Chapter 14 of Mystic Heart Odyssey. I know sweeter = stronger doesn’t make sense for alcohol, it’s typically the reverse without a bunch of mixers, but hey, this is fantasy, so let’s just pretend otherwise, shall we? Just imagine it’s not actually alcohol but something with some otherwise very similar traits. Yay fantasy nonsense!

-Llox

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Some time after re-entering the woods, Lykou noticed that Kuna had grown silent. He had a thoughtful expression, though fortunately he didn’t seem particularly upset this time. After a bit, he gently nudged the sereva, snapping him out of his thoughts. “You alright?” the konuul asked. “Something bugging you?”

“Kind of,” Kuna admitted with a slight nod. “I was thinking about when, well, Shiko and Tashira cornered us. When the marks appeared.”

“Yeah? Heh, glad we met that echo. I mean I’d like to think they wouldn’t have straight-up killed us otherwise, but that certainly helped make a bad situation better.”

Kuna nodded, but his brow furrowed. “But thinking back, I’m wondering how they started glowing,” he continued.

Lykou arched a brow curiously. “Oh? I just assumed it was something mystical. Like maybe Tareq somehow, I don’t know, made it so they’d show up at the right time, or in the presence of shakonu people or something.”

The sereva shook his head. “I don’t think so. From what I understand, they don’t work that way. Someone with magic has to see them or make them show up.”

“Now that you mention it, I do remember feeling someone touched my shoulder,” Lykou said, scratching his head. “Maybe he followed us or something but like, invisibly? He is a spirit, after all.”

“Maybe… but even echoes, even powerful ones, if I remember right, can only manifest near people or places they have some kind of connection to.”

“Well, he was the ghost’s ancestor, right? And she was Tashira’s sister, so he’d be connected to her, too.”

Kuna thought about it for a moment, then slowly nodded. “I guess that makes sense,” he said, though something about it didn’t feel right and he wasn’t entirely convinced.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and the sereva’s eyes darted around a bit. “You know,” he eventually said. “Sometimes I do feel like we’re being watched or followed, though.”

Lykou reached over and gently rubbed his shoulder. “I mean, probably. By wildlife,” he pointed out. “Other than that though, from what they told us, we definitely need to be more careful. So if the feeling gets too strong, just let me know. We do need to be on our guard.”

Kuna shivered at that thought. “Right. Good point,” he said with a sigh. “Great, just what I needed. More reason to be paranoid.”

The konuul gave him a sympathetic, slightly apologetic look. “I’ve been thinking- that armor idea Tashira mentioned might be something to work on. My chaser gear and that poncho aren’t doing us any favors if we get in real serious trouble out here.”

“I am NOT wearing bug guts,” Kuna stated firmly, shooting a sideways look at the konuul.

The quick reaction made Lykou snicker. “Alright, fine, but we’ll have to figure something out.”

“The best way to protect ourselves is to avoid attention in the first place,” the sereva stated flatly. “Shame we don’t have a haze-walker with us.”

The konuul gave him an odd look. “A what?”

“Magic users. The ones our people used to keep us hidden,” Kuna explained with a shrug.

“Oh. Right,” Lykou responded, pausing to think for a minute. “I guess it never occurred to me that there might be different kinds of magic users, but I guess it makes sense.”

Kuna nodded. “There’s overlap sometimes, but haze-walkers do the hiding stuff, path seekers navigate, healers, well, heal obviously, and so on,” he said, then thoughtfully lifted the medallion hanging from his neck and examined it. “I guess it’s different for other people though. Like how Nauja’s a ‘spirit-guide’ or something, and he did healing and these things. And found that stone.”

“I wonder if he actually does things with spirits?” Lykou wondered aloud. “I can’t imagine spirits need guidance though. I always thought it was the other way around, for the most part.”

Kuna shrugged, letting go of the medallion as he turned his attention back to the path ahead. “Mainly yeah. Maybe it’s the other way around, maybe they guide him? I’ve heard stories about spirits teaching people things. Could be he’s visited by them sometimes.”

Lykou thought for a moment and a faint smile slowly appeared on his face. “Maybe they taught him to use his magic.”

“Could be. Would make sense, seeing how magic and the spirit world are connected somehow.”

