Post by Katpride on Apr 25, 2023 3:13:17 GMT
Adelyn is going to have to venture into the city at some point. That point is not this point. That point can wait until she’s memorized all the forest paths and climbable trees. She’s aware she’s procrastinating, but the city is wild and loud and unknown in a way that the forest isn’t. She knows all the ways a forest can be wild and loud and unknown.
There are still more people here than she’s used to, and the wooded areas are smaller. She’s not hiding, exactly, but she’s being careful not to run into people without her boots and gloves and hood on hand. Or on foot and hand and head, as it may be.
She’s closer to the paths today, peoplewatching. There are less people on the jogging paths than around the play structure, and few venture off the beaten trails. Adelyn is one of those few, perched in a tree a few yards from the path with her back up against the trunk and one leg dangling. She doesn’t exactly ‘blend in’, but if she stays very still she isn’t usually spotted. Most people don’t look up on cloudy days like this one.
She’s getting better at this ‘sneaking’ thing. People’s patterns are harder to categorize than animals’, but she’s figuring them out little by little.
A flutter catches her eye, and she goes very still as a bird lands on her branch. It hasn’t noticed her yet, and she hardly dares to breathe lest she startle it away. It’s a pretty little sparrow. She wishes she had birdseed on hand, and makes a note to pack some for next time.
Footsteps on the path below, and the bird flits away again with a rustle of wings. Adelyn sighs audibly, a little disappointed, and looks down at the path again with a small frown. The person walking by is… oh, that’s odd. There’s something there, but she can’t tell what. Has she seen him before?
Adelyn creeps forward a little and - darn! - her gloved hand slips off the branch. “Eep!”
She catches herself with her back to the ground, elbows and knees hooked around the branch, heart thundering in her ears. Welp. There goes stealth.