Boys better fight (Doki & Emiyn)

[Emiyn]

Sunlight filtered through the dusty window, as a black haired boy pulled apart the curtains. With a stretch, he opened the window to allow a small, calming breeze enter . He looked over at the forest beyond the village he was in, the treetops too high for him to even see where Jaconia was. His eyes lit up, and his lips stretched into a smile when his face was shadowed by a figure climbing down from the roof into the room.

“Morning, Val,” he grinned as he walked to towards the door, to put on his boots. All the reply he got was a grunt from the elder girl, before he continued on. “I’m gonna go explore the forest now. Ok?”

The day before they had agreed that there was no harm in staying an extra day here. Making money on their travel was easier than they predicted, either having Emiyn entering arm wrestling matches or Valeria playing more card games at the local inn. Both of them were a little bored with just accumulating money.

“Whatever. As long as you’re back on time.” She must have meant before they set off again tomorrow morning. Giving a short nod, the two gave each other a short wave, before he raced downstairs. It was rather loud as he clambered down the stairs, but the innkeeper’s wife didn’t seem upset as she gave him the bread he requested the night before. Outside in the roads, a few of the villagers gave strange looks to the young boy who was rushing out towards the forest that few tourists have gotten lost in.

The breeze earlier had picked, but the sounds of the birds and leaves rustling sang in his ears. Walking over to a tall tree, he climbed up carefully until finding his footing onto a sturdier and thick branch. Determination flashed in his eyes. It was a perfect day to practise the parkour trick he learnt the other day, and to continue training his hunting skills.

[DokiDoki]

As always Doki would swear his current situation was not his fault. By any means. It was most likely Easts fault because to him it was always her fault. All he had wanted to do was stay in town long enough to evade any bounty hunters, for his trail to grow cold long enough to find a way to his next place with little chance of a confrontation.

Of course East had persuaded him to go off and hide in the outskirts, he knew it was a bad idea. He was no good at the whole survival thing, he was a city boy and he knew better ways to scavenge food from trash bins then to hunt or forage.

But of course she had a good point, someone in town had recognized him and that meant any would be hunter or authority figure might be looking for him in the city. It was time to take what he might need and hide.

It had been four days of hiding in the wilderness with minimal rations and a flimsy shelter. Two animal attacks and one very unfortunate river accident later Doki had lost all his provisions and was left hurt and shivering on said rivers rocky bank. He was tired, hungry his leg hurt and all he wanted to do was cry.
'Don't be a baby Dee, I told you to watch your step you know. Suck it up and..geeettt uppp!'
Doki bit back the tears and felt Easts arms wrap around one of his as she began to pull to try and get him to his feet.
"uugg...."
With the (imaginary) help of East Doki limped his way up the bank and into the forest.
'We need to get to town now, you know, probs before nightfall. No food...no shelter, damn you really flunked this one up huh.'
Doki didn't get very far before the pain and fatigue caught up to him. In an instant he was down again falling forward onto his stomach with a oomph and a disappointed tisk from East.
'come on Dee....don't....don't just lay there, we have to keep moving.'
He could feel her tugging at him again but couldn't find the strengh to get up.
"N-no...I can't to....to tired...to...ugghh..."
He could feel the tears welling again and this time he did nothing to keep them from spilling.
"Just...leave me alone East...just.."
He was tired, cold and he was pretty sure his leg might be broken. All around things where looking pretty grim and he was starting to wish he had taken his chances in town.
"J-j-just l-let me s-sl-leep"
He manged to hiccup out between sobs as he cried face down on the dry forest floor.

[Emiyn]

He could almost smell the scent of damp rocks up ahead, as he continued to jump from one branch to the next. The change of scenery from the usual uniform grey buildings certainly lifted up his mood. Here there was meat for dinner, a river keep himself entertained, and so far he had been doing well in not falling from the trees.

Being so lost within the thoughts of all that he could be doing, he almost slipped from his footing when he heard another set of irregular footsteps. On reflex, he grabbed onto the branch next to him, his heart skipping a beat, before he settled down to sit on where he just landed. He turned around in several directions, ears perking up.

