Her nervous whine made his heart clench and his head swiveled to see what had happened to her. The small sounds she had made in her enjoyment had made warmth bloom in his chest, and he had gotten so caught up in their game that he had forgotten his caution. All he had wanted was to hear her giggling, but the jump had been reckless, dangerous; Idiotic! One thing was his own pain, which was easily pushed to the back of his mind while he worried for his sister, but he had put her in danger, risked her health while she was in his care; Stupid! What was he gonna tell his parents if she was hurt? Please don't be! Oh please, please, be okay! Wide, worried orange eyes connected with a pair of similarly round sky blues. Inna looked up at him anxiously, though her jaws were still firmly clenched around his scruff. The bulky yearling sighed heavily; "Sorry lass. I guess I managed to scare the both of us quite a bit, hu?" Orren shook his head, clenching his teeth as a sudden stab of pain shot up through his groin from the overstretched legs. His gaze travelled along the dark saddle of his back and to his rear, his teeth grinding against each other when saw the awkwardly perking rump over the unnaturally angled legs; No wonder it hurts!

Returning his attention to Inna, the boy forced a smile, happy that at least she wasn't wounded; And I mostly on my pride I think. He glanced around, glad to find that they were alone in the forest, and no one else had seen his stumble. Then he looked down at his sister; "Good thing you held on so tightly. Now just keep that grip for a few more minutes 'kay?" Such assured that his little rider was safe, the copper tinted yearling focused on himself again, slowly beginning to wiggle, to try and get out of the uncomfortable splits. His ears folded flat back, teeth continuing to grind while he gradually worked his way out of the painful position, overstretched muscles aching as they were contracted to normal extend. Once again, the prideful youth was extremely happy that no one was around to see his inelegant struggle. Finally back on his feet, he tentatively stretched, first one leg, then the other backwards, wincing a little, but concluding that no permanent damage had been done.

A breathy chuckle escaped him; "Sorry Inna, I wasn't... Prepared for that." He turned his head to smile down at the ebony girl once more, expression more at ease now; "Come on then," Pausing, he parted his jaws and bend down to grab the pup and lift her off his back, carrying her instead by her scruff, where he was in full control. Once she was secure, he began walking, slightly limpy, and wincing for the first couple of steps. He wisely chose to move around the branch this time, carefully checking the floor before putting down his feet, so as to not slip again. Once safe within the clearing, only a few steps away from the den, he lowered Inna down to the ground; "I think play time is over for today." The brother smiled sheepishly, looking with glowing eyes at his baby sister, wanting her to know that she had done nothing wrong, and that he would be happy to play with her again soon; "Perhaps you should go in and check on ma' and 'Kalta, make sure they're still all right. You've been out 'ere for a while now, won't want 'em to worry about ya' now." The spirited little pup showed no sign of fatigue, but Orren had asked and listened enough to know that the youngins would tire quickly, and needed rest and food often. That last thought gave him another idea of how to lure her back in the den, he cocked a brow and grinned at Inna, speaking in a low tone, like he was telling a big secret; "Ma' might have some food for ya' too."

Word count: 681

Thoughts ”Speech”

It made her happy when his gaze finally met hers, it eased her worry some about if he had been hurt.  Though the sound that he had made when he had slipped had not left her mind she felt a little more at ease that he was able to look back at her. She did not understand all of the words that he said but his tone seemed sad to her, she whined to acknowledge that she had heard him. She was still careful not to lose her grip on his scruff until he told her that it was okay for her to do so. She knew that Ori would know the best time for her to let go after what had happened she thought it best to wait for him to be ready to let her down.  So she waited her tiny ears perked and eyes watching what she could see of Orren’s face for any sign of what might be happening next.

When he smiled her little tail wagged back and forth across his back. His smile was very reassuring to her that everything was alright.  He wanted her to hold on for a little longer which she could do though she didn’t have much of a choice unless she wanted to slip to the ground.  Her gaze did fall to the ground, what she could see of it anyway and it hadn’t gotten any closer.  Orren had started moving again first wiggling which Inna supposed he was trying to get back on his feet like she had to whenever she had slipped.  She watched as his ears went flat against his head then he attention was drawn to the fact that hi body had changed positions and she had to readjust herself on his back.

He spoke to her again his tome a little lighter this time and he gave her a smile too which made her think that everything was okay.  Next thing she knew though was that Ori had grabbed her around the scruff and was now carrying her in his mouth.  Instinctively her body curled up as she swung in his mouth as he walked.  First they went around the fallen stump and then across the clearing till they were in front of the den. There he set her down on the ground before stating that their play time was over, she understood that and it elicited a small whine from her but she did understand.  Inna knew what it was like to fall and she didn’t always want to play afterward either so though she was a little disappointed was not mad at Ori for ending their play time.

He said a lot of words which Inna didn’t understand all of them but she know q few of them the main ones being Ma and Kalta.  Her gaze drifted toward the mouth of the den which was where she had last seen her mum and sister. Orren spoke again this time mentioning food which reminded Inna that she had not eaten in a while and now that all the excitement had stopped she was starting to feel sleepy too.  “Inna hungry,” she said in response to his mention of food. She started to bounce into the den but stopped and looked back at her brother, “Ori come back,” she told him before she was bouncing off into the den on search of her mother and her dinner.