She sat up, reaching her hind leg to scratch at her ear. “Mmm— okay then! I should probably tell you in case I forget anyway.” She paused to lick at her paws and stroke at her ears, then moved to bump her head against his arm affectionately.
“So Timber is still stuck in the heart of his territory, but he wants to help! And… he considers you a friend. Ahh, I’m so happy.” Her tongue flopped out of her mouth, indicating her happiness as she wagged her tails. “I think I’ll find me a sparrow for breakfast. Do you want to get going after that?”
"Well I'm glad to be considered a friend by your friend, I can't wait to meet him." He smiled at sage, moving to get up from where he was sitting and look around.
"I'm glad your happy sage," he smiled back at her, "Yes, let's get going after that."
“Yay!” She hopped around a little and then bounded into the trees. It took some time to find a bird stupid enough to go down to the forest floor, but soon Sage found one and headed back to the pond, a sparrow in her jaws and some blood spattered on her muzzle. Since she was in a hurry she ate it raw, though like with the rabbit, she cut off the head and buried it in the ground, then murmured a small prayer of thanks over it.
Once she was done, she shifted to human form and went over to Asuna, the stopped in front of him and gasped softly. “I didn’t give you a hug yet today,” she said, then with a big, bloody smile opened her arms and embraced him. After a moment she let go. “Okay, we can go now,” she said, seeming to have forgotten that her mouth was still bloody with stray feathers sticking to it.
poor birdie…
He moved to hug her back with a chuckle, moving to wipe away the blood and feathers from her mouth as she didn't seem to notice. "There, now we can go."
Embarrassment flooded Sage’s cheeks, turning them pink as she quickly wiped the blood and feathers away with him. “Oh, sorry…” she chuckled nervously. “I didn’t realize.”
Despite her best efforts, her cheeks stayed warm and pink. But she got over herself and took Asuna’s hand, leading him away from the pond.
“Say goodbye, Asuna,” she said. “I promise you’ll see this place again, too.”
He chuckled, "it's alright sage." He looked back at the pond, before feeling her hand in his and being pulled away from the pond. "Yeah, I'm not exactly worried about not seeing this place again. I'd much rather hang out with you."
She made a soft gasp. “Really? That’s so nice! I’m so glad you want to hang out with me, because no else seems to want to do that except for Timber!” She smiled as if this was no big deal, then lead him onward.
"Yes of course sage, I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to hang out with you. They really are missing out." He smiled at her, squeezing her hand in his his Ashe walked with her.
“You’re saying my name a lot,” she observed, then she paused, as if she wasn’t sure whether to smile or frown. “Oh. Um, I’m sure they have their reasons. C’mon, c’mon,” she tugged his hand, clearly not wanting to talk about it any further.
"Should I not?" He paused, looking at her with slightly concerned eyes as she mentioned it. Whoever it was that shunned sage, whatever there reasons. He was sure they were very stupid to avoid this adorable ball of joy Infront of him.
He didn't talk about it tho.
“Oh, I don’t mind.” She was quick to smile again. “I just noticed it.”
They continued to trek through the forest, the warm air of summer surrounding them as the sun rose higher in the sky. They would talk a little, but sometimes they would have to be quiet whenever they sensed a wolfish presence nearby.
"oh, okay. Well, I can't help to say your name. It's such a beautiful name, and it simply fits you so well. Would you rather I call you something else..? A nickname maybe..?"
he tilted his head at sage, before just simply walking with her.
She blushed and looked away. “Oh… really? Um, thanks… no, you don’t need to call me anything else.”
Sniffing the air, Sage checked for anything nearby. Then she stopped, putting hand over Asuna’s chest to stop him. “Werewolves up ahead. Could be a hunting party. C’mon.” She lead him in another direction, away from the werewolves.
"A hunting party…? Alright well I'll just follow you since you have better senses and know where we're going.' He nodded, he moved to give her hand a squeeze as he smiled at her, but made sure not to talk loudly incase the hunting party had really good hearing, which they probably did. He looked around the area just scanning it for any signs of trouble in the area. He didn't have refined senses but he could still do some things.
She appreciated the hand squeeze, but she looked at him fervently and pressed her finger to her lips before scurrying onward. The scent was still heavy in the air. Sage’s heart began to beat more and more quickly. If they could still detect the hunting party’s scent, it usually meant that they could catch their scent too. She looked around, quickly gave up and started climbing a tree. “C’mon! We’ll hide!” She hissed.
He nodded softly, seeing her put the finger up to her mouth in a sign of silence. He just continued to follow her but noticed as she got more and more tense, until eventually they stopped by a tree and sage spoke quickly. He looked at the tree and swallowed nervously, He never needed to climb trees before, so he had no clue how to climb the tree infront of him. He attempted it, but only slid back down the tree, he attempted a second time but it didn't help him. He grunted off the side of the tree and grabbed onto the branch needed and was hanging from it pretty high up.
She was far up the tree at this point, but when she looked down to see where Asuna was, a violent shiver passed over her. Almost like a squirrel, Sage quickly scurried back down the trunk of the tree, and in a burst of strength grabbed Asuna’s hands and dragged him up with her until they were in a better potion. She set him down in a nest of branches beside her, then waited for the werewolf scent to die down.
He let asuna help him up the tree and he made sure not to slip on his way up and almost fall. He was set down next to her and he made sure not to fall or say anything as he watched her expressions and listened for the werewolves.
(“He let Asuna help him up”)
After allowing her heartbeat to slow and the hair on her neck to relax, she shifted into a fox so her senses would reach farther. The werewolf scent was growing stronger, getting closer. Did they know? Had they caught their scent? Then there was the sound of many footsteps. Then there came the musky scent of a deer, and Sage hoped and prayed that it would cover hers and Asuna’s scent.
Then the pack came into view. At first glance, one almost would not have known they were werewolves; they were all in wolf form and being very quiet. None of them looked like Timber, all were strangers to Sage. She put nearly all of her focus into making sure she wouldn’t be seen while still spying on them from afar.
