Juugo had been telling his friends that the large birds by the stream wouldn't hurt him, and focused on the birds themselves, so he startled badly when there really was a person already there. He froze under the gaze, tensed like he might run, but didn't move for one long moment.

This person... Those birds were not average goshawks. They were beautiful, and young still, but no, not average. His friends fluttered around his head and shoulders, nervous about the goshawks more than the person with them, but Juugo felt the creeping terror sliding through him.

Ninja, probably, and those were so dangerous. They were stronger against it, that was true enough, but that often didn't matter. But they were also faster, and Juugo had been chased more than once. He couldn't risk it, not with it curling underneath his skin again already. What could he do? He couldn't stay, and the ninja didn't look like he was ready to move. Maybe if he didn't run, the ninja wouldn't chase.

Juugo took a step back, then another, acutely aware of his tattered and threadbare clothes and bare feet for the first time in a very long time. His voice croaked when he tried to use it.

"I'll go.