Hawkshadow743

The tree line finally thinned and the barking and baying of the pursuing dogs faded into the distance. Flanks heaving and slick with sweat, nostrils quivering as his muscles burned, Aldrich dared to slow to a stop. He wasn’t keen on giving the dogs the chance to catch up, but if he continued on in such condition it would be borderline reckless. He should take a beat, assess how his situation might have changed and regroup. The sun had migrated further across the sky. It shone down weakly from above, struggling to pierce through a thin layer of clouds. Aldrich welcomed its warmth as he continued, his ears swiveling to pick up every surrounding sound. The very moment he heard a sign of the dogs again, he would bolt. His previous path had been roundabout on purpose, but it wouldn’t take them long to figure out which scents were a trick. The sound of the birds above filled him with a much-needed peace. Aldrich had always been fond of birds, both small and large. Surely, if they were

Aldrich SQ: 1.1 Aldrich paused in the shade of a wide-reaching oak, grateful for a moment to rest. His flanks heaved for breath and his mind raced as fast as his thundering heart. He hadn’t heard his pursuers in several long minutes; hopefully that meant they had either given up the chase or had become hopelessly lost in the dense forest. He’d done his best to confuse them, intentionally choosing trails that had been hard to travel given his size and bulk. Of course doing that had led to leaving hunks of his tail in patches of thick brambles and spilling his own blood on grasping branches. His legs stung from the various injuries and there was a real chance if he didn’t tend to his own wounds that the dogs would be able to follow the scent right to him. They were likely fabulous and skilled hunters, unused to leaving their chosen prey alive. Aldrich gulped uncomfortably at the prospect that his carefully laid plans had actually spelled his own doom. Maybe all wasn’t lost. He’d

There was something so invigorating about the air after a storm. Fidget stood at the top of the hill, taking the deepest breath he could manage as he stared out across the land. Tokotna was no worse for wear after the late autumn storm, though her inhabitants might be a bit tired depending on their resilience to lightning and thunder. The wind had rattled the walls of Fidget's home, threatening to bring it down around him. But he was still here, as were the rest of his fishing crew. He glanced behind him, a huff of laughter rising unbidden in his throat as he watched them struggle up the hill. "Hurry up, you two! The fish won't wait forever." But he waited, despite the urge to dash down the hill and scatter fallen leaves in his wake. It wouldn't be very friendly of him to leave the others behind; after all, they were supposed to be working together on this fishing trip. Stockings and Olympia were walking shoulder to shoulder--for the most part. The latter was part dire and she dwarfed

The sun was at its apex, casting its warmth down on the wings of the kala brothers as they soared across the golden dunes of the desert, making a game of chasing each other’s shadows across the sea of sand. They had set out shortly before dawn to cross the stretch of territory separating them from their desired hunting grounds, needing a change of pace from their usual fare. Or, at least Stark did. Cedric wasn’t at all picky, but his brother had been discussing for the better part of a week that he wanted more of a challenge. So they were forgoing the desert entirely and making for the savannah where they hoped to find something that would pose a challenge for two male kalas in their prime. “What did you have in mind, exactly?” Cedric hoped Stark didn’t hear the apprehension in his tone, though he’d never been good at hiding his emotions from his brother. Stark knew him too well for that. It wasn’t so much that he was worried about the chances for their success. No, his concern was

Lemondrop was pleased with her travel time. She had set off early that morning for the Ancestral Lands, the marvelous home where her parents and grandparents had spent their whole lives. It hadn’t been an easy choice for her, deciding to strike out on her own and see the world of Midgard. Her parents had been confused, had argued that countless generations of Ruks had raised their young in the Ancestral Lands and that it offered anything a Ruk could possibly want, including safety. Lemon’s rebuttal had been to point out that it wasn’t unheard of for a Ruk to leave and, while they had conceded the point, she had been able to tell that they had been unhappy with the idea that she was going out into the world. Not to say that the Ancestral Lands didn’t hold some dangers of their own, but no Ruk who lived there ever had to worry about being tamed by man unless they wished it. The kind of blind servitude that other Ruks were forced into turned her parents’ stomachs and they’d made it very