“Maybe,” the canid suggested, gently nudging him again. “One will come teach you sometime. Since they seem to like you.”

Kuna rolled his eyes a bit. “Right, like they’d waste their time on me.”

Lykou sighed in mild exasperation and pulled the sereva into a side-armed hug. “This again? Come on, Kuna…”

The sereva smiled sheepishly at the konuul after a moment, folding his ears down. “Sorry, partly old habits, but-”

“No buts. Come on, you’re a hero, remember? The worms, the stone?” Lykou reminded him. “Not to mention the ghost. That you physically touched, need I remind you.”

“I know, I know,” the sereva said, nudging him slightly. “I get it, I’ve got to work on the self-doubt thing. But there’s more to it than just that.”

“Oh?” Lykou asked, one eyebrow raised. “Like what?”

“Did you notice how strong Nauja was, just like the others? And how he was still going off to recover after using his magic a lot?” the sereva pointed out.

Lykou furrowed his brow. “Yeah, I guess. What about it?”

“Magic uses energy just like anything else. It takes strength,” Kuna continued, then sighed. “And all sappy ‘inner strength’ nonsense aside, I’m still a weakling, Lykou. Physically, I mean. I may not be a sick kid anymore, but I kind of doubt I’d be able to use magic even if I knew how. For all I know it might kill me to do even the simplest tricks.”

The canid frowned and walked in silence for a minute, but kept his arm around his friend. “That ‘inner strength’ stuff isn’t just sap, you know,” he finally said, then smirked a bit, squeezing Kuna gently. “And anyway, didn’t you say a lot of magic users in your tribe were elders? I don’t know about sereva, but the elderly in general, as far as I’m aware, aren’t exactly known for being at their best physically, in terms of strength or energy. Even former hunters.”

“Er, well- they… I mean,” the sereva tried to respond, floundering. Finally he sighed and shrugged. He smirked back slightly. “Alright, point taken. But even then, they’re old and, I don’t know, wise or something. I don’t see why any spirits would waste time with an idiot that didn’t even know how to make a fire until recently.”

Lykou sighed and shook his head. “One of these days, Kuna,” he said, rubbing the sereva’s head playfully. “One of these days, I’m going to get in there and kick those demons’ asses so hard.”

Kuna couldn’t help but smile and chuckle a bit at that.

Spurred on by the reaction, the canid got up close and looked in his ear with exaggerated focus. “You hear that in there, I’m coming for you!” he said, pointing a finger at it. “Look, I just saw one run out your ear like the scared little shit it is. That’s right, you better run!”

Kuna laughed more and gently pushed him away. “Lykou!”

The canid quickly moved around to the sereva’s other side. “Aha, thought you could outsmart me hiding on this side, did you?” he said as he mimed plucking something out of the sereva’s ear and throwing it on the ground, before stomping on it. “Die, demon!”

“Pfft,” Kuna brought his palm to his face as he laughed even more. “What are you even-”

“Better check the front, too!” the konuul ran around in front of Kuna, forcing him to stop walking for a moment, as he pretended to inspect his nose and mouth with exaggerated intensity. “I know you’re hiding in there! You can’t run forever!” He then dipped around the sereva again and started poking and prodding his sides. “I’ll chase them out of hiding one way or another!”

“Quit it!” Kuna objected, halfheartedly trying to push Lykou away. “That tickles!”

“Ah, good idea!” Lykou announced, then proceeded to intentionally start tickling the flailing sereva. Eventually, though, he relented and allowed him to catch his breath.

When Kuna finally calmed down enough to speak again, he gave the canid’s arm a playful slap, then rubbed the laughter-tears out of his eyes. “You… are the goofiest… fucking…”

“Demon slayer,” Lykou said as he crossed his arms and nodded with an exaggerated serious expression.

“I swear, Lykou,” Kuna said, shaking his head but unable to stop grinning.

Finally, Lykou dropped the act and wrapped his arm around his buddy again, smiling. “Hey, just training your face muscles. Gotta start somewhere, right?”

Kuna snickered again and laid his head on the canid’s shoulder for a moment, returning the side-hug. “I thought you were some ‘spirit chaser’, not your tribe’s village idiot. Or are all konuul are just inherently the silliest people in the world?”

“Nah, unfortunately that job pays even less than a chaser,” Lykou replied with a shrug. “So being an idiot’s more of a side-hobby.”

