From the Shadows

Ruby's paws were already hog tied. She wriggled and struggled against the rope, not able to bite for the muzzle around her snout but she could yip showing her distress.

Mathias did the rolling trick again and caught one of them under his weight and crushed him. That left three but they seemed to think better of the fight and ran off into the tree's. Mathias quickly rolled back to his feet and went to Ruby, pulling at the ropes with his teeth. With the arrow still lodge in him he couldn't shift forms
 
Haala cursed under her breath as she watched the three Fath escape into the trees. She looked to Mathias and then to the trees again. Part of her wanted to run after and kill the nasty bastards, but who knew whether there were more of them waiting further in the forest, perhaps reinforcement. Hurriedly putting away her bow, she ran over to the wolf and his cub, getting down on her knees to pull the projectile out of Mathias.​
"You sure like getting poked by sharp things," she muttered to him humorlessly as she tossed it aside. Once that was done, she pulled her dagger from under her belt and sawed away at the ropes tying Ruby's legs. "There you go, little one. Up, we need to get out of here."​
 
"Wasn't exactly the plan" Mathias replied, grimacing when she pulled the arrow out though did not otherwise react to the pain, his focus on Ruby.

The pup shifted forms as soon as she could and hugged her father around the neck crying and shaking.

Mathias shifted to his human form as well and held her "shh I've got you" he picked her up as he stood, favoring his right leg.

"Our den isn't far. You're welcome to join us until the threat passes" they will probably sweep the entire area and move further North"
 
"That's what they all say," Haala replied in response to Mathias' first comment. Seeing him in his human form once more, she could see he was probably a though and resilient man, and the injury to his leg should heal up just fine if he made sure to take care of it.​
She paused at the offer, unsure of whether to accept. It wasn't as if she didn't trust him; she wouldn't have busted her behind if she thought he was going to sell her out. What worried her was whether his den was actually safe of not.​
After a little hesitation she finally nodded. "Fine," she replied. "But just til the coast clears. I need to return to my den. It's not safe here any longer... I'm going to have to collect my things and figure out what to do next."​
 
Mathias nodded "the least I can offer you is shelter until the storm passes and the coast is clear" he could smell it in the air. It was going to be a long hard winter for all of them.

Mathias started leading the way, Ruby in his arms and a bit of a limp but he seemed to be managing it just fine.
 
Haala followed after the pair, though she wasn't too pleased. The game she had caught was ruined, the village she'd wanted to trade with attacked, and goodness knew what was going to happen next. It was all well and good if she was safe and sound... but she felt guilty for the others, those who were less fortunate. Not all humans were miserable miscreants- the villagers weren't. Sure, they didn't know what she truly was, but she certainly knew they were sympathetic to the king's enemies.​
Obviously that hadn't been on the downlow though.
She let out an unsatisfied sigh before shifting to her cat form, ears up and at the alert for any more attacks.​

@KJDarKnight
 
It didn't take all that long to get back to their hidy whole in the woods. He set Ruby down so she could climb down into the hole hidden in bushes.

"It's not much but it's home" he said, letting the cat go ahead while he gathered up some branches and things to cover the entrance to their den
 
Haala was cautious as she entered, and it was clear to see. She didn't particularly like to enter others places of rest, and especially someone she didn't know for more than a few moments. However, it wasn't like she had a choice, and the werewolf was being kind enough to share his family's dwelling with her.​
"It's fine," she replied as she slunk in. A quick glance showed it was larger than her den, but not by much. "Hopefully it won't be long before they leave..." She sat down next to the den wall, seeming tense. "All those people... it seems wrong to leave them at the hands of those monsters." The bitterness in her voice, even in their minds, was clear to hear.​

@KJDarKnight
 
Mathias covered the entry as he came inside, glancing over at her.

"I wish there was more I could do for them...." he glanced at Ruby, he had a responsibility to take care of her. She came first.

He moved to one side of the den where he had built shelves into the wall. "Here I've got some jerky. Nothing fresh I'm afraid." He changed the subject as he pulled out some for each of them.

Ruby eagerly took hers as it was handed to her
 
"I understand," Haala replied. She couldn't expect a man with a child to head out after others. He had a responsibility to his daughter and being led away from that would be wrong. She on the other hand had no such obligations. People said vengeance was not something to pursue in life, but after having lost yet another sanctuary to the mad king, the werecat had reached her limit.​

She kept her thoughts quiet though. Shifting back to her humanoid form, she took the offered jerky with a grateful nod. "Thank you," she intoned. "We can't be picky, food's hard enough to come by."​

@KJDarKnight
 
Mathias nodded "that's the truth" he agreed and offered a small smile. This was just a tough situation all around.

Sitting down he focused on patching up his leg. Adrenaline had helped him keep moving but now that he was at rest the pain was setting in.

