Once Kat got herself set on her angle, she used the mundanity to take a look at Minor. The girl in her arms was looking a lot better and was actually breathing now. It was just a soft rise and fall of her chest but it was a significant improvement over nothing at all.
Her tail still seemed to be strangely rigid, and her outfit didn't seem to be moving as Kat ran along, but she was unsure if that was just because she was careful with running or if they were still in their more solid state.
Minor's hair did move slightly, but it seemed to be affected by the wind slightly and was angled… but it was all bunched up, as if instead of hair Minor had a curtain or some other large amount of clothing pasted to her head that all moved in sync with each other.
This only further confused Kat when she noticed the hair on Minor's ears was behaving somewhat normally. It didn't seem to bounce as she stepped, but it was swaying in the wind, but it acted like the collection of hair it was.
*Can't you just get your body to act normally dammit! Why do you have to make it so hard for me to tell if you are ok Minor. Like can I do some riskier movements and stop burning so much energy to keep you stable?*
*Or do you need as much of a chance to recover as you possible can? Will you need sleep afterwards? We are in a dream but a lot of other things are consistent so why wouldn't you sleep?*
*Or even if you won't need sleep, will I still be carrying you? I mean I don't mind but… well no.* Kat glanced back to check on the monster chasing after her and paled slightly at the sight. *Shit.* Kat stopped her slightly curved path and returned to her completely straight heading.
*Dammit, I'm almost exactly the same speed as that monster. If I slow down at all, even to curve myself slightly that thing can catch up… Does this mean I need a new plan? Should I risk the sharp turn then?*
*But I'd have to stand in place, for just a second. I can turn on a dime, much better than I have any logical right to, but I can. Even still, it's not completely instant and that thing might be able to reach me…*
*I could maybe use my tail to swing myself around a tree, get the turn in that way… but I can hardly imagine the g-force would be good for Minor… but does she know enough about gravity for it to actually be a problem?*
*Shit, I mean, it has to be right? In a world like this one, running extremely fast is probably a reasonable thing to see, and you can feel it when you turn, so even if they seemingly have no vehicles I doubt Major or Minor are ignorant of that particular rule.*
Kat ducked out of the way, flinching her head backwards and to the side as a particularly low hanging vine was about to slap her in the face. Sadly, she still wasn't used to the extra height from her horns, and so, even with her ducking out of the way it clipped the ends.
Kat felt the vine tugging on her horn and starting to pull her head backwards. Acting quickly Kat pushed as much energy as she could into her arm. Swinging her tail around to support Minor where her hand was about to leave, Kat acted fast.
Kat slipped her tail under Minor's knees as she moved her right hand away, rising it up past her head and pushing away the vine in question. There was a split second where it looked to not be enough, but the vine slid away.
Kat then managed to return her arm to its rightful place and retract her tail all before taking her next step. Letting out a large breath and releasing some of the tension in her muscles Kat refocused on the pathway before her.
*That was close. I should have probably used my tail instead… but my nails are better for slicing things… if it was unwilling to give up perhaps this was actually the best way to go about things… dam.*
Kat considered looking behind her but didn't want to risk that slowing her down any further. Listening instead, Kat reached the conclusion that the monster was much too loud to determine if it had further caught up to her during the vine issue.
*I need to be more careful. If that vine took a bit longer to dislodge I might already be toast… even still I can't keep this up.* Checking her reserves Kat found that she was already sitting below the halfway mark.
*That is much too low… It seems like I don't actually have that much left in me… though maybe it was freezing the canopy that cost me the most? Urgh, I just don't know what to prioritise. How fragile is the person in my arms! If I just had a sign, or something.*
Suddenly, a hacking cough tore its way out of Minor's throat. Minor's head started turning towards Kat. *This is going to hit me whatever it is… dammit, and the wind will just make it hit Minor if I face her the other way.*
Kat was right. A second hacking cough, and a mouthful of blood spat towards Kat. It hit her as she was running, and rapidly slid off her outfit. *Small victories… but is Minor ok? That was a lot of blood… but at least she has blood right?*
Minor let out a groan, and started to shift in Kat's arms before carefully opening her eyes. They were unfocused, clearly not experiencing the world around them until a second cough shook Minor's frame.
Minor started to turn away from Kat this time, but… *I'm going to regret this I'm sure.* Kat moved her tail around and forced Minor's head to face her once again, before Minor's eyes cleared.
A look of panic spread across her face, as a cough worked its way out of her throat. A second mouthful of blood hit Kat. When it did, Minor's already pale countenance paled further. "I'm so sorry" said Minor voice raspy.
"It's fine" said Kat "See, already washing off"
Minor watched shocked as the blood was in fact, sliding off as if it wished to be anywhere other than in contact with Kat. "What's going on? Why are we running?" asked Minor
"Ah, clearly your hearing isn't back yet" said Kat "So, basic rundown, we are being chased by a nightmare through a rainy forest. You can't see it really because my wing is blocking the few water droplets that fall towards us…
"The forest is huge, not really sure where to go or how to leave, and I got here by jumping into a pond in the corn maze. How healthy are you? I'm burning a lot of energy to keep my arms study. It won't be completely horrible if I stop, but at the moment it's taking a lot of energy just to keep running. Oh, and are you going to pass out again?"
Minor tried to shake her head, but winced "I should be fine about passing out. That's not really a thing here" rasped Minor "It should be fine to stop using the extra energy… and I'll have to think about what is going on"
Kat nodded, relaxing her arms slightly as Minor settled into them. The drain on her energy reserves dropped rapidly, and Kat could now see that she wasn't losing any at all, or perhaps very little.
And so Kat kept running. Minor was still unwell, but conscious and needed some time to collect herself. Kat was happy to keep running now that things had changed in some meaningful way, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going wrong.
Eventually Minor spoke up "So, was it raining in the wheat field?"
Kat shook her head, "No not at all"
Minor nodded ever so slightly, keeping her movements to a minimum "Ok, well, I'm pretty sure we are still in the right scene. You haven't broken anything I think… and I have a guess as to where we are."
Kat nodded "So, where are we?"
Minor gave an involuntary light cough. "I think, we are in the garden. Summer Autumn Winter Spring, and maybe that fountain or pond, in the middle. We've been through Summer and this is Autumn"
Kat nodded "So… how do we get to Winter then?"
Minor grimaced "Well, Kat, that is the real question we need to be asking. Sadly… I don't really know" rasped Minor
Behind her, Kat heard a roar of indignation. "Hey, shut up just because you're lost too doesn't mean that we can't be" shouted Kat back.. She was half surprised that she heard nothing in response.