Crack! Thinking fast, Odysseus tucked tail and skittered forward several steps, and just in time too, as Olafur landed in a heap on the ground behind him, a skinny branch still clutched in the fist of one hand and another gripped by the toes of one foot. The giant turned an unsympathetic - this was not the first time this happened - gaze on his friend and quirked an eyebrow. Olafur, his expression baleful, stared back. "Damn trees," he said grumpily. He couldn't help it - Odysseus snorted and then rumbled a low laugh. "Right, because it's the trees' fault that you've got a fat ass." Nonchalantly the brute began to assess his friend's well being. Clearly the monkey was well enough for quips, so he couldn't be too bad off. Ah, who was he kidding? This was Olafur. If the fall had injured him he'd have made it perfectly clear. Olafur grumped to himself for a second, chattering something too fast and monkeyish for his friend's ears, then parted with the words, "If you'd let me ride I wouldn't have to worry about my fat ass." Pointedly Odysseus responded, "If you walked more you wouldn't have a fat ass." After a beat, he caved and offered, "You can ride for a bit, but up on my shoulders this time. If you keep sitting on the middle I'm going to start looking like one of those ancient horses we saw in that God's Garden, or whatever it's called." Picking himself up, Olafur finally released the iron grip he'd had on his branches and, after checking himself over, flung himself up onto Odysseus's back. He then stepped up onto his friend's shoulders. After realizing he could see over Ody's head if he stood up straight, Olafur said casually, "If I sit up real high I bet I can hold your ears and lead you around." "If you touch my ears," Odysseus warned in a low voice, "I'm flinging you into that river down there." "ODYSSEUS" / "OLAFUR"

Ow….ow…. ow…. Skælingr flinched and paused mid stride from another throb of pain from the deep scratches down the right side of his face from a fight with a fellow tiger. He'd been lucky his right eye had been spared from blindness… or so he hoped, with all the swelling it was really hard to see anything as it was and he was dimly beginning to wonder if he'd managed to pick up an infection. Licking at his paw he gingerly cleaned up around the slowly healing cuts before continuing his exploration. Shifting his weight to his right he carefully shimmied up a narrow pass, claws striking out to grasp the trunk of a gnarled deciduous tree that was coiling out of the rock, his striped tail twisting to help him keep his balance as he worked to ascend the fjord. Moving quickly he found a somewhat level patch and with a powerful leap he landed, the massive pads and fur of his paws causing him to land almost quietly for his size. Gazing at the river that stretched out far below Skælingr grinned. He liked being up this high. Resisting the urge to scratch at his wounds he carried on along the path before a thump and the sound of voices caught his attention. Immediately the tiger was in a crouch and moving stealthily forward his curiosity leading him a rather bizarre sight. Skælingr blinked…. was that monkey riding a wolf? What on earth? Why was the wolf allowing the little primate to sit upon him so? Creeping closer Skælingr continued to observe them but cover was sparse and he was a rather large beast he knew he'd be spotted eventually. Thus he stood up a bit taller and cleared his throat, watching intently to see how the pair would respond to the sight of him. Oh he was a terrible, prideful beast and he knew it. "Speech"

The sound of a throat being cleared put an immediate end to the bickering of the duo. Both heads swiveled in the direction of the sound, but there was where the similarities in their reactions ended. Odysseus regarded the cat warily, but he kept his cool and simply ran an assessing gaze over the tiger. Olafur, on the other hand, just about had a conniption. The macaque shrieked and flung himself off his friend's back and then proceeded to haul his aforementioned fat ass up the tree that had just rejected him all the while screeching, "Run, Odysseus, RUN!" In his haste the monkey managed to break off pieces of bark and unintentionally fling them in all directions. One such piece landed between Odysseus's ears. Casually the brute jerked his head and flicked the bit of bark off; his ears swiveling to catch the unintelligible, angry chattering of Olafur high overhead. Except for the monkey's unhappy yowling in the trees all was quiet, which honestly only served to intensify the awkward on the ground. To draw attention away Olafur's exit and the words Odysseus clearly wasn't heeding, the brute commented, "Nasty looking scratches you have there." "ODYSSEUS" / "OLAFUR"

A rolling chuckle rumbled from Skælingr's mouth as the monkey creature screeched in panic and scrambled less than gracefully up the tree. The tiger's jade green gaze followed the creature up curiously though the tree was too small for him to climb for certain. He glanced at the massive wolf and grinned as a chunk of bark hit the canine on the head. An odd pair indeed. The wolf mentioned his scratches and the grin faded. "Aye… I got into an altercation with one of my own." He glanced again at the primate. "I do not enjoy the taste of wolf or primate, I have no intention of eating either of you if that is a concern. I was merely curious as to why a pair of such different creatures travelled together so…" "Speech"

As soon as he saw the eyes of the tiger on him, Olafur took off in a flurry of leaves. Doing his species proud, the macaque quickly leapt to another tree and promptly disappeared. He didn't care what the tiger said; he was still a tiger and tigers were dangerous. If Odysseus' attention hadn't been resting so heavily on the tiger he would have had something to say about his usually sluggish friend's sudden speed. Odysseus found the cat to be friendly enough. If he'd meant harm he probably wouldn't have announced his presence first. Or voiced his curiosity. Briefly the wolf's eyes rose to track movement in one of the trees directly behind the tiger. Much to his surprise he could see Olafur lurking in the shadows with what looked like a pine cone clutched to his chest. What was he going to do, peg the tiger in the back of the head if he decided not to play nice? As a predator the thought of being eaten never really crossed his mind. Odysseus found it odd to have to accept reassurance from a larger predator. He liked to think that if it were necessary he could put up a good fight and make the cat work for his meal. Could he win? Probably not. But he could be memorable. "It's a long story. In a nutshell, our paths crossed and common interests have kept us together." He couldn't help it; his eyes kept going to the scratches on the tiger's face. "We're both healers, you see, and we've found that our skills compliment one another. And while I can't speak for my friend, I would be happy to look at those wounds for you." "ODYSSEUS" / "OLAFUR"

