Morning Oats, Pumpkin and Ambushes

Even the trees were struggling to wake up. But the wind was persistent and kept nudging.
Branches swayed and rattled, clattering their complaints. Beneath those, the okemis started their usual morning breakfast routine. The herd gathered around the log trough and chewed away at the mix of hay, grass and gariber seeds. It wasn't oatmeal and pumpkin, but the okemis never complained.
Tomae shifted position where he sat cross-legged under an older rooker tree and dug into his oatmeal. The ground peanuts and pumpkin made for a delightful way to wake up after his morning exercise and practice drills. He chewed another bite, letting his eyes wander next to this thoughts.
The red bungu berries should be ripe now. Fall rains always brought out their taste and color. But those grew up along the high rocky slopes where the trees turned spindly. Tomae hadn't mapped up there yet and wasn't eager to go alone, berries or no. He preferred to have Kimi with him. Claws were worked better against mooka bird's ironthread feathers than Tomae's martial arts skills.
Not that a good solid kick wouldn't give one of the massive mooka birds reason to pause. Tomae was strong enough, just not accurate. Pinpoint precision for nerve strikes still eluded him. He added a few blueberries to his bowl and continued his breakfast.
Tomae was nearly done when a heavy weight crashed into him. It took all four of his arms to break his fall before he tucked into a sharp roll away from his attacker. He wasn't surprised to see a grinning face with extended whiskers pointed at him. "Kimi!"
What was meant as an indignant tone came out more like a frustrated sputter. He hadn't quite finished chewing that spoon of oats and pumpkin when she pounced. Tomae shook his head and recovered his sitting position. His dignity, or the last bits of his breakfast, wasn't so easily recovered. He threw out decorum and wiped his muzzle on a sleeve.
"You never pay attention while you eat."
Kimi's purring laugh irritated Tomae's nerves, but not enough to really earn her a reply. It wasn't like she hadn't done this before. They had known each other since being cubs and had spent most days together when they were young. She had taken it upon herself to help 'toughen up' the thin and wiry Tomae. So, she had been greeting him many mornings in a similar manner since. Even after they both joined the Wayfarer League.
To be fair, Tomae wasn't that irritated with Kimi. He irritated with himself at not expecting some sort of ambush in the morning, again. What did she expect? He had finished his morning combat drills and was trying to ease his mind and sore body with a nice bowl of warm oats and pumpkin.