Winter Month: 2 
Day 
The boy blinked at the man, the surprise at the first words out of the man's mouth and the tone that coated the words noticeable for a moment before he blinked and it decreased by a large amount. The surprised curiosity in his eyes being hidden behind a more neutral gleam, and the expression rearranging into an amused one at the parental tone. He had not thought that the man would have decided to scold him on the technicalities on escaping a threat, so what if he didn't run in the usual sense of the word? He had gotten to a place where it was highly unlikely that the animal would have gotten to him, and climbing away from a threat was still fleeing.
A retort was on the tip of his tongue before the man had said that they were getting out of the forest and turned, and he had taken a single step before the older turned back around, making the boy stop and look at him in a slightly wary manner. He tilted his head at the man, the confusion that was building once again dissapating as he saw the small knife he had thrown being offered to him.
Taking a step forward, he took the offered handle and passed it to his non-dominant hand. "Thanks." He said quietly in response, glancing up at the taller male before flicking his eyes downwards. Interesting, another thing to add to the impression he was building of the man; not many people would have handed someone of his age back a weapon, in his experience anyways. It could be normal, maybe part of a social etiquette he had not learned yet. Either way it was interesting.
Tilting his head at the man slightly, the motion making the longer stands of dark hair fall into his vision, and he resisted the urge to reach up and sweep the hair back. His eyes flicked over the adult's frame, noticing that the older looked very tired. Maybe even to the point where he was fighting to stay on his feet. And the boy could relate to that feeling, while he himself had never ever fought off a bear or animal of similiar size, he could imagine that it was exhausting to wrestle with a creature with the bulk and strength of a bear. He knew that was no easy feat, and most wouldn't even try to stand in front of a grizzly without multiple other hunters as backup.
And with that, he was reminded that this man stood up to a bear. Didn't run and leave him like he could have easily done.
The child looked away after a moment of basically sizing up the man, feeling a tiredness begin to settle in his body. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't tired out from that, the adrenaline rush had left his system and in its wake a need to rest rose; and the scramble up the tree did not help that either, he was quite sure he had a few cuts on his palms, from where he had carelessly grabbed at branches. The brief lack of awareness to pain that came with the adrenaline pumping through his veins had receeded, and he was aware of the light stinging in his palms, not painful by any means, just enough to be aware of it in the first place.
Despite the words nearly coming out, that he did not have parents or a guardian, he did not say anything. Unwilling to reveal that for a reason even he did not know. Perhaps it was the cautiousness taking control in this situation, he didn't want to have to go and live with someone he didn't even know or want to know. He could have sworn hearing that children taken into a home when their parents and nearby family had died usually didn't have a good life, probably because they weren't family.
The gray-eyed boy flinched back slightly at the sudden motion of the man spinning around and walking off, most likely expecting him to follow. And so he did, having to transition into a few running steps to catch up and then slowing down to a quick walk to keep pace with the adult's longer strides. He glanced up for a moment at the sound of the man's voice, and he nearly stumbled as he registered the words, a flicker of uneasiness at the mention of finding his parents. He had no parents alive, no living guardians or even people who would have been willing to tolerate him in their household until he got old enough to fend for himself; not that he couldn't do that now, he's been doing fairly well on his own. But in the eyes of many, one his age is not old enough to live alone.
He was knocked out of these thoughts at the deeper voice speaking, this time ending in a question, a question to him. He blinked, processing it for a second. He sped up his pace, having started to trail behind a little while he was almost but not quite lost in thought. The mind was an interesting place, and one could easily get distracted by how it works.
"Agni. My name's Agni." He replied confidently, the name rolling off his tongue naturally; it was his name after all. Without noticing, he had instinctively put a slight accent on the syllables, a little difference that if one were listening for it, was strange when compared to how it was spelled. It was an old name, after all. There were bound to be differences in pronounication. Then, the boy asked curiously: "What's your name?"
