Welcome to Gaia! ::

Auugh I'm sorry I haven't replied to this yet ;;;

I think so, yes! * U * Or at least that he talks to his bear as though the bear is sentient (because I assume he wouldn't be able to understand anything the bear said, hee)

Morphyyy I'm terrible and I love you Q___Q I keep meaning to get online and tell you I have seen your quotes and even, um, started a response, and then you go and write something brilliant and amazing ;; I'll try to um edit it somewhat so it'll be at least partially mine? orz I really like their relationship aaa QvQ ;;

The swamp was a different place from the plains. It was damp and the ground never seemed to carry her weight steadily. Instead, it dipped and sunk and occasionally she would misjudge her next step and her hoof and the bottom of her leg would disappear into the dark swamp floor. Still, it was her home now, the place where her heart now belonged. She had left the plains long enough ago that they were simply pleasant dreams.

It was still strange though, when she bumped into those that she had once known out on the plains. Sometimes it was as if being in the swamp changed nothing and then other times it was as if the heavy air made them different kin from the ones they had been when they had once ran together. No, nowadays Never Misses tended towards those she had never met before. She liked the strangers who enjoyed a good-natured fight, kin who understood that war did not always include hard feelings.

Her quiet thoughts were broken by a sudden cry and disgruntled grumblings. Never Misses almost ignored them, but she wasn't cruel enough to avoid somekin who might be injured. The voice did niggle at the back of her mind though, familiar in a way that made her want to stomp her foot and snort out a sharp retort before even seeing the source of the voice. She picked up her pace and followed the direction of the sound. She had to laugh when she saw who it was that had drawn her here. Of all the kin that she could have bumped into, it was First to Strike. "Seems like you can't keep out of trouble anywhere you go, hmm?"

There was a clear bite to her words and if a kin who had never seen them interact before were to observe them now, they would come away with the impression that Never Misses was less than friendly, hostile even. First to Strike looked up at her words, looking nonplussed and unimpressed despite the situation she'd caught him in. “Aww, Grumble, it’s Never Misses. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was following us around!” 'Grumble' didn't reply, but the sound of thrashing seemed to get louder. He was wrapped up in some thorny vine he'd apparently...tripped over? Never Misses couldn't be sure; you never could with First to Strike involved.

In response to his words, though, Never Misses just watched him struggle, satisfied to note the twisting only exasperated his situation in the bushes. Below him, but just as entangled was a small bear - Grumble, she supposed, from his outburst. It was obvious from Never Misses' point of view that, as always, First to Strike had taken off without thinking or apparently watching his hooves, in pursuit of that bear (it seemed the bear just made him more of a fool than he already was). The last time they had met, just after Grumble, unnamed at the time, had permanently entered First to Strike’s life. Never Misses had nearly turned the little bear into a meal and she would have succeeded if First to Strike hadn’t flung himself over the creature, taking her calculated blow in his friend’s stead. Regardless, it seemed as if she couldn’t stop bumping into him, first on the plains when they'd first collaborated against that mouth-breathing kiokote she still didn't trust, and then during her travel to the swamp, and then with the wasps, and, well, she wasn't sure she could count their encounters now if she wanted to.

“Do you need some help?” She asked archly and when he could only splutter as his hoof got tangled at a strange angle, snorted.

“Not from you, nope! You only ever make it worse - remember that one time, with the boar?” That earned him a displeased frown, but she said nothing in return. Instead, she carefully slid down the ditch that had originally tripped him up to get closer to the brambles that he was tangled in. She could detect the familiar tang of blood in the air, so either he or Grumble (and probably both) had been pierced by the vine's many thorns. Her mouth settling into a determined, but faintly amused smile; she began to strike down on the vines with her hooves, hacking at each one in turn before she had sliced through it. And it seemed even First to Strike's pride wouldn't persuade him to continue futilely drawing his own blood on the thorny vines, further impeding his own escape, as his struggles slowed to a stop after the second cut.

There was a few beats of silence, punctuated by her hacking hooves, before First to Strike opened up his mouth, about to speak again. Never Misses beat him to it, “Is something going to come out of that mouth? Yes? Well, I suppose it’s going to be ‘Thank you’ so there's no need to bother; I already know!”

Her tone was sharp, but up close, it was hard to mistake the expression on her face as anything but a smile. First to Strike only shook his head, but his stance relaxed and he let her do her work in peace. She was, after all, helping him get out of this thorny predicament. She finally reached him, the thorns having cut her own legs in the process, but neither of them mentioned it as First to Strike pulled free and the two extracted the audibly uncomfortable Grumble from his own predicament.

She expected, at first, actual thanks, though she wouldn't have put it past him to tease her for helping. Instead, First to Strike swept Grumble to the side with a leg whose fur was matted slightly with blood. "Heeey, you're okay now, aren't you?" he asked, his voice uncharacteristically gentle and mushy.

Never Misses turned away to hide her face as she laughed silently at the sight of First to Strike crooning at Grumble and cuddling the bear like a long lost lover. When she turned back, the two were respectable, so she refrained from commenting and merely kicked up her hooves to pull herself out of the low ditch. It was unusual for there to be ditches of any great depth in the swamp, especially ones mostly empty of water, but she'd leave it to First to Strike to find the greatest pitfalls of all the places he ran into.

First to Strike scrambled up as well, Grumble now nestled safely on his back. They watched each other, not in an unfriendly manner, and Never Misses tossed her head in good-bye.

Just as she was about to race off into the swamp, he stopped her with a call: “Hey! Next time it’s going to be you stuck in a strange predicament!”

He was smiling broadly (and in a manner he probably thought attractive) and even though she twisted a grimace at him, internally she was smiling. “Not a chance! I wager the next time we meet it’ll be you in trouble, again. You would think that little companion of yours would help keep you out of trouble, but it seems that two adventurers does not make for smarter quests.”

First to Strike could only laugh as the Never Misses ran off. He turned back to Grumble. “So, you ready for the next one?"