Kaze/Aspen RP- The Meeting and the Argument

It'd been a week since Aspen's arrival. And she had mixed emotions about the New World. In a way she had never really wanted to leave the Old World at all. But she'd had to. Not if she wanted a choice in where her life would lead her.

She had mixed feelings about the Outsiders. In a way she was a bit scared of them, but she also respected them and in a way liked them. She wasn't one who hated or picked on them. She was just sort of neutral to them.

She'd made one friend so far and that was Kasia, a fiery girl with a heart of gold and a fierce sense of justice. At first glance she may seem like an obnoxious jerk but she was actually not that bad.

She was planning to meet Kasia later that day, but it was still early this morning and she wanted to get out a go around. Like Kasia, she enjoyed the outdoors and she liked to wander around in the forest, not without her pepper-spray and pocketknife of course, to get away from people. And that was what she was planning on doing today.


Ever since that Insider, Jynn, had, for all intents and purposes, saved his life, Kaze had been discreetly trying to learn more about these people without being biased about what happened in his village. He still hated them.... but he knew now that not all were like.... those 'people'.

A great many did seem to be though. he thought, as a dark blood-chilling scowl crossed his face. All he saw from 'spying' on the city today were those monsters treating his kind like slaves... or worse. The fur and spines on his back rose in anger as he turned to walk back into the thicker parts of the forest. This was foolish.... none of them save perhaps a rare individual would ever see their kind as equals. Not to mention that everyone who had taken Jynn's side was now a wanted criminal with a bounty on their heads.

Kaze all of a sudden tensed, his ears and spines pricking as high as they could get. That scent.... another Insider...... here in the forest. And female too...

His lips pulled back from his long razor-sharp teeth in a fierce snarl, and he began to creep in the direction the scent was coming from. This time, planning to look before he lept. He nearly had gotten himself killed for trying to take down Jynn when they first 'met'... this time he was going to be a little more cautious...


Aspen continued picking her way over the tree roots and strange plants that made up the island of Zara. She had thought about studying these plants for an occupation, but it seemed that Zara already had someone that did such.

She watched a small family of deer-like Inben stirring around in one of the clearings, munching on the tall, juicy grass. there were a lot of things here that reminded her of Old Earth. But nothing was exactly the same.

As she continued on, an eerie sensation came over her, making her stop in her tracks, her strawberry-colored hair drifting around in her face. She wasn't alone. Well, duh, she was in the middle of the forest. There were plenty of creatures around. But it wasn't that kind of alone. It almost seemed as if whatever was watching had the intent to do harm.

She became conscious of the pocketknife that was tucked down deep into her left jeans pocket. yet she didn't go for it. That may only trigger a violent response. So instead she simply ignored it, starting towards the inben.

The Inben blinked at her, but didn't flee. They must've been around Insiders before. Aspen approached them a bit meekly, holding out a hand to them and letting them sniff her before starting to pet them.


Kaze perked his flattened ears slightly, and the spikes down his back lowered just a bit. If those inbens weren't even the slightest bit afraid, then there was no doubt that this Insider had no evil intent. A part of him didn't want to believe that, but it was the truth nonetheless....

Relaxing his hold on the bone knife's hilt that he had grabbed the second the Insider came into view, Kaze lowered himself to all fours to watch the Insider... wondering for what purpose she was out here and how she survived this long with being so foolish. Not much more than a few months ago he wouldn't have hesitated to tear the female to shreds... possibly. And he wasn't the only one out here who would... not by a long shot. At least she wasn't wearing a gun...


Aspen's eyes shifted backwards as she felt eyes on her still, beginning to feel a little disgruntled. She turned her head, green eyes sweeping around the little clearing. Her stroking of the Inben became a little more absent as she thought, mulling things over. If it was an Outsider she wasn't sure if he/she even spoke English. Or if they were friendly. But it was worth a shot.

The Inben ditched her then, trotting off to find better grazing, getting tired of being petted and leaving her alone. "Who's there?" she questioned calmly.


Lips again peeling back to reveal unusually long fangs, Kaze gave a somewhat evil grin. So, she could use her instincts too. Not many others would have known he was there.... maybe this wasn't just another worthless Insider after all...

Still 'grinning', Kaze rose to his full height and slowly stepped out of the brush; his nearly glowing green eyes reflecting the light and showing up first in the shadows before the rest of him was revealed as he stepped out into the leaf-dappled sunlight.


