Redhawk Caldera summer skeletons

Leaves kicked up beneath her ambush; with his head turned to look behind, Andalusia reckoned Sebastian hadn't seen her drawn up through the bushes along the side. But he recovered fast, and she quickly heard the sound of his paws batter the ground behind her again.

The rush of the wind and Sebastian's play shot a buzz through Andalusia. How long since she'd run like this, had felt so free? The thought flitted in and out, herself too preoccupied with the hot breath on her heels to dwell on something as introspective as that. Her face danced with laughter and she turned to snap a playful nip at Sebastian, who seemed to be corraling her like a bison for the kill.

Of course, this slowed her paws - a calculated expense, but she hadn't factored in Sebastian's plan - or even that he had his own ideas hidden up his sleeves. For just as she turned, she met the sight of his stretched out face and felt a thrust against her side. And then, he sprang like a boomerang, and Andalusia skittered to a jerking stop before rounding herself to tear back after him with a laughter laced shout of, "Hey! You get back here!"

She hadn't been so slow to lose him yet, but the moment of stupor had set her at a decent lag. He had turned them around, but at an angle, so that the trees still thinned toward the meadow. The Ostrega set her brow, put on her own final sprint, and pushed the forest floor to cover the strides between them, hoping Sebastian had depleted himself enough in his advance to let her gain her ground on him. If she managed to draw near enough, he wouldn't feel a gentle tap on his side, but the force of her body barrelling him in a playful tackle to the ground. She couldn't run fast enough to win these games alone, so she would take her chance at crashing him down with her into the swaying grasses of the meadow instead. She leapt.