Spying on the elves from the comparative safety of the servants passage, Liaena’s eyes lit up as she watched Shani’s epic fail, and the subsequent loss of Donald. Running along the passage to let herself out into the hall outside the noisy living room, she stole up to the door to lurk expectantly behind it. 

And lurked.

And….lurked. 

"Shani, I got him! You can stop now!"

“……”

[i]“….DAMMIT, Rithrynn!”[/i]

There were many torrents of abuse that the small human would have liked to hurl at the well-meaning elf as she pondered what to do next. Turning the handle, Liaena crouched down to hide herself behind the door as she took a furtive peek inside. Thankfully, most elves in the room were more preoccupied at staring at mess that Shani had made of the dinner table, including Rithrynn, who was standing just inside the door with her back to her. 

*

“Uhhhh….Hi” Kathlin said uneasily as she looked over at Donald, who was being held in a pincer grip between Rithrynn’s fingers, in a very similar position to herself. The hesitation was born out of a strong sense that she should say something, if only to remain in character, but a subsequent difficulty in finding common ground with a man she had recently observed getting eaten by a Night Elf. 

“Look on the bright side. It could have been the other end?” 

What Donald would have said to that was unknown, as at that moment Rithrynn felt a hand unexpectedly grasp her ankle. Lying on her stomach outside the room, Liaena had reached into the room to coil her fingers around Rithrynn’s ankle, quietly lift her up and swing her foot around to send the Night Elf crashing to the floor with a squeal of surprise, mini-people flying everywhere with the incredibly inelegant landing. 

Free, Kathlin found herself dazed and sitting on the floor, only a foot away from where Donald had landed. Glancing over at Donald as the brawl Shani had caused went on behind them and chaos reigned supreme, the pair exchanged a single glance as they clambered to their feet, before turning to flee in opposite directions. 

For Donalds part, freedom was so very close. Racing towards the door, it had even been left open, a small gap between door and frame beckoning invitingly as if it had been left just for him, as he crawled through…

To be snatched up and stuffed into an empty stocking, shaken down into the end of the makeshift ‘sack’ as Liaena tied a knot in the open end. Dumping the now angrily kicking and shaking stocking into her satchel, she bolted for the servants passage as though all the hounds of hell were after her, which in a certain sense indeed they probably were, slamming the door behind her and ramming home the rusty bolt. 
*

“Uh-oh” Kathlin mumbled to herself quietly as she edged around the leg of an armchair, which under the current circumstances seemed to be the safest place she could find for herself for the moment. Picking up the satchel that Liaena had so carelessly thrown at her, she hurriedly thumbed through the contents, squinting at each label as she tried to make out the chicken-scratch writing.[i] “Shrink antidote, antidote….why do you never have antidotes, Li?”

“…..”

“….although I apparently have enough TNT to take the room with me, if it comes to that”[/i]