~*~

"After him!" the butcher yelled.

The men tailed him.

They were faster than he was and didn't have bags to weigh them down. At this rate, there was no way he was going to outrun them. Matthew could even feel them gaining on him. He willed himself to go faster but his legs were already at their limit.

A hand tucked at the hide. He stole a look back and saw a hand about to grab hold of him. He turned left. The man was thrown off and disappeared down the streets. The rest managed the abrupt turn and kept on him.

He looked up ahead. Next to one of the many wooden houses was a carriage. It would have to do. He tossed his package onto one of the roofs and ran straight for the carriage. He jumped on to it and up towards the roof. His feet missed the top and he went down. He'd misjudged the distance. His hands grabbed hold of the straw in the thatching and he hoisted himself up. He searched the rooftops until he located the hide bag. He broke into a sprint the moment he saw it. Within a few seconds he had picked it up and was continuing on his way, jumping from rooftop to rooftop without looking back.

When he did decide to look back he found that they were still following him. He had managed to create some distance from them though. He jumped to a lower roof and down back onto the streets. Now losing them was a matter of taking a few turns.

*

The lake lay perfectly still, as it alway did on every night he visited. It was almost as if it was immune to the wind's soft swirls that sent the grass blades swaying gracefully in its wake. Matthew stood there and stared at his own reflection upon those solid waters. His face was covered in soot and there was blood on his hands. He wondered if the ash that dirtied him was from his fight with the mage or his burnt home. If the blood was from the broken glass or... Tears welled up again in his eyes and he collapsed on to his knees. Why was all of this happening? He wondered. What was he even doing?

He dropped his pack and dipped his hands into the water, distorting his reflection, and splashed his face. All the while questions raced through his mind. He could go to Vivi, find out if she was safe...but a part of him knew that she was, or perhaps he was afraid that she would stop him from seeking revenge for his mother. Better she concluded that he was dead too. It dawned on him then that he had not planned on returning to the settlement. Of cause he hadn't. Why would he?

He stopped splashing his face, which he had absentmindedly continued doing despite the water's sting on his cut hands. He picked up his pack, dragged himself up and turned away from both the lake and the village.

No one entered the walking forest at night. Even felines with their keen sense of smell and night vision were said to have found themselves lost in it. Rumor had it that the trees actually moved when one was not looking so as to lead you astray. Matthew had always had a hard time believing those kinds of stories but had stayed away from the forest despite his disbelief. This time he had no choice. He could not waste time waiting for day to break. Not with the amount of provisions he had. Every second was valuable and the less time spent waiting meant catching up with the human girl earlier. He made sure he was leaving the feline settlement from underneath the huge boulder as he had earlier that morning and entered the forest.

~*~