Animal Instinct (Closed)

Yvonne's eyes flickered open at the sounds of bushes rustling and ice cracking under pressure. When she opened her eyes there was no light filtering through the fabric of her tent, which meant it was still night time, or possibly very early in the morning.

She had marked her territory effectively against the wildlife, no common animal would be dumb enough to wander in what was marked as the territory of an Alpha wolf. That left two options; either someone had stumbled on her campsite, or she was about to be subject to a very rude awakening.

Her ears were perked, trying to focus on every sound that was happening outside of her tent. Very slowly, she brought herself up to her elbows, and then to her knees. She reached over for her weapon as she heard the crunching of snow and ice getting closer to her tent. Her thumb brushed over the two buttons on the handle of the staff, detaching just one of her hand scythes and bringing herself up to a crouched position.

Every muscle in her body was tense and ready to spring, and when the she let out a loud growl and emerged from her tent with her scythe prepared to swing at whatever was waiting.

As she emerged into the night and her eyes adjusted however, she found her hand stayed. It was a wolf, one that had seemingly ignored her territorial markings. Immediately the girl's ears were perked, trying to listen for other sounds; for the rest of the pack. There were no sounds though, this wolf was all alone.

'Just like me...' She thought with a small exhale of air through her nose in amusement. The girl stared at the wolf, who stared right back at her. It simply sat there in the snow next to the snuffed out campfire. The girl lowered her scythe, and stared into the wolf's eyes, letting it know that she was an Alpha and not to make any stupid moves.

That was when the wolf padded up to her slowly and nudged at her hand with its head. Now that she certainly hadn't been expecting.

"It's an animal thing I guess..." She muttered with a small smile.

She had been waiting for a fellow agent of the White Fang. Yvonne had been told to camp out early and give him time to arrive, but it looks like she had already found someone whose silent company she would enjoy quite a bit more.

The girl added some wood to the burnt out coals of what had been left of just a few hours earlier. She dug into the pack that sat in her tent and pulled out the flint she would need and started up the small fire. With how deep in the woods she was, no one would happen on her by mere chance, so she felt safe in igniting it.

It would likely be a while till who she had been expecting would show up, so she had a bit of time. She sat down in front of the fire and stared into it, letting the sounds of the nighttime forest wash over her. Yvonne reached over and scratched the wolf behind its ears as it sat by her side.

After awhile of traveling in the deep woods of the forest Sable let his guard drop and stopped covering his tracks and stopped checking over his shoulders every second, instead only checking every minute. The snow would cover any tracks he made soon enough that it didn't matter. It was cold, but there was only a light wind drifting through the forest. Still, he pulled his warm cloak in around him further. Why anyone would choose to live this far out from anything is beyond me.. it must be a hassle for her to get messages from the White Fang.

Sable stopped next to a tree, gaining some shelter from the wind. He pulled a map out from within his cloak and checked where he was to make sure he was still on the right track. Knowing he was he moved on. At a distance he noticed the campsite and knew that was his contact. He made sure to approach openly so as not to startle the faunus. When he was on the very border of the campsite he stood, watching the girl and the wolf.

"Hello. Yvonne?"

Yvonne and her new companion heard the stranger approaching before he made his presence known. The wolf started to growl, but she made a small and reassuring noise as she ran her fingers delicately through the wolf's fur. "Easy now..." She muttered softly.

It was far too obvious of an approach, as if whoever it was knew better than to try sneaking up. It seemed her contact had finally arrived, which was fortunate for her. She would have hated to wait much longer. She stared at the small crackling fire for a few moments longer before standing up and brushing the snow off of her cargo pants and standing up.

"That's me." She stated simply, her hands rested casually on her hips. The girl took note of the cloak that he was wearing to fight off the cold and had to stop herself from smirking derisively. If anything, she felt under dressed for this little meeting wearing only her boots, cargo pants and a long sleeved thermal undershirt, but she loved this climate. This forest was almost a second home for her, so she was more than used to it.

The crackling of the fire was the only thing that broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them. So she made herself busy by putting a bit more wood on the fire. She made a small gesture to the fire, as if to invite Sable to make himself comfortable. The wolf hadn't taken its eyes off the feline Faunus, tracing his every movement.

"Let me make this clear." She started, her blue eyes sizing up the newcomer. "They expect us to work together, and I'm not a fan of that idea. But I can't just go against orders as much as I'd like to."

Vyonne vaguely wondered if he had been at all warned about her abrasive and anti-social outlook on things. She also wondered just what the hell people were thinking when they decided pairing her with a partner for a mission in the name of the White Fang could possibly be a good idea.

Likewise, Sable hadn't lifted his eyes from Yvonne. There was something about the girl that he couldn't put his finger on. Not menacing, not dangerous, at least not to him, anyways, but close enough. Guarded, perhaps.

