Closed Hunting a Runaway (Khara)

[Sira]

Timestamp: 28th of Spring, 515 AV

"Are you sure you don't want someone with more experience, Endal Sira? I could come along, or I could send one of the more experienced scouts with you."

Sira made a face and cocked her head to the side, pretending to think about the decision. She didn't need to, she knew who she wanted. But it amused her to pretend to entertain the idea of someone else.

"Hmm.. let me think. ...nope. I want Khara. Send her to me when she gets in."

"Yes, Endal Sira. I will."

"Good. Tell her I'll be just outside the gates."

Sira turned and started to leave but paused for a moment to add, "Oh, and make sure she brings her gear and her bow." Sira didn't know if they would actually need any weapons, she didn't think so, but it was best to be prepared. Plus.. well, what they were after might decide to fight back. She hoped not, but it might. There was a reason she was trying to track it down, afterall.

She was actually in a rather good mood despite everything and practically skipped all the way to the city gates. Sira was wearing her usual hunting gear, bow, quiver, her sword, her pack with food, water, and basic survival gear. Of course Sira could simply shift and fly away if she ever got lost in the wild, and she could survive much better in Wind Eagle form in the wilderness than she could as a human. But Khara couldn't. She wasn't planning on them being out for long, but in the Unforgiving you never really knew.

Sira glanced toward the stables as she neared him, vaguely wondering if the horse boy was in there. She remembered the way they were with each other the last time she'd seen them both. She didn't really feel like dealing with the horse boy though, Sira was curious about Khara. She'd impressed Sira more than once, and Sira wanted to see more of her. ..technically Zhol had impressed her too, but it was annoying trying to communicate with him. Plus, well, she just couldn't get over the horses. She hoped Khara wasn't going to ramble on about horses. Why would you want to ride something on the ground when you had feet that worked perfectly well? Sira could understand why people wanted to ride wind eagles. People couldn't fly.. well, unless they were Sira, or other flying kelvics. Flying was awesome, so naturally, people would want to ride wind eagles. But people could walk and run by themselves. She supposed horses were faster and stronger.. but still, it seemed unnecessary. And dirty. At least eagles cleaned themselves regularly.

Sira passed through the gates, not going to the stables, though she could smell them. Dirty horses. She didn't really have a particular spot to wait in mind, so she just found a nice rock to sit on well within view of the exit and sat down to wait. Hopefully Khara wouldn't be too long.

[Khara]

"Why would an Endal want you?" The question was fair enough, Khara supposed, but the accusatory nature certainly didn't feel right. Especially not coming from one of her fellow scouts.

She eyed the boy curiously, though couldn't quite hide the apologetic hint there as well. He wasn't much older than her, had been a scout as long as she could remember, but they never really talked. Truth was, she was having trouble even remembering his name and that wasn't helping matters any at all. "I don't know," Khara replied sheepishly.

"Only Orthin or the other senior scouts go with with Endals alone. And you aren't nearly as good as they are."

"He has the day off-" Khara began but the other Chiet cut her off.

"Owlshyke. They would have just asked for him and he'd go anyway. Just like you come when you're called by that crazy huntress." He practically spat in reply, contempt worming it's way into his voice.

"She's not crazy." The words left her in a way that was entirely unusual for the girl. A bitter edge to them, a hint of a warning, and spoken with a strange calm that even surprised herself. Whatever look had appeared in her eyes must have been quite different from her usual as well; as unnerving as hearing the strange tone come out of her, the sudden shocked look that flickered across the other game scout's features was far more telling.

"You've changed." He managed to retort as soon as his composure was regained. Whatever she had done clearly hadn't phased him enough as the words left him as venomously as his initial comments.

The continued aggression dissolved her sudden flare of confidence and left Khara with little else than the feeling of wanting to shrink away. "I-I need to go," she half mumbled and finally made the move to step around where the older scout had blocked her path from where their kind usually congregated in the mornings to find out their particular tasks. She only managed to take two steps away from the boy before she looked over her shoulder, a deep breath sucked in before the girl spoke again, ignoring every warning not to. "Also, change is good."

It had sounded laughably pitiful as it left her, but Khara still felt at least a small sliver of pride at having at least attempted to stand up for herself for a change. The other scout had scoffed, but Khara couldn't help but wonder if Azira would have nodded approvingly or if Zhol would have grinned in that silly way he did whenever she stopped acting like a startled chick.

Her pack was adjusted on her shoulders, a normal habit made up of accommodating the different weight it could take on depending on how much gear it had within. She'd been slowly removing items from the overnight excursion that had gone a bit awry only a few days earlier, constantly trying to once again find the balance between what she needed and what she might need while keeping everything manageable. Khara still wasn't entirely sure she'd achieved that perfect ratio just yet and the backpack seemed a bit lighter than it perhaps should have, but she knew she had the essentials to survival covered at the very least. It felt good to actually have been told to bring her bow for a change, as well. Not that she ever really left Wind Reach without it, but usually it seemed a bit of an unnecessary precaution; unwanted too, at least by some of the hunters she accompanied.

