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Kyungsoo woke the following morning with a stiff neck; the only light to grace his rise was that of the dingy bedside lamp, sun not yet even beginning to creep into the sky. Reina removed her hand from his shoulder and smiled fondly.

"Pack quickly, Soo," she whispered, "We're leaving in five minutes."

He bit back a groan, rolling out of bed with all the grace of a drunkard, and hastily began to stuff things in his backpack. Ignoring the chill, he stripped; leaving himself clad only in a pair of sweatpants, he turned to face his mother.

She smiled a little, then touched her head. "You look like birds nested in your hair last night," she laughed, and he irritably smoothed the black mess down.

"Thanks," he grunted.

They trudged in the cold dark, the hair on Kyungsoo's arms standing on end in the chill. No words were exchanged when they reached the edge of the forest that surrounded the village; Kyungsoo turned to give Reina some privacy, pulling off his pants and stuffing them in his backpack. He loosened the straps as far as they could go, and then, he shifted, the pack straps tightening as his shoulder grew, then adjusting to his new stance.

There was a huff from beside him, and Kyungsoo turned back. Reina was in fox-form, coat sleek and white and in complete contrast to the stuffed, black pack that was slung over her shoulders as well. Kyungsoo breathed deeply; shifting was, for him, like a long-needed stretch after a nap. Both forms were natural, just as high were integral. Kyungsoo was man and fox, and maintaining a balance between both was calming.

Reina keened with a jerk of her head, and Kyungsoo nodded in reply. 

They set off, dust rising in their wake, as they began their rapid journey through the forest. Reina was in front, Ivory tail taunting Kyungsoo- she'd fed last night, so her strength was optimum. Kyungsoo was just your average fox though, and he'd been practically sleep deprived for the past near-week. Reina had an obvious advantage, and Kyungsoo could practically smell her preening triumphantly in front.

She turned into a child when running, his mother. Competitive, playful... Sometimes, he wondered who the child was, and who was the parent. Truthfully though, Kyungsoo didn't mind. She was so brooding usually, that it was refreshing. In fox form, Kyungsoo honestly felt closer to her than usual. There were less words, less secrets.

The sun was beginning to peek out, an amber slither on the horizon amidst the canopies of trees. Around him, the forest became a blur of green and brown, and all he could see was the fragmented yellow, and the white fox in front of him, coat reflecting the premature light.

The quiet morning was serene; but the bag was irritating, bouncing irregularly against the length of Kyungsoo's back. The entire clothing situation was a nuisance, really - as far as Kyungsoo was aware, when Walkers changed their clothes weren't ruined, they just disappeared. He wasn't too sure on the intricacies of the entire affair, but he did know that if he were to try to shift with clothes on, they'd get absolutely ruined.

Trying to block out the jolting thumps, Kyungsoo focused on the run, the earth churning beneath his feet. Nothing but basic senses- and that frustrating tail waving in front of him. He focused solely on catching up.

A while later, when the sun hung proudly in the sky, Reina finally slowed to a standstill- something Kyungsoo was thankful for, because in all honesty his hind legs were burning. She whined as she turned to face him, padding forwards and nuzzling against his side. It was a bit ambiguous, but he managed to understand - as he always did - and nodded.

Yes, he was hungry. Yes, he wanted to eat. Desperately. 

But the exaltation at the prospect of lunch turned to gloom the minute Reina turned around with a flicker of her tail, as though motioning him to follow. He knew that slight baring of her teeth, knew the coil of tight muscle in her thigh; they were hunting yet again, and while his mother enjoyed the thrill, Kyungsoo had never liked the feel of eating raw rabbit, still kicking feebly between his teeth.

Begrudgingly, Kyungsoo padded after his mother as she lithely paced, nose catching the wind, searching. Truly, Kyungsoo felt like she was more fox than woman. He was both, indisputably, but in both forms, Reina was a predator. That was probably why this was so natural, this chase and hunt- she was the absolute master.

Her tail stiffened, hind legs bending and steps becoming silent on the forest floor. Kyungsoo focused his gaze just up ahead- and sure enough, a deer grazed obliviously, head buried in a squat shrub.

Kyungsoo could smell her hunger, literally, as her ears flattened against her head. She moved stealthily, crouched and silent as she became one with the sparse undergrowth. Kyungsoo positioned himself behind a tree a little bit away, to let her have her fun.

Then, she froze. Everything was taut, entire body tensed as she prepared for the pounce, deer still naively engrossed in its meal.

