[open] Not all who wander are lost; family!

[brienna]

The falcon squawks and Brienna gives a short, spirited buck just in case it decides to turn into… what? A bigger falcon? A three-headed hippogriff? A dragon with a dozen rows of serrated teeth? (As if one set wasn’t enough.) The yearling decides that she won’t be giving the shape-shifter any chance to assume any of those shapes.

She'll keep running and screaming until somebody comes.

There is a moment where the flapping of his wings ceases and Bri hopes that maybe he’s assumed the form of a walrus. (Did the creatures that gathered on the northern shore of Nerine even eat horses? She didn’t think so but she has seen them waddle from one side of their beaches to another and the filly thinks she could have an advantage over the shape-creator if he took that one.)

A pale ear flicks back and Brienna turns her head to look briefly behind her, feeling … disappointed that he assumes the form of a spotted stallion. She intends to keep running but her chances of losing him or hoping that he’ll tire before her are slim. Those chances decrease with each stride she takes because she can only run for so long. As she starts to tire, he reaches out to touch her hindquarters. Bri uses that as the motivation to spur faster, using the last of her speed for another stride or two as she huffs for air.

Sweat has started to sheen her spotted sides when she finally slows, forced to stop because he cuts her off by drawing up on a small knoll. Her ears are pinned but the word uncle makes her curious. Do uncles eat their nieces? (But then, are uncles supposed to change their shapes?)

Skeptically, the girl eyes him. "You won’t eat me?” Brienna asks.

@[Aodhan]