Yazov grunts as she leaves. As he pushes himself up, he is just in time to see the reveal of their..her face.
“You’re a girl?” He called out, but it wasn’t loud. She’s already on her way.
Silent treatment, the voice in his mind grumbles. He’s better off alone.
The setting sun draws near, and Yazov parts ways, knowing he needs shelter; and fast.
Tahki realizes the human has stopped his pursuit. She slows down, looking backwards, then at the sun. Or the darkening sky, rather.
She begins to move back to one of her many ‘shelters.’ She doesn’t sleep much, but night is dangerous around here.
When she arrives at the shelter, a large tree with plenty of underbrush, she moves into the small cave and pulls her spear in, sitting against the rock. While light is still around, she takes out her notebook, and begins to sketch..
Yazov feels a bit lonely. Even though the girl was not welcoming, at least he wasn’t alone. Bird chirping turns to the bugs..but it’s eerily silent around here. He switches on his night goggles, finding a large log in the woods and so he climbs onto it. High ground it probably better.
Speak of the devil. Something small runs under the log, but there’s many of him. He grips his rifle, and it’s silent for a few minutes. No pitter-patter of the feet of the creatures. Just him and nature.
Until one of them jumps at him.
There’s a sharp crack as he fires into the night.
Tahki is almost finished with the rough sketch when a loud noise echoes through her ears. She freezes, recalling the weapon of the man earlier.
Putting her items in her satchel, she takes her spear and sets off in direction of the noise. She moves quickly, and she begins to realize what is going on.
Yazov doesn’t know what these creatures are. What he does know, though, is that they see him as foe. Or prey. There’s a lot of them. Too many.
He can’t waste ammo, he reckons. He’s just gonna have to fire every now and then.
Yazov tilts his head up into the trees for a moment where he spots the figure. He could’ve sworn he heard..
..oh, that’s the woman from before!
Yazov reaches out and takes her hand.
Tahki feels her grip loosen momentarily, but she tightens her hold before attempting to pull the other up. Even she knows it's not safe on the forest floor; at least around this location. Many wild animals would enjoy easy prey, and since guns were not common use, the animals generally had no fear.
Yazov, putting his rifle away uses his other hand as a support on the branch to bring himself up. When he is fully on the tree, he looks to see his savior, but he is unable to see her features fully in the darkness.
Tahki waits for a moment, moving her free hand to her lips. She shushes him before he can even speak. The animals below are not yet gone. It isn't safe to travel on the ground.
Luckily, she does have a hideout nearby. She shifts on the branch, turning around, and seems to look at the trunk of the tree.
He watches her look, then noticed that she was looking in on a specific area. Yazov opts to stay silent. He can ask questions later. He motions for her to keep going; he’s ready.
Tahki slowly moves across the branch. It may be a large tree, but they do break every now and then. Her hideout happens to be dug into the wide trunk of the tree, and even in the darkness a hole is visible in the tree. It is like a small home. Without hesitation, she quickly moves into it.
Yazov leans back slightly, but not by too much when the woman suddenly goes into the tree.
No, there's a hole in the tree. He goes forwards again, and unlike the woman - cautiously approaches the hideout, only entering it a few seconds later.
Yazov looks at the woman. He still can't see her well.
"Thank you," he repeats again. He isn't sure she'll answer like last time. He knows she can speak English, and she's probably aware of that fact. He has to keep his legs tucked in in the hideout to conserve space.
Yazov meets her eyes, and for a moment, he wonders about them. No normal human has such eyes. When she responds, Yazov nods.
He closes his eyes.
((timeskip to morning?))
((Yeah))
Tahki takes a while to fall asleep. It's almost like seconds have passed when they're open again, and the early morning sun is here.
She doesn't seem to notice she'd moved in her sleep, onto her companion quite yet. Most people portrayed her type as the type to get up early, be morning birds; ready for action, but sometimes, Tahki liked to enjoy the warm sun. It would be a while before winter hit, anyways.
Yazov opens his eyes, nearly forgetting his current situation. It doesn’t take him long to notice his companion though, to which after some awkward seconds, he mumbles out, “er…”
Tahki glances upwards as her heart skips a beat, surprised to find someone in her tree. She immediately gets up, careful not to injure herself. It’s clear she seems to have forgotten what happened.
She does realize right away though, her widened eyes relaxing, but she never takes her eyes off of the man.
Yakov doesn’t seem too affected on the outside by her reaction, though he does return her gaze.
He stays silent for a few more seconds then speaks.
“I’m..Yakov,” he gestures to himself.
Tahki seemed to be preparing some items. She had been in her clan for a while, so she knew what time of the year it was - the clan’s blood hunt was within a few days from now. It was best to head to the outer reaches of the valley, close to the Death Ring. But never in it. You don’t survive the Death Ring.
She looked up. “Tahki, the Exiled.”
The Exile? Yakov admits he is curious now. She must’ve been apart of something, then? To be exiled?
He doesn’t ask just yet, though. He moves slightly, preparing for when they exit.
Yakov wasn't sure how much he enjoyed this person's..style. She didn't speak, just expected him to follow. Or maybe she didn't.
"Some words would be nice," he said as he started to move out.
Tahki gave him a side eye.
"Silence." She turned, and now presented in the light of the morning was some sort of 'steps' or hold in the wood of the tree that she used to climb down. Anyone could climb a ladder up and down; that made it too easy for any thieves. Tahki pressed herself into the tree as she began to climb down. This way made it harder for intruders to sneak up there; not that they would suspect a human to build in a tree.
Which they would, Tahki knew; having heard of the Southern Tree Dwellers.
Wow. Okay.
"Y'know, I'm starting to think you saving me wasn't you being nice," he started, then stopped, seeing her go down the tree.
"Uh." He stared.
Yakov stares in silence for a few seconds, then lowers himself, attempting to climb down the tree. He had climbed trees before, just not of this size and..height.
He really shouldn't have looked down, he realizes as he clings to the bark of the tree.