On The Run

Chapter 1: Rabaroo

Chapter1

Rabaroo

"So,where're we goin' exactly?" Alice asks her friends, hoisting herfull shoulder bag back into place again. With her brace ofwaterskins, core stone weighted backpack, and sword sling, therereally wasn't much room left on the slim girl's shoulders. Thismeant that every time she adjusted under the weight of her gear, thesky blue shoulder bag eagerly slid down her sunset furred arm.

Beinga Tokala, Alice Dippleblack has many features in common with her foxancestors. Her fine fur very much resembles the coloring of the redfox, down to the black coating the tips of her triangular ears,forearms, and feet. She even has a thick full tail tipped in snowywhite poking out of a slit in her trousers.

Danahliahalf turns to the fox girl from a few steps ahead, though with thehood of her brown traveling cloak up, Alice can only see the end ofthe lizard girl's tapering muzzle as she smirks, "Northeast."

Alicesnorts, "I know that, but are we headin' toward a village orsomethin', or are we just wanderin'?"

"Mostlywanderin'," Danahlia calls back cheerily.

"Danny!Keep your tail under your cloak!" Twinkaleni chides at Alice'sside. The diminutive mouse girl grabs at the Liguna's long brownappendage as it uncurls from under the garment to swish free in a lowarch.

Danahlialifts it out of the Murin's reach, "Relax, Twinkie. We haven'tseen anyone all day. 'Sides, she needs to breathe."

Intruth, the trio hadn't seen anyone since they left the pixie forestseveral days ago. Twinkaleni had made the plan to slip between thevillages bordering the forest so as to leave no mention of theirpassing on anyone's lips. This way, whoever was pursuing them wouldhave little to go by whenever they managed to navigate the vastforest that had been the trio's home for the last months.

Alicehad grown up near the forest and was saddened to leave it behind.Before meeting Twinkaleni, former mage of the Order of Thermathrogi,and Danahlia, a Cold Blood refugee, she had lived a simple, ifsomewhat lonely, life at the edge of one of the smaller villagesbordering the vast forest. She had been trying to make a living byhunting local monsters known as jellies. Each of these hemisphericalblobs possessed a pearl like core stone that the young Tokala couldtrade for whatever she might need. She had to hunt, as she no parentsto look after her. They had both perished because of the current war.

Twinkalenicalled it the Blood War because the fighting was between the coldblooded people of Feoria and the warm blooded people of Arsalia. Thisconflict left Alice alone to fend for herself at an early age. Shestruggled but managed to get by, often with the help of her friend,Ashleigh, and her kind mother. The Didels had been there for Alicethrough some difficult times and leaving her village was hardpredominately because it meant not being able to see them anymore,even though the actual decision to do so was largely taken out of herhands.

Aftermeeting Danahlia and Twinkaleni by chance on one of her jelly huntingexpeditions, Danahlia had been captured by a few of Toki village'sremaining citizens. The lizard girl, being a Cold Blood caught in aWarm Blood village, was in real danger before Alice and Twinkalenimanaged to rescue her. Being seen aiding a Cold Blood had markedAlice as a traitor to anyone who knew her face, forcing her to fleewith her new friends from the only home she had ever known. News ofthe incident might have traveled to other villages, which was anotherreason Twinkaleni had the girls skirting past the settlements aroundthe forest when they made their break from it.