By Horn and By Tusk
By Horn and By Tusk
by Samhuinn
We could all use a little more tauren love. This is my first work of erotic fiction. It was an interesting challenge getting my hopelessly monogamous character into a raunchy situation. Please enjoy!
There was always something about trolls that set Samhuinn on edge. It was not a clearly defined feeling; he could figure no reason to feel nervous, for they did not treat him with malice or contempt. They were always laughing, dancing, hollering, just generally being a spirited folk. Perhaps that was precisely the problem; Samhuinn Blackhorn was too uppity to appreciate their enthusiasm. He walked past a group of the greenish creatures prancing around a fire, and he frowned, hooves scooting across the beaten dirt path as he scuffled his way to the chieftan's hut. A couple of them notices, but he slipped away before they could see him. A canopy of thick green blocked the sun overhead, tropical trees encompassing the village of the simple and secluded Jungletusk tribe.
Samhuinn's mate was the nephew of the esteemed Arch Druid Hamuul Runetotem, an elderly bull whose accomplishments for the tauren race were second only to the great Cairne Bloodhoof himself. Ambershanks's uncle had never been particularly impressed with his nephew's flighty, carefree nature, much less his choice in another bull as a lover. Samhuinn surprised both Runetotems by proving himself a hardworking, dedicated druid, content to take on duties in both Ambershanks's stead and his own. Hamuul Runetotem was known for being a difficult, stubborn bull - oftentimes like his nephew - but he had taken a liking to Samhuinn, an interesting development given that the younger druid was inherently introverted, a quiet and shy druid who spent most of his time away from his mate by himself. Hamuul usually preferred to send Samhuinn on tasks involving plants and animals, rather than those who would speak back, as the younger bull had a habit of stammering and blushing in even the most casual of social circumstances. This job, to deliver an important message to the chieftan of this troll tribe, was unfortunately unavoidable.
Samhuinn Blackhorn was scarcely an adult bull, yet he had the tired, slow smile of a tauren twice his age. His watery green eyes seemed sad even when he was smiling, and they were usually hidden behind a few loose strands of hair from his shadowblack mane. Coarse red fur, nearly brown, coated his body, save for his mane and three well-kept facial braids dangling below his cheeks and chin. His horns jut out in a startling forwardness, shockingly imposing on an otherwise harmless face. Though only average for his race, Samhuinn's muscular body overcame even the draenei races of the Bloodmyst Islands. He stood about eight feet tall, thick and buff. A passerby would never have supposed he was not only a healer, but meek as a lamb at that. Even the most timid of taurens could be a powerful force. He strode through the tribe with his shoulders raised, his steps small, his brown fluffy tail scraping in the dirt. The Jungletusk tribe was, predictably, on the outskirts of a thick, looming jungle in the northern Barrens of Kalimdor. The trolls of the tribe were mostly self-sustaining, keeping minimal contact with the world around them. The letter Samhuinn clutched in his right paw was little more than a formal summoning to a meeting to be held in the near future, two lines written so simply, even a troll with basic Orcish literary skills could understand it. Somehow, Samhuinn doubted that any troll here would know even the basics.
It was not Samhuinn who first the addressed the chief. In fact, he had not even realized he had come across the leader's hut until he had nearly passed it. An elderly greenish troll lay lazily on the porch of the hut, one hand draped over his forehead, facing the sun. Two female trolls stood pert, draped in fully spiked, leathery armor. They fanned him slowly with long, wide leaves. Before Samhuinn could inquire as to the whereabouts of the chieftan's hut, the troll snapped himself up into a crouch, shooting a furious stare into the tauren's eyes. He bellowed a hellish scream in trollish into the sky, and the two females tossed aside their leaves and snatched weapons the harnesses on their backs. The male dashed forward, snatching the paper out of the clueless bull's paws. He shrieked once more and flipped himself backwards, disappearing into the hut with the female cohorts hot on his toes. The door slammed shut, leaving Samhuinn to gawk, wide-eyed and bewildered. His shocked facial expression had not changed when the trolls came tumbling out of the hut, nearly rolling on the porch with laughter.
"Ooooooooh-hoo-hoo-hooooooo, mon!" the male troll cackled, stumbling to his knees. He wiped a tear from his right eye. "Ooooooh, spirits, mon, joo shuddah seen-a-da look on ja face! Ahhhh ha ha haaa-!"
