A Proper Sendoff

Ephalin scanned the lush world below her from her position above, clinging effortlessly to the broad branch of the impressively sized tree. Ordinarily it was inadvisable to scale one of these giants as a runner, as you ran the risk of trapping yourself up there with nowhere to escape. However, the dark-furred squirrel doe had no intention of a pursuit. Her strategy was much simpler; to just wait out most of the day up here, let the boys have their fun with the others; by the time the sun was setting, most of them were tired out and, while they still certainly gave a worthy effort, it was usually only the bucks who had gone the entire day without who would give a full-hearted chase. And those bucks, she reasoned, probably hadn't caught a doe yet for a reason. She figured she'd try her luck against the remaining, desperate underperformers, while the successful and long-since-satisfied veteran bucks may be more likely to just...let her go, if she got enough distance between them.

If nothing else, it gave her an excuse to relax up here.

Her gaze shot to the East. Just some birds messing around. Ephalin considered herself a fairly savvy, experienced doe at this game, even if her record didn't exactly reflect that. The fact was, at this point she was pretty untouched by most of the boys. Their habits were predictable and she'd followed the teachings of the veteran runners before her to pretty decent results. The problem was...one buck in particular. Seemed like no matter what she did, for all of her evasive actions and strategies which reliably bedeviled the other boys, one in particular always managed to get his hands on her. He called it their 'little tradition.' That got on her nerves. Like it was inevitable. And sure, maybe the past...many mating seasons would support that rhetoric but it'd be different this time. This was a new strategy, and she'd staked out a spot away from the areas known to be 'hotspots.' For all intents and purposes, this wasn't considered to be a strategically ideal area. It was something of a paradox; the girls would figure out a route which was more advantageous than most, but sooner or later the boys would catch on and make a point of setting up ambushes along those routes. The strategy changed all the time. At no point recently, however, had this area been considered 'hot.' Additionally, this was to be his last time out, part of a trend of more, younger squirrels heading out of the village in search of more opportunities. If he wanted to make the most of his last chase, he'd probably be out closer to the others. Indeed, this was probably as long as she'd gone without seeing him.

Ephalin stretched out her arms, laying her head across them. Better not get caught napping on the job, but it was nice to find a moment to relax out here. She liked to beat the boys as much as the next doe but she never really was the...running-around-the-woods type. Really more of a reader. Trying out centuries-past insults on the bucks was her game for most of the year. But any respectable doe wanted to do well out here, in one way or another. A breeze picked up, hissing through the leaves. Ephalin sniffed the air, taking in the crisp, spring surroundings. She was getting hungry. Too bad the elders never set up a snack booth out here or something. Hell, why not, like a normie-world sporting event, concessions, programs, T-shirts...the idea made her snort to herself. A giant pretzel did sound good right about then. She wished the sun would go ahead and set already, get the post-chase bonfire going, get something for her belly. She flicked away an ant crawling along her arm. Wasn't that desperate, yet. Currently she was debating if she should rise up onto her hands and knees long enough to slip her tail under her body, make herself a little bed of sorts up here. Tempting, though it might risk getting a little too comfortable up here.

"Getting a little too comfortable up there, don't you think Ephy?"

Ephalin's eyes widened as her gaze snapped down and to her left.

"Oh - Harse! What the hell are you - nobody comes all the way out here!"

Harseth chuckled as he stepped through the leaves and twigs over toward the female's tree. "You didn't think I'd go my whole, last chase without catching up with my favorite girl?"

Ephalin's heart quickened as she watched the strapping buck make his way closer, his immense, nearly-bare body making for a striking contrast against the sedentary scenery which surrounded the two squirrels. His arms were adorned with numerous bracelets, formerly the property of the countless doe's he'd captured throughout his many chases. The black face-paint extending from his eyes to his jaw was less intricate than some of what the other boys were wearing, but was nonetheless distinct, an instantly recognizable visual for a buck who had distinguished himself in the chase more than perhaps any other. The only hint of modesty on his otherwise revealing ensemble was the rather strained cloth tied around his waist, doing little to hide what was in store for the doe who might find herself in his grasp.

The female scrambled up from her recumbent position, her eyes darting around for an escape route. Sure, now it seemed like a bad idea to have come up here. Up above her, she caught sight of an especially impressive branch extending out into the limbs of a neighboring tree. She began her ascent, offering her thoughts on the matter as she did.

"Damn it Harse, can't I go even one season without you coming after me? Just one?"

"It's tradition!" Harse again insisted as he gripped the trunk of the tree, propelling his way up as only their kind could.

Ephalin scrambled along the higher branch, preparing to make the transfer. "Can't you like...go bother Marsy or something? Wasn't she on your...bucket list, or whatever?"

