The soft crunch and swish of leaf mold under his boot were the only sounds Apsel made as he stalked through the thick forest. His acute senses were on high alert for any signs or hints of the stolen elf and his captor. A red splotch on a low hanging tree limb caught his attention and he quickly glided over to investigate it.
He knelt down and touched it, the red liquid staining his gloved fingers.
"Elf blood," Apsel concluded to himself, pulling out a cloth from his pocket and wiped his hand.
'They're close,' he thought, his red eyes glowing softly and he walked on.
As he stalked through the woods, Apsel heard a rustling in a nearby bush. He stopped for a moment, curious as to what may come out from the shrubbery. Suddenly a loud, terrified screech sounded and a brown, fuzzy thing darted out from under the bush, with leaves flying everywhere. It was a rabbit Pooka!
'This creature may be able to help me...' Apsel thought slyly, pulling out a dagger quickly.
In a split second, just before the Pooka could get away, Apsel's dagger embedded itself into his hind leg and into the ground beneath. The Pooka let out a shriek of pain and struggled to escape, but Apsel was already upon him. He roughly grabbed the creature by the scruff of his neck and held him up to his face.
"Talk rodent. Have you seen a tall, pale elf with a dark cat-like being carrying him through these woods recently?" Apsel growled intimidatingly, glaring into the horrified dark brown eyes of the Pooka.
"N-n-no!! I h-haven't!!! I haven't seen anything!!! Lemme go! Lemme GO!!!" The pooka screamed and struggled, though the distinct flash in his eyes told Apsel that he was lying.
Apsel grunted in impatience and now shifted his grip on the poor creature, squeezing his little neck, "I'll ask this again. A tall, pale elf and a dark, cat being...did. You. See. Them?"
The pooka squeaked in terror and replied hastily, "Yes! Yes I saw them!!! They're headed northward!! To the Saeva region!"
Apsel's eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he growled, "The Saeva region you say?" then he let the Pooka go.
The little rabbit creature plopped on the ground and was about to scurry away to freedom. Then he felt something sharp slice through his neck and he fell, dead in an instant.
"We don't need anyone else to know about this," Apsel said calmly to the Pooka's corpse, digging the blade out with his claws.
* * * *
Pickle felt like he was falling. Falling into a pitch abyss, an ink black nothingness. He wanted to scream. To cry out for help, that may or may not come. He tried to yell but his mouth refused to form words.
'What's going on?! Am I alive? Dead?! Oh stars, I hope I'm not dead!!' he wailed internally.
The elf then saw a small dot of light in front of him and it was growing nearer.
'I knew it! I'm dead! Dead!! I'm so sorry Alice,' he sobbed silently.
He felt a strange warmth emanating from the growing light. As he got closer to it, the warmth spread throughout Pickle's cold, stiff body. Then he started to hear a voice which made his heart lighter. Could it be?! He finally regained his voice and hoarsely cried out, "ALICE!"
"Oi! Stripes! Can ya hear me?" the voice said.
Pickle's pale eyes slowly fluttered open. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dimly lit room. Once he could see clearly he flinched back at what he saw. A dark figure was standing over him and two glowing blue eyes stared back into his own.