The greenskinned man ascended to his feet, clapping a hand soundly on Samhuinn's back. The tauren lurched forward with an audible "Oof!", the skin under his fur pinkening. Though trolls were by their nature slender and of frail appearance, they were among the few races of the continent of Kalimdor that could almost match a tauren's height, and it was no great stretch for the skinnier creature to rest his elbow on the bull's shoulder, speaking to him as though they were close friends. Samhuinn was red. Oh, how uneasy trolls made him. His Orcish was not very good, and trolls had such thick accents that he was not always able to parse them very well.
"Ohhh, whoooo, me sorry, mon. We nossa so bad, jussa silly. Don' get vizitahs offen, we gossa make da hoomah when we can, ja 'no, mon? Hoomah? Joo likada hoomah? Lafta? Joksa? Lessa see wassa chu bro' me..." The troll hoisted up the letter he had stolen from Samhuinn, flipping it up and reading from it. "... Dis one of da lettahs from dat big, big cow in Cow Land, ja? "Hamool", metinkin'?"
Samhuinn cleared his throat. "... Um... yes. ... ... This is a message from the Arch Druid Hamuul Runetotem, requesting your pre-"
"HA!" cried the troll. Samhuinn must have blushed, because the troll pinched his cheek and grinned, giggling like a child. "Donnnncha be so shy, mon, yousa guest in dissa tribe! Lessa me tink... lessa... Aha!" The troll whirled about, staring into the hut, and spat a yelp into the air that split Samhuinn's eardrums.
"AY! AY! TAYTAH! Gessa you butt a down heya NOWSA! Me gossa torren forsa ja like ja askin' fer!"
Not two seconds later, a sound thumped behind Samhuinn. The bull turned to see the back slender young troll stretching up from the ground, rising to full height as he cracked his lean back forward. He had jumped from the second story of the hut, landing with a feline's grace in the dirt. Tattoos of rocks and mountains speckled his toned young body, yet his waistline was slim, too thin for the warrior he made himself to be. He wore no shirt, only a large leather knapsack, filled with what the tauren could only guess. As he turned, Samhuinn caught a glimpse of his long left ear, lopped off at the tip and long since overhealed. He was bald, likely by choice. The troll glanced up at the tauren, frown matching frown, and the two turned away from one another, toward the tribal chieftan.
"Dissa be Taithleach," the elder troll spoke. "Nah wanna us. Wesa Jungletusk. Hesa... mon, me don't know wassa he be, but hesa guest, and joosa guest, so joosa go enta'tain jaself so mesa don' hasta, ja mon? Mebbe joo can help 'im wit' his..." The chieftan idly waved a hand, already turning to go back into his hut as though the very act of speaking burdened him greatly. "... 'Is... potion o' whatevah 'dis. Hassa fun. Spirits be wicha." He vanished into the building, much to Samhuinn's dismay. Somehow, one solitary troll was more discomforting than two.
The two were silent for a few long moments. Taithleach was the first to speak. His voice was soft and slow, so unlike the boistrous and rapid barks of the chieftan. It was an accent entirely separate. "... Ya don' hafta be scar'de me, tahren. Not gon' bitecha. Lookum nervous. Askin' ya name?"
Samhuinn raised a paw to rub at the side of his neck, managing a little smile for the troll. "... I am... Samhuinn. ... That is pronounced SAH-when, but if you so prefer, Sam will be fine."
Taithleach grinned in response. He turned away, stretching his arms up over his head and grunting, as though just awakening. "... Likeum Sam. Good name. Mossum tahren hahvum dem ha'd names, but likeum Sam. Am Taithleach. Not Jungahtus'. Not frumma roun' here. Camin' for dem poshun."
"... For... what?"
Taithleach shook his head. He peered out into the jungle that encompassed the tribe, giving it grin. It was not a dense or thick jungle. Only one guard stood at the ready, and he was taking a nap; it was clearly not a dangerous habitat. From his pockets, he procured two vials of a pink potion, waving them slightly at Samhuinn. "Gossum froot joos, chu t'irsty. Cahmin' jungle? Is gud for talkin'."
Samhuinn frowned. He looked up at the sky, wetting his chops before biting down on his lower lip. It was growing late, and not only would Ambershanks be waiting for him, but Hamuul as well. He had other duties to be performed before bed, but it was not in Samhuinn's nature to refuse generocity and act impolite. After a moment, he nodded his head, raised his shoulders a bit, and stepped forward. "... We may talk for a short while. ... Perhaps I can help you with your potion."
