Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sounds of feet hitting the ground at a rhythmic pace had been going on for hours and hours- more than a day had melted away with the steady thumping.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Rose closed her eyes again, running after Sahm and Kyrre. She was exhausted. They'd run for almost, or about, two days now.
She felt her foot catch on something, and she hurtled into the air.
Thump! Thump! ... KA-THWUMP!
Sahm and Kyrre slowed immediately to a stop, and turned to see what had just happened. Rose was picking herself up- slowly, agonizingly- from a heap on the ground.
"Sorry." She said, still out of breath. "Tripped."
Sahm shook his head and looked at Kyrre, who went to go help her up.
"She needs a rest." Sahm said. To be honest, they all did. Kyrre was setting the pace, mostly due to his time concerns, but even the kitsunes couldn't keep this up much longer. Sahm had a sneaking suspicion that Kyrre was also trying to use this two-day run to test the girl's strength and endurance. And so far... this was only the third time she'd tripped or fell behind. Impressive. Sure, Sahm had caught her flying a bit at first- apparently she was part fairy, and could summon and dismiss wings at a whim. But he had looked at her hard, then. Disappointment and encouragement shone through in his look, and she had dismissed the wings. That was during the first morning of the first day. She had not flown again since then. She was tough. But... even he was exhausted now. Whatever point Kyrre was trying to make had been made for him.
"We all could use a rest. We've got about four hours until dawn. In five we can be at the shore. But tide won't go out for another two hours from then. We can spare an hour here." Sahm said to Kyrre's back, as he helped dust off the girl.
Kyrre turned, and looked at Sahm. He could tell- he knew; Sahm thought this push was just to try the girl. Well, yeah, he needed to see what she could do. But he felt like Sahm was forgetting; the coronation would be in two days from now. They didn't have time to stop it. But... he could see even his friend was tired, and as he stood there, he felt his eyes wanting to close of their own volition.
"All right. One hour reprieve. Sleep if you can. Right here." Kyrre said.
Rose, having just gotten off the ground, had noticed how soft the clover was to her left. She walked over to the small patch, and curled up and laid down. She closed her eyes, and she no sooner caught her breath from running than she was fast asleep.
Noticing how quickly Rose had gone out, the kitsunes smiled. She certainly was going all out for them. Her devotion was strong- a good sign. Kyrre and Sahm talked in signs for a few minutes. They discussed Kyrre's biggest concern- the timing of the coronation of Estefan coming up. There was no way they could make it back in time. Sahm came up with an idea. He pulled out of his pack a parchment and ink, and nabbed a stick nearby. Whittling the end quickly, he fashioned a pen, and wrote a note. He drew his sigil at the bottom near where he nosed the paper (putting his scent on it to prove his identity), and then whistled.
Speaking with other wildlife was one of Sahm's specialities. Not all kitsunes could manage it. That was a good part of the reason why he'd been named Speaker. He could talk to most animals, whereas most kitsunes who could manage it could communicate with one or two.
A bluejay flew over to Sahm, and allowed Sahm to tie the small piece of parchment to its leg. Sahm spoke to it a bit longer- whistling, of course- and then the bird took off.
"He'll make it in time, probably with a few hours to spare." Sahm said, and then laid his head down. Kyrre didn't look satisfied. But then again, he hardly ever did these days. Sahm fell asleep shortly, and his last thoughts had him wondering if Kyrre would sleep, too.
~ o ~ o ~
An hour later, Sahm roused Rose, who quickly stretched and ate a bite of the bread and jerky they offered, before they all started running again.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
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