Taking advantage of Blue's tensing up, Nova quickly grabbed another mouthful of the smaller needles that revealed themselves when she changed position. It wasn't too difficult to keep them out of his tongue, he just had to grab them at the right angle. The hard part was knowing just how hard to pull.
"Heh, and you think I am?" Nova responded once he got his mouth clear, inspecting her backside to see if there were any other offending needles. "The only times I have opened my mouth is to wind you up or to get Durandel turned into a gem slave. There's a reason I usually travel alone. You want a good travel companion, look to Khan up there. He has the patience of the gods" Nova said back, looking from the back of her head up to where Durandel was walking up ahead, before walking up next to her to keep ahead of the closing trail. The Aven's warning was coming true, as they moved the foliage seemed to wrap around were they just were, concealing any tracks they were making.