A woman's voice echoed through the silent valley, confusing Kogan for a moment. The voice was commanding and agitated and was calling for Nez's surrender. He gripped his ax. It was not the first time he'd been mistaken for a bandit. Tales of famous brigands often painted them as demons and to the average, uneducated farmer, Kogan certainly fit the bill. But that didn't sound like a zealous peasant. Another hunter perhaps? He looked around, noting the lack of fresh footprints in the area. Whoever it was, they were lying... badly.<br/><br/>It was hard to know where the voice had come from, given the acoustics of the town and surrounding valley. Not to mention, the silence gave everything a confusing echo. Kogan's senses were not very attuned and the cold made his nose practically useless. However, he knew someone who had no such handicap. He leaned on his ax, head down in the frozen ground as he raised his head, a long, low whistle sounding through the town.<br/><br/>Yellow eyes watched the elf from behind a snow covered cart full of hay. The creature didn't need Kogan's signal. It had already flanked the newcomer. It's paws crept forward silently, snow muffling it's movements until its muzzle was inches from the back of the elf's head.<br/><br/>"I'm guessing he's found you by now," Kogan said after a few minutes, speaking loudly so that the woman would hear him, wherever she was hiding. "Ku'bok, MingMing!" He said, the words sounding like a command.<br/><br/>The creature had been silent, hadn't even breathed as it drew close, making sure to stay out of her line of sight as she focused on Kogan until the command was uttered. The beast, an enormous, spotted hound, let out a hot breath against the elf's cheek, allowing her a single heartbeat to realize it was there before it pounced, enormous paws bowling her over, pinning her down, jaws closing around her neck but holding still, teeth gently pressed against the dark skin, awaiting a second command to kill.<br/><br/>Kogan, having heard the struggle, approached, coming around the side of the building she had hunkered down beside and leaning on his ax again. "As you see, I am not the bandit Nez the Red. Kogan Lobrek. This is MingMing. And you are?"<br/><br/>((Lemme know if I need to revise this. I know it doesn't give you much room to respond to MingMing.))