There it was again, like a groan, from the side where the river was to be, according to the map. Climbing back onto his feet, he jumped through a couple of trees further, before widening his eyes at a figure. There was another person on the forest floor, clothed in green that could have provided a good camouflage. It was dressed differently from the villagers, and was slumped forward, with his shoulders shaking as if he was cold or whimpering. Oh no, he looks hurt, the thoughts raced into Emiyn’s head in alarm. He climbed down rather hurriedly, almost slipping his foot again and landing rather loudly.

Walking over, he couldn’t see the face of the stranger, but he could hear the words "J-j-just l-let me s-sl-leep" in a cracked voice. He gulped before reaching his hand to touch a shoulder. “H-hey,” he said rather unsure of whether he was doing the right thing. “Are you ok? You shouldn’t sleep here…”

[DokiDoki]

Even through the fatigue and through the resistant need to just rest Doki found the energy to be properly startled.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He hadn't heard the others approach. Hadn't even felt their presence, so the feeling of a hand on his shoulder and a strange voice took him completely off guard.

With remarkable speed Doki scrambled away using his hands to claw at the ground for leverage.
He didn't stop until a fallen tree trunk lay in his path at which point he flipped himself around to face his assumed attacker.

"W-W-What?!?"
Sitting on the floor with his back against the tree trunk he attempted to slow is frantically beating heart. He got a good look at the boy before him and assessed that maybe he wasn't a bandit or smuggler, that maybe he was less danger than Doki had to worry about.
"I-I-I'm f-fine, I-w-who? what?"
Of course he wasn't fine, but he didn't want to let the strange boy know that, and he didn't want to inconvenience him either.

Though the boy really didn't have to look very hard to see Doki was in bad shape, the ghastly tear in his pants seeping blood into his clothing was a good give away as where the minor cuts and scrapes around his face and overall ruffled appearance.

As the initial adrenaline rush the shock of being startled gave him began to wear off the pain in his leg was beginning to come back. Doki was starting to think it might not be broken but the gash might be what was causing so much pain. That and perhaps a twisted ankle. He did manage to move it during his scramble to gain some distance from the stranger but was not in any situation to do so again for a bit of time. Instead he reached down to apply pressure to the gash and stared up at the Boy with uncertainty.

[Emiyn]

The sudden yell from the stranger had the black haired boy pulling his hand back in surprise. The other crawled away in abnormal speed, before stopping near a tree trunk. He stood there dumbfounded as the injured one turned their faces towards him, unsure how to answer his first question, or exclamation. His mind recovered from the blank moment when the pair of red-brown pupils met the pale green irises, that contained a mixture of fear and pain.

“But you’re bleeding…”Emiyn stated, taking a small step towards him hesitantly. He looked for any response from the other, noting how his face looked quite young as well.  He looked more like an injured animal that had lost its mother, or just escaped from being chased by a herd of wild animals. He wasn’t sure whether it would alarm him more if he walked over, but the red blotches on his clothes he now noticed were causing Emiyn to frown a little. The scent of blood was hanging in the air, meaning that he had those wounds not long ago. Even if the other said they were fine, his wounds should be treated as soon as possible. One was in no condition to be wandering around in the forest like that.

He crouched slowly onto one knee, taking off his bag. While one hand was opening the flap of the bag, his other scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry for scaring you like that.” He gave a goofy smile as he took out his first aid box. ”My name is E-Elsu. Who’re you?”

He almost blurted out his real name, but he remembered there were reasons why one was advised to use only aliases. Pulling out a set of bandages and some cotton buds, he lifted his head again, giving him a look asking for permission to come closer.

[DokiDoki]

Doki was still skeptical, people were not usually so nice, especially to him. Still he watched the boys slow movements and caught onto his intent quixkly.

“Sorry for scaring you like that. My name is E-Elsu. Who’re you?”

He thought for a long moment trying to decide if he should let Elsu get any closer. He thought it could be a trick, that maybe bandits were only waiting for this boy to drug him to make everything easy.

Doki considered that there was no way he could get lucky enough to find the only person in the world willing to help him in such a time of need.
'AWWWW hes adorable! look at the kid, practically a babe! oh let him help you Dee. No way it's a trap.'
Doki didn't want East to complain should he refuse the aid and he considered that she may be right, so he obliged.
"um-thank you...yes please I...I fell..."