“Clearly, you’ve mastered it,” Kuna said, then turned and squeezed him in a tight full embrace. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks, Lykou.”

“Any time, Kuna,” he said, returning the tight hug.

After they pulled apart, they resumed walking, making light conversation as they went.

*****

Some time that afternoon, shortly after having stopped for lunch, Kuna perked up as he spotted some gourds hanging from a nearby tree. He recognized them as the source of the juice he’d enjoyed at the shakonu camp. He might not have the coconuts to drink it from, but he was sure it’d still be good. “Oh hey, let’s pause here. I’m going to grab some of those.”

“Okay, but be careful not to take more than you can carry,” the konuul warned, walking over with him.

“Obviously,” the sereva responded as he climbed up the side of the tree and started tugging on the closest one he could reach. “Hmm. Hey, can I borrow your knife?”

“Sure. Need a hand?” the konuul responded, handing the knife over.

“Maybe, gimme a moment.” Kuna reached out and cut the gourd free and carefully lowered it. “Here, can you set this down by my bag?”

“Sure,” Lykou said as he took the gourd. Before he set it down, he shook it next to his ear for a moment as he listened to the faint sloshing around inside. “Sounds like there’s a good bit in there.”

“Good,” the sereva responded, then reached out for the next one. After a few minutes, he had about a half dozen decent-sized fruit sitting on the ground by his bag. He seemed intent on grabbing another one, but pulled back and descended with a sheepish grin after Lykou cleared his throat.

“You must really like that stuff,” the canid said with a smirk.

“What can I say? It’s tasty,” Kuna replied with a shrug. “And it kind of helped me relax a bit.”

“That’s great, but how are you going to carry all those?”

Kuna rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then grinned and picked his walking stick back up, then fished out some of the latest batch of string-like roots he’d collected from his bag. He turned the stick sideways, then hooked the curved part of the gourds around it and tied them down to keep them from slipping off. Once they were hooked up, he lifted all four and tried to balance the stick across his shoulder. But the added weight, on top of his bag and their sleeping mat, was visibly straining him.

Lykou chuckled. “Nice idea, at least,” he said, then reached over to pull the bedroll out from its spot on top of Kuna’s bag. “Let me just lighten your load a little.” He pulled the roll out and tucked it under his arm, then guided the sereva’s hands so that the stick was balanced across his shoulders, distributing the weight more evenly. “There, hold it like that and you’ll be a bit more steady.”

“Thanks,” the sereva said, looking mildly embarrassed. “Sorry I’m such a wimp. You sure you’re alright to carry that along with the rest of your stuff?”

“Yeah, it’s no problem. Honestly, I was tempted to from the start anyway,” Lykou assured him as he tied the mat down to the top of his chaser’s pack. “And stop with the ‘wimp’ talk before I have to tickle you again.” He grinned, poking the sereva’s side after he slung his pack back on.

“Alright, okay,” Kuna responded, flinching away from the poke with a small smile. Then he sighed. “I just can’t help feeling like I can’t, you know... do much.”

Lykou sighed and rubbed the sereva’s back gently. “You can do plenty, Kuna. Give yourself more credit,” he reassured his friend. “And anyway, learning and growing is part of life. I’m sure you’ve got talents you’re not even aware of yet.”

Kuna opened his mouth to object, but then thought better of it and just shrugged slightly, being careful not to lose his balance with the stick. “If you say so.”

“I do. Now come on,” Lykou gestured ahead, and they both started walking again. “Hopefully there will be a decent spot to set up camp at the base of the mountain, and I think we’re getting close.”

Sure enough, the ground had been gradually building up an incline. Soon they could see the mountain clearly through the gaps in the tree canopy. It looked like a good sized one, with the forest thinning further up its side.

*****

Once they finally reached the base, they searched around a bit before finally finding an overhang with a small creek nearby. There was a decent gap in the trees, as well, giving a good clear look at the sky. Together they set up a fire pit and laid out the mat, then ate dinner around the fire as the daylight faded and gave way to a particularly pretty night sky. The moon was nearly full, and even without the fire, they would have been able to see decently around their campsite, once their eyes adjusted.

Lykou leaned back against the rock wall and gazed up at the stars with a content smile. He half expected the sereva to end up in his lap any moment, but then turned when he heard him fiddling with the gourds instead.

