The Preserve, Friday Afternoon

[bitchprince]

Arthur may not have been able to take his crossbow to a hunt just yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't take some more time to observe the wildlife, catalogue their tracks. He'd done this once before, the day after the incident with Liir, but he found he was more focused now than he'd been then.

There were more things he was able to safely ignore, or at least delegate to a nice little category in the back of his mind.

Being in the preserve had one more upside. He could bring his sword. While he was not as strangely interconnected with his weapon as Leto was with his crysknife, he still felt a hell of a lot better with the blade at his side. As he checked for prints, his hand nearly always rested on the weapon's hilt. Making certain it was there.

Life on Fandom was far easier to swallow out here. Even if it was rather wet. And cold. And damp. And hazy. And the ground looked downright uncomfortable.

Arthur was so bloody happy he had a proper bed here.

[[ open preserve and open post! ETA: any threads go before leto in the timeline, plz ]]

Comments

[future_sandworm]

Leto had not yet explored much of the island. Nature here felt strange; he might remember endless numbers of different environments, but at heart he was a desert creature. He wrinkled his nose at the smells and tried to understand the source of each and every noise.

There was so much life here, and it all weighed heavy on his senses.

[bitchprince]

Arthur heard Leto's approach long before he got anywhere near. He was used to the forest, used to being alert to every snap of a branch or shift of a leaf. His hand still on the hilt of his sword, he let his eyes dart cautiously towards the disturbance.

Human, clearly-- he rose quietly.

"Leto," he identified aloud, striving to startle Leto before Leto tried to startle him.

[future_sandworm]

It was hard to make out human noise from everything else in this strange environment. He tried to draw on his ancestors' memories from long ago to make sense of it, and found himself missing the desert. Kneeling down, Leto dug his hand into the ground and found the soil cling to his fingers.

[bitchprince]

It would be fairly easy to sneak up on Leto. Not only did the man seem distracted, but the leather clothes Arthur liked to wear to hunt left him blending in quite easily with the environment.

Still, he didn't much like games. While he did slip towards him with a quietness, it was not one that involved a lot of bother to keep his presence secret.

"If you're looking for tracks, you're a few feet short of what looks like it's got to belong to a pretty plump rabbit," he commented, as soon as he was near.

[future_sandworm]

Leto spun around, fast. "Arthur," he said, looking a little relieved. "I am not. The sand here is saturated in moisture." It wasn't something that surprised him of course, but it was unfamiliar and needed to be observed.

[bitchprince]

"Yes, well," Arthur spoke, throwing a look at what Leto had been digging his fingers into, "Down here, we like to call that mud."

[future_sandworm]

Leto rose, wiping said mud off on his leg. "I have never been in a wood before."

[bitchprince]

"Could've been worse," Arthur said, glancing at the ground. He knelt down himself, letting go of the sword's hilt for the moment so he could touch the soil. His mouth shifted into an amused smile. "A bit to the left and you'd've gotten caught up in deer droppings. Don't go poking around without looking."

[future_sandworm]

Leto smirked. "We might not be looking at the same things," he said. "Anything else I should beware of apart from animal excrement?"

[bitchprince]

"Bears," Arthur said, matter-of-factly, and rose once more. "We're in a forest. Everything's either looking to get killed, or looking to kill you." Okay, partly Arthur was saying it that way was because it sounded impressive. But it was also true.

[future_sandworm]

"In that way it is similar to a desert," Leto observed, unconsciously running a finger along the sheath of the crysknife. "What are you trying to kill?"

[bitchprince]

"Nothing yet," Arthur remarked, "I'm scouting. An awful lack of the 'trying to kill you' variety right now, which is a shame, but the game'll do." He caught the movement of Leto's hand from the corner of his eye, though, and patted the scabbard of his sword to match.

[future_sandworm]

"Sometimes it's best to leave the killing for later. Want to show me that?" Leto asked, gesturing towards the sword. He had a feeling Arthur might.

[bitchprince]

"I would, but then I'd have to kill you," he said, ever seriously. He pulled the sword out of the scabbard and held it up: much like Leto, Arthur was not particularly inclined to simply hand over his weapon.

[future_sandworm]

"I'm afraid I'm not easily killed," Leto replied with a laugh. He could understand a man not wanting to part with his weapon and did not insist. "But it looks like a good blade." It seemed like a good thing to say.

[bitchprince]

"I suppose it's all right," Arthur said, far milder in his opinion, "But it's what I've got." It went back in the scabbard, his hand still hovering over it in case it was needed. He had to keep more alert with his temporary handicap. "I take it you haven't seen any bears around here then."

[future_sandworm]

"No," Leto said. "None. But you think I should expect to?" He bent head backwards looking up at the treetops.

[bitchprince]

"I'm certainly hoping," Arthur muttered, far more concerned with what was on the ground than what was in the sky.

[future_sandworm]

Leto grabbed a branch and pulled himself up, hoping it would be strong enough. He could climb rocks easily, but this was a little different. "I'll help you kill any bear that shows up," he told Arthur, still looking upwards.

He might not be as interested in bears though.

[bitchprince]

"I wouldn't need any help," oh yes, with that arm, he would, "But thank you for the offer."

Arthur paused, as what was happening started to dawn on him. "Now what are you doing?" Honestly, sometimes he thought Leto was quite bright, but other times... he stared up after him, his face caught between confusion and amusement.

