Some time had passed since his venture through the haunted house. More time than he'd care to admit, actually. Mikko wasn't easily shaken these days except by certain...unmentionable things, but something about that house had rubbed him the wrong way. The wooden figures, the strings from which they hung, the interchangeable limbs strewn about the floor....He couldn't help seeing himself in all their fragility and crazed helplessness, and it seemed they'd sensed that it him too. He had new marks to prove it. But it wasn't his bent tail that had made him withdraw into himself, no; it was the image of rot that had burned into his memory, that of the puppets that reminded him of what his life had once been. And still possibly was.

Of course, he was still grateful for Shiba--and Recluse--and the guilt he felt over his elusiveness was very real and present. Yet, he felt paralyzed, stuck between new obligations and old fears that had risen back to the surface, and all he'd known to do for a time was...well, be stuck. Mikko was aware that this was likely to come back and bite him, perhaps literally, as he padded over rock and ash, but so was he prepared to take his punishment. At least he'd stuck around overall, and at least he was walking toward--not away--from his new keepers.

His steps were heavy, each one causing ripples through his plush but broken winter coat. For now, it seemed, he'd managed to shake the bird that had been lurking in his presence since his time in the house. Mikko had glimpsed the hawk in the skies every now and again--circling, waiting perhaps for him to drop--and was pleased to be rid of it at least for the time being. He had other, more pressing things to worry about right now...like Shiba, and whether he'd earned the loss of his other eye.

""

table by Lowin art by kolokolchek

SHIBA KLEIN

Shiba sat on a rocky ledge, the sound of heavy pawsteps catching her attention. She wasn’t sure if he knew that he happened to be heading in her direction, or if he had still intended to evade her, but she made no move to alert him of her presence nor did she try to hide it. Instead she waited until he was close enough that she knew he would be able to hear her, keeping her head turned away, focusing on the distant skyline. "I was starting to think you’d decided to forsake your promise to pay your debt." Her ear flicked once, annoyance keeping her tone clipped. She’d had quite a bit of patience with him, had given every once of her energy into keeping him alive, yet no sooner had they arrived in Habari he had vanished.

"I was nearly skinned alive trying to save my nephew from a bear, would have been a good chance for you to return the favor I did for you. Too bad you weren’t here to put this whole thing behind us." Even if he had arrived, it was unlikely that Shiba would have released him so easily. Not with how much she had done for him, he would have to do a lot more than scare off a bear, especially when it had seemed to not have any real interest in harming her once her brother arrived. Her statement was on the dramatic side, but Mikko wouldn’t know that.

"Speech."

Her scent was there. Mikko knew exactly where he was going and what he was doing, but that didn't stop his chest from sinking as he spotted her there upon the ledge. This was always how things went. Even his best intentions seemed to fall through, and now he wondered if he'd just made the most heinous of mistakes by betraying her, a healer whom had sacrificed time with her family for a then dying heap in the middle of the woods, possibly the last one in whom he could ever hope to instill some level of hope or trust.

But then...he'd warned her. Mikko had tried to shoo her off, but it had been in vain. He'd warned her of the risks she was taking, but she'd persisted. And now here they were. She'd known what she was getting into.

No. Shiba didn't deserve that. Mikko shook the bitter thoughts from his head with a wrinkle of his maw as he finally stopped before the silver woman. She wasted no time with him, her voice a whip in the air as her words sent his head sinking a little in begrudging defeat. Apparently, during his absence, she'd gotten herself into her own kind of predicament...which, however convenient it was to have happened in time for her to use it against him now, was still many times more believable than his own excuse for not being present, even if it had his ears perking with curiosity. He could somehow grow to believe she'd survived an encounter with a bear, sure. But how would he even begin to divulge his experience in the house?

It wasn't like showing off his new tail would be good enough. Not after the mess she'd had to clean out of his eye socket.

He inhaled deeply, slowly, before letting it all back out in one swift, resigned breath. "A missed opportunity indeed," he rumbled. "You look like you handled yourself well. I'm...sorry I wasn't there." A genuine albeit awkward, puzzled apology, spoken from nearly uncooperative lips. Seeing her now, would fighting off a bear even have been worth it? Or would it have just been a favor wasted? It seemed his debt would be better utilized in other ways. She'd made it clear that she could hold her own. He thought a little longer on his next words before setting them free.