He could not do much once Elsu would start to give him aid so Doki sat un-moving unless directed to do so.
"Doki...M-my...name. I-I'm sorry...to..to inconvenience you..."

Doki dropped his gaze away from the boy to stare off at a few leave scattered across the ground. He was tense and still slightly frightened this might be some kind of trick. He had read stories about it, children sent to lure victims into false sense of security. He directly looking at Elsu but was still paying attention in case he be required to act.

[Emiyn]

The green-haired boy continued to give him a suspicious look. Emiyn couldn’t decide whether he should have moved quicker, to seem less like a predator waiting to pounce, or to be slow enough to not startle him. There was an awkward silence in the air, as the boy was wringing his hands restlessly. He couldn't stop the itch for any sort of response, as his grip on the roll of bandages was getting tighter.

Hearing the soft words of approval, his face relaxed again into an expression of relief. Picking up his bag, he walked over, and sat cross-legged next to him. He tried to be gentle in pushing up the bottom of the pants to see the bloodied leg, to avoid the hem of the cloth scrapping against the raw opened skin . The young hunter had bled animals for food, but seeing a person with wounds still made him cringe.

“Doki…” he tested the name on his tongue, as he uncorked his bottle of water to rinse a piece of gauze. “This might hurt, sorry…” he murmured while dabbing on the pale green skin, with crusts of drying blood.

Being inexperienced in giving first aid to wounds, he lifted his head up every now and then to see for any sudden signs of pain on Doki. After a while, he dropped the damp and red-stained pieces of gauze by a root of the tree he sat next to. As he picked up his roll of bandages, he mumbled softly “oops” to himself. He hadn’t remembered to bring a pair of scissors, nor did he have a knife with him currently.

“Don’t be sorry, I don’t have an agenda today” he assured truthfully. He was merely out here today for fun. He unrolled the white cloth, unceremoniously ripping a couple of sections with his teeth. Stretching one of them in front of the bottom right leg, the small fingers gingerly wrapped the edge around one of the gashes. “What are you doing here by the way? Did you get lost?” he asked, in an attempt to distract Doki from the pain. He certainly didn’t seem to be taking a stroll, nor did he seem have the proper gear for hunting, Emiyn noted as he continued with the wrapping the wounds.

[DokiDoki]

The process was a little painful but Doki kept his flinching to a minimum and swallowed any would be whimpers by capturing his bottom lip between his teeth. Even with the occasional stinging and jolts of pain the bandaging process caused Doki knew how to keep still when receiving first aid. It wasn't the first time someone had to bandage him up and this was definitely on the lower scale of severity then other instances.

“What are you doing here by the way? Did you get lost?”

He didn't answer straight away and instead considered how he should answer the question. He didn't actually want to tell the truth, the circumstances that had left him hurt and half drowned down a river were embarrassing and the reason for being placed into those circumstances was to incriminating.
Even if the boy aiding him currently had no ill intent Doki still didn't want to bring up any 'slave on the run' business. It was to risky to let anyone know, even just a kid.

The wrapping his wounds was just about completed as Doki lifted his gaze for the first time since the process started. He looked at Elsu but reflexively did not make direct eye contact.

"y-yes...lost..I-I...got lost....and-"

'DON'T tell him you fell off a waterfall.'
He hated it was East spoke to him while he was talking, it always through him off. The distraction had him pause for an awkward second before continuing.

"A-and there...w-w-was a l-large animal....uhh..."

'I guess that's not entirely a lie...'

"I...n-need to get back...to the city..."

'don't forget to thank him'

"AND!" the word came out louder than he had meant it to. With a quite clearing of his throat he continued speaking.
"T-thank you...you...uhh...thank you..."]
Dokis stomach took the opportunity to growl with hunger. At such an embarrassment Dokis face flushed immediately and he snapped his head to the side to look away.
"s-sorry..th-that..was rude...." His voice trailed off and became nothing more than a whisper. Even though it was not a voluntary response Doki knew nothing more than people scoffing at such a sound. It was never something to do in polite company he had learned.

[Emiyn]

As expected, it seemed to be painful. But the other boy was straining not to show any signs of pain. He was unlike some others Emiyn knew witnessed would just complain about it hurting. He’d seen grown up men giving out unearthly pains or shouts, enough to be sound-effects for a horror film. Fortunately, he was never the one treating those.

