test

---

The first thing Hikari notices when she wakes up is that her head hurts. A lot. The second thing that she notices is that she’s thirsty, and then the third thing she notices is that her fur is muddy, especially around her paws-

it’s safe to say she’s not having a good day already.

A tiny, pitiful growling-whine comes from her, the only thing closest to a word she’s made since she woke up, as her head thumps with a resigned sort of defeat against the ground. Which was a mistake, because it only made it hurt worse. Ugh.

Ugh.

She hadn’t even done anything to deserve this! She was innocent, and had done nothing wrong, and here she was, being punished for something she didn’t even know about!

It’s as Hikari lays there, unwilling to move in hopes that the pounding in her head would go away, that she hopes something would just put her out of her misery. It’d be a kinder fate than this.

They hadn't left the meadowed forest yet. He and Geraint had hardly left one another's sides even. Rather, he ensured that his partner new where he was at all times. That they were within shouting distance of one another, that it would only take a moment or two to see one another. It was, sometimes, not enough. He'd panic and have to find his way back, scared of losing Ger again.

It had taken the time since they'd reuinted up until now to relax a little more. To know that they were, overall, safe here. He still wasn't sure if the elk was how he'd gotten here. Geraint said he'd died, and surely they had as well then. Nightingale was ever on the lookout for any of Ger's kin, too. Ready to uphold his promise to run. To find his parnter and get the heck out of dodge.

So strangers, then, were approached with some caution. At least if there was any doubt on whether they were of some relation to himself or the other. This stranger did not seem to be, though. She was sprawled in the snow, looking every bit like she had given up on life. Nightingale saw her only because of the dramatic flop of her head into the ground. Otherwise, he might have passed over her whtie form against the starkkness of the snow.

The faintest hint of flowers poked out of the snow all around her.

You, uh, you ok? he asked. The plump dark-timber man stood just far enough away that he hoped he wasn't a threat. Not that he looked like a threat really. Just a big squish.

Hikari

test

---

If things hadn’t been bad enough, someone had seen them. A stranger, at that, although anyone seeing them in the shape they were in was bad enough. Hikari doesn’t even notice- not entirely, and not at first. Not until the stranger speaks, sounding like he’s half-expecting them to lash out.

Pride, and their desire to try to keep what’s left of theirs, is what finally drives Hikari to push themself up into a sitting position, despite the way the motion sends another spark of pain through their head. They’ll have to deal with that in the near future. For now, though, they need to deal with this.

I’m fine. Sorry to concern you. Their words are brisk- not unfriendly, exactly, but more than enough that Hikari hopes he’ll take it at face value- and for a second, they think about sending him on his way so they can sulk some more without being interrupted this time. Curiosity, though, gets the better of them.

What is this place? The idea that the other canine would be just as unused to it as Hikari escapes their mind- surely this stranger, who appeared to be a tad bit more used to the land, knew more than they did.

Nightingale