Always Watching (Open)

[Imros]

Imros snorted with laughter as he heard Kurve's cries. "Brilliant!" he giggled and charged forward, his entire body was aching, his feet, his lungs, everywhere!
But Shuptalxia was on the horizon, which was a most reassuring sight.
----

"I can't decide which is worse! you or him! Both throw me about like a ball but he keeps dropping me and you drag me through the undergrowth!" the Fanoran howled, rubbing his sore head as he stumbled next to Kurve.
"What are you doing!" he sighed, seeing her screaming, "Don't tell me that's more," he groaned.

[can you switch locations in an RP? ]

[laurabeth]

"I'm drawing them away for a bit, don't worry, they won't harm you." Kuvre said, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout again. "Don't be such scaredy cats!" she called, then lowered her hands with a smile playing over her face. This was more fun that she thought, and she didn't blame Imros for acting like this constantly.

"C'mon, Seilk," she said, lifting his body up in her arms, "I'll carry you so you won't bump your head, okay?" She slinked off the path once again, her back bent low and her head turning constantly. There were footfalls coming back up the trail, assuring her that her insults had worked. She could hear hissing breaths conversing a short distance away, but she couldn't catch what they were saying.

She bent over, picked up a rock, and aimed it a ways away from her, planning on going back to the path and heading opposite of Shuptalxia to insult them some more. She threw the rock with much force, already turning toward the path before it had landed. She heard a large crack and thud, and the sound of talking had stopped. She crouched down low beneath a large plant. A rusting started from the path, and the group of two or three Fanorans passed her by mere feet. She stood again and ran awkwardly reaching the trail and breaking out in a full-speed run, jarring the little creature in her arms.

[Imros]

The Fanoran bouncing around in her arms for what seemed like an age. "I'd rather run!" he howled at her, hoping that eventually she'd drop him and let him run alone.
Fighting against his own race wasn't easy but he assumed if that caught him, they accuse him of consorting with the enemy - which was a fate worse than death. "When's that idiot coming back! We're going to need help fairly soon!" he shouted to her, wondering if she had just heard what he had. The sound of several more Fanorans straight ahead.

[laurabeth]

[That's just fine!]

Kuvre took an extremely sharp turn into the brush, threw Seilk aside and whipped several arrows out of her quiver. She prepared them in her bow and waited for the enemy to pass. It didn't seem fair to shoot them in the back, but she was in no mood for fair-play. She had never been outnumbered to such a degree before, and she was desperate to get the numbers down. Just then, two Fanorans walked swiftly by, conversing to each other in hushed tones. When they were a few feet ahead, Kuvre slid out and shot the two arrows, one after another.

One went straight through the heart, but the other wavered and only grazed the Fanoran's side. Kuvre muttered curses to herself as the creature spun around to face her, it's face contorted with rage. She shrunk back for only second before standing to her feet, ready to risk it all. She didn't dare to move her eyes where Seilk had been, not wanting to give his location away. "Hello, kitty," Kuvre said, her voice coming strong even though she felt weak, "What do you and your friends think you're doing?"

The Fanoran only snarled in reply, reaching down for a knife sheathed at it's side. At the same moment, Kuvre reached for hers, but it was gone.

[Imros]

[Ok Sounds good!]

Seilk sprang put the bush and leapt onto he attacking Fanoran's forehead. "It's behind that tree!" he cried as he sunk his claws in, hoping to do enough damage for Kurve to get away.
"They're sending more in! you might want to consider retreating!" he shouted at the Fanoran who he was currently making a fine pin-cushion out of.
He looked up the see the others staring at him, all looking extremely displeased that one of their own had changed sides. He pounced off the Fanoran's head and sped off after Kurve and all fours. "RUUN!" he yowled as he heard the thundering of feet behind him.

[laurabeth]

Kuvre searched te ground frantically, digging through dead leaves and small twigs. She couldn't find it, but wondered if she had forgotten to pick it up from when she was listening for Fanorans earlier. When the little Fanoran flew past her, she stood and looked over her shoulder to see the remaining enemies chasing after her.

"Where is Imros?" She asked herself, fleeing as fast as her legs could carry her. Her skirt whipped and snapped behind her furiously, but long loud enough to hide the footfalls and angry shouts of her attackers. She wished she could put more space between them, just enough to get into a better hiding space.

They had ran full-speed for several minutes, the path twisting and curving through the forest. Whenever Kuvre looked behind her after a longer stretch of the trail, she could see a Fanoran speeding closer to her and Seilk. She turned forward just in time to keep herself from running into a tree, which forked the path abruptly. It had been a long while since she had been this way, so she guessed the right direction and went left, which made almost a u-turn. Seilk was slowing down, and Kuvre didn't blame him. She pulled the fellow into her arms, and ducked into the left side of the road, hoping to come back out in the path she had just come from, but behind her assailants.

[Fill us in on Imros, could ya? So then we can tell how much time has really elapsed]

[Imros]

[Sure Thing!]

(In Shuptalxia)
Imros skidded into Shuptalxia. It must have been at least half an hour now. He was exhausted but at least he was half way there.
He charged into a nearby tavern. "Fanorans...forest...Kurve...going back..." he shouted between pants. The Keids looked up at him with a look that clearly said "Lunatic". They glanced at him briefly but turned around, "No! Listen to me!" he howled, jumping up and down trying to get some attention.
After several minutes of protesting he managed to gather himself four or five keids, all of whom had been elected to go just to "shut him up".
"Come this way!" he shouted, running down the path followed by the others. He let out a loud wolf howl, at least Kurve knew he was coming back. "Twenty minutes maximum," he muttered as he set off into the forest.

