中文-小刀,日本語-本田

--

The two of them continued along in the mountain pass. Since the Eevee now had energy enough to keep himself upright, the Sawsbuck allowed him to ride on her back. He looked around carefully, as she had instructed him to do, in case anyone was coming. However, he was a young creature, and staring about at gray mountains against a graphite sky was not the most engaging activity.

"What's your name miss?" he asked quietly. 

"Uyen."

"Uyen?"

The doe grunted softly. "Are you watching the pass like I asked you to?"

The Eevee woofed softly, and turned his attention back for as long as he could.

...

"I remember my sister's name was Chizi, but I don't remember mine..."

"Then I will call you Xiaodao."

"Xiaodao? Why?"

"Are you watching the pass?"

The Eevee woofed again, less softly, and returned his attention to the pass. Yellow eyes in the distance behind them came into view, but he could not see who they belonged to.

"Ah, there is someone..."

The doe turned her head quickly to look back for a moment, and caught the sight. She recognized it immediately, a Mightyena. As soon as they locked eyes, the creature leapt from the shadows where his pelt blended in perfectly. He was more powerful than the Eevee, more experienced and by far more dangerous. He raced towards her, well used to the rough terrain of the pass, his large paws not at all clumsy on the stone. The Sawsbuck, not quite having the same feel for the ground, would not be able to run away, so she turned, aiming her long horns at the dog as he approached. 

The hunter, understanding that this prey would require a fight rather than a chase, examined his options carefully in a split second, and leapt to land on the doe's back. But she reared her head up, slamming her horns up into his belly. They did not penetrate his flesh, but despite his thick fur, his underbody was badly bruised, and he was caught in her horns. She whipped her head down, slamming him to the ground, and pinned him beneath a hoof. The confident hunter, who had felled numerous creatures such as this easily, now found himself very close to a painful death by crushing.

And, under normal circumstances, Uyen might have delivered said fatality. However, that was a very gruesome affair, and the Eevee was young. A part of her was not comfortable with the idea of breaking the creature open like that. She sighed, and turned back to face the hound, applying just enough pressure to make him squeal, and remember she had defeated him.

"What is your name?"

"H-Honda! My name is Honda!" the Mightyena whimpered, putting his paws on her leg. If she would not deliver him a swift death, he thought, then perhaps there was time to escape. But despite his heavy paws, her body weight resting atop him was much heavier, and she leaned further onto him when he tried to move her. His chest stung, the bruises seared pain through his body, and he decided very quickly that perhaps inaction would be more survivable.

The doe nodded carefully on hearing his name. "You will go ahead of us. You will tell me if you see or smell any others of your kind. Understood?"

Honda nodded quickly. It seemed she really wouldn't kill him, at least, if he was obedient. However, he felt that a failure to comply would somehow earn him more pain, and his bruised underbody meant that his earlier advantage in speed in the environment was gone.

Uyen lifted her hoof, watching him carefully. The Mightyena stood carefully, and the doe aimed her horns at him, shepherding him in the direction of travel. And so they continued.

--

A herd of Sawsbuck grazed in a sparse forest. They were watchful, careful, quiet. One of them watched in each direction, keeping mind for predators, or any other that would do them harm. The Sawsbuck that faced northwards watched the mountains, looking out at the mountain pass. His sister had passed through that way six days prior, and the hope she would return this time was dwindling. 

His ears perked up, and he looked out carefully. There, coming out from the pass, he saw a Mightyena, and close behind, it was her, Uyen, keeping the dog in line. He turned, and brayed to the others, before running out to meet her, the other Sawsbuck coming after.

Uyen loped up to her brother, and nuzzled him gently, smiling for the first time in nearly a week. Honda did not run off even now. His body now thoroughly ached, and he had never gone so far in one trip in his life, and the place was unfamiliar to him. Besides that, there were several other Sawsbuck around, and while they were all smaller than the one that had moved him here, they all also looked much tougher than the Gogoat he usually preyed upon, and had such terrifying looks that he was certain that they would be having him for their meal, instead of the other way round as it should have been.

The Eevee peeked up over Uyen's head, peeking from between her antlers. His perspective was much different, seeing a beautiful and welcoming forest ahead, where, if he was good, he would never be alone again. Yes, this would be good.