There was a slight widening to her eyes when suddenly horse became wolf, but to her credit, that was all the acknowledgement there was. Now her mind was spinning, working to separate what she knew of a different world, and what she didn't quite know of this one. This shifting, did it make him a unicorn? He had no horn.
Neither did she. But the scar remained in its absence.
It was a long moment that they both simply stood there, surveying the other. She'd never seen anyone like him, and even in this new shape, he was massive. A beautiful, terrifying thing from nightmares. It wasn't what she was afraid of, though. She only needed to fear his speed. His strength was nothing if he couldn't catch her first.
Those wild green eyes caught her. Seemed to look straight through her, and she had to wonder what did he see? Did he look so shallow, see the small white fox, healthy fur and strange eyes? Could he see more, things she kept away for another day? Could he see the puzzle of her mixed blood, magical thing that he was, see the blurred and smeared and soiled lines of an impossible lineage.
Did he see a delightful treat?
Her pulse stopped as a sly grin revealed his teeth, only briefly. A flash of white and then he was rising, towering, coming toward her. Survival kicked in but only enough to get her moving. Not enough to cloud her thoughts in fear as she spun around and took off into the woods with a whispering of leaves not yet soaked by the winter.
He was not from her world.
He was not here to kill her. (At least, not for the threat she posed them.)
He didn't charge her like a hungry beast, uncontrolled and instantaneously. He'd paused long enough to think it through, to calculate, to choose this path for them. And so he was a hunter. A hunter that liked to play.
Her eyes skirted to the sky as she ran, pouncing through taller brush and bolting across smoother ground. His legs were longer. She'd have to work harder to make up the same distance. In brief glimpses, she knew the moon was still high. She told herself that was a good thing, and lowered eyes ahead of her again.
It was a good thing.
If she were incapacitated, it would be from him. Nothing else.
So she breathed and stretched her legs, let the burn in her muscles keep her alert. She ran without fear, because he only wanted a game. And she would not be caught. She would outlast him and then she would burrow in places too small for him to follow. But until then, the cool air on her face was nice. The smells of night-time were nice. The run was nice, with this creature she oddly felt sort of safe with if only because she knew the others would hesitate to fight him.
She smiled to herself. They would hesitate just at the sight of him. Just as she had but for different reasons. The image of her pursuers taking pause for anything, even the beast that hunted her now, still felt like a small victory. It would never be from anything she could do. But they would pause a short moment and that was a win.
A sneaky giddiness crept in her throat, and she heard her own soft laugh trickle out. Hah, then her smile widened at the thought of him probably questioning her sanity, laughing when she was supposed to be running for her life. So another short laugh barked out, and she glanced over her shoulder at him with sparkling eyes. She turned forward again, shook her head at herself and picked up the pace, leaping over a frozen, fallen tree trunk and collecting mud on her small feet as she pressed forward.
Yes, perhaps she was a little crazy.
