Vaien slid out of the way, lifting his knee to strike the dog in the jaw.
Pained, it let out a yelp and shook its head before snapping in retaliation. It barely scrapped the flesh of his arm as Vaien leaned backwards to avoid it.
Zhang Han raised his gun during this exchange, keeping calm, and shot at its head.
The dog twitched out of the way. Stalking backwards, it then charged at Zhang Han with a growl. Perhaps it viewed the lazer gun's attack as a larger threat, and was wise enough to pick an easier target.
Zhang Han staggered backwards, his body movements growing stiff. It was the only other creature that avoided his laser gun shots besides Vaien and Kalla.
Vaien came from the side to intercept. He swiped at its head, but the dog once again evaded by twisting its neck.
"It's pretty agile," Zhang Han noted.
"Yup. Some of these guys are just tricky. These ones we call hyeni, although there weren't any in the basin." Vaien once again faced off with it in a brawl, the dog got nicked again on its snout with a kick and yapped in pain, but Vaien's punch towards its head missed.
Using the laser bow wouldn't necessarily improve the situation. Zhang Han knew that the smaller laser gun would be enough to pierce the fur and hide, he just needed to land a hit. But even Vaien couldn't land one.
A low growl came from behind.
Zhang Han's eyes widened before he dove towards the ground.
Right behind him a furry mass jumped where he stood a moment ago. A second hyeni had appeared. There was a wound on its shoulder and it, too, was frothing at the mouth. This solidified Zhang Han's thoughts that the creatures likely both had a disease.
"Zhang Han, come towards me!" Vaien shouted.
Zhang Han got up and ran a few steps toward him. Vaien glanced at the first attacking hyeni and spun around and struck at it before fending off the second one in a similar manner.
Although both were ferocious and good at dodging, their way of fighting wasn't too lethal. Each dog only looked to be about 70 pounds, pretty lightweight.
Soon Zhang Han stood behind Vaien while he faced the two hyeni in close-combat.
Zhang Han paused, then had an idea.
"Get them to go closer to each other."
Vaien faintly nodded and flanked the one on the right, pressing it towards the other hyeni, which snapped at it angrily. The two dogs were not companions, apparently.
Vaien sneered and kicked the one snapped at by the other dog in the gut. There was a fleshy pulping noise and the dog gave a howl of pain.
A second later Zhang Han had fired his laser gun through its skull.
There was a slight blood splatter, then it thudded into the grass.
The other hyeni made a whimpering cry as it heard the 'pew' of the gun and wildly shook its head, then scratched its paws into the ground sporadically. A noise like that made it go half crazed, apparently. Who knows how rabid dogs think.
Zhang Han shot at it next, but missed.
The hyneni, however, balked under the pressure of the Zhang Han and Vaien. Its fluffy tail went between its legs as it turned and ran under the nearest tree, hunkering down into the grass.
Relieved, Zhang Han let out a breath of air. He'd certainly gone out hunting with Vaien a few times, but not frequently, so he didn't see the full scope of how difficult it was to deal with some of these creatures.
He turned to Vaien, who just said, "Good shot."
"..." It did not sound condescending or sarcastic for once. Zhang Han felt his face grow slightly red, then a slight headache from his fatigue. The tension of the battle drained out of him all at once.
Zhang Han lowered his eyelashes. "It's good that you're there to keep them at bay, too."
This was a strange but good feeling. The feeling of fighting alongside someone when his panic attacks didn't get in his way and he simply acted on cue, in tangent with another person.
He stared down at the dead animal on the ground. Its spotted fur and short snout. The body was a little thin, the meat would be stringy. Hm, but it was a sick animal, so they probably couldn't eat it anyway. He wouldn't be able to find out what hyeni meat tastes like today.
In the meantime Vaien swung up his hand and patted Zhang Han's shoulder. He just reminded, "So we were gonna take a break at that tree up there?"
Zhang Han nodded, but then saw a red splotch on Vaien's mid-sleeved tunic. He grabbed his arm and examined it.
"Hey…" chided Vaien, then he flinched as Zhang Han poked at the wound on his arm. "Stop that!"
"This isn't good," said Zhang Han.
"Huh? It's just a little scratch."
First, it was gash on his elbow and forearm. Second, those dogs had some strange disease that now made contact with Vaien's blood. Perhaps people like him were immune to that, but Zhang Han did not like to take risks.
He gripped Vaien's other hand and tugged him over to that tree. In its meager shade he sat him down, then rifled through his bag for the herbs. Vaien had described them to him, so Zhang Han went and gathered some before they left the basin. They wouldn't keep long, however.
Vaien sat cross-legged with his chin propped up on a hand. He was half amused.
"Zhang Han...isn't this over kill? A dog accidentally bit me, so what."
Not given a reply, Vaien soon felt the cooling and slight sting of water poured over his gash, then herbs plaster, then white bandages wiped around it. Vaien felt his heart thrumming in his chest. He'd definitely be fine from one lousy bite wound, just from a tooth that caught and dragged down his skin.
Even his sis and Dad never cared this much if he got scratched up.
Vaien swallowed, then thinly said, "You're just careful cause if I die...you're screwed." Of course, what he felt behind these words were the exact opposite. He hoped that Zhang Han would reassure him that's not the case.
Zhang Han just shot him a tepid look. "Maybe."
"...hey!" Vaien scowled. "Just gonna openly admit that?! Fine…"
Vaien was unaware that after all the arrogant and tasteless things he'd said to Zhang Han, it was going to take a long, long time to get the other to say anything vaguely nice in return.
Plus, Zhang Han simply was not the reassuring, sympathetic, coddling-type.
In any case, they kept up their travels after that short break, then found a small grove of trees to shelter in for the night. The sky had turned dark.
A campfire glowed within the stubby, savanna-like trees.
Vaien said that it was better to snuff it out during the night so creatures wouldn't be attracted from far off. So, there was eventually a fur blanket spread over the ground, the fire left as charcoal embers.
Zhang Han stared up at the starry sky, listening to the buzz of insects.
Now that he thought of it, it'd been days since he and Vaien last had sex.
Surely this is what one thinks about when stargazing, or at any time, really.
It was unusual that Vaien hadn't insisted on doing it again yet. After all, besides being a bit tired Zhang Han was pretty much healed from his wounds. He glanced at the other man who was sitting beside him. Vaien was going on night watch for half the night, and Zhang Han the other half. That was the plan.
Zhang Han kept staring, then finally said, "Do you...wanna have sex?"
Confused, Vaien snapped his head over to stare back at him.
Why is Zhang Han asking that out of nowhere? No, he didn't find the straightforwardness of it weird at all. That was the culture he was used to. However, he did know that Zhang Han usually avoided that stuff, now he brought it up by himself.
Was it a trap??
Nevertheless, Vaien felt himself a little bit excited just hearing Zhang Han say such a thing. Nine times out of ten he was always ready to do it. His lips parted as he dumbly replied, "Yes…? I mean, if you want to..."
Zhang Han blushed. This felt more awkward than usual.
But Vaien's clothes were already removed. He stretched out naked onto the fur next to Zhang Han with crescent eyes.
"What were you planning to do with me?