Hajin slouched against a hemlock beyond the city wall while Juna tested her changed stride across the clearing.
They picked ground well away from the road, where anyone approaching through the trees showed up long before they arrived. The broadcast stayed dark after Allen's interview, which left the afternoon and its awkward questions to the two of them.
'Staring at grass isn't preparation, no matter how loudly that damn notification keeps yelling that someone else can answer.'
Juna hit the clearing's far edge and turned way too sharply for the speed still hauling her forward.
Her foot skidded and tore a strip of turf loose, and she caught herself with a startled yelp.
"Whoa, nice save, the grass almost won that round," Hajin cackled, slapping the bark beside his shoulder.
"The grass started it." She shoved upright with her ears pinned flat and stalked back toward the broken branch marking her start.
