Falling

Lena ran, panting, through the forest, grinning giddily as she leaped over fallen trees, bounded through thickets, occasionally looking over her shoulder.  She had gotten a substantial lead, and was easily outpacing him by using a few well placed spells, ones that altered her space and time, putting her far ahead.  She had even looped back around, shielding herself with an invisibility spell and giggling silently as he searched for her.

For a lumbering warrior, Krastos was still rather quick on his hooves.  They had spent the day in a field, her with her books and him laying on the grass, listening to her read to him, smirking at the stories of the planet they were currently on.  They often did this, and recently it had turned flirtatious. Him tickling her cheek with a long blade of grass to distract her, somehow escalating to a full on tickling-wrestling match, until she slithered out from under him and scampered away.  He lurched to his hooves and took off after her, laughing at himself as he engaged in the game of hide-and-seek-tag.  For being non-athletic, she was still fast, light on her hooves, evasive.  He spent much of his time training, running, usually with full plate armor impeding his speed, and he still couldn't catch her, she who spent most of her time with books.  He teased her every time he caught her, poking her nose and telling her that using magic was cheating.

She would always grin, blushing a deep blue, and he would feel his heart twist as she smiled at him.  He had been watching, and she would never smile that way for anyone else.  Just him.

This was one of their longer runs, and they were in unfamiliar territory.  She continued to frequently use magics to give herself a boost of speed, but he was gaining.

He saw it before she did, the way the horizon dropped off, and he bellowed at her, "Lena!" reaching out a useless hand as her eyes widened and she skittered toward the edge of the cliff, unable to stop herself as she tumbled over with a desperate yelp.

She was gone.  He slid to a stop just before the edge, a cloud of dust rising around him as he scrabbled to the cliff and peered over, his heart in his throat.  Oh Lena... He mentally kicked himself for letting the chase game get out of hand, cursing himself for going to unexplored territory.  The dust began to clear and he looked down, wincing at the idea of finding her broken body at the bottom of the ravine.

He gaped in disbelief as he saw her standing at the bottom, a nervous grin on her face as she waved up at him, laughing wildly.  She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and shouted up at him, "Magic is good for more than just cheating!

Kras pushed himself to his hooves and searched for a way down to the ravine.  She was nuts.  How did she do that?  He trundled down a rocky, makeshift path, falling several times as he lost his footing.  At the bottom, he bounded over to her and wrapped her in a bear hug, pressing her close against his body.  He felt her smile as she burrowed her head under his chin and against his chest.  "Don't scare me like that!" His voice came out in a whispered rasp, his fingers tangling in her hair pressing her head against his chest.

She wrapped her arms tight around him, sighing and relaxing into the embrace, trembling.  She played confident, but he could tell the fall had shaken her as well.  He lifted her chin with a finger and peered at her worriedly.  His eyes landed on her lips and he couldn't stop himself from kissing her for the first time ever.

When he finally came up for air, she smiled that secret smile up at him, her eyes sparkling.

"If I'd known that's what would happen, I might've thrown myself from a cliff a long time ago."