deercountry | ( wow this sand is so quick!! )

[ maybe it's a good thing katherine has experience being literally hunted. granted, it'd happened over five hundred years ago and she had a louder dress and human speed in her arsenal.

she peers over her shoulder and listens intently and keeps her hand on stefan's knee. she wants to run and get out of this game, but no matter what she tries to do, neither of them seem to be able to click their heels and get back home.

quietly, ] Keep your voice down. He might be able to hear you.

What do you suggest I do? Communicate in hand signals?

( he does lower his voice though, dropping it to a whisper and looking over at her. he hates this, he really hates this and he wishes they'd never played this game. )

We need to figure out what to do here, Katherine. We can't seem to lose him.

[ she's well aware of that.

katherine doesn't look back at stefan as she does her best to try and track the hunter. it's a little difficult to do with him talking. she wants to focus so that she can plan, and she can't plan and focus when someone else is here. it'd been so much easier when she had just been on her own. ]

You run and I distract.

Are you suggesting we separate?

( he's not going to be doing that, katherine. hell no. he shakes his head. )

Absolutely not. No. You'd be shooting that idea down if I made it so it's not happening.

I have experience being hunted in such a literal way, Stefan.

[ she doesn't say it scathingly. it's almost like katherine's reminding him water is wet.

many, many moons ago. while katherine's stopped literally running from her enemies in such a fashion, she's never stopped training in case it was required of her.

she glances at him and looks at him expectantly. ]

It's the best way.

Yeah and how are you going to make me leave you? Because I'm not gonna just agree to this. It's not going to happen.

( he was never going to agree that they go their separate ways even if she's skilled in evasion. )

No. It's not best this way. I'm not going anywhere.

[ she sighs heavily and turns back to face the other direction. the hunter isn't too close, but all they have to do is crack a twig loud enough or crunch some leaves and she's certain he'll be like a shark in bloody water. ]

What if I ask you very nicely?

[ katherine has never said "please" in her life. ]

You can ask in anyway you know how but the only way this is going to happen is if you literally leave me here. And if you do that, I'm not going to be happy.

( no, he was going to be incredibly upset with her for awhile. )

We don't need to separate, Katherine.

[ she sighs again and keeps her gaze away from his. if she focuses on the hunter, she can disregard the very firm and confident beating of stefan's heart. it gives him away as it always has. she knows he won't leave even if she was to trick him. ]

Then we'll just have to work together to outsmart and kill this guy.

[ teamwork makes the dream work.

katherine's still learning how to work in a team. ]

( for a second, he'd been a little worried that she'd actually try and take off on him. but, she seems to accept that he's not going anywhere and he's relieved by that. )

Can we cause a diversion? Maybe set something up that makes noise that he goes towards so we can catch him off guard?

( and don't suggest yourself, katherine. he's not letting you out of his sight. )

[ while she does think that fits snugly into her plan of her distracting the hunter and stefan running, she doesn't need any sort of telepathic bond to know that's not going to fly. stefan has become very protective in an attractive way that's unfamiliar to her. ]

We'd have to be very quiet.

[ obviously, but this is a type of quiet that will feel impossible. ]

If you got a big enough rock, you could probably throw it at a tree and make him think one of us have tripped.

If not that, should we just run? See if we can put more distance between him and us?

( they haven't been able to completely shake him which is worrisome but they can't just sit here and be sitting ducks. )

Probably.

[ while she's a well-known runner, katherine doesn't think that's going to help them. jumanji is an unknown terrain. back in 1492, she at least had some direction thanks to poor headless trevor. ]

But running will only get us so far. We need something to take him down with.

[ and the small twigs that'll snap between her fingers isn't it. the stones would require getting too close, and katherine doesn't think that's an answer at all. ]

We could both attack him.

( not that he wants to do that considering whatever this guy was, he'd managed to keep up with them and hadn't succumbed yet. )

Drain him.

What if his blood is like vervain?

[ but katherine turns to face stefan, her gaze on the ground as she furrows her brows in thought. there's too much to consider these days—what people are filled with, what they're made of, how that can be toxic to a sleeper and vampire...

the question's a rhetorical one as katherine already has the answer. ]

If he is, I should be able to save us.

You should?

( he furrows his brow, not sure if he wants to hear this but he's at least not completely discounting the idea when he hears that she could take something on her shoulder. )

How?

I'm a Vileblood. If I've figured out anything, it's that poisons don't seem to affect me like they affect you.

[ when she had gotten some of that venom on her tongue that he'd been injected with, she hadn't ended up sick like him. it barely felt like anything—it even lacked a buzz.

katherine doesn't want to think of how her body has changed against her will. she only wants to use it to her advantage. ]

So, if he's poisonous to us, I should be able to do something about it.

[ she hopes. ]

Okay.

( so yeah, maybe he should be the one to drain the guy if katherine can be the one to counteract anything. he nods. )

So, maybe you get his attention, I come up behind him and try and drain him?

[ katherine doesn't like that idea at all. considering they already spent some time with stefan human and recovering from poison, she'd like to keep him far from it if she can help it.

she shakes her head as she looks at him. ]

You get his attention and I'll drain him. If he's toxic, then I shouldn't be affected.

( stefan balks a bit because he really doesn't want her to be the one that gets poisoned even if she can fight it off and clear it up.

but he also knows it's the best way to go about this. he still makes a face and sighs, straightening up a bit to peer over the log. )

Fine.

( he turns around, putting his hands on the log to get himself ready to jump over the log to find the hunter. )

[ she sighs quietly. running in heels is something she should have in hand, but she doesn't particularly like the idea of running now. she has something important to lose if this goes pear-shaped.

rising to her feet, katherine stands right behind stefan as she tries to focus on the hunter's movements. his footfalls are quiet and his breathing relaxed, but it's still noticeable to someone as keenly sensed as her. ]

Don't try and do anything overly fancy.

I'm just gonna see if he'll chase me for a bit.

( maybe he'll forget that katherine's out there with him. he sighs and turns back to look at her. )

You sure you want to do it this way?

Yes.

[ she doesn't hesitate. if she does, he'll dig his fingers into her uncertainty and twist things around to benefit him going after the hunter. she can't have that. ]

I'm stronger and faster. [ she glances down at his feet and feigns feeling like her cocky self. ] And better shoes.

( stefan does have a thought of finding the hunter, catching him, and draining him before katherine can get there but she'd probably get upset about that.

so, he just blows out a breath and takes off, making as much noise as he can. soon enough, he hears the hunter moving after him and stefan goes toward him until he pulls up in front of him and holds his hands up. )

Think we can talk about this, man?

[ katherine can't help but roll her eyes. always one for the theatrics, isn't he? it's not like she's any better.

she waits, listening to both stefan and the hunter. it's with very slow steps that she emerges from the thick trunk of a tree and it's with careful steps that she even emerges from their hiding spot. although she's done her best to learn about the hunter from the way he moves and breathes, it's still not enough to determine how quick his reflexes are.

might as well find out first hand.

she waits a short moment before she's a blur and sinks her teeth into the hunter's neck. ]

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