It brought a small amount of relief to Larea that most of her companions weren't faring much better than she. Being rather unfamiliar with physical work, Larea had neither the speed nor stamina of their Ahketan ally; she stayed ahead of Riu at least, but lagged well behind the rest, even Learin. Her chosen path was interesting, to say the least. Rather than eluding them in the nearby forest, she chose to stay out in the open.. though the terrain was rather uneven, so it may have been the right move after all. Ahmaht was the only one not getting tripped up by the numerous peaks and valleys along their path. There may not have been as much visual cover, but the odds of anyone but him catching her were nonexistent.<br/><br/>Eventually, Larea could see Ahmaht corner the girl at the top of a tall cliff overlooking the lake. Larea breathed as much of a sigh of relief as her lungs could handle, and slowed her pace a bit; her legs and lungs both were nearing collapse, and it was unlikely Larea herself would be of much help now that the thief had been apprehended. Or... not? She was too far away to see details, but the telltale red hair disappeared from sight, and Ahmaht turned to the group shortly afterward. It seemed as though the amulet had been recovered, though, which was a relief. Larea followed the examples of everyone else when they finally arrived, and collapsed onto her knees, letting her legs splay out to either side as she attempted to recover from the exertion.<br/><br/>--------<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Perhaps, but I am not most men."</span><br/><br/>The captured thief looked the Ahketan up and down as they exchanged words, biting her lip involuntarily. "I'll say.." Now that she was up close..<span style="font-style: italic">damn.</span>Unfortunately, now wasn't the time to be thinking of glistening Ahketan muscles.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"And by the looks of it, you aren't most ladies. Perhaps you won't steal next time we meet and I'll give you a little gift."</span><br/><br/>"A little gift? Ooh, will it get bigger when I touch it?" she chuckled. He started turning to drag her away as she spoke, and that's when she made her move, lifting her legs further up off the ground and planting them against his chest while also hooking her fingers around the pouch tied to his waist. "I'll hold you to it!" With a push, she said her final words to him and flew backwards off the ledge, clipping the pouch to her belt and falling about a dozen feet before catching herself against the cliffside. Not wasting a moment, she scrambled down the rocks with deft ease, reaching the shoreline in mere moments and dashing off into the trees. Once she was a safe distance, she came to a stop against a tree, resting her legs and consolidating all of her newfound coin. "A strange job, to be sure.. I might have to keep an eye on them now.."