Aspen watched the Outsider step out from the heavy brush. She took in the sight of him, her face completely expressionless. She was a master at hiding her emotions from those that didn't know her.

She felt several things, however. Awe, fear, and respect mainly. She respected him as the creature he was and she found him rather awe-some. Yet, with respect comes fear. She knew he could rip into her at any given second and she wouldn't even have the time to reach for her weapon.

So, instead of doing what a lot of Insiders would do-which was screaming and running for her life- she just looked at him, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Hi." she said, very simply. She wasn't one who said a lot of words to strangers.


Ears perking in surprise at her reaction, or rather, lack of, his grin became slightly less evil and more impressed.... and entertained. He could still smell the slight fear that came from her, but it was no where near the amount it should have been. If anything, she reminded him of Jynn... even after his begrudgingly admitted mistake, she was never afraid. Cautious maybe... but not afraid.

Luckily, he had learned to understand English; but for the longest time he woul d not sully his mouth by speaking it. It was only recently that his sister and the others convinced him to learn a few words.. but it was a whole 'nother matter getting him to actually speak them.

Kaze finally nodded in reply, deciding to humor this Insider just to see what would happen.


Aspen blinked at him, naturally assuming that he couldn't speak English and she didn't really have any real way of speaking to him if it wasn't through English. She was pretty sure treating him like anything but human would get herself in trouble. So instead she just decided to leave him alone.

If he knew English, great she'd talk to him, if he didn't she'd be friendly, but she wouldn't be able to communicate with him. So she turned, starting to wander around the clearing a little, though not disappearing from view, checking out all the plants.

A stunning tri-colored purple, red, and blue flower with rather large thorns caught her eye and she had to check it out. She bent down, pinching it off at the stem and bringing it up to her face for smelling, ignoring one of the smaller thorns that pricked her thumb, making it bleed a little. Flowers were her thing, but she was pretty sure Zara Island had a lot of people occupied with the flora and fauna.


Kaze followed her with his eyes as she moved around, rolling them when the smell of blood wafted though the air after she pricked a finger. If she wasn't careful, she prick herself on something poisonous...

He snorted to himself; as if he'd care if that happened. Stepping closer to her with his head cocked, he kept an ear out for anything approaching. It be his luck something hungry would catch the scent of blood, then he'd... what? Save her? Let whatever happened happen? He honestly didn't know...


Aspen glanced over her shoulder at him once, still curious. She wanted to talk to him and she wasn't sure if he didn't speak English or if he was just being difficult. At first glance he definitely seemed like the difficult type. So she spoke her mind.

"Do you speak English or are you being difficult?" she questioned him, looking ahead now. She pulled her pocket-knife out of her pocket slowly, making sure that he could see what she was doing before beginning to cut off the thorns from the strange plant. She wouldn't be doing so if she thought that it was rare, but she could see plenty of them dotting the clearing.

She'd take it back to her room and stick it in a vase. She wasn't sure how long it'd take for it to die, but it'd be pretty for a while atleast.


His eyebrows raised; she was a brave one for sure. Still foolish, but impressively brave. She was lucky he found her interesting...

Kaze let out a deep earth-shaking growl when she took out the knife, knowing that she couldn't hurt him with it even if she tried, but giving her a warning not to try nonetheless. Still snarling under his breath, he began walking closer; a part of him wondering what she would do, and the rest wanting to be difficult as she thought he was being. If he could intimidate her, he'd enjoy that as well.

Maybe if she impressed him enough, she'd earn a word or two out of him..


She stiffened a little, a bit taken off-guard by his reaction, but she didn't flee or put the knife away. She wiped the little dribble of blood off on the grass before finishing cutting off all the thorns from the little flower.

Her pocketknife was now covered in some sort of thin purple goo now and she wiped it off on the grass like she had done the blood before stuffing it back in her pocket and standing up, turning to the Outsider and literally looking up at him, raising a brow at him.


Fighting back the urge to grin in approval, Kaze kept walking until he was only two feet away, towering over the Insider; teeth bared, tail lashing, spines raised, and ears pinned.

He held that position, wondering if he should go any further or not. Finally his curiosity got the better of him and he lunged forward, bared teeth snapping a few mere inches from her face. For a second, a fleeting thought crossed his mind - it would be so easy to sink his teeth into her throat...

But he was not the same Outsider he was before he found the others.... he had no intention of harming this human now, but he did want to see just how far her bravery went.


