"What was that?" Perry whispered as he crouched low next to a tree.
Mal tilted his head to the side before answering. "I believe it was a flock of birds."
"Birds? Are you sure? That sounded like a tiger." They didn't always roar, right? Usually they growled to let you know of your impending doom.
"Tigers are much more silent than whoever is stomping through the forest and scaring the birds. And I assure you that, if you hear a tiger, then it is too late to do anything about it." Mal pushed aside low-hanging branches and gestured for Perry to follow.
Perry might be scared shitless, wandering through an unknown thick forest, but he didn't miss Mal's inflection on the 'you'.
"What happens if you hear a tiger?" Perry asked to distract himself from what he was sure was a fast-approaching violent and swift death.
"Then it is too late for the tiger," Mal answered simply.
Well, that was… that was something. Under normal circumstances, Perry would've said the other man was just exaggerating. But he'd seen Mal in action during the competition.
Mal kept walking ahead of Perry as if he were a part of the forest. No, as if he was a shadow moving away from the sun. It was a little eerie just how silently he moved. Not even the breeze caressing his honey-colored hair or the leaves around him made any sound as he moved.
Perry, on the other hand, moved like a rhino through a porcelain shop. No, that probably wasn't fair to the rhinos.
He stumbled on every other root, got whipped by branches, and seemed to step on every single dry branch and leaf. Seriously, it was like the forest had it out for him and kept throwing every single noisy obstacle under his feet just for fun.
He didn't like his chances of staying hidden for the duration of this hunt thing. Not to mention, he was exhausted.
The walk from the arena to the King's Forest had been long and more difficult than Perry had anticipated - emphasis on long.
"I'm never taking public transportation for granted again," he'd mumbled after trudging through the woods for maybe ten minutes. "Can we take a break?"
"We are still on the outskirts and have not yet reached the woods proper, so it should be safe." Mal's eyes never stopped scanning their surroundings.
"Do you think there's anywhere around here where we can hide and wait this out?" Perry asked.
Mal snapped his gaze to Perry. "You intend to spend the entire hunt hiding?"
Perry used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead and the back of his neck. "Well, yes."
Mal looked thoughtful for a moment. "What about pride? Honor? The glory of your name?"
Was he being serious? Perry squinted and studied Mal's face. Yep, looked like he was being serious. "So, I should probably tell you, I don't care about any of that."
"Curious," Mal said and went back to scanning their surroundings. "In that case, I should tell you that we are little more than sitting ducks out here and I do believe there is a group of nobles approaching from the west."
"Okay, I'm all rested." Perry scrambled to his feet and hurried deeper into the forest, stumbling over roots and scraping his hand on tree trunks he grabbed for balance. He remembered the piece of paper the Head Servant had handed over and opened it. "I'm no expert, but I think this is a map."
He tilted the paper so Mal could see and the other man nodded. Mal turned his attention back to the forest and Perry tucked the map away.
"Why are you so afraid?" Mal asked, easily keeping pace with Perry's mad - and noisy - dash. Perry glanced right and left, but the trees all looked the same. How was he supposed to know where to go? "According to the map, there is a footpath up ahead. The map does not show the entirety of the region, but we can follow it until we get closer to the base of the mountain."
"Sounds like a plan," Perry huffed and let Mal take the lead. "Wait, does that mean you do know where we are? But last night you said you didn't."
"True, I did not. But now I believe I am beginning to understand." Mal pointed to something far off but try as he may, all Perry could see was green, green, and more green. Even the tree trunks were green with smaller vegetation and moss growing on them. "If I am not mistaken, the Silver Ridge Mountains are that way."
"Silver Ridge Mountains. Got it." Even though the name didn't mean anything to Perry, he made a mental note to look it up later when he went back to the library.
"Unless of course, someone has renamed them." Mal bent down and studied carefully a particular set of fallen branches.
"I don't think mountains get renamed that easily." Perry took advantage of the brief pause to catch his breath. He tried to see whatever it was that had captured Mal's attention, but failed. "What are you looking at?"
"Tracks." Mal pointed to a spot of mud as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "See how the mud trail rises from the forest floor onto the dry branches? That does not happen naturally. An animal did this."
"Oh." That did make some kind of sense. "What animal?"
Mal studied him for a moment. "If I tell you, you must promise not to panic. It is quite common around this area and in no way dangerous to us."
Perry had a sinking feeling that no matter what he told Mal, he'd end up panicking. Even if only a little. "I promise to do my best not to panic," Perry conceded. "And if you say it's not dangerous I… I believe you."
Between the two of them, Mal was the expert.
"It was a snake," Mal said.
Perry didn't know exactly what to call the sound he made. It was part wheeze, part gasp, and part suppressed scream. Thankfully, it wasn't too loud.
"You promised not to panic," Mal accused.
"I promised to do my best not to panic," Perry pointed out. "How big is this completely harmless and not at all dangerous snake?"
Now that Mal had pointed out the tracks, Perry could clearly see them. The mud trail looked to be about the width of his palm. Snakes that made those kinds of tracks weren't that big, right?
"I do not wish to tell you," Mal said. "You will fail at your attempt not to panic."
That did nothing to reassure Perry. "Well, I very much wish to know the size of this snake."
"You will scream, give away our position, and defeat your original plan to spend the hunt in hiding." Mal started to walk again and Perry did his best to follow the tracks and see if they were going in the same direction as the snake, but he quickly lost them.
"I will, at most, gasp in shock. Why would I scream? It's not like the snake is here." Mal's prolonged silence spoke volumes. Perry froze, eyes wide as he scanned the forest floor for any traces of the snake. Wait, did snakes go up trees? "It's close by, isn't it?"
"As I said, it is harmless. More afraid of us than you are of it." Mal continued walking, but Perry couldn't force his legs to move. He tried, he really did, but his brain kept unhelpfully flashing through scenes from 'Anaconda' at him.
"Is it big enough to swallow me?" Perry asked, having to raise his voice a bit since Mal was some distance away.
"Many things are big enough to swallow you," Mal answered.
Annoyed, Perry glared at the back of Mal's pretty head-of-hair. "Is this particular snake which you seem to be following big enough to-"
A strong hand pushed him against the trunk of a tree and Mal materialized in front of him. Their faces were so close, Perry couldn't help but notice that Mal's eyes were almost the same shade as the deep green forest all around them. When Mal turned his face, Perry followed his line of sight and noticed something in Mal's closed fist.
An arrow with a sharp metal tip.
Perry's legs which had previously been uncooperative, woke up. He grabbed Mal's hand still pressed to his chest and started to run in the general direction Mal had been going.
"What exactly is your plan?" Mal asked, not even sounding out of breath.
"Running," Perry panted, jumping over a rock. "Running is my plan."