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Their laughter filled the forest as they ran through the trees, hopping across streams and brooks, skipping past dense bushes, jumping over gnarled tree roots. A woman and a man, yet these beautiful beings were not human. Their faces were more elongated than a man or woman's, smiles wider, eyes larger, rounder, greener.
They moved among the natural obstacles effortlessly, long toes hardly touching the ground, hands and feet seeming to almost fade into whatever they came into contact with as they swept past trees and boulders. They played a game as old as time, the man chasing the woman tirelessly, the woman gaily eluding capture.
As she skipped out from view behind a large cluster of heavy boulders blotchy with dark green moss, her laughter was abruptly muted. The man followed suit, ceasing all noise, and walked up to the strange hill. As he reached it, he quickly leapt up to the top of the lowest boulder, not eliciting a whisper of sound. He hopped from boulder to boulder, flying through the air over distances no normal being could manage. As he made his way up, the boulders gradually grew together to form a hill of rock, and he changed his gait to a loping run to suit the terrain.
After the summit, the hill dropped off steeply, forming a small cliff. With but a glance, the man vaulted over the edge head first, his form slicing cleanly through the air. Landing on his left hand a hundred feet below, he pushed back up and, twisting mid-air, somersaulted onto his feet. He glanced around for his prey, but, frustrated, found nothing. He stood there silently, and closed his eyes, ears pricked, detecting every movement in a far-reaching circle around him. Still, nothing.
He opened his eyes and began to walk forward - and let out a short, sharp gasp as he felt a hand swat his bare rear end. He turned, grinning, and there she was. He reached out for her, but she jumped backward, skipping easily out of his grasp. She turned and sped away, laughing in mirth, and he set out chasing her again.
As he followed he began to notice differences in her. Her long brown hair was fuller, darker, sleeker, as it fanned out behind her. Her strangely iridescent body was more shapely, more sun blest, more… ethereal. She was stronger, faster, healthier - he could tell she was toying with him, allowing him to keep up.
His curiosity was aroused - he had to know why she was different than before, and he increased his pace until they were both whistling through the air, leaving dust and leaves floating in the air in their wake. Still, she showed no sign of losing vigor, no sign that she was no longer playing, letting him keep up with her. He had to know.