Aspen felt a stab of fear pierce her heart, but it faded away just as quickly. But her instincts still forced her to take a small step backwards, though she wouldn't allow herself to step back any further.

It was obvious that he was toying with her. Why else hadn't he just sunk his teeth into her throat and finished her off for good? She could tell that he was bluffing, though she knew he'd probably snap at her if she said the wrong thing. "Having fun biting air?" she questioned a bit testily, still holding the flower between her thumb and forefinger.


Defiant to the last... he liked that. Though if he were anyone else it'd get her killed. Not many Outsiders liked or were impressed by a challenge to their authority like he did and was.

Spines and fur lowering, he hid his fangs and slowly leaned in closer, sniffing at her face and hair, keeping away from her throat to give her a little reassurance that he wasn't planning to go for the kill. Pulling back, he bared his teeth and snarled again. Though he was impressed by her bravery, he was the 'alpha' here.... and she needed to know and acknowledge that.


She blinked as he started sniffing her face, but didn't pull away despite herself. Yet when he bared his fangs at her once again, she got the picture, her posture slumping, dark green flecked eyes going to the ground, strawberry hair falling around her face. She was tempted to wipe it away but didn't eyes still on the ground, not moving or saying anything else.


Kaze quieted and stepped back, satisfied. She was a smart Insider. It surprised him to think that he was glad she knew what to do... he honestly hadn't wanted to discipline her. Not that he would have harmed her, but it most assuredly would have frightened her.

"Good." He finally spoke, his voice sounding younger than one would have thought, and it was thick with the Outsider's accent.



Aspen's eyebrows rose, caught off guard as he spoke. She'd begun to think that he just didn't know English. But he just hadn't trusted her. She didn't blame him. She'd seen things done to Outsiders within the week she'd been here and she never wanted to see it again. Although she knew she would.

She lifted her head, allowing herself to irritably push her hair out of her face. "I had a feeling that you could talk." she gave him a small smile.


"Not... well." He answered slowly, rising back to his full height.

Kaze stared at her awhile, then scowled and pointed in the direction she had came from, "Why... here?" He asked.



She looked into the direction that he pointed. "Oh. I didn't want to just stay in town and walk around like a zombie like some of the Insiders do. I wanted to come out here and look at the flowers." she turned her gaze back on him.


He snorted at the mention of other Insiders, but didn't let himself be angered by the thoughts of them. Instead, he pointed to the flower she picked, then over to one that looked similar but had different colored thorns, "Bad."


Aspen blinked, looking at the other flower. She felt her cheeks flush lightly with embarrassment, realizing she'd probably been a little rash and careless. "Thank you." she responded, looking down at the one that she held and lifting it up towards him. "Is this one good?"


He glanced at her again, then gave a short nod. His ears kept twitching at the various sounds that filtered through the trees; he obviously wasn't too comfortable being this close to the city....


Aspen loosened up, letting out a small sigh of relief. She glanced over her shoulder towards the sound of the city as well. She started walking away from him again, looking around at all the plants and Inben again, venturing in a little further, feeling brave, especially with an Outsider that seemed like he didn't want to tear her to pieces around.

She didn't touch any of the plants now, just looking at them and taking in all their qualities. But she didn't ignore him, still keeping up a semi-decent conversation. As long as she understood what he meant, she didn't need him to talk a lot.

"Your name?"


Swishing his tail, he followed. Why? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was to keep an eye on this Insider to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, or maybe it was to keep her from being injured by something...

He perked one ear, looking towards her, "Kaze," He answered reluctantly. With anyone else, he wouldn't have cared enough to be curious, but her... she was a puzzle. "You?"


"Aspen Caverly." she replied, looking up to the sky, an old habit of hers. When she was still on the Old Earth she had to keep her eyes out for the weather because things could get ugly fast.

"But I'm sure that's a mouthful so call me whatever you want, anything but Aspy." her face twisted up into a scowl upon mentioning the nickname she received as a child.



Kaze grinned, his expression bordering evil once again. 'Anything but' with him turned into 'nothing but'... especially when dealing with Insiders. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Aspen, he still had trouble with anything above a single syllable. "Asp."


Aspen nodded, not understand that he was attempting to say what she'd said not to. Well what could she do about it if she did now? Try to ruff him up? Ha, that'd be entertaining. For him.