Taithleach nodded, gesturing to the medicine bag hanging from Samhuinn's belt. "Dassum herbs, ya? Yah 'erblist? Meb' yah can 'elp me aftah all."
The troll led the tauren through the forest down a narrow beaten path. Taithleach spoke of his travels, how he had been struggling to come up with a potion of healing power and how his homeland - he did not mention what that was - did not have all the ingredients he desired. When asked what the potion's effects would be, the troll only laughed, responding, "Ah'll know whennah drinkum!" Taithleach could not pry much information on Samhuinn's lifestyle or history out of him, but what he could learn was that the bull was a devout healer - "Dey makeum healers big's yah?", the troll had asked, to which Samhuinn had chuckled - who had been from edge to edge of the Outlands's Twisting Nether and still felt most at home in the sunny grasses of the Mulgore plain, west of the rugged Barrens.
In mid-sentence, the troll came to a stop. After a moment, he turned, grinning broadly at his furry companion. "We here."
The jungle broke into a clearing alongside a stream flowing south. Samhuinn immediately reasoned that this area had been artificially cut out, for there would be no reason for the vegetation to be less dense around a body of moving water. The makings of a collection of sticks, undoubtedly used for a bonfire, reaffirmed this in his head. Perhaps the tribe conducted ceremonies and dances around here. He smiled softly, for the cries and hoots of the Jungletusk tribe had long since faded into the rustling of trees and the chirps and skitters of birds and bugs in the treetops above. These noises made him much more comfortable.
Tossing his backpack aside, Taithleach marched his way over to the stream, descending to his knees and washing his face clean in the running water, then his arms and back. Samhuinn made a steady circle around the old bonfire, inspecting it without touching it, as though attempting to parse its significance. Though he did not always get along with trolls, their tribal communities fascinated him, and he always found pleasure in comparing their customs to his own. Perhaps this was the site of any great feast, or a coming-of-age ritual, or a wedding ceremony. Perhaps it w-
"'Ey, Sam!"
Samhuinn turned just in time to catch a vial from the air, inches from his snout. He stared at the pink potion with wide eyed, spitting off a bewildered, "E-Earthmother! What did you..."
Taithleach had to laugh, shaking his head. "Remembrum dem juice? Dassum. Goo' catch. Yah fast fersum tahren. Drinkum, is good!"
Samhuinn gave the troll a worried frown, but inevitably conceded. The walk had been hot and humid, and his throat ached for refreshment. He popped the cork off of the vial's edge and drank from it swiftly, finding it much more refreshing than the usual healing potions he quaffed out in the wild. With one great gulp, he licked his lips, nodding his approval. "... This... ... ... this is... ... I do not... usually enjoy sweet things, but... this is... good."
"Good!" Troll and tauren exchanged smiles, before Taithleach turned back to the water, once more descending to his knees. He cupped his bony hands under the water and brought it up to his lips, drinking deeply "Drinkum tah much of. Jus' water fah me. Glad Sam likum."
Samhuinn settled himself down on a log, peering down at the empty vial in his hand. He had not realized how tired the walk had made him, and the thought of traveling all the way back to Thunder Bluff by hoof was not an enticing one. He sighed, shaking his head slightly, his black facial braids brushing against his vestaments. Stifling a yawn, he turned over to the troll, blinking twice at him. "... What... ... is in the knapsack, if I may inquire?"
Taithleach glanced over his shoulder. His face was wet, and he brushed aside the moisture with his forearm, spotting the tauren with a grin. "No worrium. Is fah lata. ... 'Ey, yahsakay? Lookum sleepeh."
Samhuinn raised a paw to rub at his eyes, suddenly feeling a little dizzy. He shook his head, stifling a second yawn. "... Sleepeh? ... It is... too early... to sleep..."
"... Yah sure, Sam? Lookum like yah up all t'e nite."
Samhuinn peered at Taithleach, blinking two more times before realizing his vision was too blurry to see the troll. He attempted to muster a response, but it came out as low, gruffled murmurs. His last vision was of the blurry blue man raising to full height before his eyes shut, and the bull crashed down onto the log, his limp body falling after as he dropped into unconsciousness.
***
Everything was dark.
Samhuinn blinked open one eye, then the other, immediately regretting it. Sun poured like water through a pore in the canopy overhead, blinding him momentarily. He was on his back; he felt the rocks, the dirt, the grass beneath him. After the pain in his eyes dulled to a throb, he tried opening his eyes again, this time with greater success.