“Can I borrow your knife again for a sec?” Kuna asked, after untying a gourd.

With a smirk, the canid unsheathed the knife and handed it over. “Eager, huh? Was dinner not enough?”

“I saved room. And I thought it’d be nice to enjoy under the stars,” Kuna said, cutting open the top of the gourd. “It’s a pretty night.”

“Yeah, it really is,” Lykou agreed, turning his gaze back upward.

“Want some?” Kuna asked as he sat back down next to the canid with the gourd in hand, sloshing its fluids around inside.

“No thanks, enjoy yourself,” the canid said, wrapping his arm around the sereva.

Kuna lifted the fruit up and sipped at it. “Mm. It’s thicker than before,” he noted, licking his lips. “They must have cut it with water to make it last longer.”

“That would make sense. Still taste alright?” Lykou asked, glancing back at him.

“Yeah. Sweeter, if anything,” Kuna said, then cut out a piece of the fruit’s inner flesh and ate it. “Got a bit more of that warmth, too. It’s nice.”

Lykou just smiled and rubbed Kuna’s shoulder as he looked back up at the sky.

“You’re not going to howl at it, are you?” Kuna asked with a smirk.

Lykou blinked and turned back to him with an eyebrow raised. “What?”

“You know. Making noises at the moon,” the sereva said. “I’ve heard your people doing it before, on clear nights. It carries a long way.”

“Oh, that,” Lykou replied with a snicker, rolling his eyes slightly. “No, that’s just people goofing around, especially kids. And maybe even more on Spark Night, when people are in an extra good mood anyway.” He paused, then grinned mischievously. “I could do it if you want me to, though.”

“You do and I’m stuffing your snout in this thing,” Kuna playfully warned. “Not like we want to draw unwanted attention, anyway.”

Lykou chuckled. “Fair point.”

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the peaceful sounds of the forest at night, accompanied occasionally by Kuna’s sipping and chewing. After a while, he nuzzled up to the canid some more. Lykou suddenly felt a light tug on his tail and looked down to see the sereva idly playing with it and giggling slightly.

“Er…” he started a bit uncertainly. “You uh… having fun?”

Kuna giggled some more. “You’re rrrreally fluffy.”

“Um. Yeah, I guess?”

The sereva let go of the tail and grinned up at him. “Yer like a big… soft… ssssexy, silly blanket w-with… with legs,” he said, then reached up unsteadily and booped his nose with a finger. “And a cute, kissable face.” He poked his tongue out, grinning.

Lykou’s eyes widened as he blushed at the comment. Then they narrowed as he studied the sereva’s face, noticing a slightly glassy look in his friend’s eyes. “Wait a minute,” he said, then picked up the gourd and sniffed it. He then took a sip from what was left and licked his lips thoughtfully. He sighed and rolled his eyes with a small grin. “Yeah that explains it.”

“S’plains wha? D’the fruit talk?” Kuna asked with a noticeable a slur. Then his eyes widened a bit as he let out a small gasp. “Didja hear a spirit? Wha’d it say??”

The canid snickered and pulled him up into his lap. “No, no spirits. Just a very silly lush,” he said bemusedly. That’d explain why they said to go easy on it, he thought to himself. And why they cut it with water.

“Whassa lush?” the sereva asked as he craned his head back to look up at the Lykou, then tried blowing a bit of the canid’s fur out of his eye.

“You,” the canid said simply, resigning himself to babysitting a very drunk, yet somehow still cute sereva.

“Heyyyy, whatchu call me?” Kuna said with a small pout. “I’ll fightchu.” He started squirming weakly, but couldn’t help but grin as he did. “Can’t hol’ me -hic- forever!”

“Wanna bet?” the konuul replied nonchalantly.

Kuna abruptly stopped squirming and leaned back into the embrace. “’Kay. Hol’ me f’ever then. No lettin’ go.”

“Deal.”

There was silence for a couple minutes, interrupted by one or two hiccups. Then the sloshed sereva spoke up again, “Hey L’kou?”

“Yes, Kuna?”

“I’ma… a -hic- Asher now, right?” he asked curiously.

“As far I’m concerned, yes,” the canid answered with a smile, squeezing the sereva gently.

