Neverwinter Forest reeling again

@Hide short starter rippp

Orochi sought out the redhead as the sun began to set. It was really fucking hard with all the rain and mud. The island’s scent has practically washed away, the forest’s smell was overpowering. It was extremely frustrating, but he didn’t give up.

// super fast phone reply... go!

Hide was getting better at navigating the terrain here, but it was still fucking hard to get from Point A to Point B, and even more difficult to find someone. He could tell it was getting darker by the temperature dropping and the noises of night animals starting to come out.

As hard as it was to accept sometimes, he did need help - and quite often, too. And he could've wasted a lot of time searching for his friend that night, but he thought it would be faster if he just yelled instead.

"Orochi!!"

He’d probably be walking around for hours if Hide hadn’t called him. It’s a good thing there wasn’t much distance between the two. Orochi was able to track him down in no time.

There you are, he growled, Fuck this rain. I can’t find anything anymore. Honestly he could go on and on about this awful storm, but he couldn’t get carried away.

Orochi nudged his friend’s shoulder with his own before looping around to be face to face. Can you help me with something?

"Yeah, the rain really sucks," Hide agreed wholeheartedly, nodding his head. "It's getting easier to get around and stuff, but it's still not great not knowing where things are. Plus there's just... too many trees here. I could do without that." 

He felt pressure on his shoulder and returned it with a smile, tail swishing behind him. The boy tipped his head to the side at Orochi's inquiry, raising a brow. "Yeah, sure man. What do you need?" he asked, eager to be able to help Orochi for a change.

If he was having trouble navigating through the forest, then Hide was having 10x more trouble. That was confirmed by the complaints. I can’t wait until it stops. The sooner that happened, the sooner they could walk around normally again.

But he wasn’t here to talk about the weather. Ah, well Huā’s making me teach a couple kids how to fight. He wasn’t sure how much of the pack was aware of the puppy training sessions. As far as he knew, only the parents, the mentors, and the kids were in the know.

I.. never really trained anyone before. It was pretty hard to admit he didn’t know how to do something. Orochi lowered his head sheepishly. I was wondering if I could practice doing it with you.

Orochi was teaching the kids? That was... a surprisingly adorable thought. Hide'd never really been around kids much himself, but he had always liked the idea of them - little wolves to spend time with and teach and look out for. But he hadn't been sure how Orochi felt about them.

"Of course! I've been wanting to learn from you anyway," he confirmed, a smile forming on his maw. "So how's it gonna work? Are we going to spar?" He was sure Orochi had a plan. The other boy most likely wouldn't have come to him like this without one.

Orochi did not have a plan, because of course he didn’t. He didn’t bother thinking this far. Now it was time to wing it.

Sparring, yeah they could start with that. We’ll spar, he repeated before stepping back. And then what should he do? He thought back to the times when Ying used to train him on the beach. There was a lot of critique involved. Annoying but helpful. He’d do that too.

Ok, come at me.

A spar was certainly a good idea. They hadn't fought since that day on the beach, and Hide had been itching to ask for another spar. But their days just walking and having conversation were wonderful as well, and he hadn't wanted to disrupt them.

He paused. Just... come at him? Hide frowned a bit and shrugged his shoulders. Okay, then. Maybe Orochi didn't have as much of a plan as he'd originally thought.

He tensed his muscles, made his stance more solid on the muddy earth beneath his feet, and sprung forward. Only, this time he wanted to shake it up a little. Instead of going head-on like he usually did, he pivoted, aiming to tackle Orochi from the left side.

Orochi went into his usual position; head low, feet apart. He was ready for Hide to charge as he always did.. only he didn’t do that.

A blur of orange rushed past him and at his side. Hide collided into his side and effectively knocked the wind out him.

Nice shot. It took a moment to regain his footing, and when he did he crouched to the ground. Let’s see if you can dodge this.

Orochi shot forward like a bullet. Still low to the ground, he swerved towards Hide’s backside and tried nipping at his ankles.::

hide rolled a 3 for his first hit and a 5 for his second
orochi rolled a 10

Part of him preened under the praise. It wasn't common for Orochi to compliment him - or anyone, really, he assumed. So it made him feel special - capable. It made him feel good about himself. Far better than he'd feel if someone like Aiolos had complimented him in the same way, but he didn't have time to unpack that at the moment. 

"Thanks, man!" he chirped, slightly unprepared for the next attack.

Sometimes Hide felt like he'd never get used to the teeth. Of course, he was gonna have to, but the nips to his ankles stung, making him feel almost like his legs couldn't hold him anymore. It must be hitting right on the wrong tendon. 

Hide swerved around and lunged, aiming to grab Orochi's scruff.

First rule of fighting: no talking. It throws you off your game. Orochi has broken his own rule, but that was ok in this situation. How was he supposed to teach Hide how to kick ass if he didn’t talk? Besides, he had no trouble biting at his legs.

There were downsides to going for a low blow. It left his neck wide open, and Hide wasted no time grabbing it. Orochi shoved himself into his chin in an attempt to loosen that grip.

Oh, ow, that hurt. Orochi's head slammed into his chin, and his teeth clicked shut... right onto his tongue. The taste of iron flooded his mouth and he took a step back, shaking his head momentarily to clear it. God, that one was bad.

It completely threw off his next attack, too, because he was slightly dizzy and his paws didn't quite work right. He had meant to lunge for Orochi's flank again, but his paws skidded in the mud and he ended up just sliding instead - perhaps, if he were lucky, he'd even make contact at all.

The hit sent Hide reeling back. That gave him more than enough time to recuperate.

