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 Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:59 am
“She’s heading for the main road!”
Tipped paws raced through years of undergrowth, occasionally tripping on exposed roots, but moving too fast to care. Harper looked over her shoulder at her pursuers with a grimace. She’d been running for a fortnight to put distance between the group and herself without any luck. It seemed that every time she got two steps ahead, they gained three. One morning she’d even woken with a knife to her throat, but if she could just make it to the main road she could lose them….
All she needed was a crowd or a village.
As soon as she felt the worn Earth under her forepaws, a rough hand grasped her tail and pulled down back. Her yowl barely escaped before she was turned onto her back.
"How far did you think you could get, kitten?" A white wolf sneered. Both were aware of his quickly approaching pack, and it gave him a false sense of security. As he reached for her satchel, she placed her palms against his chest. On contact, licks of flame fanned out from around her skin, and when he screamed she slipped away, running as fast as he could Southward on the main road.
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:15 pm
 The day started like any other. Nina was woken by the clucking of the chickens in the yard, went to feed them, fed herself, and prepared for the day. Today's agenda? Off to the market for supplies to rebuild the cellar. One of the walls had been rotted through.
The walk was like any other time she'd walked along the dirt path. Birds chirped, but otherwise it was silent.
That is, until the scream. Ears perking, Nina spun to look for the source. That had sounded painful. "Hello?" She picked up speed as she went to seek out who was in such pain. Then she was the one in pain, yelping as someone came around the bend and ran smack into her. She jumped back up quickly though, scrambling to her paws as she looked at the cattaur in a mix of irritation and concern. "Hey! What's with you?!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:03 pm
Harper was a little slower about getting up. Most of her attention was divided between the wolftaur before her, and the those she'd left behind. When she slipped up to her paws, she looked at the other female with wary, cautious eyes. "I-"
"There!" The group came around the road, visibly lacking some members, but threatening all the same. They came to a sliding halt before the two females. "Went for back up, did ya? Well, makes no difference ta us how many ya got; we can take on all'ya!"
Harper readied herself as the taurs surged forward.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:58 pm
Waiting for an answer, Nina put her hands onto her hips and pressed her lips together. This woman was going to crash into her and not apologize? She was about to say something more when the threatening crew joined the scene, her eyes widening and ears perking. Were they.. talking about her? "What? I don't need to take on anyone!" Her focus snapped back to the cattaur, who was already back on her paws and preparing for the charge. "What are they-?" she didn't have time to finish her question, jumping out of the way of a leaping fox. Snarling, she spun and grabbed the guy's arm, using her momentum to throw him off to the side. She wasn't about to let some idiot attack her after all! "Hey! I'm not part of this!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:08 pm
Harper didn't have time to explain. In fact, she barely had time to dodge a fist before getting her teeth knocked out. Her hand brushed his fur, and the same burning magic she'd used earlier singed his hide, causing him to cry out.
A brutish centaur chuckled and looked Nina dead in the eye. "As if we'll believe that, pup!" He charged and rose, using his hooves to try and land a hit.
"She's got what you want!" Harper called out, trying her best to slip away from the situation. Unlike some of the nobler profession, she had no qualms about giving Nina the shaft. "I've already passed the map onto her!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:15 pm
....Pup? Ooooh, that guy was gonna get it! Gritting her teeth, she dodged around the kicking hooves and knocked the the guy off balance. She was preparing to land on him when she heard the female. Her yellow eyes narrowed, and she bared her teeth. "I what?!" She turned to stomp over to the cattaur, ready to slap her silly, but a strong hand grabbed her leg. Trapped by the centaur's hand, she only just dodged another wolf's punch. What the heck was going on?! She didn't have any time to wonder though, being too busy trying to get free of the centaur and all. She kicked at his face, leaving deep gouges in his cheek.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:30 pm
"Stop lying, already! They've found you! For goodness sake, just give them what they want!" Harper cried out desperately. She hissed when a pair of claws sunk into her rump and pulled her down. When he reached for her torso, she used the hold to grab onto his arm and rolled over onto her back, trapping him under her furred half. When he had loosened his claws, she scrambled onto her paws as fast as she could.
