Neverwinter Forest up in smoke

Movin' along. Feel free to drop @Liffey in whenever, if you still wanna! (And for Hydra's benefit: click.)

Before long Screech realized he wasn't alone.

He heard something moving about among the trees and, thinking his luck had somehow reset itself and maybe he had found something good that he could bring back to the pack, he delved through the foliage without thinking. It wasn't long until the sounds stopped; whatever had been moving must have heard him or maybe spotted him and taken refuge in the shadows, so he stopped too and looked around. His ears were turning at every subtle noise - from a shift of the wind through the tree tops to the unmistakable chattering of a squirrel somewhere yonder. No, it had been something bigger —

And then there was a sound from behind him. Screech turned and took a daring lunge at this conflagration of sounds, thinking he had found or spooked whatever he'd been prowling after — but instead he ran smack-dab in to @Sorina in the shadows adjacent. This time neither her nose or his anything got all jammed up together; his chest bumped in to her shoulder and the boy was scrambling to hold himself steady.

When the bumbling moment of brief pain and confusion subsided he lifted his nose and glared sharply at her. You again? Finding her after all of their back-and-forth antics made him feel instantly cornered and he puffed up a bit, awkward and unsure and entirely at her mercy in the wood. It wasn't enough that she humiliate him, or attack his friend, now she was here with him and they were alone? Together?

(What was that about luck?)

Screech was more irritated by the thought that he'd been accidentally stalking her when he thought he'd found something actually valuable like dinner for his pack. But this didn't make sense. Wait - wait - you're following me? But if you're here, what the fuck was I — as he spoke Screech turned to face the darkness where @Hydra was hiding, not realizing how close he had come to finding her instead.