The large male’s response was exciting and exactly what she had hoped for! He chuckled at her, his words distracting her enough for her to trip completely over herself and roll bodily to her hiding place behind the rock as opposed to sliding gracefully to a stop. Her eyes were locked onto his form as he moved, clearly calculating where he would go and his speed so she could best avoid his retaliation! As he crept around the rock, she rounded his movements by keeping the stone between them and following his tail. Her pose was overly dramatic and mockingly sneaky. Even her paw falls were loud and obvious, clearly not actually trying to stalk him and possessing very little hunting skills.

Masque knew on some level she was slowly starting to near an age where she would have to ‘grow up’. Being nearly three years of age had done little to impact her perspective on the world. There was always light to be seen and always a game to be played. The light of beauty of the world could not be diminished with the darkness of pain, only intensified when the light hit the shadows. Through her mother’s constant reminders and her sister’s ever present and lingering fears, Masque knew she could not completely ignore the darker side of the world, but she could choose to embrace them as part of life and turn them around with the magic she believed in. she believed she could make the world better if only she tried. But at this moment, she had an entirely different task. She could not be ‘it’.

He leapt towards her with words of proclamation and triumph! And completely missed her! Flailing around happily, she bound away from him and raced away. Paces away she twisted and zoomed back, yapping at him. At the last moment she could she turned to keep the rock between them and dived at his bushy white tail. It was a game she had played with Tithe since puppyhood. There was something about this man that reminded her strongly of the silver knight. She wondered briefly if the two were related before focusing on capturing the white one’s plume!