Not led by a cat (Solo)

[Keido]

12th-Fall-511 AV

The test with the Garden looked like it worked to Keido. He did not get lost following the cat. So either the garden had its efforts directed at him of the cat just had very good instincts. Keido decided that he will return to the garden today and see if there was some way he can trick the garden into letting him out without any problems.

What he knew about the garden so far was that it changed it routes a lot. It was not even going to hide the fact that it does it. In fact, it liked to do that right in front of his very eyes. The garden definitely did not like Keido a lot. But, if everything went well today Keido would not have to care about the garden. He will beat the garden and escape it by the end of the day if he was lucky.

But as always Keido did not want to focus on only one thing. So he brought some of his things with him. Only after a bit of practice he will start going through the garden. But now he will just let it lead him somewhere suitable to start from. Hopefully at the water fountain place he found himself last time. He started off too early today and needed some drink right now.

The garden just led him through. Opening and closing paths again right in front of him to coax him into turning here and there. But that did not matter much today. The garden can do this all it wanted to. Later though, Keido would run through and escape the garden despite its efforts to try and hinder him. Nothing it would try to do to him will affect him from making his escape.

After a while, Keido entered the clearing with the fountain and trees. He put his weapons down on the ground, trying to decide what to do first. A little smile started to appear on his face thinking of what would be the garden's reaction when it saw what he would be trying to do. Since his spear would be the surprise he had provided for the maze, he would save it for last. Which would mean using his net first.

There were quite a lot of targets for him around where he was fortunately. The garden had no shortage of birds who wanted to eat the produce on the plants. Every now and then a small animal like a dog or cat would also pass through. Still, it was strange there no people passed by. Either they knew better than to enter the garden or it was still playing around with them. Keeping them lost in the maze and away from each other. If it was the second reason then Keido would not be able to find anyone as long as the maze did not want them to meet.

Before starting with the net he decided to let the animals get more used to him. Keido went up to some bushes and started plucking their berries. Since he was not going to eat them he did not have to worry if they would have any effects on him in the long run. Gently picking them between his fingers, he put them into his arm which was held to his chest. After it got a little bit full he went to the trees. Pushing up on his feet to try and make himself taller when he reached out to the fruits.

Being a lot more bigger than the berries he would not have to be so careful in picking them. Keido decided to test the speed of his arms. Since he had to use his fists in his fights, he found that its speed had to match up with his reaction to be any good or he will find himself missing when he tries to attack or defend. Keido bent his arms down while looking at the fruits thinking of what order he should proceed with. The higher ones first or the lower ones.

His arm reached out as high as possible. Keido decided since his emphasis was on speed he should make sure that he can have a continuous grab at the fruits. Once he felt that his arm had stretched out as far as he could he swiped it at the fruit. Unfortunately, the fruit was too high and Keido's hand did not even get to touch it. So he continued the movement of hand. Diverting its movements to the side to make a grab at another fruit. Once his palm touched on to the fruit he wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it down breaking it off.

Keido took the fruit back to his cradled up arm and dropped it there. Quickly bending back his arm and throwing it up again as soon as it got empty. He reached for another fruit and grabbed it to put it into his arm quickly continuing on to grab as much as he could as fast as possible. Slowly stacking up on the fruits until the plie went high up.

[Keido]

Having collected all those things, Keido started to head over to some of the birds. On the way some of the berries started falling down to the ground and got wasted because of his greed. Since they were soft he did not have to worry about slipping on them when he had no choice but to step on them to pass through. He got very close to one of the birds which turned to look at him. After a few more steps it turned to look at the sky and started to flap its wings to fly away.

Keido tried again with another bird but the result ended up the same when it took off into the air. It looks like the birds did not like strangers coming close to them. His idea to befriend then to get close has failed even before it began since he could not get close to them. But if he could not get close to them then why not he try to make them get close to him?

He started off to another bird. Now the only difference was he stopped when the bird turned to look at him. Standing there he reached a hand into the pile on his arm and felt around for the big fruits putting one into his hands. Then he extended the fruit over to the bird and waited somemore. The bird turned its head from him to the fruit and started jumping towards it. Keido tensed up his arm not wanting to make any sudden movements for the bird. Even when the bird started pecking into it he did his best to hold it still until it was done.

