"Daaaddy~" he trilled, trotting up closer to his target and grinning as the shadowy figure at the head of their little column tensed and then whirled around with a snarl. The man was so delightfully straightforward and therefore predictable. Also predictably, Sakura-chan cringed slightly, Mokona squealed, and Syaoran doggedly kept walking, either predicting or hoping that the wizard's desire to dance with danger would pass quickly.

"Stop calling me that!" Kurogane barked. Fye gave him his best sweetly innocent look - his "Sakura-chan face" - in response.

"Did you change your mind about 'Big Doggy'?" he asked, referring back to the banter they'd exchanged while fighting off demons in the virtual reality of world of Outo.

"Don't call me any of your stupid nicknames," the easily exasperated man snapped. "In fact don't talk to me at all unless you've got something useful to say!" With that, he whirled back around and took a step. One step was all he accomplished, however, because Fye immediately called out after him again, his voice even more sugary and airy than before.

"Kuro-papaaa~"

The ninja turned right back around, this time with Souhi sliding out of its sheath with a silvery sound, but Fye was ready.

"I saw some likely fishing spots in the river bend we just passed, and there's probably plenty of game in the trees on the other side," the blonde began, his tone suddenly quite normal as he walked calmly forward to meet the man instead of skipping away laughing. A little thrill of triumph put a tiny spring in Fye's step at seeing how Kurogane was momentarily thrown off-balance by the change in his demeanor.

Ha. Didn't see that coming, did you?

"I think we should encamp now, and set snares and maybe spend a day or two here laying in heartier provisions than what we've been foraging." Fye didn't bother explaining why it was a good idea to chase more significant sources of protein than the random bird to cross their path, or intimate that just because the foraging was good so far didn't mean that it would continue to be so, making a supply of dried meat and fish a valuable asset. The ninja was a big boy and could be left to figure certain things out on his own.

Fye waited for not very long at all while Kurogane wrestled his irritation down in order to examine the suggestion rationally. As hoped, the spiky head nodded in agreement, and soon enough everyone was busy at their self-appointed tasks. At least, Syaoran and Sakura-chan set to with a will, with Mokona "supervising". Fye, however, found himself unable to resist following up his successful manipulation of the ninja with a bit of teasing, which resulted in a slight delay in the adults pitching in.

"We need plenty of fresh meat to keep Kuro-wan fed," he exclaimed, his voice once again outrageously chipper and bright. The blonde's body language underwent an equally extreme change as he slinked a couple of steps closer and then bent over sideways to peer up coyly at the once-again bristling warrior. "If we let Big Doggy starve for flesh, he might snap and devour one of us in the middle of the night!" Fye grinned cheekily and began counting down in his head as red eyes narrowed and a deep breath was drawn into a massive ribcage.

Three.

Two.

Run.

He dug his heel into the grassy ground and jerked back just in time to avoid the tan fingers that were hooked into claws and lashing out for his collar, presumably to throw him to the ground so that he could be beaten silly. Or dead. Fye skipped backward a couple more steps and got ready to dodge the swordstrike he knew would be next, wondering briefly what Kurogane would do if Fye chose, one day, not to dodge. Would surprise stop him dead? Would pride make him follow through with a light pummeling that he hadn't ever intended to actually deliver? For Fye knew that Kurogane was only playing at homicidal intentions. He'd seen the ninja in battle against foes both worthy and not, and knew that the man could move. The manner in which he chased after Fye was pitiful and pathetic in comparison of the dexterity and speed he threw at a real enemy.

Kurogane's attempts to kill Fye always began with a grab or slash from a standstill before breaking into a chase. He let the wizard set the speed and pushed only so far and fast as he knew would be easily evaded. They'd long ago taken their measure of each other's abilities and with familiarity had come an increase in speed and seemingly deadly intent. To an outsider, each dog-chasing-cat moment would look like a serious attempt on the ninja's part to maim or murder, with the wizard just barely escaping each strike by the skin of his pearly whites. From an insider's perspective, however, it was apparent that the dark-haired man was only putting enough heat into his movements to keep up appearances. Pride and temper made him chase and threaten. Something else kept him from making any serious attempt to harm.