“If it hurts you can tell me,” Emiyn moved on to tie up another bandage, small fingers always fumbled a little.  “You’re not going to get any rewards or merits for being quiet about it, you know.” He said partially quoting what a black haired girl once said to him. After repeating a few more times to finish, he lifted his head to see if there were any lingering signs of discomfort. He wasn’t sure if he wrapped them too tightly or not.

Doki had lifted his head, but eyes seemed to be looking in the distance, while telling what happened to him in a stuttering voice. Emiyn turned back to packing up the first aid kit while listening attentively, and it seemed that the other seemed really traumatised by the possibly visit to the forest. The box of medical supplies was shut with a snap and he placed it carefully on top another wooden carved box in his bag.

There was a sudden exclamation of the word “AND”, making the black haired boy lift his head up. He shook his head with a small smile at the grateful but also shy response from the other.

“Don’t men-“

His words were cut off by a small growl. Not feeling any vibrations from his stomach, he noticed Doki turning away in an apologetic manner. Emiyn’s face paled a little in surprise as he dug his hand into a separate compartment in his bag.

“Wow, you must have been out here for at least a day!” He exclaimed, finding that the bread he had received from the innkeeper’s wife was now lukewarm. Hopefully the starved boy sitting across him won’t mind that. Tilting his head, he closed his eyes for a moment to take in the scent of the air around him, and the sounds of the trees rustling and the birds chirping.

His eyes opened, and his face beamed into an excited grin, ”Oh, the river is probably closer than I thought!”. Using his left hand, he gripped on his water bottle again, it was rather small, and he had the habit to only use if necessary while away from any village or town.

He crawled closer towards Doki, and held out the dry bread and water. “After you’ve eaten, wanna come back to village I’m currently staying at? We could then travel together to the city.”  He didn’t want to mention yet that he wasn’t travelling alone, but he supposed when they got back he’ll talk with Val into taking a detour to wherever this injured person needed to go.

[DokiDoki]

'What a sweet pea.'
Doki turned to gaze at the offered bread and water. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and accept both with haste but he restrained himself. He already felt endebted to the kid and accepting food would only increase the guilt.
"...its alright...rea-l-lly. I-..."
'Don't be rude, he offered it to you accept like a polite goblin!' He felt compelled to listen to east, so he did as she told.
"-but..., thank you..."
Reaching forward cautiously he accepted both offerings. After Placing the bottled water down beside himself he ripped the bread into two halves. Keeping the smaller section for himself he reached out to return the other half of the offering to elsu.
"But please....I....I c-can't take every....everything from you..."

Doki was accustomed to eating quickly, and as such took no time at all in devouring his half of the lukewarm morsel of bread.
He felt a considerable amount more alive after the small portion of food and basic first aid so Doki stood slowly to get moving. He really had no choice but to accept Elsus offer to get back to town, he knew it was unlikely he would find his way out of the wooded labyrinth alone.
He was a bit wobbly on his feet, his ankle and leg protesting at the strain but he could deal with it, even if it meant moving at a slow limping pace.
"If you...d-don't mind the inconvenience... Yes... P-please. B-back to tow--"

There was a snapping noise behind Doki, the sharp reverberating sound cut him off immediately. Snapping his head around he peered into the direction it had come, staring with wide eyes though the endless growth of trees and plant life. He saw no movement and considered it could be a small animal or nothing at all. Slowly he fixed a worried gaze to Elsu and opened his mouth to speak again. Before so much as a syllable could escape him a physical force stopped him. He didn't get to see what it was but it wrapped around him in an instant. Arms being bound to his side and the forward momentum knocking him off his feet and face forward on the the ground. It didn't take him long to realize it was a rope with weighted ends. Perhaps launched with physical force or a tool, it didn't matter. He was stuck and now wiggling around in a struggle with whoever launched it probably on their way over. In his panic he didn't get to see if Elsu had also been snared or if maybe he had seen it coming it time to evade and run.