"Is the kitty lady gonna come wif us?" Ruby asked, her eyes glued on Haala
 
Haala looked from Ruby to Mathias, unsure what the pup was talking about. Before she asked about it though, she neared the tall man in order to help him out with bandaging his leg. She didn't have her medicine satchel on her person, but she did have a small pouch with a few terrible tasting herbal pills that were made for pain killing."

"Here, take one," she offered once she pulled a round, brownish green ball from her pouch. "Should help though it tastes like sh*t. Also... what's Ruby talking about?"​
 
Mathias nodded his thanks for her help. It was never so easy to bandage yourself up. This was the second time already she had helped him with that. At least this wasn't as bad, it would heal within a day probably, as long as he kept it clean and didn't use it too much which would be difficult given the circumstance.

"Ah.... she's unfortunately learned that events like this means moving to a mew location" he glanced at Ruby then "that's entirely up to our new friend, but she is welcome" he said, as he did so, he looked back at Haala "its going to be a rough winter, tough to weather alone in these times"
 
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Haala nodded, feeling rather solemn as she looked down at the young child. It wasn't fair that she had to live the years when she should be playing and discovering new things as a runaway from any home she became used to. Mathias was right as well; winter would be hard enough with others, leave alone others.​
"Where will you be heading?" she finally asked. "Perhaps I will join, depending on the location."​
 
Marhias nodded, glad she would at least consider the option. Having an extra set of hands around would be ideal, especially with Ruby. He didn't like leaving her alone when he had to hunt.

"Want to tell her Ruby?" Mathias asked with a small smile towards the little girl.

"Far to the north!" She said "in the big mountains" she dug into her pocket and pulled out a small paper that was in fact, a map that she revealed as she unfolded the worn paper. "Daddy has a hidden house there, safe" she said proudly.

Mathias grinned "thats right. The mountains, they are dangerous in the winter which makes it safe for people like us. They won't expect anyone to be living there"
 
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"The North," Haala repeated under her breath. Despite being a long haired cat, her clan had always been from warmer areas, which was clear from her skin tone. However... what choice did she have at the moment?

She smiled slightly at Ruby before looking to Mathias, nodding slightly. "I understand, and yes, it's true." Still, her heart ached at leaving for reasons known only to her. She opened her mouth to speak but fell silent, eyes shifting to Ruby. She didn't want to speak of dark things with the child paying attention to their words.

"Just the winter," she finally agreed. "Perhaps less if the weather eases. I have... stakes in that village... I need to know where the people have been taken."​

@KJDarKnight
 
Ruby grinned at her response "we will have lots of fun! We can play games! More fun with more players!" She said happily. Innocently unaware of exactly how grim all of this truly was. Sure she couldn't be a kid and play outside and it was yard to have friends and she lived fearful of others but there was still innocence there that couldn't be taken, thank the gods.

Mathias smiled "off to bed with you now Rub" he said softly.

Ruby nodded and climbed back up into her makeshift bed, burrowing under the skins that served as blankets.

"Let me get you set up" Mathias pulled himself back up and opened up a chest set against the wall. There were skins made into blankets folded inside "you can uh, use my bed" he nodded to another corner, the beds of course were straw covered by a layer of pelts
 
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"Thanks," Haala replied with a nod, suddenly feeling tired, though it was more mentally than physically. She let out a sigh before shaking her head. "Wait, what about yourself?" He was the one who was injured. "I can always shift to my other form- probably stay warmer that way."​
She then nodded towards his wound. "Besides, you need to take care of yourself. And be more careful, you can't keep getting yourself injured with a little girl!" Frowning a little, she was about to scold him some more but then relented. "Sorry." She shook her head, feeling a little guilty at her outburst. "I had a kid too, once. Because of my carelessness, I lost her."​
 
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Mathias shook his head and smiled a little "Wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to let you sleep on the floor now would it" he pointed out "besides. I would feel better sleeping by the entrance anyways" he added nearly laughing a little at her comment. He did have a bad habit of getting injured didn't he?

The smile faltered though when she mentioned her daughter "I'm sorry" he said softly "the wod is a difficult place to survive these days" he sighed "rest assured. Sleeping by the door will not effect my recovery. I'll be fine"
 
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"Gentleman?" Haala couldn't help but give him a small smirk. "And here I was thinking the world had lost that sort of gallantry. Heavens knows I'm not one to sweeten my words." She appreciated the sympathy- the only reason she hadn't told him was because there was no need for pity, but she could see in his eyes there was none of that.

"Very well then," she replied with a nod. "If you insist, then I'm not going to say no to a comfortable rest." Having said that, she headed over to the furs and settled down.

"You know," she said after a moment. "I don't want the world to remain like this."​