing, and after a long moment, the colossus offered her the camera back, his hand extending with the technology resting in its palm.

"Yes. Come."

And with that simple command, he turned, and started to trundle away, moving slowly, and after a few steps, turning to look over his shoulder at her, his grin returning and the nearer eye wrinkling at its corner. He had a few thoughts, but most important was to ensure her safety. He was a hunter, not a murderer, after all, and she was an injured innocent in an inhospitable place. The least he could offer her in exchange for her silence about him was a warm meal, and a chance to recover from her wounds.

His lair, after all, was not terribly distant, and it wouldn't be a hard walk, though if he noticed her falter as she had earlier, assisting her wasn't a thought he pushed from his mind. He was much larger than her, after all, and helping her wouldn't bring him any harm. Especially not now that he saw she lacked the strength to give him any kind of a fight.

So the jotun led the way toward his lair, his scent pungent, but not entirely unfamiliar. He smelled like a man unwashed, though perhaps with more of the lingering hint of cooked meat. He smelled of sweat, blood, and salt, and it was, perhaps, to be expected of such a creature. After all, how could one possibly expect him to uphold the standards of men when he could hardly purchase a bar of soap, much less shampoo and deodorant.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Kat - 11-10-2014

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I accept from Your hands whatever kind of death
it may please You to send me this day (though almost night)
with all its pains, penalties and sorrows;
in reparation for all of my sins,
for the souls in Purgatory,
for all those who will die today
and for Your greater glory.

Amen.
But the moment didn't come. Instead, what came was the return of her camera, intact despite it now sporting massive print smudges on the lens. Hesitant to take the object, she did so only when he spoke, and the words were processed slowly while she hugged her repossessed belonging. Come with him? Where on earth were they going to go? What sort of sick and twisted plot was unfolding? if anyone heard this story, they would likely think she was shaken from the crash, and in the back of her mind, Kade knew this could very well be a hallucination brought upon by the shock of her afternoon. Still, what was she going to do besides agree and follow in his deep steps? So along she followed, with the pain of her injuries returned as dull throbbing in her lower torso. If she had suffered a concussion, it wasn't slowing her down any more than the weather or the other traumas, so she didn't focus on the gash.

"Where are we going?" Kade asked weakly as they moved, afraid to be too forceful with her inquiries, but ultimately unable to stop from at least trying. Darkness had begun to creep through the woods they backtracked through, shading her worried features to mask whatever discomfort this journey may have caused. "I mean, you wouldn't happen to have a phone?" If, and only if, this man had a means to communicate with the outside world, she would forgive the fact he was running wild through the wilderness with no clothing on. Tucking her camera back into her bag, she didn't dare take a picture, even though he was quite the sight to behold. All sinew and ravaged flesh, hodge podged together like a tapestry of personal history. How did someone get into so many fights? Where did all those injuries come from?

Having been unaware of how far she had run previously, the trek back through the trees was a long and uncomfortable one. If it wasn't the pain walking caused, it was the questions bouncing around her head concerning her guide. His size, his demeanor, and his attitude towards her... None of it was registering as comparable to her previous encounters. Kade had met large men and women, and she had met nude natives in her time working for The National, but she had never met something quite like the figure guiding their footsteps. Would that mean she had found something no one else knew about? With a misstep, Kade hissed audibly and cradled her side, her head hanging forward to keep the pain private. A socialized way of lessening the concerns of others. Kade was a creature of habit, raised in a world of system and structure. Even as her insides seemed to beg her to stop, she trudged wearily in pursuit like a well trained dog.

The fear of death had that sort of effect on a person.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

As they walked, Rau thought about what to do. He didn't feel exceptionally good about killing her, and while he planned to take her film to keep her from photographing him, everything else was basically open. She was trailing behind him, and when she stumbled and took a moment to recover, he stopped and turned around to face her, eyes resting on where her foot would have been had it been visible through the snow.

"No phone. Food."

But she was still struggling to walk it seemed, and so Raun turned and approached her, then hoisted her up to sit on his shoulder, one hand resting on her leg to keep her secure as he carried her along. It wasn't much longer to his lair, and when they arrived, he set her down on the ground near the pile of moss and leaves and grass that served as his bedding before striking up a fire in a pit nearby. With this done, he sat down opposite her, the fire between them, and turned to pull some venison from a spot behind him, setting it over the fire and holding it steady as it started to cook.