[Emiyn]

There was a moment before Doki finally decided to take the bread and water, and the hesitation in his action didn’t escape from Emiyn’s eyes. Given a half back, he placed it back within the plastic bag. The boy probably couldn’t eat too much either after having being famished for quite a while. Watching him wolf down the food, his suspicion that Doki hadn’t eaten for a while was confirmed. Although he would have felt better the green-skinned boy could have eaten the whole bread, but it might have been better to get to civilized place first. He shook his head politely again at the thank you he got.

Slowly he watched the taller boy getting onto his two feet afterwards. He kept a careful eye as he lifted his bag by the strap. The other’s legs looked a bit like a compass, straight and narrow, only it looked weak as if it could snap like twigs. For the dark haired boy, he was still too inexperienced to understand what it meant to be malnourished.

He turned his head up to Doki’s face as said person was finishing his sentence about going back to town. Suddenly the small voice broke off in a start, cut by the snap of a twig. Brown-eyed pupils dilated as Emiyn’s ears perked up slightly, straining to hear all the sounds of life around him. His sudden attention to the environment distracted him from the signs of alarm from Doki’s face. Like an animal that could feel something pouncing, his legs moved on their own to leap away, just in time for a snake to bash into the ground. His feet bounced a few meters away before they halted to a stop on the leaves, skidding to a stop.

On the ground, what he thought was a snake was merely a rope, where the tail ended at the rough hands of a grown man, with his companions behind him. His eyes widened at seeing the injured Doki trapped by coils of rope, at the mercy of a man taller than him. Though he couldn’t sense any presence of malice, he did not have a friendly look.

“You wouldn’t want anything happening to your friend here, would you, little boy?” a rough voice came from his lips.

[DokiDoki]

The pain of having his face meet with solid ground and fallen leaves with no resistance was muted by his sheer panic.
He couldn't break free or try to slither away with Both of his arm pinned to his side and one leg half useless Doki couldn't even stand on his own accord.

“You wouldn’t want anything happening to your friend here, would you, little boy?”

 The voice stopped Dokis fruitless struggle. He knew that voice, he was sad he knew that voice, and he was certain no other voice in existence could turn an already terrible day into a day he was starting to regret not drowning in a river.
Strong hands hauled him up to a standing position but held him aloft so only the tips of his worn boots brushed the ground. His new vantage point allowing him the opportunity to look over at elsu. At the sight of the younger a small sign of relief escaped Dokis lips, he was glad Elsu had evaded capture and stood a few feet away out of arms reach.
He could live with his own fate at the hands of the well known slave trader so long as he actually "lived" but the guilt of dragging a kind young human into such misery he was not sure he could deal with .

Including the man that had spoken there was a posy of 3 . One holding Doki upright in a to tight grasp and two others flanking the sides of the leader.

"So, Relax a bit kid, and don't look so angry. The names Robin and I mean you no harm. Nothin' here is in the wrong you see. My friends and I, well we are just exercising our legal right,"   the brawny leader gestured calmly to Doki. "to repossess stolen property."   The rough voice was calm and promised diplomacy; it made Doki cringed at its normalcy. He knew this man was far from any sort of civility. shaking his head fiercely in denial he attempted to warn Elsu.

'Robin you bartered!'   east had been doing nothing but cursing and yelling but at the words of the brawny salve trader she words began making coherent sentences.

'Dee tell that guy to stop looking at Elsu like he's on sale at the super market! Tell the kid to get out!'

"R-!"

The wide eyes look of fear Doki was giving Elsu and attempted warning was quickly and efficiently silenced by grunt #1 who was holding him up. A quick turn and knee to the gut had all the air escape Dokis lungs with in painful wheeze. It was quickly followed by a few spasmed attempts at gaining breath a few choked sobs.

The leader, robin, only smiled. The action itself Doki could not see but he has seen it enough in his lifetime to know its practiced false sincerity. The other three kept silent.

"Now I can overlook the fact you where Helpin' out a wanted criminal. But, I got to take you back to town to get a statement, come with us kid and everything will be alright" a large rough hand was extended to Elsu, bidding him to approach.

'No! Don't listen to him!'

Doki knew this trick and knew the soft words were no better coming from the sharp toothed grin of a wolf. He wanted to try saying something again, but was still having trouble breathing. All he could do was glance up to meet Elsus gaze and bid him to run with a teary eyed look.

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