Boosted Continuation – A new world

Fey wanted to get used to her humanoid body, while Sophia was looking forward to some more training. Combining those plans with each other, the fox-girl suggested a manhunt, which basically was hide and seek with extra steps and assisted by some basic but non-destructive magic, as the blonde didn’t want her cherry blossom forest to get destroyed by the two letting loose.

“I like how she’s already lost the challenge of paying attention to details before we even started.” Humanoid Fey was speeding through the cherry blossom forest while lightly chuckling to herself as she nimbly avoided every obstacle in her way. “We can use detection magic, silly girl. I know exactly where you are.”

Continuing to run straight towards the fleeing tiger, the red fox-girl quickly got used to her new body, causing her to be able to speed even more, and she caught up with the blonde after not even 20 minutes.

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“How are you here already?!” Once Sophia noticed the fox-girl appearing behind her, she immediately started panicking. “That’s not possible!"

“I told you that I’m faster than you.” Fey sounded extra smug with her reply.

“Even if that were true, there are limits!” She didn't believe her. “I ran in a completely random pattern to make it impossible for you to find me!”

“Well, that didn’t work out for you, didn’t it?”

“You still have to actually ca-, W-WOAH!” The tiger was about to speed up when a root shot out of the ground right in front of her feet. Not having enough time to react, Sophia tripped and fell on the floor.

“You were saying?” The little fox-girl jumped at the tiger on the floor, landed on top of her, and pinned her down. “Prey caught!”

"I have to be honest; getting pinned down by you wasn't on my bucket list for today." Sophia had no idea how else to react.

“Shush.” Fey lightly glared at her. “Don't ruin my victory.” Afterward, she let go of the blonde’s wrists she was pushing down and then swiftly climbed off her again.

“You are insane!” Sophia lifted her back and sat down cross-legged in front of the fox-girl, who had done the same in response.

“You’re just a lot slower than you thought you were.”

“Urgh!” The passionate runner took a lot of damage from that.

“That being said, I’m a little disappointed.” She shook her head. “Even Steph held out longer during the manhunts we had. I was in my full form, too. Not in the rusty girl version I am right now.”

“There’s nothing rusty about you!” The tiger got loud. “Also, there’s no way! I'm exercising with Steph a lot, and she has never won against me once!"

“I said she held out longer, not that she’s faster.” Fey smiled at her with a smug reaction.

"We're running away from each other! Being faster is all that counts!" Sophia started pouting.

“It’s certainly important, but being smart is key.”

“How is being smart going to help you here?”

“Steph remembered that I could use detection magic before we started our first chase."

“…” The blonde went silent. “Ah.”

“Do you remember how all of this started because I want to make you think before you act?” The fox-girl slowly shook her head.

“I, uhh… To be fair, I was so concerned about my forest that I only thought about rules to save it from you.”

“How happy are you with that excuse?” Fey didn’t seem to be overly content with it.

“I’ve had better excuses before.” She awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Wait! You said no special overseer magic! That’s why I turned off all my information over my domain and where everything is, too!”

“So? Fen’s the one who invented the regular detection magic. It’s basically just a hyper-focused version of the magic instinct every living being with enough authority has.”

“I see.” The tiger hung her head. “Then again, it doesn’t seem like me using it would’ve helped, huh?”

"Not when I'm allowed to use it, too." Fey shook her head. “At best, it would’ve taken me a little longer to get you.”

"What was even the point of the chase in the first place, then?" Sophia looked confused again. “Besides the lesson of being more thoughtful before agreeing on something.”

“I think that alone is already a big thing.” She didn’t share her disappointment. “When Steph and I do the hunt, we simply ban that, too, and only rely on our instincts to find the other. Magical support is allowed as long as it stays reasonable, like using the wind to find the other.”

“That sounds like it could work.”

“Do you want to try again?” The fox wanted to give her another chance.

“What’s Steph’s record?”

“Two hours and 17 minutes.”

“Not bad, sis!” She was proud of her for a moment. “Wait, until she was found or caught?”

“Caught.”

“Alright, I’m looking forward to getting pinned down by you again in two hours and 18 minutes!”

“I like the confidence combined with a healthy amount of realism.”

“Alright, let’s go!” Sophia jumped back on her feet and turned around.

“Okay, you have five minutes again.” Fey also stood up. “Though, this time, I really will give you only those five and not ten like earlier.”

“Wait, what?!” The blonde froze in her tracks. “It took you only 20 minutes to catch me earlier! That was after you waited ten?!”

“Yup~.” The fox-girl liked her shocked reaction. “I can’t wait until I get fully used to my body.”

“YOU’RE SCARY!”

“Thank you very much.” It was a compliment for her.

Once the advanced set of rules was put in place, Sophia got ready and disappeared into the forest as fast as she could.

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“Should I point out the other four mistakes she made once I catch her, or should we just enjoy it for today? I’m starting to understand her a little, so it might be best to let her act a little more before I try some more things.” Fey kept herself busy while she was waiting for the five minutes to be over.

“Okay, let’s see, she disappeared in that direction." It was getting close to the time limit, and the fox-girl was getting ready to start the chase. “Hmm.” She closed her eyes and stood motionlessly for a couple of moments before she turned to her left. “She’s so loud! Aren’t tigers supposed to be silent hunters? There’s just no way she’s going to last over two hours like that.”

“Fair enough, I can't hear her here anymore just after the five-minute mark passed." Fey was still looking in the same direction before she got going. "Let's see how long it takes before that changes again." With that being said, she sprinted into the jungle and sped towards the area where she last heard Sophia.

“Alright, time for another try.” After having run in the direction she last heard Sophia for around five minutes, the fox-girl stopped and closed her eyes again to better focus on her hearing abilities. “She changed direction, huh?” She turned around 90 degrees to her right after listening to her surroundings for a while. "Still, so loud, that girl!"

“She’s picked up her pace, huh?” Fey made another stop after around 15 minutes of running to check if she was getting closer. “I would’ve expected to have visuals on her by now. Okay, I'm significantly slower because I'm focusing on being silent but still." She tilted her head while looking around. “I can still hear that clumsy oaf, though. She’s like a whirlwind, fast but destroying every twig in her path.” The fox-girl rolled her eyes before adjusting her position a little to her left before starting to run again. “And she warned me about not destroying this place.”

“Okay, I have to give her props for this. I didn’t think she’d hold out that long.” 20 minutes later, the red fox took another break to get an update on the situation. “In fact, I can’t even hear her anymore. Has she gotten far enough to get outside my hearing range? She shouldn’t be, though.” Closing her eyes once more, Fey then concentrated extra hard and stood there motionlessly for around a minute. “Aha!” Sounding triumphant, she immediately bolted deeper into the forest to her right.

"Hmm, something is not right here." It had been an hour in total since she started her chase, and the fox-girl was getting an odd feeling. “How does she keep getting away from me? Also, why do I only hear her every now and then? It should be a constant noise.” She went silent for a moment. “Right now, I don’t hear a single thing. Is she trying the same? Hear me and then adjust her direction based on that? She shouldn't be able to hear me, though. Wait! Is she tricking me with those sounds?!” Her eyes grew wide, and at that moment, she heard two different noises from different directions. “That little…” Having come to that realization, Fey sped in the direction right between the two sounds she heard.

Afterward, she kept going like that for around half an hour while making frequent stops to listen for new noises and trying to triangulate them to find the source. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be working, and she had to come up with a new way to find and catch the tiger, who appeared to be more elusive than she had initially thought.