Her scent had disappeared over night, so I made sure to visit her in the morning. I opened the door as she attempted to exit her room, scaring her into a corner of her room. I stared at her, watching her hands wrap around her waist and chest, scared that she would lose her soul if she let go. She was missing the usual glow in her skin and rose in her cheeks: holding a sickly paleness in its place. Her eyelids sagged over her dulled, yet aware brown eyes.
There was silence between us before I informed her of our embarking in a day's time. She agreed quietly, turning further away from me. It did not settle well with me, but there was nothing for me to do to fix it. I feared approaching her would drive her wild. The consequences would have been grave, graver than what I have already caused. Her eyes were wide and puffed. Her hands fidgeted with her clothes, and her body shivered under my gaze. My final decision was to leave her be. There was nothing to speak of, and the air was growing cold. I returned to my work, to concoct something to say.
However, I had no chance to speak to her. I was informed later that she had simply disappeared from the premises. None saw or, much less, stopped her. Her disappearance was assumed after finding that she was nowhere to be found. I would be sure to correct the incompetence of my guards with a stricter regiment later, but my priority was to find and retrieve the woman. Had I given her the audacity to simply walk out and face danger without a second thought? Perhaps I had mistaken her previous form for a much more docile creature than it was.
I left immediately to search for my rouge woman, following the slight scent and tracks she had left behind. Unfortunately, within a few miles of my search, it began to rain. I was forced to wait out the weather in a cave, staring at the sky and wondering if the woman would travel through the rain. She dared to leave my sphere of influence; weather and illness should not scare her. Should she fear rain more than I, I will be sure to make sure she understands just who she deals with.
As soon as the storm passed, I could smell a small concentration of her scent in a village five miles east. Once I arrived at the location, I only found humans. As pathetic as they are, they still gave me the knowledge of where my marked one had gone. She had left a note in the language of the continent past the mainland (English), telling me to leave her be and that she never wished to see me again. She would be sorely disappointed. I will never let her out of my grip, she is mine whether she agrees or not. I have told her countless times before; her voice holds no sway in the matter. I have decided to make her mine, and it is a matter of time before I do. She is rather slow to recognize this. I slid the note within my kimono, before looking to find her scent once again. I tracked it to a river bed, and became quite irritated after seeing that it disappeared in the water.
I was glad to see that she was no fool, yet would prefer if she chose to be an elusive one with others, and not me. Regardless, I was sure of her destination. There was only one place she would run to during the time of need. And with only half a day to travel, I understood what it was that she planned to do there. I would wait for her, and drag her back to me, even if it meant breaking her spirit, and any other limb that poses as an obstacle.