Kuna seemed to think for a moment, before suddenly lifting his head up and letting out a highly amusing attempt at a howl. Lykou scrambled to cover his mouth, but had to do so whilst bursting into a small fit of laughter. “Kuna, shh! We don’t want to draw attention remember?” he reminded him after the laughter subsided.

“Oh yeah, forgot,” the sereva said after his mouth was uncovered, then slumped back again. “Sorreh. I’ll save it for -hic- ssspark night.”

“You do that,” Lykou said with a chuckle. “I’m glad you feel happy enough to do it though.”

“Always happy wi- -hic- with you,” Kuna said, wiggling a bit in the canid’s arms.

Lykou’s smile broadened and his ears folded down as he gave the sereva another squeeze. “I’m glad to hear that.” After a moment, he reached into his bag and pulled out his waterskin. “Here, drink some water.”

“Mmmno. Don’ wan’ waddah,” the sereva said, pushing it away, then reached for the gourd. “Wan’ j -hic- juice.”

The konuul slid the gourd out of his reach, rolling his eyes up momentarily. “No, you’ve had enough of that for now. You need water now.”

“Nuh-uh!” Kuna insisted, pouting as he reached in vain for the gourd.

“Trust me, you’ll thank me later,” Lykou said, trying to push the waterskin’s opening towards the stubborn sereva’s mouth.

Eventually Kuna gave in and took the waterskin, albeit with a small frown. “Fine, I’ll drink da stupi’ waddah,” he said, then sipped some and wiped his mouth afterward. “Stinky skin waddah. Makin’ me drink fromma dead thing.”

Lykou sighed and shook his head slightly in amusement.

“Prolly wish I was -hic- ssslurpin’ on somethin’ else,” Kuna said after a few more sips, then grinned. “I wish -hic- I was, too. Hard n’ salty things, ‘member?”

Lykou’s eyes shot wide open as he blushed again. He then facepalmed and smirked. “Okayyyy, I think it’s time to get ready for bed.” He carefully got up and helped the sereva over to the mat.

“Mmm, gonna fuck- ermean, tuck me in?” the sereva said with a playful grin, wiggling his rump slightly at the canid as he was set back down again.

The konuul rolled his eyes up and sighed. “Goodnight, Kuna,” he said as he pulled out the blanket and draped it over his inebriated friend.

“Mmm, blanket,” Kuna said, finally rolling over onto his side. “Sleep does -hic- sssound good. Nini.” Within minutes, he passed out.

Lykou slid under the blanket next to him and sighed as he gently stroked the sereva’s side for a moment, then yawned and eventually dozed off as well.

*****

The next morning, Lykou woke up to a pained groaning sound. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then turned to see a balled-up sereva laying in the most shaded area he could find, turned to face the earthen wall beneath the overhang. With a small sigh, the canid got up and went to sit over next to his now quite hungover friend. When he got there, he sat down and gently lifted the sereva up into his lap and rubbed his head softly. “You alright?”

“Mmno,” Kuna said, slightly teary-eyed. His voice still had a faint slur to it, but more from grogginess and misery than inebriation at that point. “Think I’m fuckin’ sick for… the firs’ time in ages. I think I’m finally dyin’ this time.”

Lykou gently turned Kuna to face him with a knowing, but sympathetic smile. “You’re not dying. You’re not even sick, exactly. Not with anything that won’t pass in a day or so at most, anyway.”

Kuna winced as he was moved around, clenching his eyes shut for a moment before narrowly opening to fix the canid with a confused look. “Huh? How th’ fuck d’you know? ‘n don’t talk so damn loud...”

“Let me guess. Head’s killing you, everything hurts, light is your enemy, and you feel like something is trying to climb back up out of your guts,” the canid said a bit more quietly after a slight eye roll.

Kuna raised an eyebrow, then slowly nodded. “’cept the last bit. Already lost w’ever I ate last night,” he said, then gestured weakly over towards the tree line. “Don’t go tha’ way.”

“And I assume you don’t remember much?”

The sereva looked thoughtful for a moment, before wincing and rubbing his head. “N-no, but s’hard to think.”

“Yeah, I bet,” the konuul said with a small smirk. “Trust me though you’ll be fine in a while.”