His little home was what you would probably expect. It was messy and there wasn't much in the way of decoration. It was a small, inset, little cavern with a sturdy roof and only the barest of amenities. It smelled of him. The pile of leaves and flora was compressed ferociously, and it seemed he was constantly adding new plant matter to it to keep it soft and comfortable. Behind him was a thick patch of ice, on which several large hunks of meat rested. Some still had gore attached, and were obviously game animals, but most of it was simply meat prepared for cooking, though how he managed to carve it was a mystery, given his apparent lack of tools in the little cave.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - Kat - 11-10-2014

Kade winced when she was turned on, fearing he would strike her where she stood, but again there was no blow. Eying the giant suspiciously, she straightened and frowned, with visible disappointment plastering her delicate features. "Oh. So you do live nearby?" Before there was time to acclimate herself once more, she was being swept in his arms and hoisted onto his shoulder, where the awkwardness increased ten-fold. Now her legs were pressed together as she bobbed atop her perch, not daring ask any more questions. Comical imagery of a caveman dragging home his pick of women seemed to play on loop for the rest of the trip, though this was a frightening analogy, as she didn't wish to be claimed. Especially not by a nude heathen in the middle of the tundra. Her silence was met with his, and the two formed an agreement that no more words needed to be shared for the time being.

His 'home' was little more than cave of sorts, with adornments she would expect from something fantastical and mythical. He lived as she imaged, and in all honesty, that didn't trouble her so much as the sight of hanging carcasses did. As she had with his manhood, Kade made efforts not to stare at the decor, and remained compliant on the bedding of flora while he prepared their meal. idly, she rubbed her upper arm on one side where the nicotine patch was, wishing she had settled on a higher dose. Her plans had included reaching her destination and picking up a pack of cigarettes if the need became too great, but as far as plans were, there was a change. In their shared quiet, she could once more fall back on cursing every factor that had drawn her to this job. Every minute detail was thoroughly examined and picked apart, shredded for padding for the endless list of reasons why she should have said no.

Unfortunately, Kade had never been one to say no to this sort of opportunity. A chance to capture images of the underground dog fighting rings in Nordvik, and a big fat bonus if she could get shots of the wildlife? What was there to dislike about that? Still, had she listening to that little voice in the back of her head that begged her not to go, she would be warm and cozy in her bed, with 400 count Egyptian cotton sheets. Staring blankly at the meat on the spit, Kade didn't know whether to laugh or cry over this strange turn of events. He didn't seem willing to share any thoughts with her if he was capable of them, and she felt asking was taxing on the peace.

"Why am I here?" The buxom blonde asked finally, her knees drawn slowly to her chest to further hide her figure.

Wrecked [The Monstrous & Kat] - bear - 11-10-2014

As he slowly rotated the meat over the fire, she spoke again. Though she hadn't spoken as much since he'd picked her up, he certainly understood her reticence, and the need to ask the question, so he looked up at her, relying on his sense of smell to tell when to remove the meat. His eyes settled easily on hers and he watched her easily for a single, long moment before he finally spoke again.

"You're injured. Need to rest and recover."

It seemed simple enough to him. His obligation to her was simple in his mind. She had given her word not to expose him, and although he would steal her film nevertheless, he appreciated the sentiment she put forward. He would honor it with his hospitality, as unwanted as it may be, it was a necessary evil, as she would die out in the cold if she didn't get a chance to recover. News of disasters like the train wreck traveled slowly in these frozen wastes, and it would be days before anyone even thought to check on the train's arrival. Days before they saw it was missing. And depending on who was on board, it could be weeks before anyone took action to recover the wreckage. She needed him right now, like it or not, and Rau intended to see her through.

Not in that way, of course. Her body language spoke volumes, and Rau became more aware of his nudity at her clear discomfort. He shifted his legs from the loose position they were in, one extended, the other tucked beneath his testicles, and instead folded them in front of him, hiding the things she was least likely to be comfortable having a clear view of. There wasn't much he could do, of course. He used most of his leather for other things, but it did strike him that some kind of covering cloth could be handy, despite the lack of need. Still, it brought to mind an uncomfortable thought that could be running through her mind, and he intended to make it clear that he was not the kind of creature to take her forcefully.

"You can relax. Not a savage."

A small smirk graced his face, then his eyes returned to the meat as he continued to cook it. He had no expectations that such a singular statement would hold much weight, but there was still a hope that it might be a small comfort. The meat was just about done, and he removed it from the fire, pinching a selection of it and pulling it free of the bone with three fingers before offering the rest of it to her. In truth, he'd pried loose most of the meat, but he was much larger, and given the size of the meat haunch he had cooked, what he was offering was probably quite more than enough.

It may have been unusual, but his word choice and the way he spoke suggested, perhaps, more a thoughtful quietude. That he wasn't reluctant to speak for any reason than his own desire to be clear, and his difficulty grasping the use of language to communicate. Or perhaps just the length of time before he had last spoken. In any case, the more he spoke to her, the more it seemed he grew accustomed to the taste of language, and the more willing he was to speak simply.