Muddy Paws

is this really necessary...

To say it had been a journey was indeed putting it lightly. The boy had not been as keen as his sister to run off and find their other siblings, but he wasn't about to sit around and be left behind. A begrudging companion, something that his dearest sister wouldn't ever let him live down. The mere thought of it made the mottled boy sigh, glaring out at the muddy weather that had been their other 'friend' through these travels. Leave it to Mara to find the worst, dirtiest path to take them down... She shouldn't be surprised that he had slowed down on purpose. Gus would rather settle into a cold den by himself than have to deal with another night sleeping beside the mud queen herself. She obviously didn't care about all the micro organisms that lived in that crap, and that by rubbing it all over herself she could potentially getting herself sick. And who was going to fix her up when she did? Not him, certainly. Not that he didn't have the knowledge to, of course, he knew all about everything, how dare you question him? Huffing to himself, the boy peeked out from his hiding spot, resting not too far away from where his more savage twin had collapsed for the night. As much as he cared so, so much for his family, and his twin, he really couldn't take another day of getting dirty. He had just gotten the rest of the dried mud off of him, a heavy feat when most of your coat blended in quite nicely with the gooey, gross substance. His blue eyes narrowed as he peeked over the edge of the hollowed stump that he had hidden away in, perfect view of Mara. What better way to protect himself, when she would most likely come to find him anyways. Gus groaned silently, tucking back into his hiding spot.

The boy was quite content to stay curled up there, at least until it either got warmer or dryer. That was, until a different familiar voice made its mark. Mottled ears perked upwards, nose pulling up over the lip of his hidey hole. Was that Airikr? Of course the little devil had followed them here. In most cases, he would say the more the merrier, but with Mara around.... there was little doubt that she would turn this into a mud bath if she could help it. As slowly as he peeked over, Astralagus slid back down. Now he had double the reason to hide... Plus, Airikr's words weren't really incorrect, so nothing to butt in on...

Astralagus Adonis Adravendi