Sunset on the Soja' was the only time to run. Scenery like being inside a painting at a museum. Cool enough the air wasn't on fire but not so cold it was like jogging into a refrigerator. Late enough that everyone else was focused on dinner and the wagons were scarce and it was like you had the whole desert to yourself, but not so late that you'd get nagged at back in town or run into anything nasty. (Probably.)
She had to make sure she didn't fall out of the habit, was the main thing. She'd missed enough days already, and it wasn't like Rey or Derby were here to bug her about it. (Or to go running with her.) Everything was always so busy in general, you know? Then the hunt for the Wolf that night, and then the long trek through unfamiliar territory to Ranger HQ, and then after that... she'd just been
worried tired, a lot of the time. Sleeping almost as soon as her day was done. Sleeping, and hoping not to dream—
Leaf ran faster. Dry trees and bushes waved at her as she raced past. Orange faded into red faded into purple, all the colors flying along beside her. Woulda been pretty as hell if there'd been any room in her head for admiring it.
Being tired after running was the good kind of tired, the kind that came from exercise and hard work and a good ramp-down for the day. The kind of tired you got from a bunch of busybody fussing around and aimless preparation and
worrying not having any idea what to do, though, that kind sucked, and she hated it. So did not knowing who to trust or turn to, mostly outside the Wayfarers but sometimes even then. The Coven. Powehi. Goddamn
Giovanni, she still wasn't over that one. The Wolf. A
new wolf lunging out of the dark, howling slashing tearing—
Faster. The first little stars in the multicolor sky grew into long streaks of light. The cool night air rushed by, just about fighting off the leftover heat she could still feel on her skin. Some tumbleweeds rolled along in her wake for a bit before bouncing away. Or maybe they were more bramblin. She was too intent on the road stretching out in front of her to tell.
She didn't normally go this hard on her runs. Usually much faster than she had as a human, of course, but she'd figured out how to pace herself well enough as a ponyta. (This was the kind of thing she'd probably get snipped at for: too fast, bad form, this is how you get a stitch in your side or pull something or twist something.) But that was all they'd
been doing here, damn it. Pacing themselves,
too slow, waiting and waiting and waiting until they stumbled into the next whatever and mostly just tripped over themselves and each other—
Faster, faster. Well, that was going to change now, wasn't it? They were getting stronger. (Faster.) Beetle was getting stronger. They had
plans now, real ones, goals to reach for and allies to work with, that they were
going to work with and not just talk about. Rangers to collaborate with, Escarpa to train with, dungeons to delve, legendary pokémon to find.
A goal. A target. If she kept her head down, kept her focus, kept going
faster, faster, everything else would fall away. She could just point her horn right at it and punch straight through.
Faster, faster. For a moment it was like the sky and the desert had folded into one. Faster, faster. The stars were as long as forever, reaching together toward a single spot on the horizon. A
target. Faster, faster. The white of the stars was everything, the wind was like ice around her but the heat was inside, outside, everywhere, driving the arrow toward the bullseye, faster, faster,
faster—
Leaf realized she was laughing even though she didn't remember starting. She'd thought it would feel weird, suddenly longer-limbed and heavier and taking up more space all at once, but no, it was
flying, mane and tail streaming like a comet, the ground beneath her barely there. Faster, forward,
for something. The arrow racing through the bullseye.
One effortless, sweeping turn and she was gliding back down the highway the way she'd come, another white star shooting onward through the dark until, at last, the little lights of Frontier Town popped up in the distance. She'd never noticed before how they seemed so dim and yellow, next to the stars. Still laughing, she slowed to a canter, then a trot, then a walk. Then a bit of a stumble—okay, okay, maybe the new legs would take some adjusting to after all, now that the rush was wearing off. Once again tiredness hit her like a sack of bricks.
Good tired, though. She'd have to see if the maus could bring her a larger bed and then get some god damn sleep. Good sleep.
Dreamless sleep.
She was going to be fine. They were going to be fine. After all, they were finally right on target.
<><><><><>