She knew the battle was going South for the group, and apparently they saw as well. Two fled the scene while the remaining few readied for their final attacks.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:44 pm
Nina's eyes were narrow slits, glaring daggers at the female. What the heck was this woman thinking?! With her leg finally free, she barely had the chance to breathe before she was faced with yet another male charging at her.
"Serves you right!" she growled at the cattaur as she watched the claws sink into the woman's back. She didn't even have her own blade on her this time! It was supposed to be a simple trip to town! She had to jump to dodge again, her elbow scrapping up as she slid along the dirt. It gave her the chance to get behind the cervi male and leap on his back, grabbing his antlers with one hand and wrapping her arm around his neck, using him as a shield against the others coming forth, gasping as a blade whizzed by their heads. That had been close.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:54 pm
With one of the last freely conscious thugs pummeling his fists into her guarding arms, Harper chanced a blast of ice magic. Thankfully it was aimed at him, instead of the ground where she'd been looking, and managed to freeze him solid. She wanted to run off then, but after an aggrieved sigh she charged her finger with fire and poked out a mouth hole for him so he wouldn't die. Really, she was too good to him.
Harper fixed her satchel, ready to step out, but something caught her once more. She moved over to hold her hand to the cervi's mouth until he passed out.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:01 pm
Once the cervi passed out, she paused to look around at the damage. A few passed out taur, more had fled, and her elbow was scrapped up. Glittering eyes turned to the cattaur, and she growled deeply. "You better have a good excuse for using me to save your sorry a**!" she snarled, stomping toward the feline, more than ready to throttle her.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:14 pm
Harper held up her hands and stepped back hesitantly. "Would you believe me if I said I was looking for an artifact that they wanted?" What should she do? If she told this wolf, she might want it too! Still, if she kept quiet, she might very well find herself in another fight. Inner Harper grinned like a Chesire, rubbed her hands and cackled. A plan had brewed, one so brilliant her father would have wept with pride.
"They're going to come after you, now that they know you're with me.The best thing for you to do would be to come with me to retrieve it."
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:26 pm
Nina's fur bristled. "Like I care about some artifact. That's my life you risked!" Shaking out her fur, her eyes widened, and then sharply narrowed again. Those men who had fled.. they had seen her face. "I'm not with you though!" she snapped, more out of irritation than thinking it would do any good, arms flailing up so that she wouldn't go in for the punch that she so sorely wanted. "You haven't shown any concern for my best interests so far." Though, really, those men probably wouldn't have believed it if the cattaur had said the truth anyway. "Retrieve.. Where is this dumb thing?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:35 pm
"Your life, my life, it's all just semantics!" Harper huffed. Reyson's temper had definitely come to life in his oldest daughter, and she even displayed his hands-on-hips technique. She stepped up to the fox and pointed a finger at her chest. "Why should I? You're just some poor fool who got caught up in this, right? Do you think they're going to believe that, huh?" She turned her finger to the unconscious thugs around them.
Harper exhaled sharply and stiffened her shoulder. "It's a month's travel to the top of Raflas' Mountain." Which, as every taur knew, was the coldest, miserable chunk of rock this side of a cemetery.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:50 pm
"Semantics!" she snorted with an exasperated sigh, throwing her hands up again. "Of course I don't think they'd believe a word you say! Doesn't mean you had to encourage their thinking."
When the destination was revealed, Nina went very still. "Raflas' Mountain... A month..." The blood could be seen rising along her neck and into her cheeks. "Raflas' Mountain!? You're telling me that just because you can't keep outta trouble, I have to go all the way to Raflas' Mountain?!" She was absolutely seething. "What are you getting me into?!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 10:19 pm
"Are all females supposed to act this emotional? Honestly, you're starting to exhaust me." Harper ran a hand through her hair and looked up at the sky as if to say 'why me?'
To make a hypocritical point, Harper's hackles rose to the occasion and she snapped back with, "Do you think I asked to be attacked?! How long do you think I've been running from those goons, dumb a**?! I don't go around pissing in flower pots and spitting in bars, you know!"
Harper pulled out a leather bound book from her pack and held it up. "This has everything there is to know about Raflas' Mountain, so it's not like we're going to die up there. So, just hear me out, okay? If you even can. Worst case scenario, we freeze to death or are murdered. Best case scenario? We're famous explorers with the one thing that you've always wanted in the palm of your hand."
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