Next time you wanna go for my neck, you better hold me down tighter, he said before his friend attacked him again. Well, could he even call that an attack? Hide barely raked his fur before slipping in the mud. Orochi couldn’t stifle a chuckle. Ah common, you can do better than that!

The yearling reared up for a moment before flying down towards his back.

not an attack - yet c;

Well, that was embarrassing. Hide's fur fluffed up and his cheeks warmed, thoroughly humiliated at his own failure. And then Orochi laughed. Could he do better than that? 

Paws came down, slamming against his back and driving the breath from his lungs. He wheezed, trying to think about how he could get out of that situation. It took a moment, but he managed to think of something.

He groaned, curling up a little on his side and gasping out strained breaths - punctuated by little whimpers - as he feigned that Orochi's most recent attack was much more damaging than it actually had been. Essentially pretending like he couldn't breathe at all.

Paws slammed into his back, causing him to topple down beneath him. Orochi was about to laugh again, but Hide breathing wasn’t uneven.

What are you doing? It didn’t that bad. It wasn’t supposed to anyways. Shit. Maybe he went a little too far.

Orochi stepped off and prodded his cheek. Hey, I’m sorry alright? You can stop now.

A-ha! His plan had worked. He felt Orochi's paw touch his cheek and instantly lunged forward, aiming a headbutt to Orochi's chest or shoulder. It wouldn't be that hard a hit - he couldn't get the footing for it - but he would be proud of his surprise attack anyway.

He hoped Orochi wouldn't be too mad at him for tricking him like that. It was kind of a dick move, but Hide figured it was fine for a spar.

What the fuck! He was tricked, and so goddamn easily too. Orochi too shocked to dodge the headbutt. It wasn’t that hard of a blow, but it still threw off his concentration.

You sneaky little- Orochi lunged forward again, but slipped in the mud and fell on his side.

Hide knew very well that he wasn't gonna win this fight. His mouth, jaw, and back hurt and he was looking forward to it being over. 

His attack went okay, but he hadn't expected Orochi to fall afterward. A peal of laughter escaped him and he flopped forward, attempting to land on top of his prone companion. His body was floppy and loose - he was beaten and done fighting, but he figured Orochi'd wanna get one last hit in there before they were done.

"Thorry," he said breezily, though his "s" was slurred by a lisp. His poor tongue.

Ok fine, he deserved to be laughed at. Now they were even. It didn’t mean Orochi was ok with it. His cheeks warmed up. A telltale sign of embarrassment.

He pushed the redhead off and wormed his way on top of him instead. There’s no way he’d let Hide get the last laugh. Orochi always came out on top.

You idiot! he spat. There wasn’t as much fire in his voice as he wanted. He was too flustered to spark that up. You can’t do shit like that when you get in a real fight. They’re not gonna stop for you.

"Yeah, bu' you will," he explained, tail thumping the ground even as Orochi pinned him down. There was still blood in his mouth and he leaned off to the side to spit it out with a grimace. "Ew."

"I bi' my thongue," he explained, sticking his tongue out for emphasis. It was gross, still bleeding a bit, and definitely a little swollen.

He nudged Orochi, trying to get him to let him up. "Oo win," he conceded. As per usual. It was a bit discouraging - maybe Hide wasn't really cut out for this. Maybe Hua was right and he should put himself to use in other ways.

No I wouldn’t! I- Wait, he did stop for him didn’t he? Orochi’s mouth snapped shut. Why the hell did he stop? Maybe he would’ve avoided the embarrassment if he’d kicked Hide around some more. Ugh, whatever.

Orochi squinted at the blood that pooled in his mouth and stained the corners of his mouth. Someone always got hurt when he gets in fights, even when it was a friendly spar. Just drink water and lick off the rest, then he added with a smug grin, Or do you want me to do it for you again? Orochi stood up and shook off the mud that clung to his pelt.

Hide was smug at first - Orochi had stopped for him. Had been worried enough to touch his cheek and stop the fight and make sure he was alright. It was nice, he thought. They were such good friends. Excellent buddies. Great homies...

Drink water and lick off the rest... or do you want me to do it for you again?

Hide inhaled sharply, accidentally sucking some of the blood in and fell into a choking fit, scrambling to his paws and trying to take a breath. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. If he thought Orochi had knocked the breath out of him before, it was nothing compared to now - heat was blazing on his face, his ears, his neck. 

So embarrassing...

Orochi didn’t think anything of his teasing because he got peas for brains, but Hide surely did. Or was this another trick? 

You can’t fool me twice, he proclaimed as his friend choking. Orochi expected him to cut it out and laugh it off, but he didn’t.

A brow raised. What’s the matter with you?

He was so not joking. So very much not joking. Finally, Hide let out a groan and caught his breath, panting heavily and trying to not actively die. Even if he kind of wanted to at this point. 

Had Orochi really not meant it like that...?

"N-nothing," he rasped, head held low and a heavy sigh escaping him when he finally calmed his breathing down. "Th-thorry. Breathed wrong," the boy explained, still with a lisp. "Did... oo mean t'teathe me like that?" He had to ask. It wasn't good to just let stuff sit. Maybe he took it wrong.

See? He knew he was joking around again. Good. Orochi could release his held breath.

Is it because of your tongue? And how he got tackled, and how he fell, and everything else that happened after that. Maybe he wasn’t as easy on him as he thought. He’d probably feel a little bad about it later. Only a little. The lisp was kinda funny.

Orochi tilted his head to the side. Er, yeah? I guess. He chuckled a bit. You weren’t expecting me to actually lick your tongue were you? That would be gross.