[future_sandworm]

"This should give some overview," Leto announced, then looked down at Arthur with a smirk. "But I assume your injury stops you from climbing."

[bitchprince]

"Overview, sure," Arthur said, shaking his head, "But you'll fall out at the rate you're going."

Arthur's voice implied that he would find that hilarious, but not completely advisable.

[future_sandworm]

"If a bear approaches, I will be able to leap from the tree and stab it," Leto announced, patting the crysknife. He was now standing on a branch a little higher than Arthur, with a hand around the tree trunk for support.

[bitchprince]

"You'll be better off shooting it," Arthur spoke, putting his right hand on his hip and shaking his head in the direction of the ground. Possibly holding back a snicker. "It'll take your head clean off if you just jump it."

[future_sandworm]

All of a sudden Leto did leap from the tree, aiming straight for Arthur. He moved quickly - not quite as quickly as he could but faster than most people - aiming to throw Arthur off his feet. He certainly needed that.

[bitchprince]

His instincts flared up immediately, his sword half out of the scabbard when Leto impacted. Far faster than Arthur had anticipated it would go, and suddenly his back had struck the ground. Internally, he called his sling and wounded arm about a thousand intensely obscene things that he could have never said aloud in court; externally, all that he'd managed was "What in the name of--" before the wind was knocked out of him.

The insults gave away to a mental loop of the word stupid and rage.

[future_sandworm]

Leto was unable to hold back a laugh, even though he had a feeling it would not be appreciated. "I know you're nothing like a bear, and I'm not going ot try and stab you."

[bitchprince]

Arthur was generally unto some sort of large cat in battle-- it was no surprise that his response was simply to snarl, naked fury in his eyes, shoving at Leto while he brought his leg up to Leto's stomach. And if succesful, roll over.

Some things earned swift reprisal.

[future_sandworm]

To avoid the leg, Leto threw himself to his right, debating with himself whether to strike back or let Arthur try and calm down.

[bitchprince]

That was all the time Arthur needed to pull out his sword, scrambling up and pointing it at Leto's chest. For a moment, he merely stood panting, that heavy anger blazing from his eyes.

[future_sandworm]

Leto met his gaze, giving him a small smile. "What? Do you intend to kill me for that?"

[bitchprince]

"Don't," Arthur growled, "Ever. Do that. Again."

[future_sandworm]

"If you insist," Leto replied, waiting for Arthur to move the sword. "I was just testing your reactions."

[bitchprince]

"I don't need to be tested," he snapped. The sword had lowered slightly, but it still wasn't quite going anywhere. "Next time, I will run you through." Somehow. Leto was bloody fast.

[future_sandworm]

Unfortunately for Arthur, he had turned out to be more fun to tease than even Irulan. "I'm sure my aunt wouldn't mind too much, but I'm afraid Ghani would kill you if you did," Leto smirked. He still didn't move though; that wasn't wise when you had a sharp weapon pointed at you.

[bitchprince]

The anger in Arthur's eyes flared up again, but his thoughts had calmed enough to turn towards the rational: the fact that Leto would make a damned good asset in a fight were he a friend, his own inclinations towards mercy, and the probable truth of those words.

One moment, the sword was close enough to almost cut the skin. The next, Arthur had pulled it away, and with that turned away, with the suddenness and the violence of that big cat. "Don't test my patience."

He didn't have a whole lot of it.

[future_sandworm]

Leto bit his lip, having a feeling that Ghani would have said some rather harsh words to him had she seen this. He had meant it as a joke, and the fact that it hadn't been taken as such couldn't be only due to Arthur's general attitudes.

He got to his feet. "I apologise," he said. "It seems like games are played differently in Camelot than on Arrakis."

[bitchprince]

"It would seem so," Arthur shot back, his words clipped even if the greatest immediacy of his rage was fading away. "We don't attack people for a quick laugh."

And there was also the fact that Leto had managed to floor him, and his arm was useless, and Arthur would really, really like something to kill right now.

[future_sandworm]

"I would never have hurt you," Leto countered. "I thought you trusted me enough to know that." He took a step closer and held out a hand.

[bitchprince]

"I have known you for all of three weeks," Arthur roared at him, glaring out at the forest for a moment before he even took notice of Leto's hand. "If you're hoping for trust, jumping me in the middle of a forest is not going to cut it!"

Notice taken, though, he grabbed Leto's hand and shook it roughly. Oh yes, he was still angry, but he had to admit Leto's prowess at least deserved some recognition.

[future_sandworm]

Leto trusted Arthur to be, well, himself. He had quickly picked up on that sense of loyalty, but had forgot to think about what impression he himself might have given to Arthur.

"I would not have done it to someone who I wasn't certain had no problem defending themselves," he said.

[bitchprince]

"That's a relief," Arthur said, still snappish. He let go of Leto's hand, shot him another hard look, and then bumped against his shoulder as he flounced stormed off into the forest.

And probably back to Fandom sooner rather than later.

[future_sandworm]

Leto watched him leave. He hadn't intended to make Arthur that angry, but clearly he had not known the limits. Perhaps it had been easier at home; those who knew him didn't mind too much and those who didn't would never dare to object to anything the son of Muad'Dib did.