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Another long, stubborn pause. "Maybe," he said shortly.
Rick sighed. "What's your name? Also, what kind of Deorn goes to a human when he's hurt? I thought you guys were too proud to do that."
The Deorn growled. "My name's Slash. And I'm not asking for help, I'm just curious. I don't need your help anyway."
"Your wandering says otherwise. You'd usually already be searching for a new place to nest."
"You don't know anything about me," Slash muttered. "Maybe I'm just going the same way you are. There aren't any other good territories around here…..I need a place that's colder, with more water."
Rick glanced at Charlotte. "What do we do about this? He might just be looking for revenge."
Charlotte considered the boy for a while, before turning back around and walking again. "Just walk, she told Rick.
Rick shrugged and followed. "Okay."
Slash did not leave them alone. They carried on for almost half an hour, but he still continued to trail after them determinedly. He never said anything, but he didn't shift back into his animal form either.
Charlotte stopped walking. "Look," Charlotte told Slash without turning to look at him. "You join our party, or you leave us be. Up to you."
Slash sounded confused. "Your party? I've never been to a party before. Why should I go to your party?"
Rick sighed heavily. "She means 'join our group', kid. Either become part of the team or skedaddle. We don't want to tailing us the whole way if you're not gonna help us."
Slash fell silent, shifting from foot to foot. "I just…..I don't……" Then, with a grunt of annoyance, he gave in. "Fine! I'll join your group. Whatever."
Charlotte kept a straight face as Slash hobbled up to them. "Good afternoon. Are you hungry?"
"No," Slash grumped. "I don't need any of your gross food."
"You might want to be a lil' more polite to us," Rick warned amiably. "We're under no obligation to–"
"Under no what?"
Rick took a deep breath. "There's no rule that is forcing us to let you stick around in the first place. If we decide we don't like you, we can kick you out any time."
Slash glowered at him. "Yeah well….I can….I can leave at any time, so….maybe you should be more polite to me."
Rick rolled his eyes and glanced at Charlotte. "I don't think this kid really understands how bargaining works," he muttered.
"Cut him some slack," Charlotte murmured back. "Who knows how long he's been away from people."
She turned back to face the way they were headed, away from Slash. "Listen, Slash. There's no way I'm letting you stay if you slow us down. You get hurt, stay as fast. Hungry, stay as fast. Thirsty, stay as fast. Not only am I offering you food, but I'm basically offering you safer passage with us."
"I can go fast," Slash said confidently. "If this is fast for you guys, it'll be no problem. If I get hungry I'll just hunt and then catch up."
Rick shrugged. "All right then. We can go a ways farther today, but we should probably start lookin' for a place to camp for the night. Sound good?"
Charlotte nodded her assent, hitching her bag further up her back and rearranging her expression to be colder than the gentle welcome she'd tried to give Slash.
After another hour of walking (during which time nobody spoke and the light steadily faded), Rick came up beside Charlotte and spoke so Slash couldn't hear. "You know, I'm startin' to think that this kid might actually be useful–if we can get him to do what we say, anyway. Even a young Deorn is no joke, and he might be able to help us take care of Axel and whoever else he's hired once we get there. What do you think? It's just an idea, acourse."
Charlotte nodded. "I think he'll be malleable. It's just a question of getting him used to our superior position," she speculated. "Do you suggest we stop soon or move on to another shelter? I'd rather not be stuck in the open for a night."
Rick took a cursory glance around. "Might as well stop while we can still see. Here looks fine, under this hill." He turned and started hiking off the road, glancing back at Slash. "Hey, we're makin' camp now."
Slash followed, looking mostly like a dark outline against the blue-grey horizon. "How do you "make camp"?"
"We need a campfire, to cook our dinner. We might have to build a shelter since the sky's overcast and it might rain. Then we stop and rest, eat, sleep, and set off again tomorrow morning. Clear enough?" she asked Slash, setting her backpack down on the damp grass.
Slash wrinkled his nose. "You need fire?"
"Yep," Rick replied cheerfully, clearing a spot on the ground and pulling out some kindling. "If you don't like it, son, you don't have to come anywhere near it."
Slash blinked, distracted. "I'm not your son."
"It's a sayin'. If I meet a guy who's younger then me, I'm pretty liable to call 'em son most of the time. See?"
"Uh…." Slash shook his head irritably. "Whatever. I'll just….be over here." He stalked a few feet away from the fire and settled down in the long grass, shifting back onto animal form as he did so.
She watched Slash as she unpacked her blanket and some food. "Hey kid, if you get a little bit of fresh meat for us?"
Slash raised his head indignantly. "What? Why should I hunt for you?"
She straightened, still back to him. "Let me rephrase that. Go hunt for us."
"No!" Slash gave a stubborn growl.
Rick glanced over at him. "You know, if you're gonna be part of our team, that kinda means you gotta help the team out sometimes. You're a pretty good hunter, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," Slash boasted. "I'm a great hunter."
"Well, then, it should be easy for you to hunt for us. If you can catch us something big, we'll be super impressed, won't we, Charlotte?"
She glanced over at Rick with a smile. "You bet we will, Slash. I don't think you'll be able to, so if you do manage it'll very impressive."
Slash stood up and puffed out his chest. "Pff. I'll show you. I'll bring back the biggest deer you ever saw!" With that he spun around and loped off into the darkness.
Rick chuckled. "I think we've figured out how to control the punk. I forgot what big egos Deorns have."
Charlotte let out a loud, affectionate laugh, caught in the moment. "Adorable thing."
Rick grinned. "Right? And just this afternoon he was tryin' to kill us. He's definitely an interesting character." He unwrapped the sandwich Rebecca had made for him and began to eat. "Still, I hope he doesn't bring back too much meat. There's only so much we can eat and carry by ourselves."