Urchin from Underneath

Chapter 4

Citrine traipsed away, a slight swing in her hips. Ineptly, I clambered across the ground, chasing after her.

"Oh god..." I heard her mumble.

Her pace quickened. So did mine. It wasn't long before I was trailing behind her. When she noticed, she elapsed into a run, her golden mane flying behind her. She was incredibly nimble, especially when compared to my fitful, chaotic stomps. She groaned. I laughed. This game of cat and mouse was quite entertaining.

I must've been chasing her for at least half an hour. Everything intensified. Both of us were panting heavily. Citrine looked like she was about to collapse-bright orange cheeks, sweat cascading down her face.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Citrine groaned.

Assembling all her strength, she jumped onto the wall of the chasm, grasping onto the side of a hole. Bending her legs again, she jumped across the wide gap and grabbed onto the wall on the opposite side. I followed her. Sure, she was tough, but she didn't have a lot of stamina.

"Nope!" I giggled, vexatiously.
Citrine stared absently at the floor. Her orange fingers-donned with mud-were slipping out of  the hole. A familiar look of lachrymose spread across her face.

"Ha, just like her" Citrine grieved

Citrine's energy-filled pounces came to a stop. She jumped off ravine's walls. Clumsily, I fell and hit the firm, dense floor right beside her. Her eyes were glistening with tears. I could see that see was trying her best to subdue her lament-but she couldn't.

Putting my hand on her back, I offered her my support. "Citrine, I'm...''

She bluntly rejected it, slapping away my arm.

"Just... go away"

I did want to be friends with her. But something had happened. Someone before me had affected her in such a way that she didn't want to befriend anyone. The crunch of gravel sounded from under my feet as I walked away. I looked at her one last time. She coruscated so brightly in the noon sun, it was almost blinding. I walked further and further away. It seemed that no matter how far I walked, her sobs were just as loud as ever.

I approached the hole I came out of, then entered it. I sat in it, pondering. Who was that 'her?' Was someone else once here? Citrine seemed very taciturn. Something told me that I wouldn't be finding out any time soon.