Chapter 4:

Face

((Dak, it's right behind you! Get it!))

"Huh? Wha – Oh, right, got it!"

THUD!

((Dak! You missed it!))

"Yeah, now it's behind you!"

((Alright, I got it!))

CRASH!

((Oof!)) Aldrea exclaimed, falling to the ground after losing her balance on her hoofs and bumping her flank hard against a tree trunk.

"Aldrea! Are you alright?" Dak asked, coming over and carefully helping her back up with his two clawed hands.

((Yes, I'm fine, Dak.)) Aldrea said, a little winded and slightly bruised at her pride but accepted the help nonetheless. ((More importantly, where'd it go?))

"I have no idea. Odds are that it's out of our reach now." Dak shrugged as he rubbed where he had fallen on his stomach sorely.

((Wonderful. Just great.)) Aldrea huffed as she crossed her arms.

The creature that they had just been after had surprised them earlier when it had suddenly scuttled out of the trees and crossed their path.

It was a small thing; with a long lithe body covered in reddish purple fur ending with a short and stumpy tail, three sets of paws with two large claws at the tip of the first set, a round head that held a short and flat mouth with a two pairs of beady black eyes. Aldrea was immediately captivated with it as to Dak who didn't like the way the little animal was looking at him.

It didn't help things when it suddenly jumped behind them and bit Dak's tail, earning a screech of surprise from the Hork-Bajir Seer.

Thus, the chase began.

Dak took to following it whenever it tried to escape them by climbing into the trees and Aldrea competed with it whenever it came to the ground. It had proven more difficult to capture it then they had anticipated; what with his rapid scuttling through the jagged landscape, clever mind through the some of the twisted gnarls and roots in the ground and quick reflexes whenever one of them even came close to grabbing it.

Regardless of nearly acquiring their target, after nearly two hours of rigorous exercise, heavy cursing and near head-on collisions, the little creature had managed to evade them by escaping into the confines of a small tunnel that was dug in the ground. The hole was too small for even Aldrea's tiny hand to stick into and she, in all honesty, didn't want to risk it on the account of what happened to Dak's tail.

Which, pretty much, left the two haggard and exhausted, both with bruised prides.

All in all, it had not been their best day.

"I can't believe that little rat got away!" Dak growled, his tail swishing angrily behind him.

((You said it, Dak. What in the world was it anyway?)) Aldrea added as she looked up at him.

"I remember a Hork-Bajir named Sept mentioning something about a creature that looked just like what we chased once. Something about them always appearing out of nowhere, biting our tails for some really strange reason, then taking off just as quickly. I didn't really believe him, but now I do. For obvious reasons." Dak said bitterly as he rubbed the bite-mark on his tail.

((And to think, we've wasted nearly half the afternoon trying to catch it!)) Aldrea huffed again, her own tail whipping behind her in frustration. ((That thing made a fool out of the both of us! If I ever see it again, I swear I'll morph into a Chadoo, chase it down and –))

Dak's face suddenly broke out in a smile then silently chuckled.

Unfortunately, Aldrea heard him and immediately swiveled her stalk eyes towards him. ((Dak, why are you chuckling?))

"Your face." Dak said simply with a smile.

((What?)) Aldrea blinked at him. ((My face? What about it?))

Dak kept laughing quietly for a moment or two before finally saying, "Did you know that whenever you get frustrated, your nose crinkles up and your stalk eyes cross themselves into a tangle?" As he gestured to the said parts impishly.

Aldrea's eyes widened in embarrassment. ((W-What?! I – I didn't – They do not!)) She then stuttered indignantly.

"How would you know that? Your eyes were closed the entire time!"

((How in the world does that matter?!))

"Now you're just trying to change the subject."

((I am not!))

"Ah, you see? Your eyes are doing it again."

((Dak, for the last time, they are not –)) Aldrea reached up towards her stalk eyes in emphasis but stopped short. Her fingertips brushed against the fur of her appendages, immediately feeling a knot in between them. She didn't need to switch her sight to see that her hand suddenly looked criss-crossed in front of her stalks.

In spite of herself, her face instantly grew hot.

Dak, from in front of her, rolled his eyes smugly. "See, what'd I tell you?"

Aldrea refused to respond at first. In flash, she brought her hands up and started to undo her stalks in a fluster. ((You could've told me about this before now!))

"I didn't think it'd matter until now." Dak crossed his arms simply.

((Of course it matters, Dak! How is someone supposed to take you seriously if your stalk eyes are all twisted up like this?!))

"Oh, come on, Aldrea. I've seen you like this before and you were fine with it then."

It took a moment or two for Aldrea to process what Dak said with a straight face. ((. . . . . Pardon?))

"You've done this at least eight times since I've known you. You've hardly ever minded then so what's the problem with it now?" Dak stated.

((. . . . . . . . I've done this before?))

"Yes."

((. . . . . . . . Eight times?))

"Yes."

((. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And you never bothered to tell me?))

"Like I said, I didn't think it'd matter until now." Dak absently scratched the side of his beak impishly. "Personally, to me, it doesn't really make any difference. It doesn't really make you look that much different; I can tell that it's you from a distance unless when you're a Chadoo and I'm sure that you'll still be able to see the same as us– Aldrea, why are you looking at me like that?"

The look that was on Aldrea's face was rather hard to decipher; it kept on changing from the different emotions that were running through her head. It changed from shocked, to embarrassed, to disbelief and finally to anger. Pure. Red Hot. Anger.

Obiviously, her now narrowed golden eyes, crinkled up nose and slightly Tail were making Dak a little more than nervous.

Suddenly, a little too quickly for Dak's comfort, her face fell and she smiled sweetly with both sets of eyes. ((Dak, do you have any idea what female Andalites do to males who have scorned them?))

Dak was almost too worried about her sudden mood-swings to answer. Regardless, he weakly raised an eye-ridge and said, "No, I can't say I do."

((It's simple, Dak. All we little females do is THIS!)) Aldrea's tail whipped out with a "whoosh!" and would've chopped Dak's head right off if he hadn't ducked in the nick of time.

"YAH!" Dak exclaimed as he continued dodging her tail-blade. "Aldrea, what are you doing?!"

((I'm giving you a crash course on how to properly treat females!)) Aldrea huffed angrily, continuing her lashing with pure, agitated force.

"I thought I was treating you properly!"

((Males actually let females know on how they look if something looks out of place to them and make sure to inform them so that they can fix it so they won't look ridiculous!))

"I did let you know!"

((That didn't stop you from laughing!))

"I wasn't laughing! I was chuckling! There's a difference!"

((Which there's going to be with you once I get my blade on you!))

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to stay exactly as I am, right now!"

((Like I'm letting you get away with that!))

"Would it help if I said "Sorry"?!"

((Hardly, Dak! Come here!))

"No, no, no, no, no, Aldrea – You keep that blade away from me, – ACK! CAREFUL!"

((Oh, I will be, I promise you that, now HOLD STILL!))

The small creature from before chittered as it climbed out of the hole and climbed to a high rock nearby. Tweaking it's head curiously at the noise, it watched the two bigger creatures with simple amusement.

The big female giant with a huge flank and a claw coming out of her tail was yelling in anger towards the much bigger male giant who was covered in claws and at the moment exclaiming in fear as he scrambled to get away from her and her tail-claw.

It was a rather funny sight to watch. Maybe he would help the female catch the male later. After all, a sudden bit on the tail will make any giant panic . . . The creature chittered again in mischief.