He was... angry. It wasn't an emotion he felt often. Shame, embarrassment, worry - they were all familiar friends - but for once he was so shamed and so embarrassed that it had turned to prickly, uncomfortable anger. How could he return home after venturing to the continent with no news, no answers, no prey? A few stories of his failures during his time away and nothing else to show for it. Katsu couldn't. He wouldn't. He had to do something impressive or noteworthy before he went home or he'd never sleep a night again in his life.
The fiery-maned wolf stalked back and forth across the deck of the ship. He had decided to lay low here for a moment and get his bearings after the failed hunts, both so close to completion, foiled at the last minute by some strange, unpredictable intervention. Both animals, seemingly so close to death, had been suffused with a preternatural strength and escaped at the last moment. Strange, strange, strange. His mind raced as he stood at the prow of the vessel.
That was when he felt the ground begin to move.
Kat grunted and braced himself, leaning against the wall of the ship as it rocked beneath him like it was sailing a rough sea once more. Ice creaked, groaned, and shattered. Dirt and dust erupted from the earth and showered his already blood-soaked fur with grit. He was covered in the viscera of two hunts and now coated in grime, cutting a ghastly figure against the tundra. Once the earth had ceased its rocking, he shook himself off and descended the deck towards the ground on wobbling legs. What he saw when he hit the tundra elicited a soft noise: of shock, of interest, of fear. His eyes widened at the tunnel exposed beneath the hull of the ship, a strange and alluring sound emitting from its depths. Perhaps this was a story he could bring home.
Glancing around for company and finding none yet - but surely more would come, tempted by the eerie phenomena rocking the land - he approached the cave mouth. He tested the ground for firmness as he went and found it to hold steady. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Katsu entered the frigid cave mouth, each further exhale misting in front of his face. Keep your wits about you. This is the story you will tell when you return home.
"speech"
