The Chase
It all started with a glance away from a textbook. A boy, barely a man, in college for ecological studies sat in a tree, still for hours except for the flip of pages and the occasional scratch of a pencil. There Jacob laid as he had so many times in the past in the forest he grew up. The sun was beginning to set and soon he would need to go home. He glanced away to look at the watch his parents gave him for his birthday and thats when he saw her.
She wasnt unlike anything hed ever seen. After all, while he liked to be old fashioned he wasnt ignorant to the internet and its whiles. However, that didnt make seeing it in flesh and blood any less startling. Her perfectly browned skin, kissed by hours, if not days spent in the sun, tight, leather clothing that showed off every flexing muscle underneath, a lithe body that moved through the forest silently, and all connected to a girl who now crouched under the tree he stayed in.
He barely moved, just as he would with any wild animal encounter in the forest, and tried to get a better look at her. He couldnt make a sound though, lest he suddenly spook her. After all, he doubted the leathers belonged to some crazed larper who was out here with a group. No, they looked all too authentic and tight, the latter of which made his cheeks burn a deep crimson.
He couldnt just ignore it though. She was short, low to the ground, and a little past him now that he properly took her in. Her black hair stopped at her neck, letting her back, which strained against the tight strings keeping her clothes on. Well, it strained. Her ass, which looked to be sculpted out of marble and could probably be used as a lethal weapon with how firm it was, straight up seemed like it had the clothes on it molded over rather than pulled or slipped.
He purposefully took long, slow breaths in to help dry out his mouth, lest a loud swallow gave him away as he forced his eyes away from that piece of art. His eyes kept drifting up to her head for some reason, when they werent taking in the fact that she must have zero body fat, and it was as she tucked a bit of black hair behind her ears that it finally hit him what was off.
She had pointed ears.
Jacob almost dropped his textbook in shock from the fact, but his hand caught it just before he would have had to pull on the paper and possibly torn it. However, the momentary heart attack seemed to have been enough as she froze, her hand still in midair as she stayed perfectly still.
The two stayed as they were, hunter and hunted, for minutes as they both thought of the best approach to take. For Jacob, he assumed that staying up here was his best bet. After all, while he couldnt see any knives or weapons on her, he could only see her right side. If she was right handed than her weapon would be on her left hand side. Well, unless she carried spares, something he didnt want to think about right now.
Luckily for him, the girl never looked up. Instead she raised herself to a half crouching position and laid herself against the tree he was on. She breathed softly, her heated sighs catching his ears just barely. That seemed strange. Was she sick? She was obviously some sort of hunter or tracker so it made sense that shed at least be as good as he was at this stuff. After all, he would hope an elvish tracker was still better than some modern foresters.
It didnt matter too much though. Not now at least as her face contorted. He could practically hear the curse she must have wanted to say but instead she merely crouched back down and began making her way around the edge of the clearing before disappearing on the far side.
Five.
His father would have told him to leave her alone, something he strongly considered doing.
Four.
She could be dangerous, she obviously didnt want to be seen, and he had no idea if this was just some trick.
Three.
Not only that, but Jacob had never been very good with women, let alone one so beautiful
Two.
No, he should just leave her be. Let well enough alone.
One.
And Jacob dropped silently from the tree, leaving his backpack and books hanging from the branch he had been on. His eyes raised up, burning with curiosity as he gained some ground by going straight to the point where he had last seen her. It was early fall, maybe a month into the school year, and so the ground had plenty of leaves that wanted to snap and crack under his weight. If he was gentle enough though, he could make it appear to just be the random cracks of those of the animals around him rather than some almost six foot human.
Something the elf must have known as well as he stopped where he had seen her. Her steps were almost imperceptible to the naked eye as they mixed themselves in with the rolling weight of the leaves below them. However, he knew her direction as well and if she was sick There. He wouldnt have spotted it had he not expected it, in fact he still wasnt sure he wasnt making it up, but he could see the smallest indent where she may have pushed her weight down just too far. The heel print was too large, and too incomplete, to just be another animal. It had to be her he hoped.
And so this was how he had to go for what felt like forever. Wherever she was going was deep into the forest, but each time he checked his watch it seemed almost to slow more and more, even as his heart raced faster and faster. It was It was a nice return after so many days and weeks spent without his father. Without the hunts and expeditions they would go on through these woods. When time would slow as all you focused on was your quarry.
It was an hour and a half later that he finally had to stop. It wasnt because hed lost the trail. In fact, it had gotten easier and easier the longer the trail had gone on, almost to the point where he was able to break into a light jog after her. He hadnt had school today and had left before the sun was up. After his hike he would guess he was maybe thirty miles into the forest, a lot deeper than what most of the town idiots down the mountain would go through just for a nice place to sit.
But now his ears twitched and his feet stopped dead in their tracks as he heard a voice. It was deep for a females and he doubted it came from the one hed been tracking. No, she had sounded slightly higher in pitch from her breaths, but he could definitely make out, Here.
He lowered himself as much as his legs would allow him without going prone, knowing the leaves would give him away, but it quickly became apparent that that didnt matter. They knew he was here, somehow, and there was no getting around it as the one hed been trailing spoke.
What do you mean, master? I even checked the trees and they said nothing was out of place.
You asked the wrong question. I asked them if there was a being I couldnt see. They said yes. A human even.
For a moment Jacob lost the second voice as they obviously dropped their volume, but they also got cut off by their masters voice barking back, Because you almost led him straight to us and so we must do something about him.
Oh.
What, like kill him?
No.
What? Are you- I- Come- Ah! He jumped at the shout of anger from the deeper voice before he watched the majority of the remaining leaves on a tree drop from the force that the owner must have hit it with. No! We do not take lives. No longer at least and you know that, or do you not listen to your stories either! No, the trees say he belongs here, so we will do something different.
I dont like the sounds of that.
To be fair, I dont know if I do either!
