Kat just stared at him, eyebrow raised, as the stranger's face went through the typical set of expressions people made when faced with her and Hel for the first time. Panic, to shock, to confusion. Yup. Every time. Hel gave a little growl when the man reached for his sword, but he backed off soon enough as he finally began to understand the situation. The stranger then began to look her over, evaluating, and Kat did the same. He was dirty and unshaven, but still clearly someone with some important title – the massive pauldron he wore on his shoulder and the blade he carried spoke to that. So some knight, then. He certainly looked the part under all that grime… he was so big that if he hugged someone, he'd probably squeeze the life right out of them. 

[i]It's no wonder the horse threw him off,[/i] Kat snarked to herself. [i]Poor beast was probably protesting all this weight.[/i]

She blinked then at his next choice of words. [i]Villager[/i]. It'd been a very long time since Kat had belonged to any village. Hel once again raised his hackles at the knight when he called the snow leopard a pet, and Kat just smirked, brushing her fingers through his fur to calm him.

"You don't bite him, he won't bite back," she said as an answer. Pushing herself up, she brushed her hand on her pants and looked down at him. Hel took a step in front of her, putting his shoulders between the girl and the knight. Apparently, he was still a bit sore at being called a 'pet.' Some song was playing in the tavern that Kat really didn't care for, but for some reason or other, she was feeling less tired as she stretched her neck. Perhaps a nap in the woods wasn't so necessary after all. "Your horse is long gone, by the way. Probably still running for its life." She eyed him again, lingering on the metal pauldron and oversized sword. Really, oversized was a good word to summarize him as a whole.

[i]Have fun lugging yourself to the closest horse trader.[/i]