He was in the jungle. Samhuinn rarely slept in the wild if he could help it, and certainly not in the middle of a busy day. He grumbled to himself, a half-yawn fumbling into a surprised grunt when he tried to lift himself into a sitting position and found he could not.
Tugging his arms, he realized he was bound by ropes by his wrists and ankles, spread eagle, to the ground. The bindings were not uncomfortable, but they were tight, and they kept him securely pinned despite his size. A little breeze wafting through the jungle, and with a little jolt of horror, he realized something more - he was completely in the buff.
"... That... troll," he growled under his breath, teeth gnashing as he tugged at the ropes, to no avail. He attempted to shift into an animal form, as per the teachings of druidism, and was further astonished to find he could not. That troll! Lured him out here to steal every last item of remote value, even the tauren's clothing. He could not even leave the poor bull his loincloth. How embarassing!
A twig snapped nearly. Samhuinn craned his neck, peering down his naked chest to steal a glance at the traveler, but found he could not see him from his position. "H... h-hey," the druid called, faint dashes of red sparkling under his cheekfur. How in the world was he going to say this? "H-help... p-please, help me!"
The form stepped into view. With very mixed feelings, Samhuinn cast his gaze upon the very troll who had undoubtedly bound him. Droplets of water shined on Taithleach's nude body, and he glimmered in the sun. The lean warrior glanced down at Samhuinn, giving him a smile neither dangerous nor mocking, but affectionate. Samhuinn could only reply with a growl. The troll stepped over the bound tauren, settling his rump down on the druid's chest. He suspended his head over the bull, who had quickly gone from angry to worried, and he squirmed helplessly underneath the troll, face locked into a grimace as he eyes traced up the troll's body to his face.
"... Dancha worreh," Taithleach whispered after a moment, placing one finger on the tauren's mouth as though to silence him. "... Yah don' haffa speak, and I don' haffa hurtum. Don' wanna hurtum. Likeum Sam, Sam real nice."
Samhuinn did not seem pleased. Biting back the fear in his chest, he growled, keeping his voice mostly steady. He made motions to bite the finger Taithleach placed on his mouth, and Taithleach pulled back. "What... what are you talking about? ... What do you want from me?"
Were Samhuinn not feeling so threatened, he would have sworn the grin that crossed Taithleach's face was kindly. The troll tossed back his hair, appraising what of the big tauren's body he could see below him, and replied, easily, "Needum poshum."
"... I... ... grr! I cannot help you with this! Release me!"
"Yah can!" the troll exclaimed, grinning amicably. "Issum poshum a' great strenf, and wuttum be stronnennum bulls? Poshum res'pee callin' fer bull seed. Bull seed, mon, chano! Don' seeum cows 'round dat da hoomans usin'. Wun't let meh an'way. Dis be da cheap way. Be fun, too."
Samhuinn could not reply immediately. His head was still groggy, and what of the warrior's story that pierced his brain was unbelievable. Finally, he growled, an edge of panic spurring his anger. "This is... ... this is - ridiculous! I-I have never heard of such a thing! I-"
"Heardum troll sweat? Iffum troll sweat be use, why nah tahren semen? Issum fah fertil'ty. Ve'y 'portant fah dem trolls. Nah!" Taithleach placed his hand upon Samhuinn's cheek, putting enough pressure to be uncomfortable. "We gottum t'ree ways da do t'is. Firs' be da easeh way. Yah be nice n' quiet an' don' make no noisa. Me collec' ja stuff. Gottum poshun. Secon' hard way. Secon', yah be all lou' an' angreh and callin' fa help. Ya listenin', yeah? Den me collec' da ya seed in a diffn't way."
To make his point, Taithleach gestured aside. Samhuinn followed his gaze to his own leatherworking knife, stuck blade-side-down into the dirt. Understanding quickly, Samhuinn turned back to the troll, making no further attempts to disguise his fright. The troll had to laugh, moving his hand from the bull's cheek up to his forehead, brushing back the hair from his mane as one would a pet. He tussled and twirled with the black hair, giving the druid below him a chance to consider his options. Sinking into the ground, Samhuinn asked, tugging once on his ropes, "... And... what is the third way?"
"T'e t'ird way?" The troll laughed once more. His hand traced one finger down the side of Samhuinn's face, down his soft, reddish-brown cheek, light enough to tickle. He stroked down to his neck, brushing below the bull's chin. The troll grinned when the larger male's angry growls wavered into something softer, more warm.
"T'e t'ird way. Fun way. Yah make jus' t'e righ' noissum."