After doing this, Keido would continue with the other birds. The same process continued until he had fed nearly half of the birds with nearly half of the pile in his arms. Before he ran out he went to the middle of the clearing and dumped the remaining fruits and berries on the ground. Scattering them as they rolled to the side. He watched around again to see that most of the birds turned their heads to it and started hopping closer but stopped at the corner and stood waiting.

Keido could see that the birds still did not trust him and began to back away from the scattered pile. He took a few steps back and turned his own head behind to find his net. Finding it he shifted his body to the side to change his path towards it and continued on backwards until he reached it. Upon reaching it he quickly picked it up to face the birds again.

The birds were still there. Quickly pecking at the berries and fruits to get their meal. Keido crept forward taking pains to not alert them. Taking care he did his best to try and avoid the scattered fruits on the ground to make sure he did not make a sound or trip over them towards the birds. Getting closer he started to hold his breath. Scared that even his breathing will alert them. But the birds still continued eating. Keido's efforts might have worked and now he would be able to try and get to do what he wanted to.

There were just too many birds spread out around the area that Keido did no know where he should aim at. He decided that he will be satisfied with one. Just one. He held out his net while trying to see just how he would want the net to land to capture the birds. There were the ones on the side that he might miss if he did not do this right but there were most in the center to make up for it.

He lifted his net up and held it in front of him to see how the birds all fit into it. As he had thought some of the ones on the side might be a problem since they were out of the corner of the net. Keido pulled on the sides of the net more to try and stretch it enough to fit them all in but with no success. So he would just let it fly. Keido threw the net up into the air and it started falling down. The shadowy ring growing bigger as it fell to circle around the birds on the ground.

It had taken too long. By the time the net reached the ground the birds already knew about it and jumped out of its range to fly off. Keido watched their flight in dismay until they landed on the surrounding plants. He had failed but then they were still here. He would still have a chance even if they did not trust him yet. Keeping this in mind he went and picked up his net again for another try.

[Keido]

With the net in hand Keido crept forward towards one of the birds with its back turned on him. He slowly put his foot forward and slowly stepped down on the grass to move forward as quietly as possible to catch the bird by surprise. But the net in his hands started to brush on the grass below to make a rustling sound which started to increase when it also bumped into the berries on the ground. The berries moved forward being pushed by the net and rustled the grass more. All the noise made caused the bird to turn back and catch Keido in the act of sneaking up on it and as always, the bird flew away.

He did not know what was the bird running away from more. Keido who had lost their trust when he threw the net or the net which was going to be used to capture them. But he knew what was able to bring the birds to him and it was those berries. Keido bent down and started picking whatever berries remained on the floor and putting them into one hand.

Keido opened his palms up to expose the berries to the bird as he extended his hand out to the bird while he kept his other hand with the net behind him hidden behind his back. With his efforts the bird fixed its eyes on the berries and started to move forward again. Once it was eating out of his hands, Keido gripped the net tighter. He would have to do something very fast so that the bird will not have a chance to escape.

He started to move his arm to circle around to the front. It curved around towards the bird which was his target. The net followed the direction Keido wanted it to go and started to come from the top of its head. Keido's arm went downwards but the net stopped at the bird's head. The sides of the nets however went down with the weights and blocking off the bird on all sides. The bird tried to shake it off and flap its wings but the mesh stopped it and it was stuck trapped on Keido's arm.

The problem with what he did was that Keido had his target too close and now the net had his arm as well. With an angry bird in there Keido began to have his hand pecked. He tried to move out of its way but there was only so many places it could go and some blood started to flow from where the bird pecked. Quickly Keido released the net and moved his hand to one of its sides. Pulling it up and over his arm to release the bird.

After that experience Keido knew that he would have to learn to keep his distance away so that he will not be affected by his own weapons. Keido bent down to pick up a fruit since it would take longer for the bird to eat compared to the berries and but him more time. Keido looked around for another bird and did his same attempt as earlier. Holding out the fruit and keeping his net hidden. Once he had the birds attention he put the fruit by it and left it there. Taking a few steps to back away from it to get some distance between them.

Once Keido saw that the bird was busy pecking away on the fruit, he lifted his net to test its response. The bird just continued pecking away at its meal and Keido lifted his net higher in front of him to see if the bird would fly away like all the others. Still it did not happen. So Keido took the opportunity and held the net downwards to try and get a good aim at the bird.