She leant back minutely, and Kyungsoo briefly wondered why she stretched it out for so long. It was almost like teasing the poor animal, except it didn't know it was being toyed with. Cruel, really, but Kyungsoo pushed that thought from his mind as quick as it'd come.

Suddenly, there was a click and a brush of clothes against plants, and Kyungsoo knew immediately that something was not right. Reina did too, head perking up in alarm; her lips pulled back to reveal teeth bared in hostility, though, upon noticing the men surrounding them.

Kyungsoo was lost, within and without his own body in panic as the uniformed figures pulled back, in near-unison, the arrows upon their bows, pointed directly at Reina. 

The deer in front of her hiccuped oddly before its form blurred; then in its place, a man smiled cruelly down at his mother. Every muscle in Kyungsoo's body screamed for him to do something, but he was petrified, rooted to the spot pathetically. He wanted to cry out, break down, and rip the assailant to shreds all at once, but all he was able to do was breathe harshly through his nose. It was as though the fear had glued his joints, and fixed his paws to the mossy ground.

The man spat a wad of throughly chewed up grass out to the side, before crouching down to get at eye-level with Reina. She was stock-still, like a statue, and Kyungsoo could've cried with relief. 

She had a tendency to act recklessly, his mother, and he thanked every God and deity in existence that she hadn't chosen to do so with a dozen or so arrows poised to shoot directly at .

"Reina." He sneered, the expression absolutely callous on his weathered, scarred face; flinty eyes regarded her as though she were a creature abhorrent. "Reina," he repeated, voice completely devoid of emotion. Rolling his shoulders as though his clothes caused him discomfort, he reached to the bag that rested on his hip. "Got you a present, love," he spat. 

Kyungsoo wanted to be sick at the metal contraption he brought out, a collar of thick black iron; he actually felt bile rise in his throat, though, when Reina docilely let him out it on. He could smell her discomfort, her feverish panic, and it spiked when her captor raised his head, catching Kyungsoo's eyes cooly.

His mother let out a warning growl, but the man just yanked on the collar, as a warning. "Try to shift, try to even fight me, and this collar will crush your pretty little neck before you can say 'dead'." 

Kyungsoo felt anger bubble within him, heat of it almost unfreezing his limbs. He thought, for a moment that maybe this was what she'd been so scared of, this was why she was running. 

Kyungsoo didn't know what they had to do with his mother, or what she'd done (though he could probably take a guess at that one), but it gave them no right to terrorise her like that.

Before he could jump forward, before he could even snarl, a sharp pain throbbed at his side. He looked over his shoulder to see a fluorescent pink, plastic shaft protruding from his side. He blinked blearily, swayed, his entire body going sluggish and limbs feeling suddenly heavy; and just before the forest faded to black, he felt a new presence in his mind.

I did tell you not to bother running, the voice said. A faint twinge of anger pulsed at his temple, and then there was nothing.

When Kyungsoo woke up for the second time that day, he was in human form again- which was odd. Even odder, he was clothed, frame draped in baggy, simple grey articles.

As he looked around, the situation got stranger still. He was in a bedroom; simplistic yet luxurious, much like his modern home back in the ranges. His fingers curled around lavish bedcovers as he drew himself up into a sitting position, eyes still suspiciously surveying the room. If he'd woken here, then what'd happened earlier was definitely not a dream... And that meant that Reina was in trouble.

He was about to jump to his feet, spring to action, maybe shift, when there was a quiet cough from the corner of the room. Caught unaware, Kyungsoo's head turned sharply; sitting right beside the door was a man, dressed like the attackers from before. 

The man's eyes were almond shaped and kohl black, and there wasn't anything hostile about his face or expression- but the scathe sheathed at his hip prompted a lack of movement from Kyungsoo's side. He was no idiot. If it were fox versus trained knife, trained knife would almost undoubtedly win. Projecting the anger that seethed within onto his face, Kyungsoo watched the man as he rose, then stretched his arms overhead with a relaxed yawn.

"You're finally up," he said, crossing the room with an easy grin. "Righto then. Let's go tell the king." Before Kyungsoo could process what he'd just said, his hands were being pulled behind his back. He decided against struggling- even when sheathed, the curve of the man's blade looked lethal- and jolted slightly when cold metal came into contact with his skin, the telltale click telling him that his hands had indeed been cuffed.

With his captor leading him from behind, Kyungsoo pondered on his words as he was pushed down a large, stone corridor. The King? What had Reina done for the royals to have grudges against her? 

If she was that scared of being found, why did she stay in Athe?

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