Samhuinn saw the troll reaching behind him with his left, free hand. He gasped as his fuzzy ballsack was cuffed, feeling the troll's bony fingers play around with his testicles. His scrotum felt almost too big for the troll's comparatively small hands to grasp. Samhuinn wriggled slightly, but the troll on his stomach and the bindings on kept him securely planted in the soil. Taithleach's other hand pressed deeper into his chest, pushing into his big furry chest. Samhuinn's murmurs of protest faded into nothingness, replaced with a sigh.
"Issa a goo' Sam," Taithleach murmured, smiling down at Samhuinn, hands still massaging his body. "Tol' ya is nah gon' hurt. Jus' relax. Me doin' t'e work." His voice was warm, compassionate, his tones comforting; Samhuinn had a difficult time truly accepting this as rape. After a few moments, Taithleach's hand lifted off the tauren's genitals. Leaning forward, he placed his chest on top of the bull's and met him, lips to lips, tongue to tongue, sliding both hands behind the druid's head as he kissed him. His large tusks pressed into the dirt by the tauren's cheeks. His hands tussled at the bull's mane, pulling his head in as his tongue pressed as far as it could, his body clinging tightly to the larger's male's. If Samhuinn had wished to protest, he could not have found the words nor had the opportunity.
After a minute or more, Taithleach pulled his body back, flipping his head up as though it had been a great effort to detach himself. His chest was heaving in and out wildly, thin traces of his drool and Samhuinn's dribbling down from his mouth. Underneath him, Samhuinn's stomach, too, rumbled and heaved as he panted for air. Their eyes met, and all four cheeks went red. The bull traced a gaze down the troll's body, and he bit down upon his lower lip as he spied the troll's penis fully erect, suspended before his face.
"... Sorry bottat," Taithleach murmured, shaking his head a bit. "... Wassum suppos'a do t'at."
The troll hoisted himself up off of the bull's chest, scratching - or was it rubbing? Samhuinn couldn't tell - himself as he stepped down the tauren's naked body. He descended to his knees, placing one hand on Samhuinn's stomach, the other on his sheath. He scritched into the tauren's tummy, running his long nails through his brown fur as one would rub a puppy - comfortingly, as though not to push his bound friend too hard. His right hand tickled around the tauren's penis, gently massaging his long fingers through his ballsack. The ropes bound to Samhuinn's extremeties jerked taut as the tauren wriggled under the troll's touching, his stomach rising and falling. Both males watched in awe as Taithleach's touching finally won the tauren over. A flash of pink rose from the brown as the druid's penis emerged from its sheath, its creep slow. The troll did not touch the erecting penis just yet, but he stroked at the bull's fuzzy base with more intensity now, wobbling the dick as it extended to a thick twelve inches - quite normal for a tauren, but enormous for the slender troll. As though in shock, Taithleach shot Samhuinn's face a look, to which the tauren could only redden a bit.
Using both hands, the troll started up the bull's length with a painful slowness, as though savoring every inch of his cock. He squeezed his palm around the tip, feeling it throb beneath him, and he chuckled softly, murmuring something in troll. The second time up was faster, and after that his hands were jacking him off, running up and down his length with a ferver. The ropes tightened as Samhuinn tugged, involuntarily pushing his hips up into the troll's hands.
Taithleach stroked Samhuinn off for a minute or more. Occasionally, one hand would leave to press on the tauren's balls, rub his stomach, or perhaps the troll would retreat to his own erection, pumping it in time with the druid. Samhuinn humped his crotch forward in time with the troll, his eyes closed, tongue hanging slighly out of his mouth. Without warning, he grunted deep in his chest, pressing up against the bindings. Taithleach watched in awe as a trickle of precum trickled its way out of the larger male's cocktip, dribbling its way down the head and length and onto the troll's pumping fingers.
Grasping the tauren by the sheath with one hand and just below the head with the other, the troll leaned forward on his knees, wrapping his lips around the bull's meat and suckling upon it. His tongue lashed around the tip, lapping up the beads of precum as they emerged. Clearly excited, the troll humped his own penis into Samhuinn's hip, leaving stains of sticky moisture in his brownish-red fur. Samhuinn had started growling, a deep and throaty rumble as he thrust as well as he could into the troll's mouth. His chest pulled taut as he jerked against the ropes on his wrists as though stretching, baring his teeth.
