he was hesitant. rightly so. how long had it been since he had stepped paw in a functioning society? or even attempted to become apart of one? it felt like decades... perhaps it was. years began to blend into the other after the first few decades of living. especially so long after life expectancy.

mikolaj could laugh at that. life expectancy. what a fucking joke. if only he had one anymore.

it was part of the recent he had contemplated coming back to society. he was getting more frivolous with his feeding times. mikolaj could feel himself slipping with control. he had begun targeting the weak and vulnerable, something he never would have considered a few years ago. he still couldn't shake off his last meal. they had traveled for a couple months before she completely trusted him... and he drank from her. for several moments he went back and forth with bringing her back as one of his own, but stopped himself. the last attempt had gone terribly wrong... he would just have to put her out of her misery afterward.

living among citizens would hopefully curb this forming habit. maybe if he were surrounded by more. ones that could make him think twice. chase him off if he did succeed... it was partially thought through at least.

there was talk of some growing city surrounded by marsh nearby from some villages on the outskirts. mikolaj hadn't stayed with them for more than a few days before traveling further on, following the vague directions given. eventually he came upon what looked to be this tanglewood home. the shepherd carefully waded through the swamps, sticking close to the curled roots of redwoods that lined the area.

he wondered how much farther was left until he would run into something more stable. the ground constantly gave way beneath his paws creating some suction-like force around his ankles. every step was followed with a sharp jerk of the leg to keep him from sinking in. it was frustrating to say the least, but at least he knew that there was some form f protection that would make one's blood boil before coming to land. he was also acutely aware of the traps set underneath the water and muck- clever.

at last he reached a dense forest area. thicker tree's and higher ground. thank god. mikolaj decided this would be the best time to pause, leaning against a mossy stump and resting his chin over it. he closed his eyes for a moment, his ears still perked and legs tensed to react if someone was unfortunate enough to think he was vulnerable.



"SPEECH"

Was that another dog?

Sam frowned as she saw him crest the hill from her perch in the tree, a cigarette gripped between her lips. She had escaped from town just for solace. It seemed when she walked down a street someone or another would try to catch her attention. She wasn't quite sure she was ready for that yet, so she had picked a tree and climbed up it, smoking just in her idle time. She swallowed, before huffing, putting the cigarette out on the branch and making sure it wasn't going to start a fire before jumping down.

Her paws hit the leafy ground carefully, crouching to see if the 'intruder' was hostile. Her nose twitched as she stood straight, stretching out her body and approaching slowly. This time not out of caution, but pure laziness. She called ahead, making sure the dog wouldn't, yknow, bite her head off. "You alive over there?" Licking her lips, and giving a short cough, she sat down nearby, the doe-cat's eyes resting on the figure resting against the stump. Not only did he smell foreign, but he smelled of the swamp. Ew.

"SPEECH"

Oi, been awhile since some more unfortunate traveler came marching their happy ass over to the wastes, this made two now if she was correct. Didn't make much of a difference to her at this point, she was so out of the loop these days anyway.

While Sam took the smart route and assessed the potential danger of the canine laid out before them both, Arrow lazily stepped up nearby her and rolled her shoulders back. It wasn't that Arrow wasn't afraid of the intruder or anything, she just didn't like to appear afraid and was too absent minded to be cautious. She was surprised she wasn't dead yet.

She let silence fall over her, not feeling the need to say anything right now. Sam beat her to it, after all.

the smell of cigarette smoke was enough to clear sam from a mile away. literally. the shepherds nose twitched and scrunched at the smell in distaste. a single eye opened, seeing the hybrid creature approach him and his stump. there was a moments pause as he waited for her to come closer, assessing her position. she seemed curious at most: nonthreatening. perhaps her scent was more inclined to cause damage to others.

at her inquiry mikolaj would shift his weight, lifting his head up from the stumps surface to sit at full height. he gave a minor grunt in response to sam. he wouldn't consider himself alive exactly... more like a walking purgatory.

their gaze shifted to arrow, a brow raised in question as she said nothing.

"here for tanglewood." mikolaj grumbled, his accent thick but english clear.

"SPEECH"

Sam's eyes flicked to Arrow as she stepped up beside her. Wow, another cat. What an amazing sight. She gruffly huffed and twitched her tail as she looked towards Mikolaj again. If she had heard his thoughts on what he said about her scent, she might've laughed and agreed. Might've. Her eyes scanned his figure as he shifted, sitting up. Her ears twitched as she waited for his response.

Considering his gaze, she considered him alive enough, then nodded as he spoke. Not even a consideration to what she said. That was nice. "Great, you found it. Town's back that way-" She jerked her head in it's direction- "and, your name? I'm Sam. This is.. whoever she is." She said, realizing she had little clue who Arrow actually was. Nice.

"SPEECH"

thank god, something straight forward and to the point now. the hulking shepherd had already begun to rise to his paws completely, setting for the direction she provided before pausing. they wanted his name... should he tell the truth? alias' always made him itchy after a while... made him want to leave. he would have to start change now, he supposed. what's the worst that could happen? his records were burnt in those facilities long ago.

"m... mikolaj." he rasped in response, then continued to walk away.

"SPEECH"