04-29-06

Characters involved: Taye, Seven, Leori, Greeneye, & Benar.

Salamandastron: Niche

Taye is just walking out through the small fissure in the mountain's face which conceals Sala's entrance. He has a bow strung over his shoulder and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. He's by himself, leaving the sentries in the passageway behind.

From the direction of the shore comes a dark shape, moving in an odd manner, then dropping against the rocks. In the area that Seven has just gone still, it is still dark enough to conceal who he is.

Taye has turned his gaze to his sandy surroundings just in time to see the dark, moving shape disappear behind a set of rocks. Taye's eyes narrow in the darkness and he reaches over his shoulder, first for his bow and then for an arrow, which he sets to bow string. He starts forward inchingly.

Seven has his back leaned up against the rocks, panting hard. Much more than he has ever been seen to do after running for any length of time. The sniper bares his fangs and looks down to the sand, before around the side of the rock towards the shoreline. He has apparently not seen Taye yet, though he should be noticeable soon, as the younger one's eyes adjust to the dimness.

Leori steps out for her nightly strolls she looks around and spots Taye seeing his bow she senses danger and backs up slowly standing next to the entry way ready to sound the alarm in the mountain if needed.

Greeneye silently swoops down. Upon landing he cries out, "Yaggah! I must speak with Firrum, earth crawler again."

... Hm. Taye's eyes narrow a fraction more and he starts to speed up, pulling the arrow against the bow string to tautness. Aiming, he gets ready to call out a warning, when... he recognizes something about the way the other creature is moving. His eyes widen and all at once he lowers the bow, letting the arrow drop to the ground. "... Sev." He shakes his head and swallows with difficulty. The other runner was close to being pincushion material. "... Oy! Sev!"

It is the kestrel that gets Seven's attention first. A small bark of surprise is given at the outcry and he tucks as far against the rocks as possible, before both ears turn towards Taye. The buck swallows hard, scowling somewhat.

Leori blinks looking at the bird, she jumps and yells out suddenly. "aye where did you come FROM!" she suddenly yells at greeneye jumping in the air looking scared out of her mind at the moment. "good way to get youself attack wot!" she yells out.

Leori's not the only one who's surprised. Taye nearly jumps out of his skin, twisting around now to face the recently landed bird. His bow and arrow come back up. "... A." Pause, swallow. "A /very/ good way to get yerself attacked!" He glances around, from Leori to Seven, surprised at the sudden and unexpected gathering.

Seven isn't so happy about the gathering himself. He's fine now with the bird having landed, but he's still tucked against the outcropping, nearly curled and head bowed.

Leori sighs and looks down the officers are going to kill her she knew this was going to come back to bite her. She looks at Greeneye, "you will have to talk with the recruits they have more power than." she says trying to hide the fact she let him yesterday only for a few moments to talk with Firrum.

Seven doesn't respond to Taye's call except to turn away from observing the shore and press firmly against the rocks with ear flickering that way too. The runner just curls again, head bowed and still panting. Dangit. Not like he hasn't noted Leori now too.

There is a pattering from inside the mountain and a sorry looking grey figure walks out, he looks about and sighs starting to move away from the mountain trying to sneak past the oters

Fortunately for the sneaking Benar, Taye's attention is too hyperfocused on Seven and /his/ odd behavior. He continues forward, dropping his bow to the sand as he goes. He comes up to the rocks Seven has pressed himself against, brow furrowing. "... Sev? Sev, what's wrong? What're you..." He frowns. "Why're you /breathin'/ like that?" Foreign ground for a runner 'n' all.

When Taye comes closer, Seven growls a little. "Leave me 'lone." Is his statement, still seemingly trying to catch his breath and staying there in the sands close to the niche. Indeed it /is/ foreign ground for a runner, as no matter how much he runs, the sniper should not be breathing like that. His ears twist backward with a low grunt.

