Whirling around onto all fours, Howl made brief eye contact with the weasel before suddenly attempting to become a ball of innocence. His ears went back a little, recoiling against the weasel's high-pitched voice. If he had known the thing would be this awful to listen to, he wouldn't have gotten greedy—that was a lie, to be honest. Nothing could stop his pilfering once he started. Except for fear. Which, admittedly. he didn't have much of right this second. "Num-mm," he shook his head violently, patting his cheeks and putting his hands up in a totally unknowing expression. A hand fiercely made it to his chin in classic thinking fashion as he mumbled "bees" around a mouthful of rocks. Nodding purposefully, he smushed his fingers against his blatantly glowing cheeks again and squinted his eyes in the sharp pain. Rocks and flesh were not a good combination.

All bets off, he turned tail and made to run as fast as possible. Howl needed to vamoose with the rocks intact before he got bit and swallowed all of those rocks in his sharp cries of pain. Fortunately, his hind legs found grip in the dust and kicked up a spray of such in his wake. Unlike a true professional of escape, he wasn't the greatest at the serpentine manuever. Instead, he chose to make a straight beeline for the Tower.

@Envy

Envy's vociferous awakening didn't appear to have much of an effect on the invader, and the weasel narrowed their eyes in response to the monkey-hybrid's terrible acting. Obviously they were to blame. Envy could see the light glowing through the other's cheeks! They'd probably be laughing at the whole affair, if they weren't the victim themselves. "Don't give me that," Envy snapped, as though the other had made a verbal response. "Yes, those! Gimme them- hey!" the weasel's voice lifted into even shriller protest as the thief turned tail and sprinted off like the coward they were.

Blind with rage, Envy took off after them, dropping to all fours and sprinting. Despite their emaciated appearance, they, like any other weasel, was built for speed, and it showed. Their breaths came short and fast and their heartbeat picked up speed to a steady buzz of 800bpm, legs blurring. Like a furry little arrow, they took off after their prized pile of garbage, jealous of little except for the fact that the items were theirs.

Although the monkey was much bigger, and their strides much longer, Envy managed to keep them within sight, and soon managed to secure a consistent distance of a few yards behind. "Turn around and let me show you what happens to thieves, coward!" they gasped, flooded with uncharacteristic courage by the fact that their opponent was running. They'd never steal from them again after Envy set their sorry tail on fire!


"speak."

@Howl

Indeed, the moment the weasel looked even a little bit unconvinced, Howl literally turned tail and bolted to quite a bit of success. Fortunately for him, sand allowed for some quiet running despite his heart kicking at his ribs. Unfortunately, he could faintly hear the victim of his burglary pelting after him at their top speed. Suddenly realizing that such a small thing could keep pace with him — quite easily, might he add — was a terrifying little thought.

"Nmm-ummh!" Howl shrieked through a mouthful of worthless stones, daring to turn back and find the weasel too close behind for comfort. As he approached the tower, the hybrid lenghtened in stride through the sheer power of optimism. Obviously, to get the distance needed to allow him time to do a big leap onto the wall and scale it at a decent pace. He skidded to a stop and hunkered down, placing all power in his haunches in preparation. His tail arched up against his back, trying to stay out of accidental reach should he have miscalculated the distance and time he had to jump. Arrangements made, he braced himself and uncoiled like a spring.

Only to find his fingers slipping along a patch of smooth stone. He scrabbled furiously against it as he slid down the wall. As soon as he hit dust again, he took off around the tower's edge, fully intending to duck into the doorway.

@Envy

Envy's blood was running high as they saw the hybrid ahead of them fail in their attempt to climb, losing them a few valuable seconds in their escape. In that time, Envy closed the gap and saw them turn to run again. So instead, Envy tried to cut the corner and overtake them, cutting off their path and running a risk of being trampled. they could deal with that; they were as slippery as a salamander when it came to escaping unfortunate situations.

Unfortunately they'd overestimated themselves, and their energy levels. It was silly to think that such an emaciated creature would be able to keep up with a larger creature for so long. As they changed direction, their hind legs overshot, and they skidded to an ungainly halt, adrenaline fiery in their veins as they tumbled into a crumpled heap of torso and tiny limbs. It was only then that they fell into gasping for air, their heart hammering and limbs shivering with rage as they hauled themselves back onto their paws and forced themselves to keep on running. Their pride was on the line here, but the stupid monkey had taken off ahead of them.

"You'll pay! I swear I'll make you pay!" they shrieked after the rapidly disappearing behind, managing to keep them in sight, somehow.

"speak."

@Howl

It was by some miracle that the weasel had been unfortunate enough to not be able to compensate for his poor attempt to scale the tower. No time or distance was lost. Unfortunately for him, his legs were getting tired from the prolonged sprint. Ahead of him was a great flight of steps. Steeling himself, he scampered up the steps, an escape plan sparking into his mind. Once he got to the point where the steps wound above the tower's doorway, he paused, burying his claws into the stone surface and swinging off the edge, hoping to hook his back legs into a crack underneath and hang from there.

