The things that Kryschenn was calling the thorny branch clearly had nothing to do with the plant's genus or species. Though her leggings had blocked most of the thorns, one or two had pierced through the leather and given her a sharp jab in the tush. What with everything else that had happened recently, Kryschenn decided that maybe this was just the way her day was going. But that didn't mean she was any less irritated.Checking to make sure that none of the thorns had lodged themselves in her patootie, she reoriented herself towards Macula and pressed onward again.
She had only gotten a few yards when she heard... thumping? No, she recognized it after just a second... it was the syncopated rhythm of a horse's gallop crashing through the underbrush. Coming this way. Already the sound was getting rapidly closer.
Good! she thought suicidally. Maybe it's a forest patrol or a guard or someone on my trail! They can catch me and this will all be overwith!
Standing in plain view for a moment, listening as the horse got closer, Kryschenn was suddenly struck by a different line of reasoning. Wait a minute, I can't let myself be captured. I have to turn myself in! If the Yarfellians see the gesture I make by surrendering, maybe they'll show leniency to everyone else! That's why I'm doing this! I can't let this rider see me!
Not knowing what else to do or where else to hide, Kryschenn spotted a tree a few yards away that had plenty of low, sturdy branches. Jumping high and pulling herself up to the lowest one, she climbed it like a ladder until she was a few yards off the ground, trying to hide in the foliage. If she held still, her brown leather armor effectively camouflaged her against the trunk.
Gripping her Sgian dubh, 'just in case,' Kryschenn watched for the horse and rider as the hoofbeats grew closer. Her view was significantly hampered by the same leaves she was hiding in, but in a moment, she could sort of see a horse with a dark-garbed rider bulldozing through the underbrush. Had he spotted her trail? She dared not push the leaves aside or make any move to see. Oh, no, the branch she had cut was a clear indicator that someone with a knife had passed by here very recently! She couldn't tell, was he following the path she had made while pushing her way through the underbrush? He was coming this way! Stay very, very still, girl...
Kryschenn never knew what came over her. Had she stayed perfectly still, the horse and rider would have likely passed right by her. But either the Celtic fighting spirit or else temporary insanity ((admittedly, those might actually be the same thing)) inexplicably gripped her. Brandishing her Sgian Dubh and letting out a sudden war cry which shattered the peaceful and silent air of the woods, she launched herself full force out of the tree, straight at the rider in an attempt to knock him off his horse.
