halcyon nights

Exploring had gone relatively well, she had made her path through a dense overgrowth of weeds and stinging plants. The occasional noises that sliced through the foliage didn't bother her incredibly, they sounded far enough away to give her ample time to hide in the case of an unexpected attack. Besides that, she could always headbutt her way out of an emergency. In the distance, she could see the mountains looming whenever there was a break in the trees.
The forest smelled wet and musty, all the spring rain had come and soaked the earth, making puddles of mud and over-saturated grass. Stepping gingerly over one such puddle, Letty rested her back against a thick gnarled tree. Taking a second to catch her breath, she hadn't realised the toll that hiking took on her body. If it wasn't so wet on the ground, she would have liked to sit. The idea of climbing a tree had come to her earlier, but she didn't really want to expend that much energy for a break.

She had long since forgotten the reason for her hike out here, but she figured that it must have been a good one to want to get to the mountains so badly. Leticia had skipped all of her courses today to come out here, ignoring all the meetings and things she had planned for today. It hit her earlier that she hadn't ever come out to this forbidden forest before, and of course, there was no time like the present. Touching her horns gingerly, she pushed off of the tree and picked her way around a frightening flower, with thorns bigger than her fingers and dripping with a yellowy liquid. Shuddering at the thought of plucking those thorns out of her skin, Letty hurried on, intent to try to at least find something that resembled a mountain before nightfall. She had left early, but it had taken most of the day to get where she was now, and she hadn't thought to bring camping materials. Looking behind her uncertainly, she began to wonder if it was such a good idea to come out here so far. Well, if anything she could probably just-- Turning suddenly, she could have sworn she heard something past that patch of trees.
Backing herself into a bush, she winced as the twigs clawed at her skin and clothes, tearing into her like eager teeth. Biting back her discomfort, she huddled down under a cover of suspiciously shiny leaves. Hoping very much that they weren't poisoned, Letty held her breath when she heard something move to her far left. Was it too late to try to bolt up a tree? None of the trees she saw had low hanging branches, and it would take her far too long to try to get up high enough to escape something. Well, at least she could die among pretty poison leaves, if it came to that.

Shivering as something dropped on her skin, Leticia froze as it came to her that she wasn't alone in these woods. The thought of real danger hadn't crossed her mind until now, and she had laughed it off, still swaddled by the overwhelming protection of the school grounds. She knew she was safe in the school, but she had forgotten that not all creatures played by the rules that her headmistress set.
Not wanting to give her position away, Letty tried very hard to believe that her hiding spot hadn't been discovered yet. It didn't sound like anything was rushing at her yet, anyway. Heart pounding, she fought to even out her breath. Huffing and puffing in a bush would probably give her away faster than anything else.

In her line of sight, she saw the perfect climbing tree. She knew she had to get to it, at least if only to buy time. She felt something, but was far too scared to look around her. If she waited too long, she would be out of time, and it would be the end for her. Her breath came up short as she realised that she would need to bolt from her hiding place to get up there. Slowly rocking back on her heels, Letty stood as fast as she could manage, and burst from her leafy spot, squealing in alarm as a branch clawed it's way down her leg, leaving a long trail of blood that dripped into her shoe. Ignoring it, she hurried towards the tree she had spotted, hoping and wishing that the Thing had really slow reflexes.

She had been so close to making it, but was stopped when the Thing leapt out at her, its teeth making an audible click in front of her nose. Jerking backwards, Letty froze in a panic. The animal was blocking her path to her tree, and it didn't look like he planned on letting her pass without a fight. Her horns didn't give her a very good defense, and she wasn't about to get on her hands and knees to defend herself. Suddenly wishing she had a moose's antlers and weight, Letty could feel the instinctual fear that rose up within her. A sheep, faced with a wolf, had very slim chances.

She could feel her blood soaking her sock as her pulse marked each second that passed. Time seemed to slow as she was faced with the decision to run or try to get around him. Wheeling around, Leticia took off, feeling like a deer as she lept over rocks and bushes. She wasn't nearly as fast as a stag, and her legs were considerably shorter. Her tongue lolled out as her lungs struggled to keep up with this new oxygen demand. She had run straight into a spider web sometime earlier, and could feel the sticky strands clinging to her horns and hair. Tears had come into her eyes, from fear or lack of breath she couldn't tell. Her heart was pounding hard in her ears, so hard that she couldn't even tell if she was still being persued. Stopping to catch her breath, Leticia dropped back against a shriveled tree, wondering if it wouldn't be better to just give up to the creature. It wasn't like she had very many friends, anyway. No one would actually believe her if she tried to tell them she was chased by a wolf. What was the point of running, anyway?

The creature chasing her skidded in front of her, and by the look on its face, she could tell that this was no game for it. Her breath evened out, and she couldn't help but smile a bit to finally be so close to the end. Her shoulders relaxed, and she almost gave in completely to her attacker. At the very least, she would be able to say that she put up a good chase for it. Dropping onto her knees, Leticia's inner instincts kicked in at the last second, triggering her to drop her head and launch herself into the side of this beast. She made contact with it, and her head slashed the air upwards as she tried to disentangle herself from the attack.

Her fingers gripped the coarse fur, and she relaxed for a moment. She felt young again, clutching the dog that carried her around on his back. But no, this wasn't her childhood pet, this was a wild animal that lusted for her blood. She had read reports about suicide victims, feeling the calm before the storm, and she finally knew what that feeling was. It was almost like freedom. Pressing her face into the furry body that she had grappled with, Leticia closed her eyes and silently thanked the creature, glad to finally go home.