Luck would not have it, as Howl found no purchase and instead swung completely forwards. His fingers slipped and he found himself flying forwards. Face colliding with the stone wall, he whined loudly. One of the stolen pebbles cut into his cheek. He tasted blood as he fell into a great plume of blue dust. Despite his best efforts, the hybrid had to sit there and recuperate for a moment. At least he had the willpower to try hunkering down to the left side of the doorway. Hoping to not be seen so he could slip out unnoticed. But he wasn't counting his blessings.

@Envy

Envy shrieked despite their gasping breaths as they watched the hybrid start to climb a long flight of stairs ahead of them, each individual step taller than they were long. The weasel's gaze became steely despite the exhaustion that burned in their chest, and they scrambled up the first step, and then the next, anger drowning the worry that they might get away.

The weasel rounded a corner and their fur bristled with malice as they caught sight of the thief or, more accurately- heard them whining. It took only a moment for them to discover the 'hiding' place, following the sound to the edge of the doorway where they bristled and snarled, trying tovover up their heaving breaths. It would appear that the game was up; Envy could see that they were trying to stay out of sight. But Envy wouldn't stand for thievery. They would have liked the chance to preen, their appearance bedraggled and dusty and their chest heaving, but they couldn't let the monkey get away with this.

The time for words had long passed, and they knew that the larger stranger would dwarf them not only physically, but on terms of strength as well. With an angry cry, the weasel sucked in their breath and prepared to loose a wave of heat, anger as their fuel.

Their body coiled and thrashed in a way that was almost serpentine, hot air stinging the top of their mouth wit every breath that rippled and steamed in the air around their muzzle. They glowered pointedly at the hybrid, before heaving in a deep breath and spitting out a stream of hot air.

"speak."

@Howl

As soon as his makeshift hiding spot was discovered, Howl gave a shrill cry. He spat out a rock — the smallest, most pathetic one at the front of his mouth — and hurled it with all of his strength at the weasel. Not caring if he managed to hit them or not, the hybrid sought to escape that hot air before it became fire.

A slight memory prodded at the fringes of his mind. An unconscious habit reared by someone he called Fire. As he clambered up the steps, there was a slight moment of wistful reverie. Wondering why he forgot someone so important. Auntie Nemesis, with her mighty horns and furious wulfenite. Who else had he left behind? Who else had left him behind? Who else had he forgotten in his slums? The diamond earring against his ear suddenly felt more lonely than ever. Also, suddenly, he found himself less worried about the angry weasel below, pace easing into a gentle trot up the Tower.

@Envy

Envy saw the small, pearlescent remains of the flower tossed their way, and let out a high-pitched squeal of outrage. They felt the small object strike them squarely in the chest, and then dropped to the ground. The weasel stooped, grasping it in their small but dextrous claws and cleaning it of bloodied spittle with a disgusted expression. But they weren't finished yet. Although this was the most important of their possessions, they couldn't let the thieving ruffian get away with the rest.

Spine bristling, the weasel pushed the flower core into a small gap in between two bricks and took off after them, and scrambled after the hybrid.

"Hey! don't you turn your back on me!"With the other's slow pace, Envy managed to catch up to them after some time, and scrambled after, growling under their breath. Then they raised their voice, deciding that a change of strategy might be needed. if they couldn't threaten him into submission, perhaps a hearty helping of goading would work? It was what they did best, after all. "You're not afraid of someone like this are you? Coward!"

"speak."

@Howl

Hearing the shuffling of feet behind him immediately rocked him from his reverie and he froze in place. Comically, he lowed his head and looked under himself, finding the weasel in hot pursuit once again. Picking up the pace, Howl cleared the steps two (or three at a time, depending on the height of them) without looking back. As a voice rose behind him, Howl stopped and turned. Very much like a grown adult, he plugged his ears and screamed through a mouthful of rocks: "la la la la Ah'm naht liffenin'!" Most certainly throwing his voice out, the hybrid continued with his totally mature noise-blocking and continued to bound upstairs. As long as he had a voice left, he wouldn't listen to anything the weasel had to say! Even if it was really convincing. Was he really afraid of something like that? He faltered, but only a little. They'd eventually get tired, right?

@Envy

Envy scrambled up the stairs one at a time, their small stature not allowing for anything more. But they gritted their teeth and looked on, even as the hybrid's pace hit them as a blow to their morale. but they had to get their stuff back. It was theirs! they couldn't let a stupid monkey get away with this!

Even though their little legs burned, they bounced up the steps, one at a time, in hot pursuit. Their lithe body was like a coiled spring. Their jaws were opened wide with panting and between each jump and clamber they barely had the chance to gasp for breath, but they kept going, pushing their way onwards with a surprising level of endurance. It seemed like jealousy made for a good motivation, as much as it was the driving force behind many of their actions.

"Get back here!" the emaciated creature wheezed, just barely keeping their thieving behind in sight.

"speak."

@Howl