The two tall figures described a large circle around the in-progress campsite, Fye throwing in a few more outrageous comments during the first fifty feet to make sure the chase lasted full-circle. He overshot his goal slightly and held up his hands placatingly in a surrendering gesture as he laughed and backed up from his pursuer once they'd come back to the starting point. Kurogane sheathed Souhi with a sharp click and then tried to glare a hole through Fye's head.

"Quit wasting time and do something useful for once," the taller snapped, turning to help Syaoran set up a makeshift tent for the princess and bun to shelter in. The nights had so far been so mild that the males had simply bedded down in the grass under the stars and moon each night, but the princess was more lightly dressed than the others in addition to being deserving of greater privacy according to gender and station.

"I was staking out a perimeter," Fye sang out, laughing lightly at the slight hitch in the ninja's steps and tensing of those broad shoulder. He could almost hear the man's blood pressure rising another notch. "It was nice of you to keep me company, Kuro-rin." He cut himself off before he earned another chase 'round the campsite, and laughingly scooped up and hushed up Mokona who had belatedly joined in on the fun by exclaiming over how sweet it was that Daddy had wanted to go on a walk with Mommy. The wizard distracted the sweet little bun by claiming her assistance in gathering firewood, citing her ability to bound about quickly yet stay low to the ground as invaluable, and her eagerness to please and be of use secured him her immediate compliance.

Fye leaped easily across a narrow part of the river with Mokona in his arms, and then the two made a quick foray into the sparse edge of the woods near their campsite. The little white creature enthusiastically pointed out piles of dry deadfall, and soon the wizard had an armful of firewood as well as a couple of handfuls of sinewy vines from which fat, starchy tubers hung. The campsite was completely set up by the time they returned, with a large circular area cleared of grass and hollowed out slightly to serve as a fire pit, and the younger two travelers busily preparing ingredients for soup with the grains and herbs they'd been gathering as they walked that day. The roots Fye had found were added to the pile to turn the soup into more of a hearty stew, and then he crouched down near his firewood pile. Finding Kurogane simply standing nearby, the blonde waggled a stick at him to catch his attention.

"Kuro-wanta, fetch!" he chirped, as soon as those red eyes slid over to fix him with their customary death glare, and then hurriedly continued speaking before the man blew up into another shout-and-slash tirade. "I couldn't carry enough firewood to last the entire night, and we'll need extra for smoking and drying anything we catch. I'll make another trip too, but can you go first while I get the fire started?"

The dark-haired man muttered something at him that was probably not very complimentary but stalked away to do as Fye had requested, and the shorter man smiled after the retreating figure. It was tempting to just get the fire going and run after the other, but he knew he'd catch hell for leaving the children alone, especially with the day fading into night and nocturnal predators beginning to stir. He was pretty sure that if there were any significant dangers lurking about in this peculiarly peaceful world they'd have run into it by now or at least found some clues in observing the local flora and fauna, but nothing was certain, and while he argued the point with the ninja daily and was sure Syaoran could be trusted to take care of the girls in an emergency, Fye generally complied with Kurogane's desire that no chances be taken with the group's safety.

He had enough blood on his hands already.

The evening passed quietly, with the usual topic of their situation and options only being tossed around for ten minutes or so before it died off. The possibilities were limited, and logic or optimism kept the subject from attaining longevity after the little group had discussed it a handful of times. Most of tonight's pass at it consisted merely of Syaoran supporting Sakura-chan's optimistic hopes, and Mokona echoing everything they said, after which they chatted quietly on random topics ranging from memories of worlds they'd visited and stories of civilizations Syaoran had studied. Kurogane sat quietly near the edge of the ring of firelight, apparently enjoying the peace and quiet while slowly scanning the horizon about them, and Fye let him as he silently did some math.

It was difficult to lay it all out without the aid of paper and pen, but the quick-witted wizard managed fairly well. By the time he was ready to roll over and sleep, he had his calculations sorted out and a plan for revisiting them the next evening in place. Barring an unfortunate earthquake re-shaping the landscape around them, Fye expected to be able to test his theory before bedtime the next day. He lulled himself to sleep by going over his calculations a few times and then indulging in replaying some of his daydreams, hoping to live them in his dreams instead of having to suffer through his usual nightmares.

