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He wrapped his arms wrapped around her knees, squeezing her tight as she let her more feral side play out on him. Her leap of faith was rewarded, as he dropped the dagger to the ground to fall backwards and bowl them over. He felt her needle sharp teeth at his throat and it his breath caught in his throat. After burning her home to the ground and killing her only family left, she had every right to dig her teeth in and rip out what she could. He would not have blamed her or held a grudge from the afterlife if she did. If anything, he deserved to have his throat torn out. It would be far more merciful death than he deserved, if anything. His arms squeezed her to him, locking her knees in place and he took her down, dropping to his knees and pinning her beneath his back as he struggled to roll over and face her. "I have water." he said simply, as they rolled around in the tall grass. Each vied for superior position, though the sleek fox generally reigned the victor.

She slid through his arms and legs before he could get much of a grasp on her and squirmed away when he did. She nipped him a few times to startle him and stopped when he caught on and ignored it. Feeling more playful she escaped his grasp and pounced on him again, murring in the back of her throat.

She had slender grace on her side for this play fight. She slipped in and out and away from him with ease. She avoided begrudging him because he had only done what he could to save her Sister from a worse fate than the one they suffered. Certainly it hurt, but no less than it would to know she had simply left them to that fate.

She slid on top of him and maneuvered her muzzle under his chin, allowing her access to his throat again. A solid, I win if there was one. In a real fight, she would lose, hands down, all bets on Jason. But in a play fight where no one would be hurt, he couldn't really do much. He could have won by use of brute force but that generally left bruises. And she was banking on him not wanting to hurt her.

He stilled as she slid her muzzle under his chin and felt the flash of fangs against his throat. "Tapout?" he said hopefully. Laughter danced in his eyes and she realized that it was about as close to laughing as she'd ever seen from him.

In a real fight, where she might have a weapon, it wouldn't be nearly as open shut as she imagined it to be. He was a young soldier, and had been fighting since he was fourteen but he still was not as familiar with hand to hand as he would have liked. The vixen moved with ease and grace, where he tended to be clumsy. He had a chance only if it came to brute force, but with her ability to slip in and out of his grip, poking him with a dagger and bleeding him slowly, the victory could easily go to her. He harrumphed, not bothering to wipe the grass from his body as he scooted from under her, bowing in respect to his victorious opponent, and tossed her the skin. "Perhaps later we'll play, but for now, we move." was his rebuttal to her smug grin.

He'd been humorous and happy for the ten or so minutes they'd played, but it was time they start moving again. Some minutes later, he returned to the small clearing that stood as their camp. No one knew they were gone, and probably wouldn't know he was gone for a long while yet. He bit back the sick hope that they would assume he was among the dead. He needed to ditch the black uniform somewhere, but he needed money first, so he could at least purchase a change of clothes. He took a seat in the grass next to his furry companion.

"There are several villages between here and the Capital. Any one of them will serve for our purposes. It is up to you where to go, I am just going to make sure you get there. Maybe there's a city with another chapter house of your Sisters you could stay at?" He thought of the holy temples and frowned. He couldn't even remember what chapter she belonged to. He knew that taking her elsewhere would mean an eventual and probably permanent separation, but prided himself on the fact that he hadn't yet grown attached enough to her that he would miss her. For long.

She looked at him quizzically for a moment before giggling behind her paw. "I'm not a part of the Sisterhood silly." She sighed inwardly as Cassie emerged. Playing did that to her. Micha would probably reemerge within the hour but as of then, Cassandra ruled. "They just took care of me when I had to run away. I lived with them for a long time." she said. She skipped along behind him with a silly grin on her face. Occasionally she would chase a butterfly or two, but for the most part, followed closely behind him. "Besides, I don't have anywhere to go. I think I'll just stay with you." she said simply with an open full hearted smile. Cassie had a way of being sweet and trusting. Cassie got hurt a lot. Cassie was weak in Fury's eyes, but delicate in Micha's. Cassie was the epitome of a flower. If she had stayed Cassie her whole life, she would have wilted under the heat of war.

Jason didn't understand the shift in her personality but decided to go with it, instead of giving her the third degree. It was better than being miserable all the time like he was. He shrugged. "Well, I'm getting as far away from here as I can. Maybe a new country."

He looked back at her as she chased one of the few remaining butterflies in the field with the joyfulness of a child, "You willing to come that far?" Locking his scabbard to his belt, he felt the comfortable weight of his blade upon his hip, and knew he would probably need the weapon for a long time yet. Empire steel was of good quality, and lasted years longer than any other metal manufactured at the time. And it should have, since it was coated in the blood of the natives the curing minerals had been stolen from.

When he would rid himself of it, he fancied that he might trade it for a plow, or at least a shovel and hoe. He didn't look back at her, because the sight of her chasing the large winged insects was enough to make him question his sanity. Was this the same surly Micha he'd rescued mere nights ago?

They crossed a brook and more of the forest that day, and for each day after, another few miles of sparse forest was crossed, growing gradually thinner the further they went. Camp was same as usual; the young man shared the water he'd collected with her, depending on her current disposition was. He was silent for the most part, or distant, going off to patrol for the night and not coming back until just before dawn with fresh skins of water for them to share, but was always on alert for her playful personality to come out and have their hour of fun-time before it was down to serious business again. He found he enjoyed that side of her, though he found it a bit bipolar and annoying at times.

For the most part, she remained Micha, on occasion waking in a playful mood and shifting into the ever playful Cassie. She followed him wherever he went, occasionally pulling him off track to avoid wild animals they didn't want to deal with. She needed to feel useful some days and often hunted for him, though she knew him to be more than capable. He allowed it, but said nothing when she dropped small forest creatures at his feet.