"I can explain myself if you want, but if I told you about a place full of spirits and wooden figures that wanted me dead, you'd probably think either one of us has gone mad." If she was going to go the blunt route, then he supposed his own alibi was probably better out than in as well. He regarded her carefully, trying to gauge her reaction as he waited for her to process the tidbit he'd offered.

""

table by Lowin art by kolokolchek

SHIBA KLEIN

He began to speak, but the apologetic tone in his voice agitated her as he offered to explain, claiming the story was wildly unbelievable. Her tail lashed, in her eyes, it didn’t matter how believable the story was, his absence to her was a betrayal, and him being back here now seemed to anger her more than she had been when she hadn’t known where he was. It was hypocritical, of course, given her flaky track record, but that had just made the disappearance all the more upsetting. She knew how easy it was to vanish, and how easy it was to simply not return. He had returned though, and perhaps deserved some credit for that, but she was stubborn, and had decided to be angry already.

"Did those spirits and puppets tie you up and prevent you from returning? Big, tough guy like yourself?" Her voice was bitter, as she thought about all she had given up to spent the last year pulling him back from death's door. Her ambitions had been mostly selfish. First wanting a distraction, something that was challenging but familiar to help her get her bearings when she realized her life would never return to the way it used to be, but she had also known he could prove to be useful to her. Still, she felt like she needed his debt to be paid. If he left without giving her something in return, she had no real justification for her absence. Her time would have been truly wasted, and already she felt how flimsy her excuses were. She couldn’t handle the idea that she might lose that, too.

"Speech."

His eye flitted down to her tail as it lashed in a near instant show of annoyance; his brow rose, and inwardly, Mikko braced himself for the possibility of adding another tally to his list of failed wolves. Several more, even. Was he about to lose his place again? Stripped of the already flimsy rank given to him by Shiba's niece out of his obligation to the silver healer? Hells, perhaps it had already been taken from him; perhaps it was only Shiba's presence preventing another from naming him a trespasser and dragging him into a den. Or perhaps they'd made him Shiba's to claim. Regardless of what was about to happen, he expected it not to be good, but the glutton he was, he was prepared to embrace whatever punishment came his way.

Over time, words had come to sting more than any wound upon his hide ever could, and with Shiba's back to him, he allowed himself to flinch, his jaw to clench, as his gaze drifted away and to the side. He almost would have preferred that they'd done what she described. "Nearly...but no." He blinked and turned to look at her again. Well, her back. Lungs filled with and released a heavy sigh, then, as he took a few steps forward to plop down at another point on the ledge. "They went right for my head." Not nearly as good of an excuse--or as impressive of a story--but honesty was easier on his tired mind than the effort that went into maintaining a wall.

"But if not for your skill, it probably would've been someone else digging through my rotten corpse"--he lacked the energy for unprompted explanations, but if she questioned it, he'd elaborate--"so consider my debt to you doubled."

""

table by Lowin art by kolokolchek

SHIBA KLEIN

He admitted that he hadn’t been captured, going on to give other excuses instead, without actually explaining what exactly had kept him away for so long. She was unimpressed. She couldn’t be sure if his attempt at flattery was genuine or just a way to soothe any bad feelings that had cropped up between them, but either way it did little to calm Shiba’s irritation with him. Even if she had found his rotting corpse, with the mood she was in, she would have still blamed him.

"You already owe me your life. What more could you possibly offer?" There seemed to be little use in doubling his debt when Shiba couldn’t imagine what she could possibly gain from it. She still wasn’t even sure what she wanted from him now, what could possibly make up for all the time she’d lost tending to him. Even if it had been her choice to stay with him until he was well enough to travel, she would never admit that it was her fault. Unfair or not, she had grown to resent the time she’d spent tending to him. After seeing how much everyone else had accomplished in their lives, her siblings' children beginning to rise up and take over the family legacy while she had faded away into obscurity. She felt like an outsider among them still, and had no one to fall back on for support. She hadn’t wanted incredible power, or to have her name known far and wide, but she had wanted to at least be significant to someone. A lover, a child, a friend. But all she had was Mikko, a man who only stayed because he had to.

"Speech."