Skælingr continued to watch the monkey with amusement as the primate beat a hasty retreat regardless of his assurance he would not be eating the duo. Oh well… he was a tiger after all, he supposed he didn't blame the macaque for not being willing to give him a chance but honestly the tiger was so massive he was not going to get to the tops of those trees even if he really wanted to. Skælingr watched the little creature circle around behind him, clutching a pine cone and the cat's eyes narrowed just slightly. He promised not to eat anyone but mauling was another story… The tiger's attention was diverted back to the wolf as he spoke, stating that it was simple common interests that kept them together. Both healers. Well, well now wasn't this an interesting stroke of luck? Skælingr's ears pricked forward as the wolf mentioned that he would look at the tigers wounds. Part of his feline pride wanted to insist that he didn't need any help but it was quickly beaten down by his mind that knew better. Skæ dipped his head. "I would certainly appreciate the help but I do not believe in accepting charity so please, allow me to pay for your services in some way. Perhaps I could hunt something as payment? Or perhaps you have an enemy you need help with?" He let the last word hover in the air in case the wolf had any other suggestions. "Speech"

Olafur's eyes narrowed as the tiger somehow managed to track his movements through the trees even though he was careful to hide himself until the very end. It made him trust the cat even less. How on earth did he just know? He was being so quiet, so stealthy. The cat's ability to find him confirmed one thing: Odysseus was so dead. Odysseus' ears pricked forward at the mention of a trade. That was a good idea. He did much of his own hunting so that wasn't something he was really in need of...but a favor? The ability to sic a tiger on his enemy? That was a lovely idea. "I don't currently have any enemies, but if you find my" - there was no way he'd be able to get Olafur out of the tree to help - "services worth it, the promise of aid against an enemy should I ever need it sounds like a generous trade." His eyes sought out the wound again as he waited for a response. He was making a mental checklist of what all it needed. Certainly something to help with infection, that was for sure. All things considered it didn't look too bad. Odysseus was certain he would have no trouble patching the cat up. "ODYSSEUS" / "OLAFUR"

ooc: I think I would like Skæ to go ahead and be blind in that eye.

Skælingr resisted the urge once again to scratch at his eye. The pain and the itching was driving him crazy and while he was rather dispondent at taking help from a canine he was smart enough to know when he needed help. And when a fair bargain presented itself. The only price for Odysseus help was the promise of the tigers services against an enemy should it ever be required. Skælingr had next to know alliances with anyone in Alacritis and thus it was incredibly unlikely that he'd be asked to help in a situation that would cause him any emotional injury. Skæ nodded. "These are good terms and I accept them. As of yet I do not have a home base but I do wander the Tall Grass Plains of the South and the Sunset Falls and various terras of the East. You can search for me there if you wish to redeem the favor." The great cat moved smoothly to sit, tail wrapping around his paws as he waited for the wolf to begin the process of fixing up his eye. He would await instruction, rather uncertain what he should expect. "Speech"

Odysseus moved closer as the great cat seated himself. It was odd to be so close to such a huge predator, but unlike Olafur, the brute was able to keep his heebie jeebies in check. Right now he was just dealing with a patient...one who also happened to be a face-eating tiger. Walking up to and staring into the face of said tiger was no easy task, but he hid his misgivings under a cool, professional mask. There was a fair amount of swelling around the tiger's eye. So much in fact that it was impossible to tell if there was damage to the eye itself. The amount of swelling, the infection that clearly inhabited the skin...it did not look good. "Can you open your eye?" Where to start... "That swelling needs to come down..." he murmured to himself. His gaze darted down to the water's edge. "I'll be right back." That would have to do. The brute ambled towards the water where he collected a wad of moss. He then carefully washed the clump to remove the dirt that clung to it and once that was done, headed back to the tiger. To Skaelingr he said, "I need to wash it, if that's alright." Honestly the idea of getting within kissing distance of the tiger's mouth wasn't very appealing. "ODYSSEUS" / "OLAFUR"

Skælingr did not look away from the wolf as the other approached and began to examine him. Every so often one of his spotted ears would twist behind him, searching for any sounds as to the monkey's position. He wasn't fond of the idea of anything sailing at his head, especially while his back was turned. He took a deep breath as Odysseus asked him to try and open his eye. Skæ hissed in pain but could not get his eye to open. Too much gunk and blood and dried over the lids, practically gluing them shut. "Alas, I cannot." Skæ nodded as the wolf left, aware that this could be a ploy to just walk away and leave him sitting there like an idiot. However, if that happened he suppose it was no real loss. He would be neither worse nor better off for it and it might give him an excuse to hunt the other down for a violent game of cat and mouse. The wolf was good on his word however as he came back with a clump of moss. The tiger would nod and hold still so Odysseus could clean the wound. He shifted, slightly uncomfortable at the thought of letting the other man get so close to him but it was his own dam fault. Skælingr had been foolish and naive and now he was going to pay a price for it. "Speech"