The sereva stared at him blankly, his eyes as narrow as possible to minimize light exposure. “’splain,” he finally said simply.

“You had a bit too much, er, silly-juice to drink last night, if you know what I mean.”

“Silly juice?” Kuna asked, furrowing his brows tightly. “Fuck’s that?”

“You know,” Lykou said, gesturing with his head towards the gourds, including the now mostly emptied one laying discarded a bit closer. “That stuff.”

Kuna glanced over, then clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out light for a minute. “Wha’s silly ‘bout it?”

“It’s less the juice that’s silly and more that it made you very silly,” the canid answered, chuckling some. “I guess your people don’t have any, like… stuff that makes you act or feel funny, but in an enjoyable way?”

Kuna remained silent for a minute, letting his abused mind churn slowly. Finally he opened his eyes as widely as he dared and looked a bit worried. “Oh, like… wait. Fuck,” he said, his ears folding down. He once again shut his eyes as he started to blush. “...FUCK.”

Lykou chuckled and rubbed his shoulders gently. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Please just… tell me I wasn’t too embarrassing,” the sereva plead with a slight whimper.

The konuul mulled it over a bit and considered downplaying it, but ultimately decided it was better to be honest, if only so his buddy would learn to go easier on the stuff in the future. Plus, seeing a blushy, flustered sereva was a nice bonus. “Wellll,” he said with a grin. “You said some nice things. And that I had a kissable face. Then you wanted to ‘fight’ me. Then you tried howling like a konuul on spark night. And then finally you started getting really pervy right before passing out. Honestly? It was kind of adorable in a sloppy sort of way.”

Kuna groaned and buried his face in his hands, his blush intensifying significantly. “Fucking kill me.”

“Nope. Gotta live with it now,” Lykou teased, then very carefully rubbed the sereva’s head. “Seriously though, Kuna, don’t worry about it. Take it as a learning experience and go easier on it in the future.”

“Nah. No more. Ever,” Kuna stubbornly insisted as he laid his head back, eyes still clinched shut. “Only water.”

Lykou chuckled, then gently set the sereva aside as he stood up. “Hang tight, on that note, I’m going to bring you some more water. Keep drinking it until you can’t stand it, trust me. It’ll help.”

Kuna groaned wordlessly as the konuul stepped away to the creek. He peeked one eye open to glare at the nearly-emptied gourd. He weakly kicked at it with one foot, but he wasn’t close enough to actually hit it. With a small sigh, he pulled his leg back and re-shut the eye. “Fuck you,” he muttered to the inanimate object.

Soon Lykou returned with more water, which the sereva gratefully took and slowly sipped away at. The two sat in silence for a bit, with the konuul eventually pulling out some of his food to snack on in the meantime. The morning pressed on relatively quietly. Kuna was clearly not in much of a talking mood, and Lykou gave him all the peace and quiet he needed. The sereva took several, sometimes urgent trips off to the bushes during that time, before eventually flopping back down on their sleeping mat and dozing off for a while. The konuul came over and made sure the blanket was draped across him before sitting over by the firepit.

*****

When Kuna eventually woke back up from his nap, he slowly sat up and grumbled, rubbing his eye. It was considerably brighter out than he was used to waking up to. He saw Lykou sitting and enjoying the breeze while carving something with his knife. Slowly, after some internal struggle against his body’s objections, he managed to get up and trudge over to the fire pit and join the konuul. He was still squinting against the light, but less than before. He sighed heavily, and was about to say something when Lykou cut him off.

“Don’t even think about saying sorry,” Lykou said, smiling over at him. “You’re fine.”

The sereva let out a small groan. “I cost us a day of travel, though.”

“It’s fine, Kuna,” the konuul reassured him. “Things will happen. I get the feeling you didn’t entirely know that stuff would hit you that hard anyway.”

Kuna slowly shook his head. “Never had anything like that before. Sometimes saw others getting funny after eating some weird mushrooms or something, but never touched ‘em myself.”

“Well, first time for everything,” Lykou said with a chuckle. “Feeling a bit better now?”

The sereva shrugged slightly. “Head doesn’t feel like something’s chewing on it. Might actually eat something. Sun’s still a bastard though.”

“Food’s probably a good idea,” the konuul said. “And water, too.”