"That works." she said, stepping out of the clearing now. Her gaze went down to the water, which was dotted with strange crystal-like rocks.


He smirked; maybe dealing with Insiders wasn't so bad after all. Not that he'd ever get a chance to with Jynn or the others... that Jev of her's won't let him get close, and the others are just as well 'protected'.

Letting out an annoyed huff when she stopped at the water, Kaze leapt up into the nearest tree to watch, not intending to follow the female's every step in who knows what direction. She probably didn't even know where she was going... and he could see approaching trouble better from up here anyhow...



Aspen slipped over her uncomfortable sandals, throwing them over her shoulder carelessly, not caring very much about them. She dug her toes into the warm sand, a joyful look on her face. She'd never been to a beach before, not even on Old Earth.

Feeling a little brave she took a couple steps forwards and when the cold water lapped up over her feet she let out a little squeal, half of delight and half of surprise.


Oh for the love a'-

Kaze could have bashed his brains out aganst the nearest branch. Typical female.... typical human female. Much more of those squeals and he was long gone. One second the Insider acts fearless, the next she's squalling at nothing....

Why was he even watching this female anyway.....?


Aspen's squeals turned into laughter as she loosened up a bit, starting to wade in a little deeper, watching the small fish-like creatures swimming around her feet. "Are you going to be a grouch all day?" she called over to Kaze, but didn't turn around.


He just lashed his tail once again in annoyance and tried to act like he was in a different continent, trying not to drag his long claws through the bark of the tree in frustration. No use taking it out on an innocent living thing...


Aspen looked over her shoulder and frowned at him, watching him. "Sorry." she mumbled apologetically. She didn't notice the aquatic predator that was making its way towards her. She hadn't meant to piss him off. "Sorry, I-" she cut herself off with a low gasp of surprise as a searing pain shot up her left leg.

Her head whipped back around to see what had attacked her, meeting the six eyes of a strange aquatic Inben. It was the strangest Inben she'd seen so far. It was almost like an octupus, with tentacles, but its mouth was full of long, razor-sharp teeth and it its body was adorned with spikes.

Blood flowed out away from her. Whatever the strange Inben had used to attack her was gone. Now she could just feel a vice-like grip around her leg and her instincts kicked in as it began to drag her out deeper. "Kaze!" she yelled, pulling out the pocketknife and flicking it open. With one swift movement she severed the tentacle that held her captive. The Inben let out a blood-chilling screech of pain and anger, but it wasn't done yet. It was going to have this little Insider as a snack.


As soon as he heard the gasp of pain and saw the blood, Kaze leapt from the tree right onto the Inben; tearing deep into it's hide with his scythe-like claws and his knife. Before the creature could recover, Kaze, moving quickly on all fours, snatched Asp's collar carefully between his teeth and drug her a ways from the beast, finally crouching over her and letting loose a blood-curdling roar at the Inben... daring it to come closer.


The Inben slunk backwards into the water again, though it still emitted that ear-piercing scream that sounded similar to nails on a chalkboard. Its screaming stopped and it didn't leave, just watching the Outsider and the Insider before beginning to creep towards the banks. Yet it couldn't go out of the water so they'd just have to come to it. If they were foolish enough. It lifted itself up out of the water a little, opening its strange mouth and screeching at Kaze.

Aspen's heart was pounding, but not completely from fear. She was scared, true, but it was also a major adrenaline rush to come face to face with a wild, aquatic Inben. She didn't see, to notice her leg wound any more, though there was a strange slime that dribbled out of the wound now. It had almost stopped bleeding already, which was unusual for such a gash.

She had been surprised when Kaze hauled her away, but she hadn't moved, finding herself in a sitting position, pocketknife still in hand.


Still snarling, Kaze took a better hold of her collar in his jaws and turned, dragging her deeper into the trees by the coastline before releasing her and leaning down to sniff at and inspect her leg. Even though he had no great love for Insiders, his ears still drooped when he caught the scent of the venomous poison that now mixed with her blood.

Kaze glanced up at her face, debating on what to do. Finally, he made his decision. Setting one hand on her knee and the other on her ankle to pin down her leg, he knelt down, leaning low over the wound. Moving slow, Kaze opened his maw and closed his jaws around the gash gently, and then began sucking out the poison. When he didn't get much at first, Kaze, carefully as he could, sank his teeth into her skin to promote more bleeding, spitting out a mouthful of contaminated blood ever so often. He knew that if he didn't get all of it out, it would literally rot her flesh from the inside out.... a horrible and most painful way to eventually die....



