they are the hunters, we are the foxes - and we run

[hastily]

the ON THE RUN meme


Sometimes, these things happen. Sometimes, you're in just the wrong place at just the right time, or you've made the wrong (or right, depending on your intentions) person mad. Sometimes it's better for everyone if you just go. Sometimes there isn't time for good-bye.

LOST
You've managed to lose yourself somewhere out there, for whatever reason it was. Maybe you took someone with you (willingly? not?), or you found someone else who needed to disappear as badly as you did. You're in your car, or a cheap hotel, or a house by the side of the road. What else can you do but watch, and wait?

FOUND
It could have been as simple as being glimpsed at the 7-11. Your phoneline wasn't as secure as you thought. You locked eyes with the wrong person across the room. Now the house of cards is collapsing, and maybe not just your life, but the lives of everyone you love could be in jeopardy now. The walls are closing in, and your arms are giving out.

RULES
- post with your character's name and canon. if you have an on-the-run AU, or scenarios you might want to play out, mention them here.
- find others. tag them.
- and then, run.

Comments

[awerewolf_woof]

"Uh, thanks for sayin' that, man. I just...they are my family, I couldn't see them gettin' hurt because of me," then she rounded on the other girl when she told her she could help her.

"Not for nothin', and I think it is great that you wanna help me. Yet, this guy? Yeah, he's a beast...a real one. I'm closer to what he is, but even I can't go against him. I don't know how you can, and I would hate to get some random, nice chic killed," she said honestly, biting her bottom lip when she was finished for fear of how the other would take what she had said.

[aptoautmorior]

Hanna didn't seem to take offense, if anything she looked confused, brow creasing a little, but finally she shook her head, "You're wrong. I'm not nice." Another little head shake, thinking it over more than anything else, "I'm abnormal. Reduced capacity for fear and for pity, increased capacity for mental and physical abilities, increased capacity for processing of adrenaline."

She had no problem reciting the list to a veritable stranger, not if it meant she'd stop trying to shoo Hanna away and let her help.

[awerewolf_woof]

Carolyn just gave her a look of bewilderment, before nodding her head simply. "Uh, okay---if you say so," she said in a soft, slightly small voice.

"That doesn't sound abnormal, just sounds interesting to me. How do you know that stuff, anyway? Somebody do something to you?" she asked in an uncertain tone.

Carolyn fixed her bag, and sighed to herself. Then she was trying to walk faster, trying to move quicker.

[aptoautmorior]

Hanna kept pace easily, she was used to moving quickly, and over uneven terrain, or snow that could be treacherous when least expected. Something like the gravel shoulder at the side of the road didn't slow her down at all.

"It was an experiment." She replied, "Trying to create better soldiers. It's over now, I'm the only one left." It was the kind of thing that most people wouldn't just say flat out to a perfect stranger, but Hanna wasn't most people, and she'd told more than just Carolyn. The thing was that most people she told didn't believe her, or thought she was making it up to cover for some past trauma.

[awerewolf_woof]

"Right," Carolyn said, but it was a soft word. It was obvious that her wheels were turning hard, and she was unsure if this girl was for real. But, if she was going to share a story, then Carolyn should share her own, right?

"Say I believe you, okay? You wouldn't be the only one who is abnormal here. I have a story to share too," Carolyn said. Testing the waters a bit, she wanted to see if the other girl would even bite.

"Though, I can see why someone would try an experiment like what they did on you. I feel a bit bad. I mean, can you form friendships easily? Is it---well, is it hard to keep a friend?" Because if she was going to stick around with Carolyn, Carolyn felt she owed her, plus, Carolyn didn't have a lot of friends either.

"I mean, I like you, and you are willing to go to bat for me. A complete stranger," she said in a soft, but honest voice.

[aptoautmorior]

"Sophie was my friend." She replied easily, adding: "She died." In the same tone, as if discussing the weather, or the path ahead, or some other ordinary, every-day occurrence.

She remembered crying when she'd found out, when she'd gotten the confirmation, but by then the woman who had ordered it was also dead, so there was no one else for her to take a vengeance out on, but that had been long enough ago, now, that it didn't sting the same as it once had.

"It's alright if you don't believe me." She added, "Many people don't. I am not surprised." She glanced at Carolyn then, mostly just to make sure she didn't need to slow down, but she asked: "What makes you different? What is your story?"

[awerewolf_woof]

Carolyn heard that, and her heart sunk hard. "Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that, I am. My condolences," she said genuinely.

"I never said I didn't believe you, I mean...you aren't the only one here with a fantastical background. I guess I could believe it, it is out there. Then again, so is my family. So, there is that," she said with a gentle shrug of her shoulders.