The returned question was followed swiftly by the kid opting to jump over a bush rather than go around or through it. He landed and only took a few quicker steps before settling into the faster walk he had adopted, not to the point of having to run to keep up with the man, but his natural stride was definitely too short to keep pace with an adult. As he went through bushes and the other foliage, he took quick glances at the forest around the pair. It was dark, as was expected, and he couldn't see far. But he didn't sense anything watching him at least, and he didn't hear anything so far. So he deemed that they probably weren't going to run into any more dangerous animals.
A retort was on the tip of his tongue before the man had said that they were getting out of the forest and turned, and he had taken a single step before the older turned back around, making the boy stop and look at him in a slightly wary manner. He tilted his head at the man, the confusion that was building once again dissapating as he saw the small knife he had thrown being offered to him.
Taking a step forward, he took the offered handle and passed it to his non-dominant hand. "Thanks." He said quietly in response, glancing up at the taller male before flicking his eyes downwards. Interesting, another thing to add to the impression he was building of the man; not many people would have handed someone of his age back a weapon, in his experience anyways. It could be normal, maybe part of a social etiquette he had not learned yet. Either way it was interesting.
Tilting his head at the man slightly, the motion making the longer stands of dark hair fall into his vision, and he resisted the urge to reach up and sweep the hair back. His eyes flicked over the adult's frame, noticing that the older looked very tired. Maybe even to the point where he was fighting to stay on his feet. And the boy could relate to that feeling, while he himself had never ever fought off a bear or animal of similiar size, he could imagine that it was exhausting to wrestle with a creature with the bulk and strength of a bear. He knew that was no easy feat, and most wouldn't even try to stand in front of a grizzly without multiple other hunters as backup.
And with that, he was reminded that this man stood up to a bear. Didn't run and leave him like he could have easily done.
The child looked away after a moment of basically sizing up the man, feeling a tiredness begin to settle in his body. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't tired out from that, the adrenaline rush had left his system and in its wake a need to rest rose; and the scramble up the tree did not help that either, he was quite sure he had a few cuts on his palms, from where he had carelessly grabbed at branches. The brief lack of awareness to pain that came with the adrenaline pumping through his veins had receeded, and he was aware of the light stinging in his palms, not painful by any means, just enough to be aware of it in the first place.
Despite the words nearly coming out, that he did not have parents or a guardian, he did not say anything. Unwilling to reveal that for a reason even he did not know. Perhaps it was the cautiousness taking control in this situation, he didn't want to have to go and live with someone he didn't even know or want to know. He could have sworn hearing that children taken into a home when their parents and nearby family had died usually didn't have a good life, probably because they weren't family.
The gray-eyed boy flinched back slightly at the sudden motion of the man spinning around and walking off, most likely expecting him to follow. And so he did, having to transition into a few running steps to catch up and then slowing down to a quick walk to keep pace with the adult's longer strides. He glanced up for a moment at the sound of the man's voice, and he nearly stumbled as he registered the words, a flicker of uneasiness at the mention of finding his parents. He had no parents alive, no living guardians or even people who would have been willing to tolerate him in their household until he got old enough to fend for himself; not that he couldn't do that now, he's been doing fairly well on his own. But in the eyes of many, one his age is not old enough to live alone.
He was knocked out of these thoughts at the deeper voice speaking, this time ending in a question, a question to him. He blinked, processing it for a second. He sped up his pace, having started to trail behind a little while he was almost but not quite lost in thought. The mind was an interesting place, and one could easily get distracted by how it works.
"Agni. My name's Agni." He replied confidently, the name rolling off his tongue naturally; it was his name after all. Without noticing, he had instinctively put a slight accent on the syllables, a little difference that if one were listening for it, was strange when compared to how it was spelled. It was an old name, after all. There were bound to be differences in pronounication. Then, the boy asked curiously: "What's your name?"
The returned question was followed swiftly by the kid opting to jump over a bush rather than go around or through it. He landed and only took a few quicker steps before settling into the faster walk he had adopted, not to the point of having to run to keep up with the man, but his natural stride was definitely too short to keep pace with an adult. As he went through bushes and the other foliage, he took quick glances at the forest around the pair. It was dark, as was expected, and he couldn't see far. But he didn't sense anything watching him at least, and he didn't hear anything so far. So he deemed that they probably weren't going to run into any more dangerous animals.