Aspen tensed, completely taken off guard by him now. She didn't make a noise or move even when he sank his teeth in a little deeper, remaining perfectly quiet for a good time, trying to wrap her mind around things. Why did he want to help her so much? Any other wild Outsider probably would've just looked on with entertainment, not try to save her.

After a few moments she spoke up. "Why are you helping me?"


Kaze didn't answer at fist, being too busy with his mission and his thoughts. Why was he helping her? He hated her kind! But deep down he knew... she reminded him just a very little of Jynn... the Insider who he almost killed, but has given her life to the task of freeing the Outsider race none the less.

Only after he had drawn enough poison out that the blood now tasted and smelled clean did he raise his head to acknowledge Asp's question. He stared at her a bit, before answering, "You.... are... diff-er-ent..."

A flash of something crossed his eyes and his face drew into a scowl as he leaned down again, this time licking the wound til the blood stopped flowing, the Outsider being slightly rougher with the Insider than before. It was clear something was bothering him.

Outsider saliva was one of the best ways to quickly stem the bleeding of any injury and prevent infection; unfortunately, what was a common practice among Outsiders was more than unsettling for the Insider race.... not that Kaze cared how she'd take it. He didn't want her leg to rot off, and he was going to do what he could to prevent it.... for some strange reason....


She winced slightly, picking up on his sudden irritation. She was exactly comfortable with what he was doing but understood that he was doing it for a reason. "Different?" she asked, confusion swimming in her eyes. Did he mean she was different than the other Insiders?

She studied his face, confused and just a little concerned about him. "Are you alright?" her voice was quieter now.


Both ears pinned in response to the questions, and he made no move to answer either of them.

Now finished, he raised his head, releasing her leg as he backed away, licking the blood from his face and fangs. Anger, and even rage, still blazed within his eyes for some reason, but it wasn't aimed at her. It might have been because of her in some way, though.... caused by her presence, or maybe Kaze's own odd reactions towards her perhaps. Maybe he was angry at himself.... for helping her..?

Teeth baring, Kaze lifted a hand and pointed in the direction of the city, "Go!"


Aspen flinched away from the fury in his voice, several emotions flashing across her face like a slideshow. She got to her feet, though she didn't leave, just taking a step backwards. "What... what did I do?"


Kaze closed his eyes, drilling his long claws into the dirt as he arched his back in frustration, both the horns and fur on his spine raising and lowering at his own confused and conflicting emotions. Hiding his fangs, Kaze shook his head side to side hard... it wasn't what she did...

Finally his eyes opened, and he spat a phrase in his own language before pointing again, "Just go!" He snarled.


o-ok." she stuttered, her feelings rather hurt though she didn't fall into an emotional mess like some girls would. "Sorry. Bye." she turned and started walking away from him, limping slightly and disappearing into the brush.


Still cursing softly to himself, Kaze pulled his conflicted self off the ground and followed silently and closely after her, wanting to make sure she made it back to the city alright. All the while his thoughts went from how much he hated her kind... his people's worst enemies, to how impressed he'd been when she held her ground against him - a creature that could've killed her easily, and how quickly the inbens had accepted her.

As he followed, he wondered... would she come back? Did he want her to? That of his own question shocked him...


If Aspen noticed that he was following her, she didn't acknowledge him, keeping on at a distant pace. She wasn't quite sure what had triggered his anger and she certainly didn't want to trigger it again. But she would be back. She'd be back later today with Kasia, whether he liked it or not. The Forest wasn't entirely his. She sniffed to herself a bit, an irritated noise though she wasn't angry with him, just confused. And in a way the Forest was his, she admitted to herself after a moment. She wasn't thinking right.



Kaze followed her to the edge of the treeline, keeping out of sight of her and anyone else that may be watching. When he couldn't follow her on foot anymore, he followed her with his eyes. Only when Asp was out of sight and hearing range did he turn and go back into the deeper woods. Maybe he'd stick around nearby for a day or two... just to see what she would do. After all, all he had to go back to were a bunch of criminally labeled Insider and Outsider rebels, and at the moment they were laying low, trying to keep hidden from the various bounty hunters that have been after them...


The young woman glanced over her shoulder once before looking ahead again, stepping into the little city now. She didn't say anything to the few Insiders that greeted her, just continuing on to the Inn....