"We have a job to do and our leaders expect it done.." Sable moved to stand by the fire. He brought his hands out and hovered them over the flames, the warmth welcome on his fingers the most. He rubbed his hands as he finished the sentence. "So, we'll get it done. Whether or not you like working with me probably wasn't their concern." But what is? his thoughts cut in after he finished speaking.

All of the assignments he'd been sent on there had never been much more detail given to him than what was required of him to complete the mission successfully. Even after he had returned successful he couldn't get any answers. By now he had given up trying to fish for information before got the job done. For once he'd just like to know why he was doing what he was doing. What they needed an item for, why they needed a certain building spied on, and so on and so forth.

These thoughts surfaced more and more often and he didn't like that he didn't have answers for the questions. But what could he do? The people he worked for were in charge, not him.

Sable finally turned his eyes away from Yvonne to the wolf. "Friend of yours?"

"It certainly seems that way." Yvonne found herself agreeing without a second thought. At least he seemed like a professional, the quicker they got this job done the quicker they would be able to part ways. And above that, professionals weren't known for their small talk which suited her just fine.

When he questioned about the wolf, she couldn't help but smile a little. Only animals were capable of getting that sort of reaction from her. "Something like that." The wolf-Faunus confirmed with a nod. The two of them had certainly formed a small bond during their short time together, wolves had a way of doing that.

The girl scratched the wolf one more time before making a small noise and the wolf went to go lay down under a tree, making a small spot for itself in her camp. As soon as the wolf was out of sight, the small grin she had dropped almost immediately and her face went emotionless.

"So, how much did they tell you about the mission before they sent you out here to freeze your ass off?" She asked, twirling the half of her staff she was still holding onto in boredom. It would be best to make sure they were both on the same page before they moved any farther with what was expected of them.

With his hands now much warmer Sable pulled out his folded up map of the forest. He unfolded it and moved over to Yvonne. He put a finger on the map's outside edge with little thought, though he there weren't any markings there were of interest there.

"There's a small research facility hidden here. We're to investigate its purpose and report back any findings of interest. We can get information in whatever way we deem necessary so long as it does not involve us interacting with the humans there or leaving any trace behind that might indicate they are no longer a secret." Sable found traced his finger from the spot he indicated to Yvonne's camp. It was a fair distance. "We've got a lot of ground to cover. It should take us a day's travel. I suggest we stay the rest of the night here, move on in the morning, then infiltrate the compound when we arrive tomorrow night." He folded the map away and hid it back within his cloak.

"Is that agreeable to you?" Sable had said all of this with an even, measured tone. He wanted to make sure this went smoothly.

Yvonne focused on the map, trying to ignore the fact that he had gotten so close to her without her permission. She bristled in annoyance, but tried to fight that down in light of the fact that they had a mission to discuss. She listened to what he knew, and what the plan was and found herself nodding in agreement.

"Sounds fine to me." She stated simply.

Everything seemed solid to her, and he seemed to know what he was talking about. Although, she had to admit that the mission was a bit of a change of pace for her, and not in a way she was entirely thrilled about.

But as she thought about him mentioning sleeping before they started their long trek, she realized there was a small complication with that.

"You'll end up freezing if you sleep out in the open air." She stated simply. He wasn't carrying a pack, which meant he had no gear. It made sense to travel light when they had such a long distance to get across in such a short time frame. Unfortunately that made this situation difficult for her to deal with personally.

The girl sighed and looked back at her tent. "And you waking up exhausted and in bad condition isn't an option..." She added, although that was more to convince herself of what would have to be done.

"You can spend the night in the tent with me, but if you so much as lay a hand on me I swear that I will be the last thing that hand touches." Her eyes were sharp and her tone was more indifferent than cold, as if the concept of what she would do didn't bother her one bit.

Sable thought about this. He could simply stay in the cold. He had been trained to survive in hostile environments such as what he was in. Especially considering how calm the wind was at the moment. However, Yvonne had a point. They would most likely be up for an extended period of time the following day and he would need rest and strength.

"I will take you up on that offer. And as.. delightful as the proposition of losing my hand sounds," Sable said that with a modicum of politeness, "you won't have to worry about that. The tent should have adequate space, and the extra body heat should do for a comforting rest."

Seeing as there was no need to be close anymore he returned to his position and continued to warm his hands. "Let me know when you would like to sleep and we will do so."

Yvonne didn't respond at all, instead staring into the campfire. She might've been staring at it for anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour without talking. She sort of lost track of time, just drowning in her own thoughts. While she knew she shouldn't really care about the physically closeness of someone to herself, it still bothered her more than she could really explain.

