You can find anything in the woods

[Anonymous]

This could have gone a lot better. But then that just wouldn't be fun, would it?

Hunter wasn't really a very religious man. Not so much because he didn't believe in some sort of higher power, because he did. It was more that he was pretty sure they liked to spend their time fucking with his life and laughing over the results.

Those thoughts moved through his head almost absently as Hunter rolled across the forest floor and threw the muddy ground. He could feel the warm heat and smell it as his target pissed himself. And when you were rolling around with someone, that was gonna get all over.

That lucky shot to the stomach had missed a bit and hit the guy in the bladder and his breath smelled rancid with cheap ale, so Hunter supposed he shouldn't be surprised. With a grunt, he absorbed the punch to his side and reached for a nearby rock.

His fingers were slick with rain, it had been pouring for a while now and everything was soaked through. As he struggled to grab the rock, his mind wondered a bit again. Llyn would be having kittens over it being so muddy. And he was generally pretty whiny about rain in general.

Slamming his knee into the mans groin, Hunter used the opportunity to smash the rock into the man's temple, knocking him out. He was gonna have to splurge and take them somewhere with a nice stable for a few days or Llyn would be impossible to live with.

[Rhindeer]

Kyran was lost.

Pathetically so.

It was supposed to be a shortcut! He'd made this trip every year but had figured he could shave off an hour or so--and maybe take cover against the storm--but as it turned out, it would have been better to stick to the road.

The rain had made a mess of him, flattening his hair to his head in lank, soggy strands and making his pointed ears stand out all the more, and his wet clothes rubbed in all the wrong ways in all the wrong places; he hoped it wouldn't give him a rash! Grumbling to himself, feeling like a drowned rat and utterly unattractive and unappealing, he tromped through the muddy woods--and slipped on a slick patch of mud.

With a yelp, he went rolling, tumbling down a shallow embankment and getting caked in mud and leaves along the way, crashing through bushes--

And landing in a heap on top...of a man?

Who was on top of another man.

Panting, slightly panicked and miserable from his fall and the wet mud and eugh, Kyran froze for a moment as he collected himself. For a moment, the dark obscured the fact that one of the men was unconscious and bleeding from the head.

"...Uh," Kyran finally said, smiling sheepishly, "am I interrupting...?"

[Anonymous]

Hunter had been starting to stand when something slammed into him. He managed to catch himself on his hands, still clutching the rock, panting and sore from his fight. He blinked, rain streaming down his hair and into his face and he tossed his head, trying to clear his vision, "Uh, well, yeah, a little I suppose."

The other man was rather good looking, even soaking wet. Hunter glanced down at the man under him and stood up, tossing the rock aside, "Gimmie a minute. I gotta tie this guy up before he tries to make a run for it."

[Rhindeer]

Kyran rolled off of the man and plopped into the mud with a grimace, cold and now dirty and he just wanted to bathe and be somewhere warm. He started to pick himself up, carefully because his shoes kept slipping, and stood there, expression aghast and arms held out away from his body.

"Oh, gods, this--eugh." He wanted to just cry, but something the guy said got his attention first.

He perked up, glancing over with interest.

"Tie him up? Really? In the mud? I mean, I know some people are into--"

Then he noticed the bleeding gash in the man's head and recoiled. "Is he bleeding?"

[Anonymous]

"Uh, yeah?" Hunter gave Kyran a puzzled look, then the slow realization of what this probably looked like dawned on him, "Oh, see, I'm a bounty hunter. And this man here, well, he's wanted for all kinds of not real nice crimes. So I'm bringing him in and, well, he sort of resisted."

He quickly pulled out the shackles he carried with him and put them onto the man, "He's not in any danger, I didn't hit him that hard."

[Rhindeer]

"Oh." That made Kyran relax a little, staring at the downed man and then up at Hunter as he processed that new bit of information. It took a little longer than usual, miserable and cold as he was, but then it clicked and he perked up anew.

"Oh! So you're like a knight to his villainy! Well that changes things," he concluded, moving closer and grinning, even if his teeth chattered a bit. It was hard to be smooth when you were covered in grossness. "That's very noble...it's just a shame those have to be wasted on him."

He nodded at the shackles.

[Anonymous]

"Uh..what?" Hunter blinked again, not really sure what to make of that. He wasn't really used to people reacting like that when they heard his job. Though years of being bonded to Llyn made Hunter very aware of other people. And it didn't take a genus to realize Kyran was freezing.

Shrugging out of his heavy, wool lined jacket, Hunter held it out. It was mostly pretty waterproof and warm, if a little smelly from all the time Hunter spent in it, "Hey, you look a bit under dressed. Why not slip this on?"

He then frowned as he reached down and hauled the downed man over his shoulder with a grunt, "What are you doing out in the middle of the woods anyway?"

[Rhindeer]

Kyran readily accepted the jacket; right then, he couldn't tell if it smelled funky over his own filthy stench. He paused only to peel his tunic off before he slipped into the jacket, nice and dry and wonderful against his cold skin. "Ah, and a gentleman, too," he said with a wink.

He pulled the jacket tight around himself, still shivering a little, and watched him gather up the criminal. "Oh...uh, well. It was supposed to be a shortcut," he said with a sheepish laugh, ducking his head. "To save time and stay a little drier, but it just kind of made things worse."