Wrapping one arm around Sam's bullhood as though embracing, Taithleach licked, kissed, and nuzzled adoringly all along his length. The other arm retreated to his own crotch as he masturbated himself. He grunts rippled pleasing sensations along the tauren's maleness, which throbbed as Samhuinn thrusted along the troll's tongue.
As though caught by sudden inspiration, Taithleach whipped his hand up from his cock and ran it along the tauren's furry ballsac and down to his tailhole. He could only tease the outer rim for a couple seconds before desire overtook him, and he plunged two fingers into the bull's rectum. His randiness renewed, Samhuinn groaned in pleasure, his head tilting back into the soil as he was penetrated. Involuntarily, he spread his thighs as best as the ropes would let him, his body eager for the touch in a way he would not allow himself to admit.
After a few moments of fingering the bull, Taithleach pulled himself forward, laying his chest upon Samhuinn's length, sandwiching it between him and the bull's stomach. He stradled the larger male, his knees in the dirt, his posterior a foot or two from the bull's face. His cocktip brustled along the tauren's fur, mere inches from the bull's own. He felt Sam's penis pumping against his body as he withdrew his fingers from the druid's tailhole, leaned forward, and licked at it. He enjoyed Samhuinn's vigor as the bull moaned freely now, pushing his dick into the troll's chest without restraint. Taithleach felt a warm stickiness bathe the head of his cock as Samhuinn squirted precum onto it, and the troll smiled, licking more.
"Yah so clean," Taithleach murmured as he kissed at the bull's tailhole. "Takum goo' care." The troll was humping his crotch into the bull's warm chest, hugging against Samhuinn's penis sandwiched beneath him.
"G... g-gods," Samhuinn groaned, his breathing growing sharper. Taith's smaller body rose and fell with every one of the bull's breaths. He lifted his head up to peer at the bound bull's body, realizing that the panting tauren was on the verge of his climax. Wasting no time, the troll clambered off of him, spinning himself around such that his cock rest upon the furry balls. Taithleach lapped up the precum dribbling down Samhuinn's length before taking what he could into his mouth, his left hand pumping at the bull's sheath. His right hand continued the job on himself.
Samhuinn's tongue lay out of his mouth as he willingly thrust between the troll's lips, bucking against the ropes in a frenzy. Sweat dribbled down through his fur. Finally, with a low, ecstatic moan, the larger male reared his head past and arched his body, the tip of his cock exploding in white as he came in the troll's mouth. Taithleach pulled back as the bull's seed spurted onto his face in wave after wave. The troll's hand milked the bull through the process. With a tribal cry, the troll finished himself off, jerking his body forward. Cum spewed from the head of his long member as he jacked himself over the tauren's stomach, spilling sticky whiteness all over his bare chest.
Both males were panting heavily. Taithleach collapsed onto Samhuinn's body, flopping down as though the tauren were a bed. When the druid was able to speak, he murmured only one thing, his eyes slowly shutting.
"... What... about... the potion?"
Taithleach grinned up at him, nuzzling into his neck.
"... Wha' poshun?"
Samhuinn could not reply; he had already drifted off into sleep. Taithleach chuckled gently. He placed a hand on the bull's chest and cuddled up into him, closing his eyes.
***
Samhuinn awoke. It was late in the day, for the sun was no longer visible overhead yet it was bright enough to see. Only dimly aware of his surroundings, he sat up, rubbing the side of his head. By his nature, Samhuinn very rarely consumed alcohol, but he now felt as though he had woken up with a killer hangover. He felt groggy and exhausted, and his body sagged as he rose to his hooves.
He was naked, he noted with a dimly twinkling concern. His clothes were over in a neat little pile, folded on top of a rock. He plodded over to them and quickly got himself dressed, still not quite sure what he was doing in the middle of a jungle, why he was unclothed, and why he had such a pounding headache. Was it his mate? No, Samhuinn was almost always awake before Ambershanks, and he had no memory of coming with him out into a jungle. He turned back to where he had been sleeping, and narrowed his eyes in curiosity at what he saw.
Four long ropes lay cut where he was. Three were bound to trees, and a fourth to a rock. They were were in pairs, he noticed, spaced seven feet apart, as though they had been used to -
Samhuinn turned, squinting down at the rushing stream of water nearby. There were flickers of a recent memory bouncing in his head, but he could not form a single coherent thought with them through the pain. He was surprised at how, despite the grogginess of whatever had happened the night before, he was in a very good mood, relaxed and high-spirited. Shaking his head, he snatched up his backpack and wandered off into the jungle, hoping he would be able to find his way home before it got too late.