"Snuff the fire when you're done." She told him, and it was at that moment she realized that while he knew her name, she didn't even know his. Oh well, that would be something for the next day, she had already experienced more than her fair share of communication for the day.

She turned to the wolf that had taken a comfortable spot in the camp to lay down and rest and walked over to him. The Faunus looked into his eyes and then scratched at the fur of his side before turning away and going towards her tent. The wolf would probably run off before she woke up again, but something told her it wouldn't be the last time she saw him. Perhaps it was just her animal instinct.

She had to rearrange a bit, since her pack and belongings were set up in a way that took up the other half of the tent when she slept. The girl stuffed her pack as far back in the tent as she could, and unfolded the mat that she had kept in half for herself so that her new arrival would have a spot to lay down.

Contrary to what he might of thought at first glance, it wasn't a particularly spacious tent. As it was, she would end up laying against the fabric of the tent itself just to put some distance between them when they slept. But if that was what it took, she didn't really care.

So she lay on the very edge of the mat, curling in on herself slightly with her chin slightly towards her chest, her knees tucked up, and her tail draped over her legs. She was unconscious the moment her head hit the mat.

Sable waited a few moments before dying the fire. The flickering flame went out and a cold darkness enveloped the camp. Everything was light enough thanks to the white snow reflecting even the dull light of the moon. He took a moment to scan the camp and its perimeter before moving toward the tent. He looked to the wolf and met its eyes briefly, before descending into the tent.

Before he actually entered Sable reached behind his back and pulled out an unusual looking bow and a quiver and laid it down next to where he would sleep. He curled up against the opposite edge of the tent, pulling the cloak in close before closing his eyes and resting his head against the ground.

Morning came and Sable awoke quickly. He opened his eyes and readjusted to his surroundings before grabbing the bow and quiver and quietly leaving the tent. The wolf was gone, probably to feed itself, much like he needed to do. First, however, he slowly worked to get the fire back up out of its ashes. It was a slow process, but when he was done he celebrated by reaching into a small sack he had on his back and pulling out his nourishment. It was hard, grainy flatcake. Not appealing to the tongue, but not repulsive, either. It was very filling as well. He sat quietly, eating his breakfast slowly as he waited for Yvonne.

As easily as Yvonne had fallen asleep, apparently it had been too much to expect for her to stay that way. She woke up many times in the middle of the night, as if to assure herself nothing had happened and the man next to her was well on his side. It hadn't been a very good night for her, but she'd pushed herself through longer periods with less sleep than that, so she would just have to fight through it.

What had finally woke the Faunus in the morning had been her tent-mate shifting slightly and getting out of the tent. Part of her wanted to sigh in relief and finally allow herself to fully fall asleep, but she knew that she couldn't do that; there was work to be done after all. Still, nothing was stopping her from laying there for a few more minutes and reveling in the solitude she had at that moment.

So that was what she did, and when she heard the fire crackling outside of her tent the girl finally uncurled from her ball. Yvonne exited the tent and immediately threw her arms up above her head and rolling up to her toes, stretching out all the kinks and soreness in her muscles. After a few moments she allowed herself to go back to normal, still blinking some degree of sleep from her eyes.

She observed her camp, the fire was crackling with fresh wood thanks to her unexpected partner. As expected, her wolf visitor was nowhere to be seen. The girl mumbled something incoherent and crouched back into the tent, digging around in her pack until she found the three things she had been looking for.

Yvonne pulled a tightly sealed thermos and a small kettle from the pack, then dove back in and pulled a package of pound-cake. She poured the contents of the thermos into the kettle and then returned to the fire pit. The Faunus made a spot to set the kettle on top of some of the coals leftover from the night before that had heated back up.

She then sat on the ground and stared into the fire, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. The girl stared at the kettle longingly, waiting for it to warm up as she nibbled on the pound cake. It was a bit tasteless, but it was certainly filling and that was what would really matter on this hike.

The fire was warm, which was a welcoming feeling. It soothed Sable's somewhat cramped limbs and heated his fingers. He was munching peacefully and only took his attention away from the fire to look up at Yvonne's appearance. Even though she was hardly dangerous fighting sun glare, he once more felt the same feeling as he did the night before. It was some inward sense, warning about this girl. He had already gotten that she was cold, harsh, even. But there was nothing more he could put his finger on. Least of all after she had retreated back into the tent.

Sable finished his flatcake while Yvonne warmed her tea, He was still chewing he reached into his cloak to grab the map. After triple-checking his route he put it away and stood up. "We've got stopping point between here and our destination, so I would recommend you pack some food. It will most likely be our last chance to eat before tomorrow."

With his piece said for the moment he turned to face the direction they would head and checked his gear. Once he was certain of everything he had on his person he turned to look back at his companion. "When you're ready."

