As Qit rounded the brush, Nir'wei squatted as close as he dared, within viewing distance but still more than far enough that an errant cough hopefully wouldn't interrupt the take-down. "Have you seen the way she looks at you?" Greyhide suddenly asked, eyes fixed sternly on the Hafrein first, hunter second. Watching for the slightest twitch, the signal he needed to jump in and take the kill for himself. He never found it. "Like an eagle that looks at a dead pigeon. Wasted meat, not worth scavenging. It's almost as bad as the looks you give her back." There was a stern humour in his voice, amused but berating. Whatever hidden message was masked in his words, Nir'wei didn't see it, nor did he need to. She could think whatever she thought of him. He'd already made amends with that. "Envy is unbecoming of you," the wolf chimed.
"Stop reading my thoughts," he sent back, shooting a harsh glare the wolf's way and nearly tripping over himself when he looked down and found Greyhide already staring back up at him with those eerie, yet familiar eyes of his. The exact same ones that he owned himself. If he looked deep enough, he could see his own reflection in them. A dark, endless tunnel of blue. "I don't envy her," he added afterwards, light and conversational. Somewhere in the distance a scuffling, possibly a fight, though he no longer paid attention to it; whatever happened was hers to trouble with now. "I have a place here. I'm no longer dying; that's always a bonus. A stable, well-paying job doing what I love, with all the freedoms I could need. My best friend is within a break's fly, at best - oh, right, I can fly now. I'd almost forgotten." Something about this conversation was really starting to grate on his nerves the more they talked about it. "So what, she can throw a javelin a little better than me. A javelin? Come on."
"You know this isn't about the javelin." The wolf breathed out a strange sigh and sat on its haunches, apparently resigned. A faint sound, like the tearing of fabric. "At the end of today, we'll go home to our tent. Tomorrow we'll return to the Menagerie. And the cycle will begin again." He nodded vaguely in the direction of where Qit'ria had slunk off. "She'll go home, and tomorrow she'll be doing a job for anyone, doing anything." Well, not anything, Nir'wei amended... but he didn't like the thought process. "It's the price you've paid for a nice, stable, well-paying job. You've traded in your adventure." Somewhere in the back of his head, he could feel Archailist nodding enthusiastically in agreement, and fresh annoyance stoked the low flame he'd already been harbouring since before they'd set out. "And seeing someone else enjoying everything you've lost..."
Nir'wei banished those thoughts and stood abruptly, doing his best to mentally ignore where the wolf was going. It was a good thing Qit'ria had already snagged the Hafrein, because where he'd stomped through the wilderness without any particular finesse before out of inexperience, he was fully aware of how much he was probably messing things up now. He was past the point of giving a shit. It really was blind luck by this point that there wasn't much on the path he took that could make any significant noise. "You finished?" Stupid question, he realised, looking down at the trapped animal. He winced at the literal hole in its leg. The best way to stop it from running off, but certainly not the best way to keep it on its feet later-on. They still had to walk the damn thing and there was no point taking them down if they just died from exhaustion, blood loss, infection, internal bleeding, or any other host of complications that often came paired with a javelin wound to the leg. This is why they had the blunt arrows! This is why they had poison, for Karem's sake!
He looked back up to the huntress and something suddenly clicked. "Oh for the love of..." He covered his eyes with a hand and looked away. Seriously, he knew that rustling of clothes was bad for stealth and all, but there were limits! "You want something to cover yourself with, I've got spare clothes!" Apparently not, because from the corners of his hand he could see her slinking off again already, off in search of more meat... and leaving this one lying on the ground, unconscious and expertly trussed... but still unguarded. Damn it all. "Screw it," he muttered under his breath. He'd love to make sure that their efforts didn't go to waste and leave their prey out in the open, vulnerable to any predator or scavenger to run off with their first - perhaps only - mount, but he turned and followed suit, doing his best imitation of her crouch as he could manage... though it'd probably look mocking if she ever actually turned around and looked.
"Stop reading my thoughts," he sent back, shooting a harsh glare the wolf's way and nearly tripping over himself when he looked down and found Greyhide already staring back up at him with those eerie, yet familiar eyes of his. The exact same ones that he owned himself. If he looked deep enough, he could see his own reflection in them. A dark, endless tunnel of blue. "I don't envy her," he added afterwards, light and conversational. Somewhere in the distance a scuffling, possibly a fight, though he no longer paid attention to it; whatever happened was hers to trouble with now. "I have a place here. I'm no longer dying; that's always a bonus. A stable, well-paying job doing what I love, with all the freedoms I could need. My best friend is within a break's fly, at best - oh, right, I can fly now. I'd almost forgotten." Something about this conversation was really starting to grate on his nerves the more they talked about it. "So what, she can throw a javelin a little better than me. A javelin? Come on."
"You know this isn't about the javelin." The wolf breathed out a strange sigh and sat on its haunches, apparently resigned. A faint sound, like the tearing of fabric. "At the end of today, we'll go home to our tent. Tomorrow we'll return to the Menagerie. And the cycle will begin again." He nodded vaguely in the direction of where Qit'ria had slunk off. "She'll go home, and tomorrow she'll be doing a job for anyone, doing anything." Well, not anything, Nir'wei amended... but he didn't like the thought process. "It's the price you've paid for a nice, stable, well-paying job. You've traded in your adventure." Somewhere in the back of his head, he could feel Archailist nodding enthusiastically in agreement, and fresh annoyance stoked the low flame he'd already been harbouring since before they'd set out. "And seeing someone else enjoying everything you've lost..."
Nir'wei banished those thoughts and stood abruptly, doing his best to mentally ignore where the wolf was going. It was a good thing Qit'ria had already snagged the Hafrein, because where he'd stomped through the wilderness without any particular finesse before out of inexperience, he was fully aware of how much he was probably messing things up now. He was past the point of giving a shit. It really was blind luck by this point that there wasn't much on the path he took that could make any significant noise. "You finished?" Stupid question, he realised, looking down at the trapped animal. He winced at the literal hole in its leg. The best way to stop it from running off, but certainly not the best way to keep it on its feet later-on. They still had to walk the damn thing and there was no point taking them down if they just died from exhaustion, blood loss, infection, internal bleeding, or any other host of complications that often came paired with a javelin wound to the leg. This is why they had the blunt arrows! This is why they had poison, for Karem's sake!
He looked back up to the huntress and something suddenly clicked. "Oh for the love of..." He covered his eyes with a hand and looked away. Seriously, he knew that rustling of clothes was bad for stealth and all, but there were limits! "You want something to cover yourself with, I've got spare clothes!" Apparently not, because from the corners of his hand he could see her slinking off again already, off in search of more meat... and leaving this one lying on the ground, unconscious and expertly trussed... but still unguarded. Damn it all. "Screw it," he muttered under his breath. He'd love to make sure that their efforts didn't go to waste and leave their prey out in the open, vulnerable to any predator or scavenger to run off with their first - perhaps only - mount, but he turned and followed suit, doing his best imitation of her crouch as he could manage... though it'd probably look mocking if she ever actually turned around and looked.