"I'll follow till we get to the meeting point." Koda inserts himself into the plan.
"Okay."
I grilled the fish over the fire and ate quickly. I ground up the coals and added some water so I could dye my hair black.
After I'm sure my hair is fully caked in black I tie it up and make sure everything else is tight as well as my veil. It feels weird to be wearing it again when I use to wear it some much I would even fall asleep wearing it.
I walk out of the hideout for the first time in over two weeks and spot Koda not far from the tree's entrance.
He hears me coming and morphs into his huge tiger form. I have only seen glimpses of his beasts. This is a first and she was amazed by his size. He was almost twice her height.
She wanted to touch him and even ride on his back, but females do not ride males that are not family or spouses.
I walk up next to him and get in a running position.
"I'll run, so try to keep up." From Koda's side view, he knew something was off and finally looked at her.
His eyes widen at how serious and confident she looked. Now that she has black hair and darker furs on she even looked more dangerous.
"Focus Koda," Lyria smirked at Koda. It's a good thing he didn't see her reaction to him.
Koda shook his whole body before looking straight ahead.
Lyria dashed ahead with Koda on her heels.
The thrill of the case brought out the animal in them both.
Lyria smiled as she skillfully dodged around trees and over logs. The two of them played while they ran.
Lyria spotted the cluster of trees coming up and knew the tricky part was coming up.
"Koda change into your man form, your beast won't fit."
Koda changed mid-run and still kept pace with Lyria.
"Follow me closely."
Koda nodded and got a couple of paces behind her.
'If she can do it, I'm sure I can.'
At least that's what he was thinking.
Lyria sprinted full force and jumped off one tree to the next moving up to the branches as she went. Once in the branches, she started tree hopping till she got to the center and stopped mid-way up a tree and sat and waited.
Koda had struggled to keep up with Lyria as she jumps from tree to tree and soon he lost track of her. He eventually had to stop and catch his breath.
"I'm surprised you made it this far." Lyria's voice came from above him.
Even with his night vision he still couldn't make out where she was.
"I learned a long time ago how to camouflage my presence. This is my kind of hunt." She whispered. In the night it sounded seductive to a male whose animal instincts are still very fresh.
Lyria decided to play with Koda since they had a little bit of time. She went around and slowly climbed down till she was a branch above him. She moved with a grace that no movement was heard.
She lowered her head and, "BOO!!"
Koda spun around quickly his hands reaching out to hit what had appeared out of nowhere.
Lyria moved out of the way just as quickly knowing that the prince would be on guard.
"Your reflex's are good. How is that possible." Koda relaxed after seeing it was only Lyria but was very surprised by her speed, agility, and reflexes.
"I told you I was different from the other kids growing up. I like to be in nature. Running, climbing, tree hopping. I've been doing all of these for a while now and it's just natural now." Lyria sits on the branch while layed up against the tree still above Koda.
"Sunny makes me run through here as fast as I can as part of my warmup at night. I've got this area down. We'll have to be quiet and wait for Sunny and I'll attack him from the trees. It's what he'll be expecting."
"Alright." He too got comfortable and waited with Lyria.