The wizard spent so many of his waking hours fearfully looking back over his shoulder that it was rather refreshing to look forward to anything, and he found the next day's anticipation and waiting to be more pleasant than tedious. The fact that they had tasks to attend to probably helped the time to speed away. After the party finished off the leftover stew from the previous night's dinner in the morning, they separated and left camp to spend the day in gathering supplies. Sakura-chan and Mokona wandered to and fro in the long grass, gathering grain in the baskets the princess had woven in days past. Syaoran served as guard and pack-mule, and occasionally handed the girls over to Fye's care in order to go and check the snares the young man had set in the woods. Fye multi-tasked by fishing and watching his "daughters" pick berries from the bushes growing by the river, and benefitted from babysitting when Sakura-chan's uncanny luck led him to a much better fishing spot than he'd originally chosen himself.

The blondes and bun retreated to the campsite at midday to prepare a meal of roasted fish for everyone to share in, and Fye distracted himself away from the temptation to take some early measurements by setting himself to the task of keeping Sakura-chan distracted from her worries over Syaoran-kun with light chatter and lighter teasing. They figured out how to neatly scale, gut and debone the fish after ruining only two of them, and covered up their mistakes by forming small patties out of the mangled flesh along with some ground-up grain and herbs, and then cooking them on a flat stone from the river laid over some of the glowing coals at the edge of the campfire. Fye then began designing and constructing low-lying racks of fresh vines and sticks, and laid out the extra halves of fish over them to smoke and dry by the fire. Syaoran returned with some small ground animals he'd snared while this was going on, and Fye grabbed a stick of fish for himself and left with his portable lunch to resume fishing soon afterwards, leaving the boy to watch over the princess, the princess to watch over the fire, and Mokona to chaperone.

Fye had only finished his meal and caught another couple of fish before he caught sight of a familiar figure stalking out of the woods, and he sat up straighter under the tree he was leaning against and called out a greeting.

"Hyuuu! Big Doggy can hunt!" Fye sang out, clapping his hands at the carcass Kurogane had slung over one shoulder. The blonde thought it resembled a sort of deer, though the hide was much darker and finer than he was used to seeing, and the fact that the head was missing made identification a bit harder. The scathing look shot over in his direction would have made anyone else fear for their own neck next, but Fye just grinned and stood up, ostensibly to prance over and admire the kill, but actually to make sure he was on his feet and ready to run if need be.

"Quit that fake whistling," Kurogane growled, letting his prize fall to the ground with a thud. The "do it right or don't do it at all" philosophy was typical of the man and his straightforward character, and Fye hid a fond smile under his cheeky grin.

"That is not how to properly tenderize a haunch," the amateur chef clucked in mock disapproval, and got a scornful critique of his fishing efforts in return.

"Two fish? At this rate you'll have enough for today's lunch caught in time for tomorrow's dinner."

"Three fish now, I think," Fye replied with airy unconcern, nodding at one of his lines as it twitched and jerked. "Plus the dozen that I already caught, cleaned and cooked. Kitties are good at fishing, Kuro-wanwan; Little Kitty showed me where to fish, and I've been earning my keep all morning! Do I get a pat on the head?" He tilted his head ingratiatingly and sidled up, but only got a snort and an eyebrow raise for his troubles.

"You'll get my boot in your face if you let that fish get away," Kurogane promised, and then bent to pick the deer-thing back up. "Land it and then get your ass back to camp and help me dress this thing, since you're so picky about how food should be prepared."

Fye laughed, interpreting this grouchy order as approval of his catch and a determination that he'd done enough fishing for the day. He made an addition to his daydreams by imagining that it also meant that Kurogane wanted his company, and avoided self-examination by busying himself in doing what he'd been told. Good kitty.

Dressing and cutting up the cervid and then gathering up enough slender, straight sticks on which to skewer all the strips of meat took a fair bit of time even with nearly everyone at the camp pitching in as they could, and Mokona was the only one who had much energy left after dinner. She was assigned food-smoking duties by Kurogane once he got tired of batting her away, and the little bun spent most of the evening sitting by the little smoke-house Fye and Syaoran had fashioned out of broad leaves and strips of bark, feeding wood chips onto the hot coals at the mouth of it whenever the smoke started to thin out.

Fye had carefully seated himself in the same spot he'd chosen the night before, and once everyone's attention had drifted away or they'd drifted off to sleep, he attacked his mathematical problems once again. What he found made him both relieved and a bit apprehensive. Relieved, because he was fairly certain he saw an end to their current predicament. A bit apprehensive, because Kurogane was going to be so, so mad.