Run mouse run!

The mouse didn’t know what it was; perhaps it was generations of evolved survival instinct, perhaps it was an instinctual fear, or past experience surfacing past his seeming lack of memories, or maybe he was just uncannily perceptive. Whatever it was, it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that suddenly Holiday was aware of something hiding between the trees, watching him. Knowing nothing about his surroundings, he still had to assume that mice, or in his case micefolk, weren’t really considered to be apex predators. They were prey. He was prey. And in that moment, he could all but feel the jaws of some salivating predator closing around his throat. It was difficult to **** himself not to react, to keep his ears or tail from twitching or standing alert; the only reason he wasn’t dead yet was because he was being hunted, if he looked like he was about to run before he was ready… well… he didn’t want to imagine what it actually was stalking him through the woods.

So, with all the grace and poise of the slender little mouse he was, Holiday began slowly meandering to the edge of the small clearing he had awoken in which was furthest from the presence he felt. Nice and slow, super casual, nothing to worry about, he certainly didn’t know he was being watched… And then, at the furthest part of the clearing, he nonchalantly turned, leaning to appear to examine a bush… and booked it. His legs pumped beneath him, arms swinging at his sides and before him as he stayed low and moved fast. Mice weren’t slow, having evolved to evade certain predators, and something told him that he was particularly agile. That was good. He couldn’t risk whatever it was catching him.

His slender form darted around trees, over fallen logs, moving with the nimble grace of a dancer, trying to weave a path that would be cumbersome to follow while still trying to remain at top speed. He could hear noises behind him, feel something pressing at the back of his mind, but he ignored it. Whatever ‘it’ was, instinct, warning, magic, it didn’t matter. Whatever was behind him was more important, ‘bad’ didn’t even begin to cover it. And like that, the rush of fear and adrenaline had completely subsumed the less acute form of fear and anxiety which accompanied his awakening mostly naked and alone in a forest. The mostly naked part was still there, but he was no longer alone and desperately wished that he were.

Running at full tilt through the underbrush and foliage was tricky, and a misstep sent him accidentally shoulder checking into a tree, but in an act that surprised even the mouse, he simply rolled with the impact, coming out of it still running as fast as he could. It was jarring, but he’d powered through, and the sudden impact made him realize he had no idea how long he’d been running, but he was going pretty fast, and he wasn’t tired yet. Well, such small mercies couldn’t last forever. He’d need to find a way to lose this thing before he ran out of steam.

[Action: Attempt to lose pursuer]

(Evasion: 11 success)

(Speed: 22 success)