"This is the long way around."
Citrine closed his eyes and breathed through his nose. One... Two... "No, it's not," he said calmly, not even bothering to look back at his brother. "This is the same path I take on patrol."
"Yeah. So the long way. The shortcut is--"
"We're not taking a shortcut," he cut Blue off. "Not again. After the last time, I'm surprised you want to."
Blue huffed and pouted. He didn't need to look back to know that's what he was doing. "Yeah, well, it would've been fine if we hadn't gotten got in that damn briar patch..."
"But we did get caught. Because you wanted to take a shortcut. So, forgive me, but I'm not trusting your intuition about this anytime soon," Citrine grumbled. Blue muttered something under his breath, but he wasn't paying attention. Movement up ahead drew his gaze, his ears flicking up, on alert.
"Shhh..."
"I didn't say anyth--"
"Shh!"
For once, Blue listened to him, perhaps sensing the urgency in his brother's stance and tone, or simply having caught the stranger's scent himself. Creeping forward in a hunter's crouch, Citrine flicked his ears up and forward, trying to pinpoint the sounds of footsteps. Just ahead...a little to the left.
Drawing himself up, the bigger kulshedra marched through the underbrush, spear at the ready and mouth curled in a snarl. "You. Stranger. What is your purpose here?"