The warm air was appreciated, but it did little to take the cold from his bones. The sand of the bank was starting to make him itch and his soppy fur made him feel unusually heavy. He should have appreciated feeling big and heavy, but he knew full well what a fool he looked. With his coat longer and thicker from winter, he knew full well that down his back would be a parting; he looked a little mop like and mixed with his already mounting embarrassment, he outwardly cringed as the moronic female came into his view. Oh dear.

”Well... I wouldn’t be drenched and cold if someone had a brain cell to think with.” he snorted as he pulled himself, slowly, up to all fours. As his hind legs slid out from the water and his toes were all that were left upon the sandy bank, he felt a little warmer and was grateful for the sun today. It was still pretty cold, but at least it wouldn’t make him turn into an ice block today. He took a few paces towards the bank, testing to make sure nothing was broken but he was certainly bruised and he ached from ear to tail. There were a few little scrapes and grazes, he was sure there was a cut on his back pad and mixing with the sand it hurt like a mother f-. Fortunately, his face was unmarked as ever and he would be back to fighting fit soon enough... he hoped. So long as that paw didn’t prove too troublesome he should be fine. Theoretically.
He tried to ignore the pains he felt, he was pretty used to being beat up by the gash in his pad mixing with the sand was proving more and more painful, so much so that he couldn’t help but limp as he finally reached the sturdy bank and pulled himself up. Well, he felt like a real hero now; battered, wet, sandy and with a hurt paw. If only Valiant could see him now, he’d laugh his fur right off.

”Yes... it is your fault I’m wet and if its all the same, I’d rather avoid you at all costs from now on.” he said, but inside didn’t mean the words. He was just feeling silly, he looked moronic and not an inch of the hero he felt he should be. Yes, he had saved her life but he didn’t really feel like celebrating that right now. It was a long trek back to his den, it was going to be even longer with his foot hurting and he was just thankful the weather wasn’t so bad. There was no way he was going to take her up on her offer- she might know her plants and all that healing mumbo jumbo, but he was a man... and man takes care of himself, plus he knew what she was offering; a snuggle to warm up, the meeting of two bodies to share heat and well... he had touched her more then enough for one day and look what had happened when he did.

Rhysis didn’t look at her as he passed her by, he just limped further up the bank, trying to locate the path they had travelled in on. Someone was feeling very sorry for himself.

The buttercup was still hanging from her mouth during his hurtful outburst and she considered dropping it on the ground, and tackling him from behind, forcing the warmth he needed onto him, but then thought better of it. He had every right to be mad, he was soaking wet and sore. She decided to give him some alone time to settle down before she approached him again.

She watched his retreating form get further and further away. Gently laying the pretty little flower on a fallen tree she turned her ears to the forest. A distinct munching cracking noise alerted her to their presence before her nose did. Leaving the flower where she knew she would be able to find it again she headed in the direction of the industrial racket that was beavers at work. The trees smelled stronger here, the freshly chewed bark providing an aroma that masked both her scent, and theirs. She could only imagine how annoyed they would be to return to find their dam destroyed, and fought back a small smirk. Now was not the time for laughing.

She couldn't manoeuvre herself into a position to approach from behind and she grimaced. She was just going to have to take one head on. Her muscles tensed as she readied herself, pinpointing her target. She exploded from the undergrowth as the fat little creatures attempted to waddle away at high speed. she picked her target but couldn't get around so she swatted at it with her paw. The creature latched on and she bit back a yelp as she used her other paw to push its head into the ground so she could clamp her teeth behind its head in a death dealing blow.

The mouth relaxed around her paw and she removed it from the vice. She was bleeding but thankfully nothing was broken. She slimy rats could bite hard! She dragged the creature by its tail, its head dragging on the ground between her paws as she returned to collect the buttercup and follow the trail left by the retreating male.

The further she travelled the more it pained her until she was carrying the paw, beaver dangling by the tail in her mouth, accented by a pretty little buttercup hanging from the side of her mouth. She finally caught the dark male up, dropping the creature in front of him before retreating a short distance away, purposefully avoiding eye contact as guilt racked her frame. "Happy birthday." she said quietly, more than half expecting him to try and chase her off. She would deserve it after all. It had been a stupid idea to try and walk on the dam.

As he sauntered, I mean, limped further away from the female his mind was making such a loud ruckus it was hard to even notice the pain his pad was giving him. One side of it was telling him to go back and apologise, it wasn’t much but the only thing his mother had taught him was manner and he had just been really rude... but the other half, the side which tended to rule his entire life, was telling him to turn back and rip off her leg or something just for being so damn stupid. Between the two there was a tiny little voice, like a child trying to shout over its fighting parents. It was so quiet, but every so often he heard it distinctly telling him to just breathe and stop listening to his brain, which was a very unusual thing for his mind to be saying to him. Irked by the voices and indecision, he had limped over to a growing fern and slumped to the floor with an oomph. Silent as he ever was, he simply lay there and tried to down out the voices in his head but he didn’t have much luck with it.

Time must have slipped back faster then he realised. The next thing he knew he heard an odd rhythm of paws upon the floor, followed by a sort of... dragging sound? Instantly his brain pulled itself together and tried to piece together what was coming. He was in no mood to bump into a stranger right now, he’d had quite enough of those lately and just wanted to rest here. Though he’d never admit it, he was pretty sore and just wanted to sleep it off. Sleep sounded so good...

