Armaros kept as blank of a face as she could, which unfortunately, was failing terribly. She could feel her fur dampening from her anxious sweat. Would she be able to prove her worth? To gain enough sponsors? Without realizing, her tail was twitching out of control. She brushed her paw against it to stop, seeing as she was aggravating whoever was seated beside her. "Armaros Valencia." The person behind the speaker almost sounded bored. It angered her. But still, she stood up and trotted towards the door at the end of the eerily long hallway. The pushed her way through the door, feeling her fur rise from anxiety. The sudden burst of what was seemingly natural light blinded her. She blinked rapidly, before taking in her surrounding. Trees. Trees trees. It was just a forest. Armaros let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Any relaxation she felt shot out of her body when she heard movement. Armaros got into a low crouch, making her way towards the bush she had heard making noise. Carefully, she moved the branches out of her way. There stood a beautiful black bird, with green and blue feathers highlighting its chest. Its most noticeable feature had to be the unusually long tail, which was dragging against the dirt and multiple leaves. It chirped, having no clue she was even standing there. She looked around, quite confused. There was no sound of any other wildlife nearby. Just soft wind in the trees. So she took a few steps towards the bird, having not a clue what else to do. The bird let out the most awful sound. As if it was being slaughtered on the spot. It fluttered away quickly. Armaros had thrown her paws over her ears. This was her Gamemakers. Of course it couldn’t be normal. This thought would be her greatest mistake. Because the moment she heard the sound of water, her heart sank. Of course it couldnt be normal. It sweeps her off her feet, forcing her to make a choice. Flee, or drown. So, she ran. She couldn’t run fast, but it was enough to evade the water. Just barely. The bird was speeding right in front of her, only slightly ahead, squealing uncontrollably. It was the only sound she could hear. The water drowned out any other noise. Armaros didn’t dare look back. But running was starting to become exhausting. Her only leg couldn’t take this much longer. How was she going to escape this? This was the Gamemakers. There had to be a solution. She couldn’t die here. She looked at her surroundings. Tree’s coming tumbling down due to the water. That wasn’t a solution. The plants? No. Everything was being drowned out. Everything but herself and the bird. Her ears perked up. The bird! Armaros locked her eyes on her new target. She picked up speed, and shot herself off the ground with the rest of the strength she had. She extended her claws, and even readied her jaws as backup. Her mouth grabbed hold of the long white tail. She yanked the bird close, enclosing it in her grasp, and falling to the ground. She curled up in a ball when she hit the forest floor, shutting her eyes tight. Water tickled her back, but nothing overtook her. She hadn’t realizing how hard she was breathing until now. Shakily, she stood up, holding the equally as afraid bird in her arms, horrified to let go. The water began sinking back to wherever it came from, quite literally going in reverse. All that had been destroyed became whole again as the water fled. When she finally caught her breath, she smiled. Grinned, even. “Yes! Yes! You are your /stupid/ bird won’t be enough!” Armaros shouted, laughing. Probably shock. Who cares? She was alive. …Did she get to keep the bird now?
The Chase - Deltarune