Rilestone: Jenny's Hunt

The flash of white hair flit between the trees as a pair of sneakers fitting for a ten-year-old boy pounded upon the dirt. Eyes of light-blue scanned the left and right directions before focusing ahead, trying to look around the many ground foliage protruding from below, either guarding potential falls or hiding places. He couldn't stop, not yet. Somewhere, out in these woods, someone was out to get him.

The sound of a little girl's scream erupted unexpectedly, barely half a mile to his right.

"Hanna", he whispered, and then he placed a hand over his mouth. He wasn't sure if the Stalker could hear from such a distance, but he didn't want to try his luck. He was aware of her other abilities, which was why getting a head-start away from her was the initial plan, followed by waiting her out until the rest of the adults come for them. But if Hanna was found by the Stalker, the chance of him being the final child in the wild was high as the treetops. If that was the case, the Stalker was far better at hunting than he surmised, and he was better at evading than he presumed.

Or was she saving him for last?

Pushing past a bush, Rilestone ran up to a large trunk, moving around it and bending forward, catching his breath. After a few minutes, he sat down with his back to the bark, moving a couple large rocks to the side. He breathed slowly, getting his bearings, and calculating the amount of time he might have left unless someone came for him. This forest was a familiar place to him from his first time that his parents brought him here a few years ago; they even mapped out every landscape and formation, even finding and marking a couple abandoned buildings. He looked to his right again, taking in the trees as they seemed to clump together in tighter bunches the further he looked into them. To his left, while trees were still the mainstay, there was also a bit of a drop where more ferns and weeds appeared to crawl down like ants on the prowl for food. A light breeze stirred those plants, pushing the leaves and branches of the trees to grunt, groan, and even give off loud snaps.

A large branch snapped, but this was not above. Rather, it was on the ground, and it was a hundred feet behind him.

Rilestone froze up. Whatever it was that broke the large branch, it was heavy and steady. What was more, it was making its way toward the large trunk. Towards him.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The footsteps were audible, the heavy boots falling upon the soft ground, each contact like distant thunder, followed by the sliding from each boot off of the forest floor, only to come back down in the enduring forage.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

To Rilestone, the pace of the Stalker was methodical yet unimpeded. She was definitely looking for him. On occasion, she would stop, supposedly to look around for any sign from a footprint to a crushed leaf or parted bush. There was no doubt that she was already seeing where Rilestone had gone, and it was only a matter of time before she came around the trunk and found him.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

Now her steps echoed the same as his heart. Could she hear it? He struggled to control his breathing as a million thoughts started raced across his mind. Should he run? Was he fast enough? Maybe she won't see him if he moved quietly? Maybe he could distract her? Time was running out. Right now, the thumping of the heavy boots had stopped, just a few yards behind him in the general area where the bush he had parted was located. "Oh, no," he thought, "she found it!" She would definitely put two and two together and end her hunt with him in just five seconds.

The rocks!

He quickly picked up one of the rocks and contemplated his choices. The right side would be a temporary reprieve, but the Stalker would only walk a few paces before realizing the distraction; even if he dived down the hill on his left, she would merely catch up to him with those long legs of hers. But if he threw the rock to the drop, that could buy him more time as she would be out of his view and vice-versa. He made his choice.

Thump-thump-THUMP!

The Stalker was quickly approaching the trunk. It was now or never! Like a whip, he flicked the rock to the left. The aim was true, barely clearing the lip before crashing into the flora below. The rustling of the weeds and ferns had the boots stop in an instant, while the trunk suddenly shook as something hit it. Rilestone kept his eyes open, waiting to see if she came around on his side or merely turned to the sound and just cut behind toward the drop. She seemed to have made a decision matching the speed of Rilestone's thought process, and Rilestone saw the dark shape of a very tall and humanoid shape move to the drop and, without hesitation, jump over after the sound.

Rilestone quickly but quietly got up and started moving as fast as he could from the trunk to the clusters. His mind was focused again, now remembering that there was an abandoned building not far from his current location. He ventured a glance behind himself, seeing that nothing was coming up from the drop. He hurried regardless, making his way forward to the building.

Amongst the clusters, the former largest of the bunch was almost all cleared away to make room to what looked like a large warehouse. Perhaps this was where the lumber would go if the building had been finished before the third world war. But that was a million stories before Rilestone's time; right now, his story of survival was not yet over and this very building was now a part of both. Maneuvering around the piles of logs and leftover tools, the white-haired boy scanned the great wall of the warehouse, looking for an entrance. Another gust of wind came, and he heard the sound of a door clattering. He followed the sound, finding the very door that clattered, but couldn't close. Upon inspection, Rilestone could see that the latch bolt was stuck, leaving the door to smack upon the threshold without closing. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Just like the outside, the warehouse had not been fully furbished on the inside and, therefore, had been left behind before being officially completed. He couldn't identify some of the machines in the room, or what appeared to be parts of machines. The only light came from the windows that glowed over the large doors of the warehouse, no doubt entrances for large vehicles. He looked to the other side, noting a balcony with a few ladders and what looked like an office overlooking the floor. Perhaps he could hide inside of the office?

The ladder to the balcony was a little shaky, but it otherwise held strongly even with his weight. Upon the balcony, Rilestone looked over at the windows again, noting the possible time of the day before moving forward to the office. Below him, the utter silence of the warehouse broke only with the stuck-latch door opening and slamming again. Rilestone didn't hear any wind pushing against the walls, but maybe it was just another quick gust? He didn't know, but he had to move forward; the office was right on top of him, and...

He didn't even need to go up to the office to see that the door was locked, given the obvious pad lock hanging on the door. "Great!" he thought. He was going to need one of those leftover tools just to try and break it open. He made his way over to the nearest ladder to the office. Carefully, he turned and stepped on the top rungs, the ladder shaking slightly as he lowered himself-

CLAP!