However it wasn’t a stranger, it was that god damn female again... dragging a beaver, of all things, along with her and somehow she still had that rather tatty looking flower shoved into her mouth as well... she looked utterly ridiculous. And at the sight of her limping with a very sore looking paw, he laughed. Actually laughed. A sound so foreign to him that he scared himself a little and shut up instantly. What the fuck was that?! A little panicked, he glanced over to the female who had sauntered off looking sorry for herself, wondering whether to ask if the noise he had just made was normal or if he really had been hurt by the little swim he’d taken. The expression on his face was priceless, eyes wide, breath held and he just looked plain uneasy. He hadn’t even heard her mutter quietly to herself, instead he was trying to work out what the hell that noise was.

When it didn’t happen again, he took a deep breath and regained his composure... though was still somewhat wary on the inside as to it making an ugly appearance. He tilted his head as he measured the cut on her paw and the way she carried it... she’d tried to attack from the front and gotten herself bitten. This female was very simple... ”I don’t think you should try to hunt for beavers... ever again.” he said simply, but couldn’t stop the quick smile that tickled his lips; which he then hid by raising his front paw across his nose and pushed his face towards the floor.

What the fuck was wrong with him?!

It hadn't really hurt that bad, it was merely a flesh wound, at his laughter she fought back a giggle of her own but his ensuing awkwardness was too much. A snort escaped her muzzle before a loud bout of laughter followed. They must make a sight, him all wet and pouty and her limping with a flower hanging from her mouth and a dead beaver between them. It was too much.

"Well I couldn't get around the damn thing..." she said breathlessly, still proud of her achievement managing to kill the thing at all with the way it had latched onto her paw. "You're lucky I bothered to kill it first, the way it latched on I probably could have walked back here with the thing still gnawing on my paw." She knew it was a rooky mistake, but the streams through the forest she had grown up in weren't big enough to support beavers anyway. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She could do it now. He wouldn't suspect a thing until she had him pinned but thought it best to wait for him to cave rather than force what they both knew was necessary onto him. After all he was young and one negative experience could scar the poor lad for life.

She laughed... it was a pretty sound. It reminded him of the birds he had been observing as they whistled and sang to each other, he’d been fascinated by the sounds they made and was equally curious about the noise she had made. He didn’t piece together that he had made the same noise; his laugh didn’t sound like hers. It was rough, deep and smooth whilst hers sounded like a melody... He enjoyed the noise but at the realisation of that he mentally slapped himself. What the hell was wrong with him? He was acting like a fool and he didn’t like it. He couldn’t understand what it was about her that made him act the way he did and the logic that normally carried him through life was coming up with no answers either. Typical.

”So because you couldn’t get around it... you what, decided to poke it in the face or something?” he asked, trying to force that grin away once more. The idea amused him, he could just imagine her walking up to a beaver, bold as brass as she usually was and giving the animal a good poke. He wished he had witnessed it- not that he liked the idea she had been bitten, he was pretty sure a bite from those would be nasty, but it would have been funny to watch. Wait a minute, funny?! Since when did he find things funny?! He physically shook his head then, trying to rattle these childish thoughts away and get back to his serious self.

”Ergh. Just... try not to be so stupid.” he said then gruffly and all traces of the sparkle in his eye at the humour of it all, the grin he tried to hide from his lips vanished just like that. He glanced to the beaver, the animal laying between them like it suddenly became the elephant in the room. She caught it, she should eat it, but then she had brought it here like a gift. He’d met a wolf who offered him a rabbit as a gift before and had been offended by the gesture, now, he was just confused by it all and he didn’t like to be confused, it didn’t feel natural. He didn’t like what he was feeling or that his mind felt completely empty and relaxed, this the situation he was in was the most natural thing in the world- maybe it was to any other wolf but to him this was torture. He didn’t like not feeling himself, even when he put on a mask to get what he wanted, he still knew deep down inside the reasons why he fake chuckled or pulled a smile but right now, everything was happening out of his control. He didn’t force himself to smile, it had happened by itself almost like he had been possessed.

He needed to get out of here...

He rose to all fours, tested his weight on the back leg but found the sharp sand hadn’t bothered to shift yet. He’d have to wait for it to dry and then give it a good shaking. That wasn’t going to stop him though and with a last glance he began to limp off again, without bothering to even say goodbye to her or thank her for the kill. In truth, he was freaking out and when he freaked he did one of two things... attack or run. So right now, running was the best thing he could do for both of them.

He almost seemed to be making fun of her and it bought yet more laughter from her mouth. "Well, it was more of a smack on the head to try and knock it over..." she admitted with a sheepish grin. The way he told her not to be so stupid almost made her think he cared... almost... but then he had pushed her off that dam... Anyway, she was more than capable of patching herself up.

He was laughing and smiling, and it was genuine to the core as far as she could tell. It was the first time she had truly seen his guard slip and it made her heart soar, but as soon as she had been allowed her peek the walls were back up again. It would take some time. She wondered what had happened in his short life to make him so guarded, but she knew better than to pry with threatening questions. It would all come out when he was ready.

Without a word he rose and walked away, leaving the beaver where she had dropped it for him. She gave a small silent shake of her head and rose as well, being careful to carry her chewed up foot. She picked up her buttercup and began the long limp home, leaving the beaver where she had initially dropped it in case he returned later. At least she had what herbs she needed to make sure her injuries didn't get infected. She just hoped he had enough sense to see to his own in the same manner.