Emberwood gunslung

weeks and no red.
weeks and he healed.
colt knitted. he could walk without pain now, hunt too. his spine was still stiff but that was to be expected.
for now he skulked through the wood, haunted in anger and the arrested feelings half-grown toward indra.

He had still not returned home.

If his mother was not there, neither would he be. Yet his absence for Kvarsheim manifested in a million ways. An edge of ferality came about him.

His fur clumped in certain places, his skin hung a little looser off a hardly grown frame. The scent of Kvarsheim was removed from him. He became territorial over the things he could scavenge.

Yet his curiosity had not died out yet.

As evident by the way he watched the great, wounded man. Stalking alongside him like a shadow.

colt briggs wasn't alone for long. a hangdog boy came to amble nearby, half-grown and ragged with travel. the wounded man snorted. injured or not, he wouldn't be caught unawares, and the crimson eyes said it.
"best fuck off, kid," colt said in a friendly manner, spiting birch juice into the snow. "i ain't fit fer company. seems those who keep it with me are destined t'suffer pretty bad." colt kept up his shuffling gait.

Dagur did not speak.

He did not know if it was out of his own want to not to do so, or if he had missed a mark somewhere in his growth. Perhaps it was the lack of company he kept now.

His shoulders hunched some, subconsciously deferring to the bigger man in his physical display. He snorted a soft sound. Curious, but prepared to leap away if he was chased off.

he wasn't about it. colt's crimson eyes singed toward the kid again. "where'd yew come from anyway? kvarsheim?" that was about the only place he knew with wandering pups. the tattered ears swung. "yew been away from em a while, huh?" all assumptions, but colt didn't care if he was wrong. who did? 
he snorted again. "yew eaten recently?" when the hell had he gotten so soft?

He intended to ignore the only word he registered. Mainly because he had no intentions of being sent back there.

So he sunk a bit more into his own lean frame. Head held below his shoulders, tail low but wiggling a little now. The man did not chase him off. A good sign.

He snorted again, after the other man did so.

Accidentally mimicking him in hopes of gaining enough favor.

colt stared at the boy, then loudly spat again. the kid sounded like a baby bull. he eyed the loose skin and the wariness that surely hid a deep exhaustion. 
and in indra's absence, colt felt cut adrift. vulnerable. adding someone else to the gang might be worthwhile, show he could contribute. 
back to reno on top again. 
his breath was a column of steam. "keep up then." he set off at a harsher pace.

Dagur needed no instruction.

If the man moved, he moved too. It was instinct more than anything else in that moment. He could not say why he had chosen this man to shadow.

Yet he did just that.

Tired, but huffing and pushing himself to keep up pace. He drifted like a tide at the man's heels.

colt pushed the birchbark into the corner of his mouth. ahead of them, a hare lifted long ears silhouetted against the filtered light.
"get after 'im, boy," briggs directed roughly, cutting to one side. first test. herd the little shit this way. then they could both eat.

Instinct.

He followed the man further and further. He had no need to think about anything in these moments. In his mind existed nothing. Not a missing mother, not left behind siblings, not a life of ease abandoned in a fit.

He knew only this moment.

The promise of a meal was enough to motivate him in a ravenous way.

The Big Man cut one way and Dagur sharply moved his body the other way. The tall ears had not been missed in their movements.

Now he bit, snapped, pierced upon flesh of prey. Hot and warm in his mouth. Wounded, not yet down. The sound it made was once more a motivator.

kid was fast. colt moved quick too, hearing the scream and coming to close the gap of space.
they made short work of it. he shoved its limp body toward the boy. "eat." he had access to caches. the poor little bastard couldn't have had a decent meal in a while.
"yew gotta name?" but by now colt didn't think he'd get a reply.

He would have fought for the body had it not been given to him.

Regardless, he would not know what a terrible idea that would have been. The rabbit had been surrendered by The Big Man and Dagur devoured it with a ferocity. At some point he coughed and hacked, choking from the speed with which he ate.

A mess painted across his face as he stared up at The Big Man.

His ears pushed forward for a moment. Acknowledgement to the other man, before he hunched low again over the rabbit. Continued his hungry assault on the meal.

"slow down before yew choke, dummy," colt snarked with no real heft behind his words. the kid remained silent, devouring the rabbit in silence. there was nothing but the snap of gristle and the gentle sound of the carcass sliding across the ground.
"yew wanna go back?" colt demanded suddenly. "back home. heim," he tried again, though less and less did he think this one of theirs.

Dagur had become good at ignoring things that were of no boon to him.

The man spoke a familiar word again and the boy kept his face thoroughly shoved into the rabbit he had been given. Some part of him liked to think he had won it fair and square. Wary of the man in the barest sliver, but if shadowing him was always this good, then he could learn to trust.

Only his gut churned from the speed he had devoured at.

Momentarily a sick look crossed his face, but still he hunched protectively over the meal.

colt rolled his frayed shoulders. "right. well, yew gotta answer to somethin', if yer." he stopped there and frowned. "if yer gonna come along."
swift hunter, silent kid, smelled of nowhere and no place. 
"guess yer name is gonna be marston. yew like that, marston?" colt snickered. it was a good name, a strong name, falling into the boy's ears like an oversized hat.
"yew'll grow into it. now let's git," he spurred with his voice, and motioned to the remains. "get rid of em or bring em. don't leave nothin' of yer meal where yew been. first lesson."

Dagur —

Marston only snorted in acknowledgement. The Big Man made a lot of words, but the body language was clear enough through it all.

It was time to head out somewhere. The Big Man motioned at the rabbit. Without a second thought, the boy snatched it up in his jaws. Hunched, ears splayed, but message made clear too. That this rabbit was his.

And like a child with a stuffed animal, he was prepared to follow after the man, clutching his first good prize in a while.

last for me! <3 gonna get a new one going

the scent of blood trailed in the air, but colt and marston were gone into the wintery mists before anyone could see them.
he hoped reno wouldn't scold so much. and they all knew sadey would fuss over him the way she hadn't with red.
his heart lurched. colt said no more, only moved them both right into the heart of the forest.