Grouse Thicket maybe i'm not listening

Dash caught himself mid-stagger, and he then splayed his legs out to make sure he was ready in case the sneaky ground pulled another lurching maneuver on him. For a few moments, everything was quiet. Steady. Dash was about to venture a tenative step forward when his watcher made himself known. 

The boy twisted toward the sound, and his gaze took just a smidge too long to focus on the stranger. "Heyyy," he drawled, an easy grin plastering itself across his face. "So are these like... the trickiest bird-thingies you ever saw, or what?" He turned back to the nearest grouse and leaped forward, intending to pounce upon it. He landed about a foot to the left of his intented position, catching himself on unsteady feet. "Witchcraft!" he accused of the grouse, growling at the thing as it tittered indignantly back at him.