Hard Forest Floors

    "I can't believe you talking me into this..." Gear grumbled under his breath as he stared at the rubber balloon carefully cradled in his palms as if it would explode at any minute. Belmoth looked over to the other dully as he finished cinching up Vine's saddle. Tack hadn't been required but Jacob had insisted that it be done. 
    "Boohoo." He mocked, grabbing up his own bag that contained the already filled 'paint' balloons. They were heavy, but he ignored it as he mounted up onto Vine. The long maned orange Tokota danced in place, already she could smell where their faction mates had taken off in attempts to find the opponents flag. Lady looked almost as eager, which may be why Gear was more then hesitant to put away the balloon in his bag. He looked up to the sky where the moon and remnants of the sun, hardly cast enough light to see by. He had a horrid feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't quite shake but forced himself to mount onto the orange curly. As soon as his presence was felt in the saddle, Lady took off with an eager trot about her, and Vine was quick to follow.
    "Aye, you stick out like a sore thumb." Bemoth pointed out, an amused grin crossing his face as he glanced over to his albino room mate. Gear snarled back at him.
    "Then I hope it gets you caught." He snapped. Not that Belmoth could blend in any better with his vibrant aqua colored hair. They both rather stood out, even if they didn't have bright orange Tokotas.
    "Whatever, just keep your distance, I'm going to go throw paint at someone." Belmoth huffed. Gear frowned as he watched him steer Vine off in another direction. Rolling his eyes he allowed Lady to lead the way, keeping a sharp eye out for a peak of the red flag. The mist of the night was rising to cast the forest in an even eerier glow that made his hair stand on edge. It looked like something from a horror movie and he wasn't ashamed to admit he was a little terrified despite the fact there were others out there.
    Belmoth hadn't gone too far when they came across a Tokota, one without a rider. She didn't seem lost, just a bit out of place. Ears twitched as she glanced around, as if she had just been caught. Perhaps she had escaped. The barbary perked her ears once she caught sight of Vine and quickly straightened herself.
    "Vine!" She chirped to the long mane. Vine only grinned back to the female she had known to be Pestka. Belmoth watched as the two interacted and just assumed Vine had met her during the few days she ran off on her own. He sighed and gave her a click, instructing her to move on. He was only slightly annoyed that Pestka followed after them, but honestly didn't care as long as she didn't cause them trouble. Which she of course, did. He had just halted Vine, hearing the rustle of brush and the rasp of leaves. Someone else was out there. But unfortunately he had no control over Pestka and the barbary had gone stomping through the brush by his side, completely giving away their position. He had turned to glare at her, which was a mistake because as he did so, a balloon collided with the side of his face as he for a second choked on paint as he furiously wiped it from his cheek and eye. However it did little to help. Vine now faced off against the stranger and Pestka was bristling. 
    Pestka began barking as if to either warn or greet the other, Belmoth wasn't sure which. All he knew was that Pestka was only making the worse even more horrid.
    "Out late, aren't you puppy? Isn't it past your bed time?" Belmoth forced himself to see through blurry vision, though he knew who it was before he ever opened his eye. The silver haired elf sat calmly atop of Belka. Belmoth pulled back his lips to let out a horrid snarl as the dark elf laughed. 
    
    Gear had very little interaction, Lady had been surprisingly quiet and concentrated, her eyes darting about to check every crevice, every nook. He had actually been rather surprised, and half scared to death when someone had spoke up. He had never heard them, so assumed that they had just been sitting there the whole time. "What?" Gear asked, staring at the man who had stepped from the bush with shock. Lady barked as a shaggy Yeti appeared beside him. The man with long blond hair looked up at him with a grin.
    "I said, yo." He repeated. "I'm Dave, this is Drake." He introduced, his voice lazy and calm. It sounded almost relaxing to Gear, a certain old school tone to it. He looked to the Yeti piebald curiously, the one who had been introduced as Drake, then to Lady who was giving the Tokota a stare down.
    "O-oh... hello." Gear said quietly, nervously casting a glance. Dave had his own paint balloons, but they were lazily strapped around the neck of his Tokota who panted as if in slow motion. "It's a pleasure, I should be going though." Gear mumbled quietly. He didn't want to take the chance of the hippy turning on him. Hippy was a term he had heard lightly, but judging from the torn jeans, tie-die shirt, stocking cap, and missing sock that was visible through the sandals he wore, he guessed that this term would compliment the man nicely.
    "Yo, that's okay man, I was just hangin'." The blond said with a shrug, tucking his hands into his pockets. Drake barked at them and Lady bristled. Gear hardy had time to react as Drake charged towards them, right past his handler. Now Gear didn't expect such a fluffy ball of hair to be so quick. Drake, was quick, though lumbering. And in no time, Drake was not by his handler, but smashing into Lady.

    "Can't hit what you can't see." The elf taunted. Belmoth was still trying to see through the thick of tears that had regrettably arose after the pain of paint set in. Vine was just doing circles at Belka darted around the clearing. Pestka ran after her, barking playfully in greeting to a stranger. Mae grinned at Vine and the boy as he tried to recover himself. The pup may have a good sense of direction and smell, if anyone could find the flag it would be him, he just had to take extra precaution so that wouldn't happen. "Come on now, is that all you got?" He hummed, glancing back to Pestka who nipped at Belka's tail.
    Belmoth help in a whimper and instead focused on his other senses. The next moment Pestka barked he threw a balloon in front of where he had heard the bark, and despite Vine spinning to watch Belka, the balloon hit its target. Belka let out a surprised yelp as red paint splattered across her hip, soaking into her brown fur. Instead of darting, she halted to a stop quickly, and nearly sent Mae over her shoulders. He was only able to barely grasp the fur on her neck before he was tossed to the forest floor. Pestka however leapt at Belka, nearly tossing her over and successfully threw off Mae completely.
    Belmoth let out a cackle that Mae could have sworn would make the perfect Halloween prop. He stood up to watch Pestka chase away Belka and rolled his eyes, only darting his attention back to Vine and Belmoth as he felt the slick paint splatter across his chest. Blue paint now coating his chest. He frowned up where the now nearly blind Zandorian grinned at him. He grinned and in almost seconds he had leapt up onto Vine and was trying to tackle off Belmoth who screeched and in turn, sent Vine into a sprint. "Get off!" Belmoth screeched and tried to claw at him and before he knew it, his back had collided with the ground and he opened his one eye to stare up at Vine's face. She wagged her tail and soon enough Mae's face also appeared in his vision. 
    "Easy, scout." He hummed, holding out his hand and helped him up. "Come on, let's get you home." He huffed. Belmoth only kept but a steady glare as he felt a pain in his ankle. Pestka and Belka soon returned as Mae climbed up onto Vine, towing along Belmoth with ease. "Children shouldn't be out past bed time anyway." He laughed as he began sending Vine back home, Belmoth biting his arm. Oh this boy was a ball of fun.

    Gear had a headache, from Drake colliding into Lady. He had fallen, of course. He wasn't that great of a rider as it was. So having a 1,000 pound Yeti collide with you was no fun. Lady was still chasing him about and nipping at him like an insane Chihuahua. Dave walked over casually as Gear sat up, rubbing his sore shoulder. He groaned down at himself, now splattered with every color in the rainbow from falling onto his bag of balloons. He should have known... Dave held out his hand and Gear slowly took it and allowed himself to be helped up.
    "What a rush, huh?" He asked. Gear blinked at the happy-go-lucky man and shook his head in disbelief as Lady and Drake returned, Lady holding in her mouth, a red flag.