by Alea Davenport on January 30th, 2012, 10:38 am
Alea pursued the stag-man at her top speed, pumping her legs harder than she'd ever done before. Though the Kelvic was far faster than she, Alea was determined not to let him escape. Through the hold she chased him, managing to keep him in sight. Unfortunately, her stamina was nowhere near capable of keeping up with him, and by the time she saw him escaping outside, she was gasping for breath. She slowed to a walk, wincing as her hard breathing was starting to hurt her throat.
She stepped outside and looked around. There was no hoe of trying to follow his tracks in the snow; too many pairs of feet had already gone out this way, and try as she might, she could not determine which footprints belonged to Yuros. Despairing of ever finding him, she looked around, trying to imagine where he might have gone, but not really expecting any great insight. That was when she noticed that the stable door was slightly ajar.
Curious, suspicious, she went to the stables, closing the door behind her. Partly she was concerned about the winter chill reaching the animals inside. But it did not escape her notice that leaving the door open was an awfully careless thing to do, the sort of carelessness that might be caused by someone in a hurry....
Yuros may be able to outrun Alea, but was he as good at hiding? Not wanting to lose any advantage of surprise she might have, Alea crept along the soft, straw-covered floor, trying to keep noise to a minimum. She peeked quickly into some of the nearer stalls, wondering if Yuros has decided to hide among the horses, but she doubted a creature of his pride would consent to hiding among such "silly beasts."
That was when she heard a quiet snort from her own Gilding's stall. It was subtle, but in her experience, the Gilding never did anything without a purpose (usually to annoy someone, usually her). Figuring she had nothing to lose, she crept toward her horse's stall and peered into it from behind the feeding trough. Sure enough, there was Yuros, hiding behind her Gilding of all creatures. She shook her head, wondering how he could have been so foolish as to trust THIS of all beasts.
Still clutching the shirt, she stepped lightly into the stall, wondering if Yuros has actually been foolish enough to close his eyes. As she got closer, he still had not moved. Not entirely trusting her luck, she rushed the last few feet, pouncing on him and attempting to force the shirt over his head. "Gotcha!" she cried in triumph.