Benar pauses as he hears two familiar voices and perks up a little bit, he peers around a rock and clambers atop it to look down at them, staying silent though as scary vermin hare is growling

Taye's ears twitch back, his eyes widening slightly. His immediate reaction is to take a step back, but then he shakes his head and steps forward and into a crouch, down on one knee. "'Ey, wait, Sev... what's wrong?"

"Get away from me!" Sev snaps, kicking a footpaw out at Taye, though not actually aiming to hit the other runner. Far from it. It is just a threat. Sand sprays out away from this movement.

Benar can't help but squeek at that peering down at them both and deciding it really is unsafe here..."

Taye's head jerks back as the sand sprays. He looks, more than anything else, hurt. He doesn't stand away from the other buck, and instead reaches out tentatively toward the buck's footpaw, the closest thing to him. "... No," he supplies with a worried shake of his head. "What's /wrong/?"

Seven is a little too bothered by other things to kick the other buck away from him. "Jus'.. let me be fer a while.." Is mumbled, ears twitched back still. Even more than they had been. Something must have happened. The sniper is suddenly more vermin-like.

Benar squeeks and decides to leave, he leaps down and runs back into the mountain

Taye's eyes couldn't be any wider, hurt, or pathetically innocent-looking than they are right now. He lets himself fall back, settling on his rear in the sand. "But... I..." Pause, breathe. Get a hold of yourself, Taye! He shakes his head, a little more sharply than he intends. "... Fine. Jus' tell me yer all righ', first. Then I'll go."

It is unsure whether or not Seven actually realized what he was wanting from Taye up until now. When the runner is planning on going though, his ears perk and he shakes his head. "No. No don' go." Finally almost whimpered in response. The sniper goes to reach forward with a jerky motion and grab Taye to pull him to him as he settles back against the rock again. Perhaps gaining his senses again.

"Mmff!" is Taye's only reaction to being tugged forward, his arms going to settle around the other buck. He stares at the rock wall he now faces, his eyes blinking and wide. His paw, slightly curled, cups the back of the other buck's neck. Gentle squeeze. "What /happened/, Sev? Really?"

Seven sags against Taye, ears going limp and giving a huffing breath as his paw rests upon the other buck's shoulder blades. "'m sorry.. Don' feel so good." Is mumbled to him, near to the base of the runner's ear and swallowing hard. Blood would possibly be felt on Taye's arm because having them snugged around the other.

Taye lifts his arm away from Seven's form briefly, his eyes flicking down to stare in shock at the blood soaking into the sleeve of his tunic, there. He speaks, his voice just on the edge of trembling. "Sev... aw, damn, Sev," he chokes out, "What's happened to you, babe?" He's been scared into using an affectionate nickname. This is bad.

Seven glances to the side at Taye's arm as he chokes back a shuddering breath. "'m fine.. 'm fine. Jus' 'ad a run-in." The buck rests his forehead against the other's shoulder, eyes closing as he does. Three gashes are cut up along his side, looking to be from claws on a large paw. He smirks a little. "I'll live.." It hurts though.

Taye's muzzle turns into the other buck's shoulder, pressing a firm kiss to his neck fur. Swallowing on the fast and thick lump which has formed in his throat, he forces himself to speak. "... Okay. I'm goin' to take a look at yer side, now, 'n' we're goin' to make this bettah. A'right?"

There is no answer except the bobbing of Seven's head which would be felt against his shoulder. Maybe he's just feeling sick, so doesn't want to talk. The buck begins to release Taye to let him be able to see his side more clearly as he straightens his back against the rock outcropping.

Taye leaves Seven settle back, also settling back onto his knees. Ducking his head forward, he takes a knife from his belt and carefully cuts Sev's tunic away at the side. He grimaces at the sight, reaching his finger-tips out but not actually touching the wound. "... Who did this?" He takes his travel canteen, unscrewing it and gently wetting the clean under-side of his sleeve. He begins dabbing at the wound, doing what he can to clean it.

