First impressions

LOCATION The red warriors territory
DATE 14th of October 2021
TIME noon
OUTFIT Link
TOPIC FOR @Kenzo
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It had been quite the walk, but she also liked getting the fresh air, besides Tatia had asked quite nicely and she didn't mind letting the shapeshifter being alone with Damian - it was rather clear when Tatia wanted to be alone with him. So, Natasha had made her way through the forest on foot earlier today, but it wasn't a short walk. She made it to the pack area by the beginning of the afternoon. Walking over the bridge she was met by some of the shapeshifters that Tatia had told her would guard the place. They knew she was coming, Tatia had informed them earlier the day, so it wasn't really a surprise. What was a surprise was how everything was built. Houses that looked somewhat like the usual houses, some built in the big logs from the trees, it was quite amazing to see. Natasha watched the nature in awe, almost forgetting what she came here for, this whole area was almost magical, like a spell had been cast over the little pack area was most likely supernatural. Some kids ran by her making her jump a little bit back, but couldn't help but chuckle as most of them changed into their animal shapes and tumble around like kids were supposed to. It made her smile a bit, before she took a few steps further into the area. Most people stopped and looked at her, knowing she was a stranger, but also knowing she wouldn't have gotten by the guards if she wasn't invited.  But completely consumed by everything she was seeing here, how different the culture seemed, it was just something else compared to the city life. It reminded her of farms and smaller villages. In her complete focus on all these sights she forgot to watch where she was going, and only stopped when she walked into someone. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," she apologized quickly looking up at the shapeshifter she had walked into.

Kenzo had dipped his fingers in warpaint and was for the moment teaching one of the boys how to do his warpaint. It wasn’t like there was much too it, but they stood by a mirror which had been put up outside and without touching his own skin he tried to show the boy where to put his fingers, how some of the paint needed to be warmed and other paint just needed water. It wasn’t his job to teach, and he didn’t actually need to teach the kid. But the kid had reminded him of himself when he was younger. Kenzo had walked up to Tatia when he was just a mere boy and asked her to show him how to do war paint, and though she was a busy woman she found the time for it and taught him. Kenzo had always looked up to Tatia and the skills she had, and he couldn’t imagine how the little boy might be feeling stars in his eyes, just by being taught by Kenzo.
He stood bent forward to be on the same height as the boy and tried to show it to the boy once again when someone bumped into him. It wasn’t like the bear of a man was easy to knock over, but he had been so much in his own comfort that he had made a squidly line on his right temple when he had had to take a step to the side and on the same time be sure he didn’t knock over the kid. It was like a whole domino effect that he stopped. As soon as he was sure the kid wasn’t tumbling over, he looked over his left shoulder to see a stranger who apologized. He straightened back up and smiled warmly at her. He laughed warmly, clearly no harm done, “It’s alright,” he assured her. Without thinking much of it he presented his hand to her – the hand which had been in black warpaint, “You must be Natasha? I’m Kenzo,” he said with a welcoming and warm voice.

The werewolf made a small grimace as she looked at the boy, before looking back up into the eyes of the tall shapeshifter. The warm laugh made her less tense about how he would react. Natasha was used to playing Russian roulette and it was always hard to tell how people acted, it was one of the main reasons why she had learned to put on armor before heading out into the world. But it was like after she had gotten Luka back, she could leave some of the armor back home, now she just had to figure out who she was again. Natasha pressed her brows a little bit together, letting her eyes fall to the hand that reached out but covered in something that looked like coal, or whatever that made the blackish color. "I am, nice to meet you Kenzo" she replied to the warm welcome moving her eyes up to his once again. "And I would take your hand, but ehm, I'm not much for coal, paint or whatever it is," she clicked her tongue a bit. Natasha had never been one for sugar coating, and she was at time to blunt for her own good, but in this case, she thought herself to be fair. "It's quite a place you got yourselves here, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it," she commented letting her eyes wander over the little village once again. It was a quite protected area, great walls to keep the uninvited from entering, most made of woodened material.

He was right. It was Natasha. For a moment he wondered why she didn’t take his hand, but as she mentioned what was happening, he looked at his hand “Oh, my apologies,” he said and looked over at the mirror where a somewhat clean cloth hang to dry one’s hands. He took it, and suddenly it was like the cloth was much smaller – or maybe he just had a massive grip. He dried his fingers so they weren’t that dirty, though he might still be able to leave some fingerprints if he was trying pick up something. He tossed the cloth over the mirror again and with a short but firm pat, he sent the boy off to practice by himself. His green eyes looked back at Natasha and noticed how she looked curious around. He smiled a slightly crooked smile, “I think I would be surprised if you said it reminded you of something,” he said smiling, though it could be difficult to see from the long beard. “Anything that interests you” he wondered and gestured to the surroundings, he could easily show her around and let her know where things happened and how things functioned, after all he had quite the experience with The Red Warriors.

It was clear that most of these people around her didn't deal with the most normal dilemas in life, none of them seemed stuck with a phone in their hand and dressing up to go into town. They seemed so casual, and yet, she knew something must be under the surface. The village did remind her of something, but mostly by the surface of the buildings. It was old fashioned and had its own charm, Natasha however had once lived in a charming little cottage like some of these, but it was way back to a time she hadn't thought about in a while - it hurt to much to think back. "Would take the charm out of it, wouldn't you reckon?" She replied as he had said he would be surprised if it reminded her of anything.

Natasha took a deeper breath in, as he added if there was anything that interested her. "All of it to be frank, but I've also grown up in a bigger city - so even though I've been getting used to this forest just a little bit over the last few months, there is still so many things I feel like I haven't seen," she confessed turning her head back to him with a warmer smile dancing on her lip. Her eyes once again looked around, she knew this was a pack, and she had met Tatia, but it wasn't like they had talked a lot. The red warriors. They indeed looked like warriors, she could even hear the sound of swords clinging against each other on the training ground behind the houses. The way these people carried themselves with a pride she never had seen before, not like this. "But, I mean - I have nothing but time and my feet are already sore, so maybe you could show me your favorite place here," she suggested and tilted her head just a little bit to the side.  

Kenzo chuckled a little as she said it would take the charm out of it if she recognized or remembered something from somewhere else. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said still smiling warmly. The smile only grew as she explained that there was so much she hadn’t seen. “I promise you, the forest has all kinds of wonders,” he told her and put his arms on the side of his hips. He allowed her to look around and take the place in. He only visited the city rarely, and by the way he thought it was overwhelming, to walk around in, he could only imagine how it was like to be here. To Kenzo, this was a peaceful place. The sound of swords clinging against each other was soothing his soul, besides from the obvious like the trees and the fresh air. Nothing could compete with the fresh air. The city was so suffocating.
“Your feet are sore?” he repeated and pulled on a little frown. That was no good. He approached her a little, and with his towering height, he squatted a bit down next to her before he, without asking, let his arms find their way behind her knees and behind her back before he lifted her up like it was nothing. He carried her like a bride.  “Can’t have your feet falling off,” he said with a glad smile and started heading towards a lookout tower. “I’ll show you the view,” he explained while he approached the tower.

He clearly loved it out here, it wasn't hard to tell, he seemed so at peace in a way for that she hadn't seen in a long time. She hadn't seen that or felt that way since she had been with Austin. It was a rare moment of bliss to watch someone enjoy his surroundings like this. Natasha looked surprised as he repeated her sentence, she was used to be told not to complain about it or at least just forget it. You got nowhere in this world if you remained soft, or that wasn't true, you got hurt. He took a step closer to her, making her narrow her eyes just a little bit.  He was so tall he could easily come off intimidating, but there was just this whole aura from him that was warm. His next action was so fast, he basically swept her off her feet away, forcing herself to hold her breath for a moment. The moment dragged out, it felt long even through it was just seconds, he had completely caught her off guard that was for sure. Can’t have your feet falling off, Natasha licked her lips a little feeling her mouth getting dry for a second, while she tried figuring out what to say. Then he started walking making her turn her speechless face towards the location where he was talking.

Natasha breathed out, finally getting over her puzzled state of mind. "So, how long have this pack been out here?" She asked. Many of the ones they passed seemed like they had never seen or heard about fashion, where Natasha could sometimes look like she had stepped out of a magazine. Appearance had been important for her the last years, as her step father always said. The view. What view she wondered? The forest itself was magical and glorious, unlike what she had found in the city life in Russia.

She was easy to sweep off her feet. And she weighed nothing compared to others he had carried, so it was just like a piece of cake for him to carry her. He looked down at her as she asked him about the pack frowned a little thoughtfully. “I think it might have been… Four years?” he said clearly not sure of how long it had been, “Might be three years,” he added looking back at the direction he was heading. They passed multiple people from the pack, and they all looked like they were thriving, and if not, their wounds or injuries were taken care of. They reached the tower and now had to do some climbing stairs. “You might want to change how you’re holding on to me,” he said, believing she would either go for a piggyback ride or a koala on the front of him. Slowly he put her down by the tower so she could choose by herself. Of course, she could also take the stairs herself, but it was quite the tower and might take a little time for her to get to the top.

Four to three years, it seemed like they had lived out in the wild longer than that. It was the way they carried themselves that gave her that clue, they had lived through something, but what she had no idea. Natasha had always been curious, less the older she had become and forced into her life. It was really as if she had left the girl she wanted to be back with Austin, and she had been trapped in limbo till around now, it was when they reached the tower and she looked up at it. Her feet got planted on the ground keeping her eyes on the tower, before looking back up at him. It was quite a tall tower, and it would be exhausting to climb - but wasn't it also in her blood to be so freaking stubborn? Also, it wasn't like she usually climbed strangers or let them carry her around. "Actually I'm going through this whole, do things myself phase - it's a part of taking control over my new found bodark nature - werewolf nature," she replied licking her lips a little bit before placing her hands on her hips shortly. "But, ehm, I'm sure the entire view will be worth it," she nodded a bit to herself, not knowing if she was the one needing convincing or she just wanted to make a statement. "If that's okay?" she added taking a deeper breath in, folding her lips a little. It wasn't really a matter of if it was alright or not, she was going to do it herself that goal was pretty much set in her head.

The way The Red Warriors carried themselves came from being what they were. Red Warriors from the arena, having had to fight for everything. They learned to carry themselves with pride and might, because if they didn’t have that, people would simply think they could do whatever they wanted with them. She got her eyes on the tower and for a moment, he believed she almost felt intimidated by how tall it was. Do things myself phase. He couldn’t help but pull a confident smile. It sounded healthy to go though something like that, especially as she explained she was trying to get a hold of her new nature. He nodded slightly and let a smile stay on his lips. “Sure,” he said and was about to gesture her to take the stairs by herself but stopped himself as it seemed like she had more on her heart. He nodded approvingly; the view would be worth it. It was every single time one crawled up the stairs. “It’s all okay for you to take the stairs by yourself,” he said and patted her a little on the back. “Just promise me you’ll tell me if you’re getting tired, alright?” he told her before he headed to the entrance for the stairs. He did

Natasha nodded a bit to herself, folding her lips as her eyes looked up to the top. She had to make it to the top, and she could, she would. Stairs, it couldn't be that hard now could it? Natasha took a sharper and even deeper breath in before looking back at him. The steps were slim and only fit one of them at the time, which shouldn't be the biggest issue of them. Maybe she did underestimate the challenge of it. "Of course," she gave him a small smirk before she started making her way up the stairs. The first steps weren't hard at all, after all she had travelled the woods with and mountains near Grounds of Lily over the last couple of weeks, she was getting the hang of it. Natasha had always liked doing things on her own, it was very rare that she accepted a helping hand, but given her latest experiences and having accepted the help from Damian - she had learned to come by it, at least just a little bit. Natasha focused her energy on getting up the spiral stone staircase, or well she did make it half way before her steady steps slowed a bit down. Her legs feeling heavier by the minute, but she didn't really stop, too proud and stubborn. She took a deeper breath in, and licked her lips a little bit, forcing herself to keep going on.

She agreed that she would tell him if she was going to get tired. To make sure she wouldn’t just keep her mouth shut, he would walk behind her, just to notice her pace, because if he walked in the front, he might not notice that she suddenly wasn’t right behind him. “Good, ladies first,” he said leading her inside to take the stairs. Kenzo was very, very used to these towers, and it didn’t bother him much except for the last percent of the stairs. Things went quite well, but as they reached approximately halfway, her speed started to slow down. At first, he didn’t really comment on it, but as they got a little further, he cleared his throat. “So… You’re not tired?” he wondered and let his senses grab onto her smell, heartbeat and etcetera. “Natasha, stop for a moment,” he asked her hand if she didn’t turn around, he would try and find a way where he could grab her shoulder and gently turn her around. “You’re way too stubborn,” he said with a glad smile, before he took a step closer to her before closed his arms around her and squatted down to lift her up in his arms, almost like a koala or a monkey.

The sound of him clearing his throat was enough to make her aware that she had perhaps slowed down, especially after he asked if she wasn't tired. "No, it's fine," she replied breathing out, but only for him to place a hand on her shoulder and turn her around, making her look up into his eyes with a slightly lifted brow. "Some would say stubborn is my middle name," she replied clicking her tongue a little bit, before taking a deeper breath in. Then he took a step closer to her, making her press her brows a bit more together, as his arms closed around her again, making her by pure instinct hold onto him. This was really some Tazan and Jane stuff. Her darker eyes looked at his face in wonder, she wondered many things about him, these people seemed to react to their instincts rather than overthinking everything like almost every single person you met in the cities. It was perhaps because they lived out here, that their primal minds made them like this, it was indeed something else. But she took a closer look at his face for a brief moment, letting her eyes study his facial features, realizing soon enough she had forgotten to breath and had to take a deeper breath in. Finally, she moved eyes away from looking at him and up towards the goal they had yet to reach.

She denied that she was getting tired, even though she had almost presented herself earlier with sore feet. He couldn’t help but pull a crooked smile as she said stubborn could be her middle name. He wished to agree, but for now, her stubbornness wasn’t showing all of it’s true colors, he was sure of that. He didn’t care much that she frowned as he got closer to pick her up. He was quite used to pick up the smaller children or people in training, so he didn’t mind helping. To him, he was used to people either wrapping their arms around his neck or fold around themselves, depending on how tired they were. Natasha clearly still had energy, since she chose to wrap her arms around his neck, which was good. She needed energy to see the view and to feel alright getting back up.
Where as Kenzo was quite focused on walking, she seemed to now have the time to study him without interruption. As she took a deeper breath in, his eyes green eyes looked down at he, only for her to look towards the goal they were approaching. “Does my face bother you?” he wondered pulling on a little grin. He wouldn’t take it to heart if she didn’t like how  his eyes looked, how the scar crossed through his eyebrow or the way his beard was unruly and untamed. Who knew, maybe she was very critical, after all, she was from the town.

They finally got to the top, and the air seemed to be colder and moister up there. When they stood on the steady surface, he chose to let her down. There was a massive railing all around, so people could hide and look over it. It was made to be a lookout post and had a telescope someone had given them. It had a flag somewhat in the middle and a very special swingseat for one to get down very quickly. “Go on, take a look,” he said and gestured her to either look around or use the telescope.

Does my face bother you? Her eyes returned to him with a small frown, wondering what made him ask her that. "No," she replied folding her lips a little bit, licking them a bit by his grin. Natasha wasn't prone to smile a lot, at least not out of pure bliss, but he made her smile a bit easier than she liked. "How did you get that scar?" She asked letting her eyes wonder to the scar through his eyebrow. She was known to be critic in some situations, mostly behavior wise, she wasn't scared to share her thoughts on a subject.

Finally, they made it to the top - or he had done the most of the work. The cold air didn't bother her much, the natural heat from her fire manipulation often kept her a bit warmer than the average. She could eventually place both feet on the surface and look around. It could be one of the highest points of the forest, a place to look for enemies she assumed - Natasha had seen movies before after all. Natasha started to take a few steps around taking the view in. Going to the telescope she could see everything so close. It was like being on vacation and going to one of these lookout posts in a foreign country - taking in the landscape that always looked so different compared to what you imagined, but only in the best possible way. She moved back from the telescope and looked back to him. "It's beautiful," a smile beamed like a ray of sunshine on her lips before she turned her head to look out again. The fresh air rushing over her face, how could you be anything but happy standing here?

A soft chuckle left Kenzo as she argued that his face didn’t bother him. His green eyes looked down towards her as she asked to his scar. He tilted his head to the side once in a shrug. “I interfered in a fight,” he said looking at the stairs while he said so. “I was an unfair fight,” he said almost as if he was defending the interfering. He remembered the young blonde girl so clearly. Her legs had been shaking in fear as she had stood in front of one of the more experienced fighters, and even though he wasn’t allowed to interfere, he had done it because he cared for her like if she had been his daughter. Sadly, the girl had died shortly after.

Kenzo had been at the lookout post plenty of times and knew every little tree in the lookout, even though they had only spent a couple of years at the new place. His eyes were therefore on Natasha as she took in the view. She even used the telescope to explore. He loved that she actually seemed interested as she looked around. For a short moment he let his eyes leave her to actually see if he could spot anything obnoxious, the only thing that brought his attention back was how she turned to him with the brightest smile and complimented the view. “I’m glad you like it,” he said returning the bright smile. “Let me show you something,” he said and approached the telescope and squatted down to look through it and find a special spot. The spot was a nest for some supernatural birds which wings glimmered like crystals. It was quite active at the moment, because the bird babies were being fed regularly, “See,” he said and held the telescope so she should eye them immediately.

This entire place was like out of this world, one would think it would take an eternity to built this sort of thing. But she guessed commitment was a grant motivator. Maybe it was her newly embraced wolf self, her child was back in her arms again, it gave her some sort of confidence that she thought was lost. But Natasha had never been good at letting go of good things, or letting herself get some peace or moment to breath. So, being out here was freeing, like finally setting herself free. Let me show you something, Natasha tilted her head an inch to the side, but let her hazel eyes follow his movements, as he walked towards the telescope making her take just a small step back, watching as he squatted down to look through it. She wondered what he found. Natasha took a longer breath in looking mostly at him, and it wasn't till he spoke again that she realized she had been zoning a bit out by looking at him. She blinked a little bit, before leaning over to see. "Oh wauw," she was taken by complete surprise. Natasha had seen very little supernatural creatures. Yes her father had back when he was alive, been the biggest nerd in myths and folklore, but nothing Natasha ever had believed in - not till at least Austin had told some real stories, and had shown her things. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. So, she observed them for quite some time before pulling a bit away. "That was remarkable," the werewolf breathed out, straightening her back before Natasha ran a hand over her hair. "I understand why this is one of your favorite places," she nodded a bit before taking her eyes off him to look around again.

Motivation and hope made the red warriors strong and determined. It was something the never lost, and if someone doubted, there would always be someone to facilitate improvement. Kenzo was often this person, taking the hand of the younger, guiding them and showing them the way and light. He gave them hope and the will to continue – the will to fight for what they wanted. This motivation and hope had also driven them when they had been building this place. Of course, Kenzo was first joining them after a month or two, because he stayed back in the arena, but Tatia had done so well too. She always did amazing. Kenzo would even go as far and say that she wasn’t only the Red Queen and heda. No, she was also the bringer of hope and motivation.

Kenzo smiled cheekily as she approached and looked into the microscope. She was indeed surprised to what she was seeing. “It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” he chuckled and let her look for as long as she would like, seemingly just enjoying that she was fascinated. As she pulled away from the telescope and complimented it, a smile grew wide on his face. “You can just see… Everything from up here,” he said and just like her, he let his gaze travel over the treetops. “And if you’ve got good eyes, you can even see through the leaves and down to the camp… But I warn you it’s a long way down if you look over the fence,” he said with a slightly teasing smile as he looked back at her.

Full disclosure she wasn't used to being so much out and about, but she highly appreciated. The wolf within her even more. It was a while since she had felt so free and not having to be someone else. It was only a couple of days ago since she had discovered her entire birthright, and how closely entangled she had been with all of it without knowing. Since Natasha was neither really speaking to Cecilia nor Tyler, she had promised not to tell them any of it just yet. The same Irina and her had agreed with about Stefanya, since she was even greener in all of this. Natasha honestly wished that her youngest sister would just job on the first plane and get the hell out of this cursed land. Kenzo's voice seemed to push through her train of thoughts, and make her once again look around. You could see everything form up here.

His teasing tone made her chuckle a little bit before walking over to the fence. "Sounds like a dare to me," she looked shortly back at him before she turned her attention towards the fence which she grabbed and looked over it. She realized just how far they had climbed to get up here, which should have spoken by itself by the fact that she could see over the tree tops - but seeing just how long the way down was really putting this into perspective and almost send a wave of thrill through her before she stepped back.

Kenzo’s smile turned cheeky as she approached the fence. “Well, go ahead,” he said to her. Quietly he followed her over to the fence and was ready to grab onto her if anything was about to happen. She grabbed the fence and looked over it. He watched her carefully and the fence around her. Nothing seemed to happen, but she took a step back right back into him. He let his pig hands place themselves on her shoulders so she wouldn’t bounce forward and too far out over the fence. “Oh, my apologies,” he laughed a little and slowly took a little step away so she could turn. “Could you see the camp?” he asked calmly.