Just as Planned
310 Words
Tired.
The only thing she felt running across the rooftops, each step bounding ahead of the next. It was the only thing she could feel in that moment.
That, and a burning sensation in her chest. Just a bit more, and we're home free.
She looked to her left, taking a moment to gaze at her partner. She seemed as tired as she felt, if not a little worse for wear. "Did we at least lose 'em?!" She suddenly called.
"Probably not! Just keep moving, we're almost there!"
The two bounded from one roof to the next, never stopping. As far as they were concerned, stopping meant dying.
"Good thing we left the ground-runners at the base!" Her partner shouted again. "They'd be dead by now!"
"Don't let them hear you say that, Ivory!"
She heard a faint laugh behind her, an exasperated laugh, one wracked with exhaustion. She's holding up better than I thought, she thought.
A whole bag worth of game. Well, unborn game, but a prize nonetheless. Some collector was bound to delight in the eggs they collected. Two dozen was bound to food on the table for the next... two weeks? Two-and-a-half, if she was reasonable. But that word was never really in her vocab.
Or any Chaser's, for that matter...
"You think they'll know we woke up an entire nest?" Ivory called.
"Probably," she answered.
Of course, waking up the sleeping beast wasn't intentional on her part. It was like those things could sense the missing eggs as soon as they left.
The crash came suddenly, brutally.
One mistep, and she was falling between two low buildings, catching herself on banisters and windowsills. The landing wasn't bad, but it wasn't soft, either.
Struggling to stand on her feet while her partner called her name, she looked into the alleyway to find the nest staring back?
- Writer