[laurabeth]

She burst through the trees and back onto the path she had just come from. She was panting heavily, and a stitch was throbbing in her side. She dropped the little Fanoran and let him sprawl over on the ground for a while. She bent down, resting her hands on her knees, and tried to slow her breathing. The footsteps came from both the trail she had taken and the other fork, so she knew they would be turning back soon.

"Alright?" She asked Seilk, not waiting for an answer before she hoisted him to her shoulders. "You're good backup, you know," She said on a lighter note, making her way back down the trail at a brisk pace, "You need to be stronger than me in the end, I believe. You're the traitor." She tried to keep her voice light, but her heart was heavy. The situation was looking hopeless and she was exhausted.

The closer she headed back to Shuptalxia, the better she knew her way around. She tried to keep her speed steady and her ears open. The trail widened a bit and Kuvre knew exactly where she was: her favorite lookout. She set Seilk down and pointed toward a bushy tree, "Up there, we can knock a few more down as we come back. I would give you my knife, but I don't remember where I left it." She reached for a thick branch and pulled herself up, straddling it and holding an arm out to help Seilk. When the little creature was on the same level as herself, she pushed him up ahead of her for a few more branches, until they came to a convenient enclosure with a good view of the path. She leaned back against the trunk of the tree and pulled her only remaining arrows, which happened to be four, out of her quiver. She readied her bow and tuned her ears in on the road below.

She had caught her breath by the time a lone Fanoran appeared in the area below. It startled Kuvre, mostly because she had almost drifted to sleep. It was slinking slowly, peering into any dark gaps of foliage, not looking up. She smirked as she pulled an arrow across her bow. Twang. Thump. She listened intently, but heard no other soft pads of feet coming up the trail--which worried Kuvre more than hearing any. She slipped from the tree and drug the body out of sight, taking back her arrow for safekeeping.

[I'm out of ideas, hope you can build off that]

[Imros]

[Okey dokey! Time to send in the cavalry ;D]

"Kurve? Hey Kurve!" Imros hollered into the trees. He hadn't really thought this through, how was he going to find her in a forest this size?
The other keids looked sceptically around, still trying to remember the reason they chose to follow this lunatic. "Hey!" he cried and skidded along the ground. "Drag marks..." he muttered ,tracing the marks with his fingers. He peeped over the top of a leafy shrub to see a dead Fanoran's corpse, with an arrow embedded in its neck. He grinned, bull's eye!
"She's up there," he smirked to the man behind him, supporting a rather fine beard. Imros knew it!

[laurabeth]

Kuvre leaped from the tree the moment Imros discovered her location. She smiled at Imros and nodded at the other Keids, raising her arm to point up the trail, "There should be about six Fanorans coming this way, and I have one arrow left. If you would, please either tramp up the path to meet them, or take cover on the edge." She didn't want them to see the creature in the trees just yet, so stayed on the ground with the others of her kind.

She stood, waiting for them to make to the edge, when a whoop came from the edge of the clearing, making the whole group jump.

[Imros]

Imros shot a confused look at her, what had happened...it didn't sound good. "What do you think that was?" he whispered as the entire forest had been plunged into a deafening silence.
The others seemed about as confused as he did. "In the trees?" he asked, still keeping his voice low.
He bounded up the weathered tree trunk, wondering why Kurve had looked so startled when he had mentioned the idea.

[laurabeth]

Kuvre grabbed the first Keid following Imros up the tree by the arm, "I have a prisoner, don't overreact, please." And she whispered the same to the second man, but force the others to stay down with her and hide in the bushes. The area was still extremely still after the loud scream that had sounded earlier, causing even the smallest of noises to be amplified.

A growl and a stifled shout of fear could be heard from up in the tree, causing Kuvre to roll her eyes. She could see Imros' grin through her mind's eye. Her reverie was cut extremely short by a twig snapping. Her only arrow was taught on her bow and pointed in the direction of noise quickly, but a bird fluttered away. She relaxed, turned around, and found a pair of cat-like feet standing in front of her.

[Imros]

Seilk glared down at her. "That is the last we let Imros come up with a plan! He' bought all those horrible;e smelly men and they keep trying to shoot me!" the small Fanoran exploded, stamping around the floor.
Unfortunately his rant was broken when he noticed Kurve's smile. "What are you smiling at?" he demanded
Imros fired another arrow down in an attempt to make Seilk run before the other got suspicious as to why he was hanging around. "Run you fuzz-ball run!" he hissed, hoping Seilk got the message.

[laurabeth]

Kuvre pushed him into the bushes, opposite the backup Imros brought. "Sit and be quiet, out of the way." She whispered, looking out in front of her for any more sign of movement, "Better yet, let's call more attention to ourselves."

She leapt out from the bush, a heavy feeling in her stomach, and walked down the back, away from the direction the Fanoran group was undoubtedly coming from. "You cats are so stupid!" She shouted, trying to put on a most annoying air. "Can't even catch a little girl of a Keid!" Then, with a softer voice, she whispered up towards Imros' general direction, "Look everywhere for them!"

[Imros]

He nodded and scanned the trees.
He still thought "Annoying Kurve" was more funny than normal Kurve, though he'd never say it to her face (for fear of being slapped)
There was a faint rustle in the dark beyond. Trouble? Almost certain of it. "Try over there," he whispered to anyone who was listening,though it seemed he was being ignored; he let loose another arrow and watched it soar through the foliage.
There was a loud thud and wave like roar. "Whoops..." He grinned: here came the trouble.