<em>I think</em>, the fox said,<em> we are being followed.</em><br/><br/>"Then head down, and there it stays," Aza suggested, helpfully putting a palm over the fox's face and shoving it back into the recesses of the bag.<br/><br/><em>But it's hot,</em>complained the fox, immediately peeking back over the edge, keeping its ears flat as it scanned the streets around them.<br/><br/>"So walk," the girl sighed, knowing that it was better to be too hot but carried than a more comfortable temperature but on one's own feet, and that the fox would choose to stay off the ground. Aza sure as hell wouldn't be walking -- well, jogging, almost scrambling -- if there had been any other option.<br/><br/><em>Hmph</em>, opined the fox. It was right about the heat, though; the sun had risen swiftly, and outside of the shade, their cloak was very warm indeed. Or was it just because everything about the shadows seemed more appealing as of recently? It would probably be a quicker trip if they were both fox-shaped, able to slink through people and structures alike, but Aza wasn't quite ready to abandon what remained of her worldly possessions. Some of the items were only manifest shadow and would probably reform, but a few, like the bag, would have to be left for good.<br/><br/><em>Getting closer,</em>the fox announced.<br/><br/>"They are, or we?"<br/><br/><em>Both</em>.<br/><br/>Aza hmph'd too, and made a hard left. The streets were narrowing, becoming twistier and more difficult to navigate towards what she was sure was Donovan, but every step nearer to him felt a little more certain, because she could feel<em>him</em>. And he felt distressed. Because of her?<br/><br/><em>Yes, partly,</em>mused the fox, and Aza was annoyed. If anything was troubling Don, it felt like it should probably be her -- and her alone. Especially since there was no Dean around to do it.<br/><br/><em>Almost there... Hurry.<br/></em><br/>"Am I<em>not </em>hurrying?" Aza snapped at her little companion, slipping down the spiral of a brick stairway and listening for any footfalls that followed. A quick cut through a walled garden and across another alleyway or two, and...