"Me? Well, I'm a werewolf. I was bitten when I was in my crib, cursed to be that way because of an evil witch that was mad at something my uncle did to her 200 years ago. She cursed him too," she looked at the other girl, and tried to gauge her response.

[aptoautmorior]

"It was a long time ago." She said of the first, though she did fall silent to listen to the story, brow creasing just a little as she did so, keeping the same steady pace, heading for the town that was a lot closer than it had been, they were making good time.

Her only question when it was over was: "There are witches in America?" For as practical as she was, as she'd had to be, she'd also read and re-read her mother's book of Grimm's fairy tales, and she knew they were true with the kind of certainty not usually seen in anyone over the age of about six.

[awerewolf_woof]

Carolyn stopped dead in her tracks then to give the other girl a look that said, 'really?' "Witches, is that what you'd like to know about? Well, yes. The one I knew, she is dead now, but if she existed there has to be others out there, right?" Carolyn was still stopped, staring intently at the other girl as if she had a couple of different heads right then.

"Why do you want to know about witches anyway? Is there a particular reason for that?" she started to walk again at this point, but much slower, and her breathing was pretty heavy by this point as well.

"Wait, I think I need a small break," she said softly as she took in a deep breath.

[aptoautmorior]

Hanna slowed down, and her brow creased a little at the question, never entirely sure how to answer questions like that, the ones that sounded almost accusatory, the ones that were often followed by statements like 'I thought everyone knew that'.

What she finally said was: "I know that there are witches in Europe, or there were, once. I didn't know they'd crossed over to America." Her head tilted, thinking this over, "Though I do suppose it makes sense, they could have come with any of the immigrants coming to the new world."

[awerewolf_woof]

"Oh. Well, if this makes a difference this witch was from Europe, or maybe down south on one of the islands. I can never remember, probably because I never really cared to ask about her origins. Just that she made my life a living hell. But, if they came over here, it had to be by way of Europe, right? With the other settlers, man. So, you know....that's how that probably happened." she tried to offer in a consoling way, and as a way of settling the point that Hanna had just brought up as well.

"But, what is it about witches for you? Was it a witch that made you this way? Did these experiments on you or something?" she asked as she flopped down to the ground for a few moments. Attempting to catch her breath, and ease the fire in her lungs, and her legs.

[aptoautmorior]

She shook her head, looking just a little distracted as she scanned the area, on alert, though not tense, just watchful, keeping track of their surroundings, as if it was the most natural thing to do. For her it probably was, not just a learned behavior but an ingrained one, "No, that was just humans. I've never met a witch, but I've read stories, and I've heard people talk about them when I traveled in Europe." And most of the so-called 'old world' that she'd traveled as well.

"I like stories." She added as if that explained everything, "I read my mother's book of the stories of the brothers Grimm many times."

[awerewolf_woof]

"I see," she said softly, Pulling off her shoe to check a blister that began to form on the back of her right foot. Not sure how to work her way around the story of witches, Carolyn decided to focus on the part where she mentioned Europe.

"Where in Europe did you travel? I always wanted to go there myself, but it felt like I was never going to get out of Collinsport," she said through gritted teeth. Grabbing a pin from her jacket, she used it to pop the blister so that she could walk on her foot again without all the painful aggravation of said blister slowing her down.

"I always wanted to go to Italy, and France," she offered.

[aptoautmorior]

She tutted softly at the self-doctoring, shaking her head and swinging her backpack off to root through it for a first aid kit, offering an antiseptic wipe and a bandaid, "You'll make it worse doing that. Risk infection. Clean it and cover it."

She snapped the kit closed, returning it to her bag as she answered: "I've been all over Europe, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Romania, all the way down to Greece." She shook her head then, "Not all at the same time, on different trips."

[awerewolf_woof]

"Thanks, and what? Am I supposed to walk around on it? It is killing me," she chided back, but took the wipe and band aid gratefully. Offering her a small smile of thanks. "Yes, ma'am," she then did as she was told, cleaning it and putting a band aid over it.

"Wow, and you've done this alone? Got family in those places, or did you move around with family?" she asks. Clearly she was really interested to know the answer, wanting to travel all over the world herself one of these days.

[aptoautmorior]

She shook her head at the question, "My family is dead. I travel alone." It was just as matter-of-fact as most everything else she said, as if they were discussing the weather or the time of day.

Though she did at least seem to remember that this sort of thing threw people, as she added: "My mother died when I was too young to remember. Eric, who may have been my father died not so long ago. Part of why I travel the way I do."

[awerewolf_woof]

"Oh. I see. Well, you are really lucky that you get to travel like you do, but I am really sorry to hear about your family, man," she said in a sad tone.