Seven shakes his head, glancing off to the side. "Jus'.. nay it's no' importan'." The dabbing of the wound gets him to suck in a painful breath and wince, fangs showing. He settles back once more as best he can with a grimace just watching what Taye is doing with a heavy swallow. "Thanks, though, love." It feels a bit weird to him to say that..

Taye's ears twitch at Sev's words. His eyes flicker up briefly with surprise but he quickly looks back down, focusing back in on his work. Gently, he directs the other buck to lean over so that his side is more accessible. That done, he pulls out one of the small herb packets which all Patrol hares are provided and rips it open, pouring its contents over the gashes. That done, he uses his dagger to help him rip off his sleeve at the elbow. Folding the material over once, he presses it to Seven's side and catches hold of the other buck's paw to hold over it. He pauses a moment, looking the buck over carefully. "... Is there anythin' else?"

With dull interest, Seven watches Taye's work, head leaned forward but having moved to the position that the other runner wanted him to be in. The herbs get another wince before pressing his paw down on the tunic piece against his side as directed. "No. 'm fas'. Only gotta swipe at m'side." Mumbled.

"/Who/ did, Sev?" The pet name's gone, unable to be used in Taye's now more calmed state. The buck pats his paws over his tunic, leaving bloody prints in his search for his reserve roll of bandages. He glances down at himself, only then taking /full/ notice of the blood. The characteristic sinking feeling in his stomach and the lightness in his head takes him by surprise /only/ for the fact that it was delayed for so /long/. His brow knits, but he's not afforded much time to think about it as his paws come across the roll. He yanks it out and begins to bandage the other up, moving the other's paw when it's no longer necessary to hold the makeshift gauze in place.

"No'un of importance, Taye." Yeah, well.. you don't get anymore pet names either. So there. Sev takes note of the other's response to finally observing the blood upon him fully. A flicker of whiskers and he just leans back more again, only to have to sit up as before because of the bandaging. He removes his bloodied paw once it is pushed away.

When the bandaging is complete, Taye finally allows himself to settle back on his haunches. He keeps his gaze lowered, his paws shaking minutely as he wipes them rather uselessly on his trousers. "... Maybe," he starts, pauses for a rather /emphatic/ wipe of his paw, "Maybe not important to /you/..." He allows himself a short glance up at the other and almost immediately relents with a worried furrow of his brow. "... R'you all right? D'you think you c'n walk 'n' all?"

For a while, he continues to just watch the other before him, seeming more sympathetic than he has been. Slowly, Sev goes to shift forward, legs going to either side of Taye's body, and bent up at the knee, as he moves to hug him. Especially at the relent when he looks up to him. "'m sorry. Don' be worried..please." Perhaps the softest Sev has ever sounded. "I think I can walk.."

Rather than tensing up as he might, Taye relaxes into the embrace, going to wrap his arms around and over Seven's. He ducks his head against Sev's shoulder, his words a murmur against the other's fur. "... Nevah would've thought I'd be so bloody damned worried about /yer/ arse, anyway..." He manages to grin against the other's shoulder, giving a punctuating hug. He then repositions himself, going to hook an arm under the other's to help him up if he should need it. "... C'mon, we should get you inside."

Chuckle. Seven finds this statement funny. "Sorry, I've gotten stuck in yer 'ead I guess." The sniper just rests there, allowing the hug and seeming to be more calm in it than he has been for a while now, one paw going up to pet Taye's ears but then he thinks better of it.. with the blood and all. So this time when he goes around to help him up, he allows him to. "Well... I ran 'ere. So I think 'm fine 'nough." Is mumbled, going to start inside with Taye's help.

"... Yeah, well." 'You should be' would be an appropriate response here, if not for the fact that Taye's /incapable/ of making himself mind that the other buck's 'stuck in his head'. As it is, he just ducks the head and shakes it, grinning a little bit. "... Let's get inside." And that's all he says, leading the other gingerly to the entrance and inside.