At the next moment, Keido threw his arms forward towards the bird and released the net. The net dragged through the wind very slowly in Keido's eyes as it reached towards the bird. At the moment of truth a cheer escaped Keido's mouth in celebration. Keido pulled the rope tied to the net towards him and with it forcing the bird to hop closer to outrun the sides of the net which was pushing on it.

Keido pulled the net away from the bird. Not he had tried short and long range but could he go further and without the handicap of keeping the bird in place with food? After that he looked around. Even without that handicap he should try it with a bird which looked like it would not escape fast. Like the fat one sitting on the branch. It will still be a moving target capable of escaping, but it will be good for trying out his new net on as well.

Moving up to the bird he tried to recall the distance that it normally took before the birds started to notice him and his net. Keido took the safe way out which was two steps of what he thought was the usual which must have been a good guess since the bird did not even flinch. After that he slowly extended the net forward to trace its path he wanted it to travel in the air and slowly brought it down behind him. He must have got into the area he did not want to because suddenly the bird started to turn its head. It was not or never. Hurriedly, Keido threw his arm up and released the net. It traveled high into the air and began to drop on the top of the bird. But as always the large movements wasted too much time for him and when it landed, even a fat bird was able to outrun him.

[Keido]

Realizing that his efforts with the net today will fail, Keido kept it away and decided to head back. From all the previous times with the maze it had been trying to get under his skin so he sat down. The easiest way to vent out his frustrations he found was just to let out his excess energy. So Keido shut his eyes to just concentrate on his efforts pulling back on his arms each time he inhaled and extended them forward each time to help him keep count.

As Keido took in more breaths he gradually switched up from normal repetitions to throwing straight punches forward by balling up his fists. Still following the rhythm set by his breaths he punched into the air feeling the strain from straightening his elbows. When Keido felt his heart beating harder on his chest he started to bend his arms to the side when he extended a punch to throw hooks at the air while following the fast breathing he had.

Keido was interrupted by the sound of chirping birds and fluttering wings around him. He opened his eyes only to see all the birds flying away. His actions might have been threatening them. Since his concentration was already broken, Keido decided to stand up. Keeping his net away and holding on to his spear when he went to the entrance of the clearing.

He looked left and right to see the paths which were open to him. Then Keido took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around his eyes. No weights on the spear today since he would be relying on speed to get him anywhere. To decide which route he should take Keido randomly spun around in place and stopped followed by extending his spear outwards and circling it around to feel if there was any obstacles. It was clear that his path was chosen already.

Ready to start Keido kicked to the sides to feel just how wide the hedges of the maze allowed him to move. Then holding one hand on the back of the spear and one hand on the middle he started to move his arm from side to side moving the spearhead in the opposite direction. Even blind he could hear the rustling of the leaves to give him an idea of just how far his spear could travel everytime it brushed on the leaves. Then Keido started to put his foot front and back in place along with the sound.

It was important to get the rhythm nailed down especially when each step he took would bring him closer to the end. One step too fast and he might not feel any obstacles in front of him in time to change directions or stop. Too slow and he would mistime his turns and crash into the hedge. Once Keido was sure of the accuracy of his timing, he extended his leg forward and pushed off the one behind. He was off to try and beat the maze.

Keido was off. Running blindly down the maze like a madman. He his only assurance that he was running down a straight line was everytime he was able to feel the pressure on his spear when he pushed it towards the hedge. When it felt just a little off by being too heavy or light, Keido knew that he was either not controlling his spear right or that he was walking narrowly. Because he still could not see he decided it was because of his lack of control and experience with the spear. His next steps during his run finally became very strange when he sometimes ran with putting his feet too far apart or too narrow. Almost slipping to the side sometimes but he stomped on his next step to try and keep him up.

Even with all that it was not advisable to run blind. Keido felt his spear being pushed more straight ahead and then suddenly his arm was brushing on wet leaves. By then it was too late to correct himself and Keido tried to slow down. Pulling back on his legs which were forcing themselves to go forward. Unfortunately for him it only made things worse because it allowed the hedges more chances to touch him longer and some of the branches dug into his arm. When he stopped he could feel liquid trickling down his arm.

He took off the blindfold only to find that he did not get very far ahead. To make things worse his arm was bleeding at a few points. The wounds might have been shallow but the long drag marks on his arm made it so that it did not matter. Keido took his blindfold and wrapped it over his arm. Tying it tight enough to stay on it but loose enough for him to continue handling the spear before deciding how he would continue.