Something strong and heavy slammed upon the ladder, causing it to go rigid. Rilestone immediately stopped going down, gripping upon the rungs and made the mistake of looking down. It wasn't the height that caused his heart to freeze, but rather the great gloved hands that gripped the ladder from below, connected to the dark-brown shirt that flooded over the tall, muscular body of the Stalker that he was so sure had disappeared down the hill. A pair of large, dark-brown eyes stared directly up at him above the face mask that billowed with each breath, the setting sun giving them the ominous sheen seen upon predators.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Rilestone cried out, quickly leaping from the ladder back onto the balcony. As he backed away, he saw the top of the ladder shudder again and then, with great metallic pops of bolts being pulled out from their placements, disappeared from his view with a heavy slamming upon the floor below. He backed away a few more yards before another frightening sound came to his ears; a different kind of slamming sound, right upon the edge of the balcony where he had stood a few seconds ago. There were the great gloved hands that once held the ladder before and now scrunched upon the lip of the ledge. Like a shark's fin, the dark-brown ponytail exploded from below the mass of hair that fell around the haunting gaze of the Stalker, pulling herself upon her chest as she stared directly at Rilestone. She then pushed herself up like a serpent preparing to strike, a towering six feet and seven inches of apex ingenuity. Those heavy boots that once walked with grace in the woods now shifted in a menacing pace towards the boy.

He remembered the first ladder that got him up here, which was just inches away. With one movement, he managed to roll backwards onto the rungs, quickly climbing down until the ground became the last rung underneath. He started for the door, but then remembered that the Stalker jumped twenty feet upwards with ease, and will have no trouble getting down even faster. He turned away and started running in the opposite direction. His hunch became correct as a familiar pair of heavy feet slammed between the door and where he once stood.

Clap-clap-clap-Clap-Clap-Clap-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP!

As fast as Rilestone was running, the giant huntress was already catching up, even gaining on him! He dared not look behind himself, not wanting to slow down nor look into those frightening eyes again! There must be another door, somewhere back here...

Yes!

Clap! Clap! CLAP! CLAP!

The boots were just feet behind him, whereas the second door practically called to him from a few yards ahead. A newfound strength suddenly pushed the boy to the door, a whooshing sound of a gloved hand snapping inches from his spine. There was no time to test this particular door. Rilestone merely crashed into it, praying that it was neither locked nor latched.

BAM!

It opened! He was free! The force of his impact sent the door not only flying open, but shutting back upon the rebound. It didn't matter, as he had cleared the opening and managed to get around the rectangular piece of wood. He completed rounding the corner-

BOOM!

The Stalker didn't share in Rilestone's desperation, having actually slowed down for the door to return before issuing a front kick, sending the rectangular piece of wood from its hinges to the dirt, a great crack splitting the door in two and completing the break upon touching the forest floor. Rilestone pushed himself again, his lungs practically burning. He would head to the drop; it was his only chance! He ran past another wood pile.

Air was heard echoing through the yard, but it was not a gust of wind. It was more rudimentary, coming from above but moving closer to his position. Rilestone looked up, seeing the Stalker launching herself off of the top of the wood pile and reaching out with her gloved hand. Rilestone tried to move out of the way, but he felt the powerful limb wrap around him as his body was suddenly caught up, being taken off of the ground like a stone in a trebuchet except for the escape.

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The sun was almost out of sight. The warehouse was long behind them, swallowed away by the clusters and drops within the woods. The pace of the Stalker was faster but lighter, the indication of a successful hunt having come to its conclusion. Rilestone looked up into the autum-colored eyes of the Stalker, no longer shining with a pursuer's glare, but dimmed to a satisfied woman's stare. The boy, meanwhile, shifted in her grasp. "You know I can walk, Aunt Jenny."

The Stalker looked upon him, that happiness not leaving her face even with the mask covering her smile. "Yeah, but you're my last capture. Can't take chances." She then slipped her other arm around him in a strong but gentle grasp. Rilestone's flushed face almost outshone her own eyes, but he wasn't angry. There was one last thing to do; he only hoped everyone was ready.

Another building came before them, a formerly abandoned cabin that appeared to have been thoroughly cleansed. His Aunt Jenny climbed up the stairs and kicked open the door-

"Aah! Uh, SURPRISE!"

The Stalker closed her eyes, the smile getting bigger. She then set Rilestone down, the young lad finally glad to be back on terra timber. He then spotted the other children; Hanna, Don, Atricion, Ken, Joseph, and the cousins of Berry and Ruyn. "Hey, guys!" he waved to them. "So, how did you like the Hunt?"

"I got caught first", remarked Don. "Typical."

Hanna patted Don's back. "Well, you're a big boy. You did your best, and in a more honorable fashion." This was addressed towards Atricion.

"Hey, an assassin has to use the environment to his advantage, including other people." Atricion's excuse was now directed at Ken. "I would trip Joseph if it wasn't for that stupid snake!"

The last son of Dixie glared at the assassin. "Hey, now, leave Quetz out of this. We know the rules." At this, he then glared at Ruyn and Berry. "Well, some of us do."

Ruyn raised his hands up in seemingly innocent fashion. "I thought fighting back was an option!" He then quieted down when Berry, his sister, cuffed him on the back of the head. Jenny, however, just giggled at the children. Ken looked back at her and merely bowed in respect. Jenny bowed back in turn and scanned the adults for her husband, Max. Finding the big man making his way to her with a large cake in hand, she removed her mask and locked lips with him. Rilestone smiled; he was sure that this was the best birthday that his Aunt Jenny ever had.