Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hoku was glad he didn't have to out pace the elder any more, he was getting a bit tired. The impact, blood loss, and the fact that it was WAY past his bed time were all factors that simply increased his fatigue. Hoku stummbled along through the trees, shaking his head every once in a while to keep the dripping blood from falling into his eyes. He was headed for the next nearest source of water he knew, a small creek not too far away from the pond he had just left. Dragging his paws slightly, Hoku began to pant heavily, and slowed down even more. Suddenly, he stummbled, and fell over, rolling down a small hill and right into the water of the creek he had been searching for. Hoku tried to push himself to his paws, but just collapsed back into the barely flowing water, tasting his blood as it flowed down his head and into the creek.

Hoku could smell the elder from earlier and sighed inwardly. He'd NEVER admit that he needed her help, but if she offered it, Hoku knew he would be stupid not to accept. He tried to drag himself to the other side of the creek, and succeeded somewhat, though he did end up scratching himself even more on the sharp rocks littering the creek bed. He turned his head back and looked up at the elder with his piercing blue eyes as if to say, This is all YOUR fault... if you hadn't chased me I wouldn't have had to push myself so hard...

Hoku twitched his own tail and replied shakily, "If you didn't care, and if you didn't want to help, you wouldn't have followed me. Unless you just like watching other struggle in pain... if you did I wouldn't hold it against you..." He was determined to act strong, no matter how weak he felt. Hoku pushed himself to his paws with a grunt, and trudge out of the water. As soon as he reached the soft grass mixed with cool green algae, Hoku flopped back down and started shivering uncontrollably. He grumbled as he lost control of his body and whispered to himself, "What am I... a pup? Not even able to hold myself up... how pitiful..." Hoku tried one last time to get to his paws, but this time his body decided it would take not more of this torture, and he flopped to his side, out like a light.

Hoku instinctively curled up against the embrace of Kirara, his subconscious mind taking over from there. He soon fell into a deep yet slightly fitful sleep. Hoku twitched every once in a while and winced in pain as if something were poking him very hard with something sharp. In the most restless part of his sleep, Hoku whimpered out, "What am I supposed to do...?" before settling deeper into Kirara's fur and and becoming still. The teen's bleeding began to slow, as his heart slowed down do match his sleep-induced breathing.

As dawn began to approach, Hoku began to wake. He was just about to jump to his paws, when he smelled an unfamiliar scent, and felt an unfamiliar body curled up around him. For a second, Hoku panicked, but then he scolded himself and calmed down once more. It was just that elder from last night, the stubborn one, the one that just wouldn't leave him alone. Hoku held back a snarl, not wanting to wake the elder, and gently began to untangle himself from the lady's fluffy tails.

Hoku noticed the elder move her tail, and knew she must be awake, but decided not to say anything. He wasn't in the mood to be grateful, so he just stretched himself out and padded over to the creek. Though he was feeling more energized after a good nights sleep, Hoku was groggy to say the least, and was rather hungry. As he bent over to drink some water, Hoku noticed a rather large frog sitting on a rock nearby. After a moments preparation, Hoku sprung at the frog and caught it with ease, killing it with a crushing bite. It did not taste very good, but Hoku knew from the coloring that it wasn't poisonous, so he gulped it down and washed away the after taste with a deep drink form the creek. After he was done, Hoku glared at the elder, wondering what "stupid" thing she was going to say or do next....

Hoku blinked and looked away as a slight blush crept onto his face. She actually cared, this stupid female actually cared... but why...? Hoku frowned and then turned his head so he could peer at Kirara once more, "Why do you help me? Why do you even care? You don't get anything out of it, not a thing! You lost a whole nights sleep, you had to chase me through this blasted forest, acquiring all sort of thorns in your fur for your trouble. You won't get a thank you from me, you should've figured that out when we first met... Yet you still did it... why?"