Lionhearts ||Skephalo||

13

"You're still leaving your left open," Sapnap instructs calmly, strafing out of the way of Tubbo's swing. "See?" He whacks the other gently with the stick, producing a yelp.

Tubbo rubs his eye, yawning.

"I'm not very good at this, I don't think," he confesses, "stabbing is usually a Tommy thing, innit?"
Sapnap gently readjusts Tubbo's position again, and reminds him,

"That's why you need to know it. Tommy can't always defend you. Now, one more time."

Tubbo makes another attack, and this time has a bit more success in blocking Sapnap from hitting him, but he ends up in a pile on the ground regardless. He looks up to Sapnap's hand, offered to him.

"...I think that's enough for tonight," he says quietly, pulling the brunet to his feet. "I don't want to give you too many bruises or make you too sore to maneuver if we need to escape. And swordfighting really does a number on your energy if you're inexperienced." Tubbo nods, grateful for the reprieve. They settle down to build the fire and prepare some of the food they still have, alongside rabbits and small grouse they had managed to hunt down.

A while longer passes before Skeppy and Tommy reappear, Tommy wringing his hand as though in pain and Skeppy laughing at him.

"-idiot, getting your hand hit by the bowstring like nine times," Skeppy mocks as they get closer, met with a punch to the shoulder.

"Put a sock in it," Tommy retorts. His accent surprisingly thins on the end, not thickening it like usual. The banter plays between them as they laugh and settle down at the fire, Tommy asking Tubbo about his progress; to which Tubbo dryly replies by pulling up his tunic to reveal a pattern of faint bruises in the specific spot Sapnap kept hitting when Tubbo didn't guard himself properly.
Skeppy runs his gaze over it, and asks,

"Sapnap, were you training him or beating him up?" Sapnap shrugs,

"Training, but I wasn't gonna spare him if he fucked up his guard, you know? Better he learns from bruises than cuts."
Skeppy can't deny that there's an aspect of truth to that, but regardless, he checks,

"You're alright though, Tubbo?" Tubbo nods, smiling as Fundy climbs onto his lap, settling down like a cat.

"He has a point, I was a lot less relaxed when he started smacking me with his stick," he laughs, giving the fox a scratch behind the ears.

That matter settled, Skeppy yawns and stretches.

"Should we do watches?" He asks, and Sapnap nods, tersely stating,

"This area is probably a hotbed for highwaymen. We'd be shanked in our sleep if we don't."
Tubbo volunteers,

"I'll take first!" Tommy shakes his head,

"Let em take it, they're better at fighting." He gestures around them, "Unless we like, do two at a time?"

Skeppy and Sapnap glance around them compulsively. It's a wide, open area, and they meet eyes for a minute, nodding.

"Yeah, double watches sounds good. Tommy, you go with Sapnap, I'll take Tubbo and first watch," Skeppy instructs, and this garners a series of nodding from his companions. Tommy and Sapnap lay down, closing their eyes to go to sleep.

Around thirty minutes pass, and Skeppy asks,

"So, the fox. How'd you get him trained like that?"
He's filling the silence with quiet conversation, and satisfying his own curiosity. Tubbo glances down at Fundy.

"Trained? We di'n do anything really. When we first woke up in town, we found him and he just started following us around. He felt like a friend, so I brought him with us."
This provokes a yap from the creature, golden-orange fur bright against the grass. Tubbo laughs softly, and they lapse into silence again, watching for any signs of other people. Sometimes they'd see distant silhouettes, but never did they get closer.