He paused, then coughed and added, "Er...do you know the way out?"

[Anonymous]

"Yeah. If ya don't mind following some strange old man though the woods, I can show ya the way." Hunter gave a nod for Kyran to follow, "My friend is up this way. He's not happy with the weather either."

He was really, really looking forward to the inn and some nice warm food inside him. And it was a little hard not to stare at just how attractive the other man was, even in his massive old coat.

[Rhindeer]

"Not at all!" Kyran said, moving closer to the man as though afraid he'd be left behind, though not close enough to risk touching the criminal, ick. "Is there anywhere to stay? Shelter? A bath? A--oh, eugh. What's that smell?"

The smell of urine was starting to reach his nose the closer he got to the man and he covered his nose with a hand, blanching.

[Anonymous]

"Guy pissed himself. Also, there was some vomit earlier." Well, he was just going to be making friends left and right at this rate. Hunter felt himself flush a little, shivering as the rain soaked his thin tunic through.

"Uh, so...yeah. Let's pretend I said something less gross. Uh, there is an inn not too far from here. It's a couple of hours away though."

[Rhindeer]

Kyran went from white to a little green around the edges at that, taking a step backwards in horror and clapping a hand over his mouth with a weak noise. For a moment there he was afraid he might add to the--right! Not thinking about that, not thinking about that! He swallowed hard to try to keep his stomach down.

And an inn hours away...?

When he spoke, it was in a small voice. "Where do you drop off him?"

[Anonymous]

Yup. He was getting off to a great start. Hunter ducked his head, ears burning, "Uh, well, I'm takin' him to a place in Tirial. I'll dunk him in a bath when we get to the inn. Sorry, uh, for the smell and stuff."

[Rhindeer]

"Oh, uh, it's..." Kyran cleared his throat. "Not your fault, it's just..."

He shuddered and buried himself deeper in the jacket. "A bath sounds wonderful," he said, sighing and changing the subject. "I feel so gross."

[Anonymous]

"Yeah, I know what ya mean." Hunter was smelly, muddy and shivering. It was not a good day to be without a jacket, but the other man looked like he needed it a lot more. When you spent the last few decades of your life with a unicorn, and most people couldn't even tell Llyn was a unicorn, it lost a little bit of that awe.

So Hunter didn't really mention that the friend they were meeting was a unicorn. He found his friend where he had left him, minus the apples he had left with him, huddled under the shelter Hunter had set up, "Hey Llyn. I got the guy. And found a lost soul."

[Rhindeer]

Llewellyn had been huddled under the cover of the makeshift shelter, legs curled daintily beneath him, and he lifted his head when he heard (and smelled) Hunter's approach, ears pricked forward. He looked as wet and miserable as the other two, white mane wet and lank, and he slipped out of the cover of his shelter and rose to his feet.

"It's about time. That took--"

A loud gasp cut him off and he swiveled to look. Kyran had frozen on the spot, wide eyes locked on Llewellyn and looking positively awestruck.

"Is that...?"

And then it clicked for Llewellyn. That one could see him. Most people only saw a white horse--unless they were very young, believers, or had some sort of magic in them, themselves.

"That's your friend?" Kyran sputtered.

[Anonymous]

"Er...yes?" Hunter paused in reaching over to stroke Llyn's nose. He knew the unicorn would get pissy at him for getting dirt on him, but he also knew he liked his scratches. But then he realized, "Ah, so yer a mage then? Or just know how to see 'um, huh?"

[Rhindeer]

Llewellyn blew air out his nostrils in something like a long suffering sigh. He loved the nose scratch but Hunter's fingers left mud behind...but he wasn't quite annoyed enough to make Hunter stop, either.

"Uh...I..." Kyran was still staring openly at the unicorn and he shook his head at the question. "Never seen one in my life, I...wow..."

And then realizing that still didn't answer the question, he snapped his attention back to Hunter. "Oh, right, I'm a mage, yeah," he said quickly. It was kind of the truth, and better than 'I'm part demon'. "What's that have to do with it? Am I not supposed to see him?"

[Anonymous]

"Most people can't." Hunter smiled indulgently at Llyn. While the awe might have faded over the years, it was replaced with a strong, comfortable love. Llyn made up most of his world and he loved his bonded partner.

"Just see a white horse. Now, not ta ruin yer first time meetin' a unicorn, but it'll be a lot nicer once we're back at the inn, yeah?"

[Rhindeer]

"Y-yeah," Kyran said, still staring at the unicorn. "Right. Baths and whatnot!" And he was freezing his butt off right now! The sight of a unicorn had just distracted him.

And worried him a little.

They were supposed to be magnificent creatures. Pure creatures. And he...wasn't. Weren't unicorns attracted to virgins, as the legends went? So what about a half-incubus? Did it work in reverse? But the unicorn didn't seem to react to him except to eye him with disinterest, like he was background noise.

Llewellyn dipped his head. "I'm Llewellyn," he greeted, and Kyran just about fainted.

"It can talk?"

"It?!" Llewellyn said indignantly, nostrils flaring. "It?! I am no 'it'! Hunter! Where is its manners?"