"Already did!" Harse announced proudly, holding up his left arm to show off Marsy's most recent bracelet. "She's feisty, I like her."

"Crap," Ephalin chittered to herself after leaping to the next branch. "What about like...Maelin? You're always going on about how cute she is...."

"Done!" Harse chirped happily, hopping off the current tree to meet her at the next one.

By the gods, how was he even still randy enough to be looking for more?!

"Uh...Emeritt?"

"It's...pretty much just you left," the buck informed her, with an eager smile as he began to scale the second tree.

Her head swiveled in all directions as Ephalin considered her options from the trunk of the second tree, some of that time admittedly spent on a quick run-through of all the previous confrontations these two had enjoyed, and the variety of interesting, sometimes exotic physical predicaments they had afforded her. Of course, in the time it took her to parse through all that was on her mind, she'd already let the highly skilled buck join her at altitude, the panicking doe chirping a bit at the surprise face-to-face appearance of him, gripping the other side of the trunk, offering her a warm, familiar smile.

"So...you wanna do it up here, or down there?"

With a series of swears, Ephalin scrambled down the tree, with a series of slides and impressive descent maneuvers exclusive to her species.

"Excellent choice," Harse said with a chuckle, making his way down, after her.

Twigs snapped and dried leaves crumpled under the feet of Ephalin as she raced away. She knew her chances weren't good in a straight forward pursuit, so she rounded the trunk of another, younger tree, and turned, Harse's thumping soles charging up right behind her. A standoff occurred, with Ephalin feinting left, then right, Harse following her movements but not falling for the fake-outs.

"You know Eph, you could be using this time to think about whatever your favorite position of ours has been," Harse suggested, with a buck-toothed smile. "Or, should we just run through them all? Pretty sure I remember all of them. They were, uh...memorable, heh."

"It's not so...inevitable!" chirped Ephalin, with a hint of doubt in her voice.

"Yeah, no, it's anybody's game," chuckled the buck, the cloth between his thighs becoming visibly more strained as his anticipation grew.

As he was distracted with his teasing, Ephalin made a hard lunge around the left of the tree - another, very convincing fake. This time, Harse dove for her, falling just short onto his hands and knees as Ephalin took off to the right instead, darting away as Harse hastily made it back up to his face.

"Hah, nice!" Harse complimented, as he sprinted after her again.

Ephalin drew in heavy breaths as she swerved past the logs, branches, and other obstacles throughout the forest which seemed almost like one collective, living organism, working to get does like her caught for its own entertainment. She could hear Harse closing the distance behind her. It was all just...so familiar.

"Damn it...Harse..." she cursed, in between gasps. "Every...damn...chase!"

The happy buck responded simply with jovial laughter as he chased his favorite doe deeper into the woods for the final time.

~~~

Ephalin's body slumped down onto the wall of muscle and fur, the body that had just ravaged her now serving as the bed on which she breathlessly recuperated. She panted in a strenuous attempt to recover some air, the earthy tones of her surroundings blurred in her half-open eyes. Against her limp body, she could feel the rhythmic expansion and contraction of Harse's chest and belly, the triumphant buck resting against the tree base he had chosen as their final love nest, also working to catch his breath from the brisk, laborious work that came with a buck's victory. He took hold of Ephalin's hips, slowly lifting her up and off the length of his penis. Ephalin chittered at the sensation of his pronounced girth leaving her body, until gravity took over and it slumped out of her, the sensation of his warm, voluminous affections running down the inside of her thighs following soon after.

"God...damn," Ephalin managed to hiss out between heaves,

"Yeah...yeah, that was a good one," sighed Harse, shifting a hand up to her neck and shoulders to help keep her upright. "Glad I saved that one up for you. You always give me your best, I'd hate it if I couldn't give you mine."

"You know...some people...just...take it easy...their last day...."

"Nah, you deserve better than that," smiled Harse, before leaning in to give her a playful nip on the ear. "That's what respect for a worthy opponent is all about...even if you do lose every time."

He just had to squeeze one more dig in there, lamented Ephalin, pushing his smug face away.

Harse looked up toward the canopy of the woods, taking in the leaves and branches swaying in the breeze, kissed by the golden slow of the setting sun. It was hard to imagine being anywhere else, walking up to a city street instead of the scene before him. He knew he felt he had to. He'd just have to trust it was the right decision. Somewhere in the distance he heard the laughter and squeaking of another confrontation, like so many he'd had before. He couldn't help but smile.

"You know, I'm...really gonna miss this."

Ephalin sighed.

"We'll...miss you too, Harse."