Like the bite of winter as spring came anew, she was fleeing. Her sides were thin with undernourishment, her mane a chaotic mass of curls and tangles. Silver-grey eyes darted about, swiftly absorbing her surroundings with trained precision.
Were she to stop here in the forest, she could recall in detail the fox den eight paces back and to the west, the brushrat scurrying below ground two paces directly to the east, a twitch and a side-step to the left was a stone, shaped like a tumbling castle and eroded from persistent rain and age.
But she didn't stop. Her walk was as hurried and steady as a power-walker, breathing easily with the familiarity of it. She welcomed the burn in her limbs. As long as she felt that, she knew she was gaining distance.
She suddenly broke through the treeline and into a meadow, her eyes widened in surprise. The forest was so dense, and like magic it was transformed into a wide open expanse. Immediately, she turned on her heel and dove back into the shadows. Carefully peering out, she scanned the horizon for witnesses, tucked behind a thick tree for cover.
It didn't help all that much, though. Her pale body was nearly luminescent in the darkness. She didn't realize how much, or she'd probably curse her mother's blood for it and work harder to better conceal herself.
Her watchful stare, unfortunately, noticed at least one person who had seen her. She noted everything as she spun around to step deeper into the treeline; gender, expression, color. The sunlight of day hardly slipped through the grasp of the canopy above, struggling to light the shadowed earth within.
She hoped they wouldn't take any interest in her, forget they ever saw her and go about their day. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?