As she spoke Carolyn finished cleaning her wound, and placed the band-aid on top of it. It felt much better, which was good because now she could walk again without an issue. She tugged her shoe back on, slowly rolling up to standing once she had it tied up properly. Wiping off her ass, she reached down to grab her bag to re-sling it back over her shoulder. She could walk again now, feeling more at ease since she was able to rest.

[aptoautmorior]

Hanna set off at a somewhat slower pace in deference to her companion's injury, though she shook her head at the apology, "I am lucky to have survived." When it had been down to her and Marissa in the woods outside the home of Wilhelm Grimm, she almost hadn't survived, and she knew it.

"I travel now out of necessity. Perhaps I will find somewhere to settle eventually, but not yet." Mostly because she was still young enough that people wanted to help her, and that made it easier for her to keep moving, but also because she couldn't imagine putting neighbors at risk if someone came after her later.

[awerewolf_woof]

"It sounds really sucky, you know, having to travel so much, and not having your family around for you? I mean, I would love to travel one day, but leisurely, do it for the culture, and the ambiance. Not because I need to escape something horri--" she stopped mid sentence, and began to sniff the air.

Slowing down, she slowly started to turn in a circle as she continued to sniff at the air. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck rising, and she growled slightly. "We've got company not to far off," she managed to say. Dumping her bag, she looked for the closest, tallest tree, and started to climb it using her nails to dig into the wood so she could pull herself up the tree more quickly. Using the tree to get a better vantage point of the area. She called down to Hanna, "we should find some better cover. Those trees across the way, they might make it a bit harder to find us as quickly," because whomever was following them was pretty far away from them, but Carolyn could catch their scent easy enough. If she was correct, it was her maker that caught their scent, or others like him. "Though, they've caught my scent again," she said with a sigh as she jumped straight down off the tree, landing on the ground on both feet. It had been a pretty hairy drop too.

[aptoautmorior]

Hanna wasn't entirely concerned at the sudden climb or the sudden drop, after all, she did things like that herself all the time, and Carolyn had mentioned that she wasn't like other people and she just nodded at the explanation, "Alright. Are they able to track you besides scent?"

Because if not, they could just tromp through the creek for a ways, though they'd have to get to it without getting caught first, and that could prove problematic depending on just who was after her. Hanna seemed mostly unconcerned, however. She'd been managing on her own this far, she had no doubt she could continue to do so, and even help her new friend out.

[awerewolf_woof]

"Uh, I don't know, but they have exceptional scent receptors. They probably know I am not alone, and I am sure he knows how to track," she said honestly.

Not knowing Hanna's mind set on the idea of using water to shield their movements, Carolyn piped up with a similar plan. "If there is water close by, we could hide our tracks, we can use mud on our skin, or dirt to subdue our scent as well," she offered up.

[aptoautmorior]

She nodded once, "There's a creek, about a mile off." She pointed, almost the direction they'd been going, but further back into the scrubby woodlands lining the road, "It's deep, but it moves slowly, we'll be safe enough from slipping and drowning as long as you can swim."

She could, and well, but given as how the deepest part she'd found was only chest-deep on her, she also wasn't too concerned about it right at the moment.

[awerewolf_woof]

"All right, let's get there," And with some new found vigor, she was energized to get the hell out of dodge, and away somewhere where they could hide their tracks a bit.

Hanna had asked if she could swim, and Carolyn nodded that she could. "I can swim, let's get moving," she said quickly.

"Do you think we can give them the slip down there?"

[aptoautmorior]

She nodded once, a quick, almost birdlike movement, "Follow me." She tightened the straps on her bag to minimize bouncing starting off at a lope that soon became an out and out run, and she ran fast, easily faster than most people who weren't professional sprinters, and she didn't seem to be lagging in energy at all, movements smooth and steady even over the uneven ground of the woods.

She trusted that Carolyn could keep up, she'd seen how fast the other girl climbed the tree and knew that if she couldn't keep up, it would be easy enough to tell and go back for her, or slow down a little.

[awerewolf_woof]

Carolyn took off running after Hanna, she was fast, as fast as a wolf could run that is. She kept the pace pretty easily, even if she were breathing a bit heavily, she could still talk as they ran. Carolyn wasn't as completely graceful as Hanna was, but she could keep up rather easily, and her movements flowed.

Carolyn got to a point where she could both see, and hear the river. And she started to veer off toward it, expecting Hanna to do the same thing. Carolyn could pick up the smells of other forest animals in the area, and there was one thing that was pervasive. She could smell fear, fear of a deadly predator. That didn't give her any hope.

Once she got to the river, she just ran right into it as she came to a stop. Leaning forward to take a couple of gulping breaths, Then she leaned down to scoop up some water into her mouth. Moving toward the embankment so she could find a dry seat, and to start collecting that mud she needed.