“Shouldn’t’ve wasted time getting those damn gourds,” Kuna said bitterly as he pulled out a bundle of leafy things and started munching on it.

“Hey now, I wouldn’t go that far. I know you might think otherwise right now, but that stuff is fun as long as you don’t overdo it,” Lykou assured him. “Just water it down a bit next time.”

“Mmm,” the sereva responded noncommittally.

“Plus, once they’re empty, you could always use those things to store stuff. Probably would be a good idea to make an extra water container or two,” Lykou continued. He then shook his waterskin with a smirk. “You wouldn’t have to use this anymore.”

Kuna shot him a sidelong, thoughtful look, then sighed and shrugged again. “Good point I guess.”

“Also,” the canid added, grinning. “It’s fun watching you get all silly and tipsy.”

“Don’t make me brain you with one of those things,” the sereva threatened with a small smirk, causing the konuul to snicker in response. “So what are you doing with those branches?” he asked, gesturing to the bit that Lykou had been whittling away at with his knife.

“Oh, just making a spare spear. Trying to work on making better ones,” the konuul explained. “Much as neither of us want to think about it, there’s always a chance we’re going to get in a fight with something, or someone, that will be better equipped than we are currently.” He frowned. “I really do think we need to do something about that.”

“Best defense is not being seen,” Kuna pointed out, then took another bite of his food.

“Yeah, well, that’s all good and well, but there’s no avoiding it sometimes,” Lykou continued. “And we better be ready to handle those situations.”

Kuna frowned and swallowed. “I guess. Anything I can do to help?”

“Hmm…” The konuul paused to think, rubbing his chin as he looked around their camp area. “I guess you could always try and stitch up some kind of padded armor bits with whatever you can find. Won’t be able to stop much, but could turn a bad cut into a milder one.”

The sereva nodded and looked around from his spot as he finished eating. Afterwards, he got some water, then began searching for potentially useful materials to work with. Several hours passed with little to show for it. He eventually just grabbed some thick bark off a fallen tree and brought it back, hoping to figure out a way to fashion it into a couple very, very crude bracers.

By the time the sun started setting again, both were underwhelmed with the fruits of their labor. Lykou sighed and tossed aside a basic spear that was no better than the one he’d been using. He’d tried both simple wooden-point spears and ones with sharpened stone tips, but it was clear that his weapon-making skills had a lot left to be desired. Meanwhile, Kuna was fiddling with a bundle of tree bark and sinuous root-strings, with broken bits laying around him.

Kuna sighed as he held up his latest attempt. “Maybe if I had another gourd-full of that damn juice, I could convince myself this looks like something useful,” he said sardonically.

Lykou chuckled and shrugged. “I’m not exactly getting much better either,” he said as he glanced over at the small pile of similarly crude spears and mini-spears next to him. They’d work for hunting as long as he didn’t try and use them on anything with an especially tough hide, and at least he had backups for when they broke. But they’d be somewhat laughable against a serious threat.

“At least yours are more functional,” the sereva commented. “Mine might just make someone laugh long enough for you to get away.”

“Hey, we’re both doing the best with what we’ve got,” the konuul reminded him. “Not a lot to work with around here. And it’s not like either of us did much of this kind of thing before being flung across the world by some kind of magic storm thing.”

“Yeah, fair point,” Kuna sighed again as he tossed his latest failure aside. “I just hope our luck holds out. Maybe we’ll find something better to work with up on the mountain.”

“Maybe if we’re lucky enough, we’ll find something made by someone else that we can use. Either abandoned or, if we’re really lucky, they’ll just let us have it,” Lykou said, scratching his head. “Not like we’re exactly carrying around anything much worth trading. Nothing that we’d want to be without, anyway. I suppose maybe we could help them with something to earn it…”

Kuna smirked and rolled his eyes. “From what the shakonu said, that’s extremely unlikely.”

Lykou frowned. “True. Still, would be nice, and you never know.”

“Your optimism knows no bounds, Lykou.”

“Well someone’s gotta balance you out,” the canid said, grinning.

Kuna crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at the konuul, who chuckled in response.

“Well, we might as well eat and get ready for sleep. Maybe get an early start tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” the sereva said, stretching.

After adding some more wood from the fire- including the results of some of their failed projects- the two snuggled up under the blanket on their bed-mat. Before long, they both were sound asleep.