[Keido]

It was clear that Keido could not run like this around the maze especially now that his blindfold is on his arm. The only good thing he can think from all of this was he could not see where he was going. That was counterbalanced by the bad thing that the maze was going to be able to lead him around again. Thinking through he decided that he did not want to run aimlessly in the maze since it will be just as bad as running blind.

Keido held the spear again while keeping the hand with the bleeding arm at the middle and the good hand on the back. The bleeding arm would hinder his movements a lot and cause unnecessary problems for controlling the spear. Testing how he could do this, Keido spun the hand at the back to spin the spear in front around. Even keeping his arm stiff it started to feel uncomfortable from the cuts which rubbed on the cloth. It was good that he decided to switch his arms before doing this.

Blinking his eyes to get used to how he will be seeing the maze, Keido shut his eyes. Again he swung the side to get used to his strength and speed in hitting the hedges on the side. Keido tried to remember the feel of how heavy the and how much the spear bent each time it his the hedge. Then when it felt as consistent as possible he closed his eyes still continuing the consistent hitting as well as he could though some ended up harder than others.

On the next hit at the hedge Keido put out a foot and pulled his body forward. On the next hit he sent his other foot forward and continued running down the path on each hit. Everytime he felt that he was going to hit the side he peeked with an eye open. Unfortunately everytime he did this he opened his eyes only in time to see the hedge to the side opening and the ones in front closing. The maze has already started toying with him. It might have already been doing this when his eyes was closed but he rather he did not know about it.

Keido stopped running after a long time seeing hedges shifting and changing right in front of him. At this rate he was not going to be able to escape this maze today like he planned. Keido started to look around and then looked back at his arm. The wound finally dried up so he should be able to use the blindfold again if only he did not mind the smell and feeling of dried blood from the cloth on his eyes as well. He decided to keep it there after he was that while looking down he could see his legs but not the hedges on the side. There might be hope for him right now then.

The spear was held straight forward again with Keido's eyes to the ground right now. He would be practically blind when it comes to looking at the maze but still be able to keep a straight path down the middle. Keido started running down the path again while keeping himself straight through feeling the spear on the hedge. But the maze will never get to trick him now since his eyes could only see two things. The foot which goes to the front and the foot which goes to the back as he ran through the maze.

Because Keido was used to how the pressure felt in his hands everytime he hit the hedge he was able to tell when he had to look up to turn. Once he felt that his spear hit nothing but air he quickly moved his head up to take a look at the opening for him to turn to and quickly put his foot into the new path before the maze could close it off. Then going through he would put his eyes downwards again to watch how his feet moved in the middle of the path again.

This method was mostly effective to Keido except for a few problems. One was that while he kept swing the spear from side to side he began to get tired very fast. No doubt this would help improve his control over the spear but even in a real fight he won't be doing something like this. The second was when he got tired his control over the spear started to get less. Eventually he started to swing the spear too hard. The spear went digging into the hedge and opening a huge hole in it, or the maze just opened it up when he was not looking. It always ended up with the spear going straight through and Keido crashing into the hedges.

Eventually he started to get so tired that his arms started to swing the spear slowly. In his eyes he could see that his feet were getting slower as well having to keep up with the rhythm of the spear being swung. His legs got heavier and each step started to get louder as he passed through. His heavy arms got his spear to drop as he swung the spear and it dug into the ground. When this happened Keido was forced into a halt and no longer able to run he turned his head up to look at where he was.

What he found right in front of his eyes was some fruits over a tree. Tired, hungry and thirsty Keido quickly reached out and plucked one of them to eat on the spot. Done and satisfied he looked at the path he was on to decide where he should go. He needed to rest. Either to get to the fountain clearing again or back to the inn. When he looked to the side he was it. It was the entrance. Without thinking much about what this meant Keido quickly got out and started walking to return to the inn.

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Keido XP Award: Tactics- 1 Net- 3 Observation- 2 Meditation- 1 Unarmed Combat- 1 Spear- 2 Lore: Art of fruit picking Playing with the maze Catching a bird Going through the maze blind Notes: Going blind through a maze doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do, especially when the maze is constantly shifting and changing the paths. It wasn’t technique that got him out, but luck. Pure, luck. Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM