[Kheisa]

The enormous Kuhna was not here on business. He was not here to meet anyone. He was not here to find anything. Except maybe peace. Quiet, even.

Lately, his peace had been smashed into little bitty pieces by the media; the discovery of the Hunters had done it since he had been in the discovering party; had fought against the Hunters, and was currently living in a dwelling with two of them, one of whom was a trusted captain of the Leader of the Hunters.

All in all, it made for some pretty crappy alone time.

So he had come here, to Nu'san, to get away from it all. To get away from the girls, the boys, the little kits who looked up to him as an idol, and the people who looked upon him as a monster for his appearance.

Frankly, this was the best place he had been to in ages. It had no hidden secrets about it as far as he was concerned, it wasn't cold (though his longer fur could handle it well if needed), it wasn't harsh, and above all, it wasn't unfriendly. (Of course, it wasn't too friendly either.)

The monks carefully held their opinions to themselves and treated him with just the proper amount of respect-- the respect they would pay to, say, any other Common Kuhna (though they couldn't help just a bit more than that). It was relaxing and invigorating at the same time, being able to do things for himself and to be able to explore without pressure or tension.

Which was what his time was occupied with at the current moment; the jungles just beyond the temple were simply perfect for a twilight trek to release the last of his energy before he slipped off to his room in the travelers' quarters.

He padded quietly despite his size and claws, pointed ears listening innocently around for the slightest sound without being cautious to the point of being untrusting. The slight noise he himself made startled a bird, sitting in her nest and about to sleep, into flight. His eyes followed her until she passed behind a tree and out of his view.

Surely something a bit more interesting than that lurked in these trees.

Perhaps a feral pet. Like a pack of Tali. Or maybe even simply an Organic Polly.

Time would only tell what would interrupt his peace. Something was sure to.

[Kodai]

Certainly more interesting things lurked in this forest, though not all wanted to be seen. Of course, that was sometimes inevitable, as one of the lurkers was about to discover.

He was not a resident of these parts, either, but it had not been his idea to come. The other residents of the House had suggested that he go, in order to try to relax and curb his sometimes nasty nature, and so he had been shipped off to Barakka. Immediately he had taken to the forests around the temple, living there as he had lived at the House, and since then his nature had not improved at all. This wasn't to say that he was thoroughly mean-spirited; he just had his secrets and tried to keep them like anyone else. And now that he had adopted this forest as his temporary home, he was going to try his best to defend it.

Noticing the (rather flashily colored) intruder, the one known as Nocturne sank low, keeping to his belly as he crept up on Wash. He saw the scars adorning the other's coat, but even though he was slightly impressed, brushed aside all thoughts of him being an accomplished fighter. This territory was his, and he wasn't about to let some other Kuhna walk through it freely...

[Kheisa]

Now, it wasn't to say that Wash ignored this other Kuhna. His senses, finely tuned since he'd received the Voice's blessing, had picked up on it-- him. It was more to say that he... ignored him. The smell that he was picking up wasn't friendly, and so he paused for a moment to let Nocturne know that Wash knew he was there (not looking in the other Kuhna's direction at all), and then kept at his normal pace as though nothing had happened.

One ear was trained on Nocturne, though, so as to not throw all caution to the wind.

Even if the other Kuhna did charge him, Wash was fairly confident in his skills. He'd held his own against Hunters without the blessing, and they were made of crystal! A single Kuhna couldn't be that much harder. If worst came to worst he could use his goggles to keep Nocturne away and the shield he'd gotten with the blessing could protect him. If Nocturne wanted to fight, Wash would... Maybe... Give him one.

After at least trying to negotiate, of course. Violence wasn't Plan A.

[Kodai]

So the other Kuhna was aware that he was out there. Well, that took away any surprise element he had had. Now if he was going to fight, he would need to rely on all of his power... Though Nocturne was actually wondering if that would be such a good idea. Having gotten closer, he could see the fine network of scars crisscrossing over Wash's body, and he could also see that one of Wash's eyes was milky with blindness. The Common Kuhna (he was a Common, yes? The coloring seemed to suggest it) must have been in one heck of a fight to get wounds like those. Perhaps a full-out attack would be useless... but he could still try to drive away this intruder with his words. Leaping out a few feet in front of Wash, he bristled his shaggy fur and growled deeply.

"What are you doing here...?"

[Kheisa]

Wash gave a moment and had the grace to act surprised, looking down his nose mildly at Nocturne. What was he doing here? Well...

"I can't exactly say that I'm here for any particular reason- you see, since the discovery of the Hunters and that battle in Basantha Shrine I've had anything but quiet, so I came to Nu'san to get some peace and quiet because, you see, this place is for the most part unvisited and unloved since there are no great creatures to be found here and it's just a temple. In fact, I'd have to say you're one of the first people I've met here that isn't a monk."

Plan A was apparently to talk him to death. As he'd spoken, Wash looked over the other Kuhna, noting that he didn't appear to be of a breed that was registered... Then again, there seemed to be a lot of those walking around nowadays. They were prized, valued. Little treasures to be put on display and never touched again. Left to sit and rot their days away in a little kennel. This little (as compared to Wash, who was, well, bigger than the average Kamo Kuhna even) guy seemed to be not of that inclination. He looked like a wild Kuhna, which was fairly interesting. Wild'uns didn't happen too incredibly often as far as Wash knew. Surely he had a home, but then why was he being so... Defensive?

(Lolol ramble post)

[Kodai]

Nocturne listened as Wash explained his reason for being here. Battle in Basantha Shrine...? He seemed to vaguely remember hearing something about that back at the house; that a group of Kuhnas and a Hollowheart had fought a bunch of Hunters. Of course, he didn't really see what the whole deal was about. That group had just stumbled onto the Hunters' territory and a fight had naturally broken out, that was all. But if the media had gone crazy with the story... well, he couldn't do anything about that.

"So, you're here to get away from the press. Most others would do just about anything to get the spotlight on them," he replied, smirking slightly. "They hate being in the shadows... Though that's where I suggest you stay, unless you want to meet up with me again. I've claimed this area for as long as I'm staying at this place, and I don't appreciate intruders." He gave another growl, baring his claws a little. It didn't appear as though Nocturne was afraid of this larger Kuhna, but inside, something told him that if he engaged a fight with Wash, he wouldn't win.

[Kheisa]

Wash snorted as Nocturne spoke. As the other Kuhna made an aggressive move (namely growling), Wash puffed up his own fur instinctively, as a safety precaution in case Nocturne decided to attack. As well as to make himself look larger, the poofier fur would muffle attacks better than slick fur would.

The common Kuhna didn't seem to be afraid of Nocturne either, but wasn't mad at him as Nocturne seemed to be.

"Shadows? I wouldn't have gone to Basantha if I didn't enjoy them a bit. 'Sides, the spotlight puts people all around, including my blind side. I really hate it when people come up on my blind side, y'know? Ha ha." he chuckled. "And geez, what if I want to meet up with you again? You're an interesting character and so far I'm enjoying myself far more than I was before you jumped in front of me. We could be friends." Another chuckle, as if to say Haha, yeah right.

He seemed jolly enough. A comic relief type of Kuhna to be sure. Not really capable of anger unless provoked severely.

[Kodai]

What an odd Kuhna. Instead of acting aggressive in turn, he was being cheerful and cracking jokes. This threw off the Haze Kuhna, making him stand there and stare incredulously at Wash for a few moments. Shaking his head, Nocturne mumbled, "I don't need friends," and went back to glaring while he thought. So Wash thought he was interesting? Well, surely meeting anyone was more interesting than wandering around doing nothing by yourself. Even Nocturne had to admit that this was more exciting than patrolling the forest he had claimed as his temporary territory. Still, an offer of friendship? Even though it had been sarcastic, the scruffy Haze had to wonder. Could Wash be serious, even if it was to a small degree? Maybe he should... No, he didn't need anyone. Others would just get in the way. He didn't desire friendship.

...Or maybe he did...

[Kheisa]

"Don't need friends? Don't be ridiculous, everybody needs friends! Ever seen that logo with the world and a buncha little kids all holding hands? Friends!" Wash was flabbergasted, or at least was making a show as if he were.

And then, quite abruptly, he giggled. Not a chuckle like he'd been doing- a giggle. Complete with starting snort and paw covering mouth politely. In the midst of his bout of giggles he said, "Y'know, your face is gonna freeze like that if you keep glaring at me." The common kuhna calmed himself down and sat like he wasn't going anywhere, putting on a serious (-ish) front and holding out his paw.

"But honestly, you look like you need some friends. Consider it- I'm Wash." He gave a smile, which vanished and reappeared hopefully in turn as though if he re-smiled multiple times it would have more of an effect.

[Kodai]

Things were just getting stranger and stranger. Now this Kuhna was offering to be friends? And also he was giggling at him... That was irritating. Actually, it was more than irritating. It was downright infuriating! This stranger was offering a paw in friendship and yet he was mocking him? What sort of Kuhna did that? Unable to figure out just where Wash was coming from with his words, he began to sink into a rage. Forgetting all about the size and probable experience of Wash, he leapt at the other's throat, hoping to take him by surprise and deliver a nasty bite. It would serve him right, making fun of him like that.

[Kheisa]

"Oh dear!"

... Oh dear? Honestly? Couldn't the scarred Kuhna come up with anything better to say to what looked to be a death-attack?

Since his paw was already up, he raised it further and held it in front of his throat in a half-hearted, didn't-have-time-to-really-prepare defense. Nocturne would probably end up biting Wash's foreleg, which would admittedly be unfortunate for the larger Kuhna because that meant he would likely as not need to attract attention to himself to get medical aid, or at least supplies so he could fix it himself.

"Come on now, I don't even know your name and already you're trying to kill me? That's not exactly the right way to start off anything then is it?"

Was it even possible to be this good-natured after being bitten?

[Kodai]

Although he had missed Wash's jugular, Nocturne bit just as happily into the Kuhna's foreleg, crunching down in an attempt to reach bone. Due to the huge size of the Common, the Haze was left dangling in midair, legs flailing and claws raking out, desperate to latch onto anything. He still couldn't believe how jovial Wash was being, which made him confused, which in turn just served to make him more angry. Nocturne didn't give an answer to the question asked of him (not that he could, with a mouth full of leg) and instead focused on trying to wrap his own forelegs around Wash's so that he wasn't holding on by just his teeth.