The forest was silent, until it wasn't.

Dry leaves were kicked up from the floor of the woods by running feet, eyes wide in panic as the taller of the two pursued dared to look over his shoulder. He was greeted by the snapping teeth of a dog, far too close for comfort. With a yelp and a few scattered fstuff cheekshers, he grabbed the arm of the thin girl beside him, dragging her along as he sped up. His wings clamped close to his body, then disappeared, absorbed into his skin again as they were just slowing him down otherwise. "Bring your tail in, Maggie!" he yelled at her, and in a moment the cat shifter resembled a normal human as well. If a human could have naturally white hair, at least.

Maggie yelped as her foot caught on an unseen tree root, sending her roughly to her hands and knees before Soren could catch her. He skidded to a stop, sprinting back to put his wiry body betweel her and the hunters, spreading his wings again to shield her. He let out a vicious crow-like screech, a battle cry like none other. Nearby, a dog barked, but the dog wasn't his concern now. Now his concern was the guns the hunters held, filled with tranquilizers. Just one of those, and he'd be out for hours. He knew this, unfortunately, from experience.

"Let's go!" Maggie cried as she regained her footing, reaching out for his hand again for him to drag her along. She didn't trust herself on this foreign terrain to not fall again. As Soren ran, pulling her along with the hunters drawing ever closer, Magnolia felt the familiar sharp pain in her lower back. With a yowl of pain, she reached back with her free hand to yank out the dart she knew was there, holding it tightly in her hand as she tried to keep up. She knew she had maybe a minute before it started to kick in and probably ten before she lost consciousness, maybe they could lose the hunters before then. She didn't tell Soren or show him the dart, not yet.

"I smell other shifters-" she panted out, blind eyes wide in panic. "Maybe they can help!" Soren gave no verbal response, but she figured he had probably nodded, since he grabbed her hand tighter and ran faster. The barking began to fade away behind them, but she wasn't sure if it was the distance or the tranquilizers starting to kick in. Her body was starting to feel heavy and clumsy, but she wouldn't fall just yet.

Soren panted with exertion as he looked over his shoulder again. Just because he couldn't see them didn't mean that they weren't there. He had caught sight of the dart tightly clutched in Maggie's hand, and he knew she'd been darted and she'd go down before long. He could only hope that he reached the shifters she smelled before she was too far gone for him to carry. The hunters were far enough behind him now that he could slow down, but if they slowed down they'd never reach the other shifters.

They were close now, he could smell them too and he didn't have a grstuff cheeks sense of smell. He scanned the area as the forest sudnestly opened up to the edge of an abandoned town, slowing to a stop to pull Maggie's arm over his shoulder to help her walk. She was awake, but groggy at this point, babbling on about the dogs she smelled. squirrelshifters... The last thing they needed... But hopefully they would help.

"Hey!" Soren yelled, hoping that they were close enough to hear. "Help!"