Yvonne nodded when the faunus had mentioned packing food. She had already planned on packing a day or so worth of supplies for this little excursion, and while part of her wanted to snipe at him for even suggesting she wouldn't have already prepared for that she didn't want to fight this early in the morning. Not that she wouldn't win, she just really didn't want to deal with the headache.

If there was one thing she had learned from all her time spent in the wilderness, it was how to be self sufficient. The way she stuffed her day-pack proved just that, she had everything she needed to be prepared for the curve balls they could be thrown. From a first aid kit to a data tablet, she didn't like going into situations unprepared. She also had a warmer set of clothes packed away in the bag too, but she knew once they started moving she would warm right up, and her coffee would certainly help her with that.

Remembering about that all important elixir of life, she turned back to the kettle and removed it from the fire. Yvonne pulled the thermos over and poured the hot coffee back into it, leaving the kettle to sit in a patch of snow until it cooled down so she would be able to safely stash it back into her larger pack that held the rest of her belongings.

She hefted the large pack onto her back and took a look up at the tree that was closest to her tent. Her mind traced out the established pattern she had created for climbing up it after having done so so many times. She leaped up and grabbed the lowest hanging solid limb with both hands, grunting slightly at the effort of dragging both herself and her pack up to it.

Luckily from there the rest of the way to her hiding spot for her gear was easy. The climb was slow and straining, but she liked to think of it as a warm up for the day's travel. Once she was sufficiently high up in the evergreen, she strapped her pack down to one of the thick branches. The girl rigged it tightly so that it wouldn't slip, fall off, or dump any of her stuff.

The girl dropped down from the tree, hopping from limb to limb and finally coming to a halt on the snowy ground after she jumped down from about half the height of the tree.

Now, the only thing left in sight in her little campsite was the tent itself, and the smaller pack that she would be bringing with her. She grabbed the thermos full of steaming hot coffee and breathed in, taking in the scent of the caffeine. That in itself perked her up into a slightly more noticeable state of consciousness, as if everything before then had just been under a haze and all done by muscle memory.

She gulped down some coffee before resealing the thermos and stuffing it back in her pack, which she then shouldered.

Yvonne killed the fire and covered the remains with snow to cover it up. "Let's get a move on then." She growled.

Sable nodded and started moving. He pulled his cloak tight to prevent anymore chill from the wind than necessary, but otherwise remained stoic. They made good progress, going as the crow flies. The further they got out from the innards of the forest the more he would return to some of his habits. Even though he knew there was nothing there, he constantly scanned his surroundings.

Within a few hours they had made the midway point and Sable stopped. He reached into his cloak and grabbed his map and a chunk of flatcake. He checked the map as he chewed away, making sure they were on the right track. He folded it back up and stowed it away, and turned to Yvonne. "We're making good progress. We should be able to see if this compound has any defenses before the sun falls."

As much as Yvonne tried to suppress the instinct, she found that her own head was on just as much of a swivel on open ground at her partner's was. She supposed it was just all the training she had gotten at Signal, everything she had learned about working in small units that was supposed to prepare her for Beacon. Of course, those skills served the White Fang now.

As soon as her mind started to wander onto that train of thought she put a stop to it. She absolutely hated dwelling on the past and what could have happened or how her life should have ended up. None of that really mattered, and all it did was lead her back to the exact moment in time she was in at that moment.

If there was one thing she absolutely hated about long hikes like this, it was the fact that she just had too much damn time to think. God forbid she actually struck up a conversation with the man she would be traveling and working with for this mission, because that would actually involve interaction with another Faunus.

So instead she focused on how dull and monotonous walking through this snowy wasteland was. Yes, that was a much better use of her mental capabilities. Of course she would never voice those irritations, she kept her bitterness and hatred to herself for the most part after all.

Finally, when her partner came to a stop and pulled out the map and his flatbread she realized they had reached the halfway point. As he observed the map, she let her pack slide off her left shoulder and slide down to hang from one arm, digging through it and pulling a packet of jerky.

She tore at the meat ravenously, although she knew it wouldn't sate her hunger. She alternated between drinking some of the mildly warm coffee in her Thermos and tearing another chunk out of the dried meat. When the Panther-Faunus stowed the map, she resealed the Thermos and the bag of jerky and stuffed them both in her bag, slinging it onto her back once again.

"Sounds fine to me." She stated in agreement. The sooner they scouted the place out the sooner they could make their plan for recon and getting the information they really needed. Or, in reality, the information the White Fang needed.

"By the way, something has been bugging me this whole hike." She finally spoke up, this being the first time that she was the one to initiate conversation with him. "You knew my name when you showed up in my camp... But I still don't know your name..."