As you raced through the trees, the wind buffeted your fur and whistled in your ears. Adrenaline pumped through your veins as your paws drummed the well-worn trail. You were gaining and gaining, slowly but surely.
When you were right on Runningwind's heels, you lunged. Just as your jaws were preparing to clamp down on his tail, he jerked it away from your reach as if he had eyes on the back of his head. With a snap, your mouth closed around the open air.
"Don't think you can beat me that easily!" Runningwind taunted. He threw a glance back at you over his shoulder with that familiar glint in his eyes, still sprinting full-speed ahead.
"Well..." you panted, "don't think you can escape me so easily!"
Before he could respond, you leapt to his side in one long stride and swiped out with a paw. He tried to leap over it but to no avail. You caught his forepaws with your own, and he flipped over onto his back, kicking up dust and grass as he tumbled across the ground. He groaned as he crashed into a bramble thicket, and you skidded to a halt beside him. You burst into the sort of wild laughter that made your flanks ache.
"Stop enjoying yourself and help me out of here!" he howled with a wince. The thicket rustled with his repeated--or rather failed--attempts to upright and free himself.
"Okay, okay," you meowed as your laughter faded. "Keep your fur on."
You carefully lifted a branch with one paw and gripped his scruff with your teeth, tugging him out gingerly while his claws scrabbled away at the ground. He yelped as the thorns raked down the fur of his back.
"Sorry," you mumbled through his fur.
After a moment's respite, you tightened your jaw and reared back, yanking him with you. With another yelp of pain and surprise, he was freed from the thorn bush. The sudden lack of resistance sent you lurching backward. Landing with a heavy thud, you fell into the sand, Runningwind on top of you.
His green eyes met yours, and it was almost like staring straight through him at the luscious canopy above. He seemed just as lost in your gaze, the two of you falling in love all over again--for the umpteenth time. Then he shifted and began tugging at his fur.
"You know... I love you deeply, I do, but right now, you need to help me get all these thorns out," he joked, wincing as he stepped away from you and onto a thorn in his pad.
With a mrrow of laughter, you began to pick brambles from his pelt, your whiskers twitching in amusement as he cringed each time you plucked one. When it was down to just his paw pads, you figured it was best left to the professionals.
"Let's get you back to Yellowfang and Cinderpelt," you suggested. You gave his scraped-up cheek an affectionate, maybe slightly apologetic, lick.
"Let's," he agreed, giving his pelt a shake and deliberately showering you in dust and tufts of fur. You shook your head in amusement, brushing up against his flank as the two of you trekked back through the forest toward camp.
"This is all your fault, y'know," he teased.
"Yeah, yeah, I love you too."