Either way, Khara felt as ready as she guessed she ever would be to answer the summons from an Endal. It wasn't just any Endal though, but Sira. That helped the scout to not be an entire mess when she finally reached the gates. As much as her experience with the Dire Kelvic had been limited, it had been enough to move Sira from the realm of respected-because-obligated into something far more genuine. If nothing else it made it so she was actually looking forward to seeing what Sira had in mind for them rather than her usual apprehension. That didn't mean the scout was exactly calm about it either, but it was nice to feel a more excited sense of anxiety than the more typical fearful kind.

As soon as she was free of the warrens, Khara's eyes swept the area just outside, lingering perhaps a bit too long towards the stables than she really ought to, but they moved away in short enough order until they fell on Sira. The Chiet hurried over on light steps to where the Endal sat waiting. All excitement aside, she still managed to remember what was usually expected of her and her eyes were quickly averted downwards. She briefly caught sight of her hands coming together, fingers of her right hand pinching together to idly run against the rough edge of a fingernail on the opposite hand.

"I'm sorry if I have kept you waiting long, Endal Sira." It didn't matter if Khara had or hadn't, or that she had come as quickly as she could and knew there hadn't been more than a few chimes between when she had been told to go and that moment; if any inconvenience had been made it was her fault. Maybe an Avora could have gotten away with thinking otherwise, but the game scout wasn't about to press her luck.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Sira]

If it weren't for the smell of the horses, the earthy grassy scent mingled with grain, sweat, and manure, Sira would have found her rock to be a most perfect of places to wait. The sun warmed the surface of the stone, and she wanted nothing more than to simply shed her clothes and bask in the sun for the rest of the morning. But she didn't, of course. She did lean back and close her eyes, breathing shallowly and enjoying the early morning radiance. The sun may have been Syna, but radiance was Priskil's domain. Sira whispered a happy prayer to her goddess, asking for nothing in particular, but simply thanking her for giving her strength through the hard times she'd so recently suffered.

Soon enough Khara arrived and Sira's eyes snapped open, a smile spreading on her lips as the young woman began to speak. Sira found it endearing, though she knew that it wasn't simply a quirk of personality that made Khara that way. It was the unfortunate way of things in Wind Reach that the lower castes did not speak the same way with those above them as they would with those of the same rank. Sira couldn't say that she did not sometimes encourage that very thing. She was not always particularly kind to the dek, though never truly cruel, and the chiet and avora were expected to know their place. Of course, their place depended on how much Sira liked them, and those she liked had much more freedom than those she did not know or like.

"It's alright. I was just enjoying the sunrise."

Sira glanced down at her hand, noting that her gnosis mark was glowing as well. Had Priskil heard her prayer and answered? Sira smiled yet further and looked back up to Khara, her eyes glimmering happily. It was a good day.

"Well, come along. Let's go. We've got some hunting to do."

Sira turned and let Khara off down the road, veering off the path after a short distance and down into the rocks and steep slopes that made up the side of the mountain. They reached a small cliff and Sira stopped, waiting for Khara to reach her side, then pointed down the mountain toward the treeline.

"So, what we're after went that way. She's about.. this big." Sira held her hand off the ground to show the height of what they were hunting, "Looks to be about thirteen or fourteen. I told you to bring your bow, but that's not for her. The bow is just in case we run into trouble from anything else. She's not to be hurt.. though if she attacks us, you have permission to fight back. Just don't kill her."

Sira glanced over at Khara, knowing she was probably confused. Sira still hadn't really explained what it was they were hunting. She pointed at a patch of soft ground, a child's booted footprint plainly visible in the dirt. Then she pointed down at the treeline.

"We're hunting my daughter. You probably can't see them from up here, but her foot prints go in there. I lost track of them after that. I don't trust any of the other scouts to help me find her. So.. let's get down there and start looking."

[Khara]

It was good to find the Endal in such good spirits and her smile and attitude were a bit infectious as Khara found herself smiling in turn. As much as Khara knew she was quite susceptible to finding herself effected by others' strong emotions, she couldn't help but wonder if the glowing symbol on the back of Sira's hand had something to do with it. The scout knew little of the mark, but could recall other times where she had been around the Kelvic woman and had experienced inexplicable surges in courage and other positive emotions. Whatever the reason, it helped to put the Chiet at ease a bit, though not so much that she entire dropped the respected attitude she was to carry around the highest caste.

Sira was the sort of Endal that Khara hoped many of the others were actually like. She had shown the ability for leadership that the girl genuinely felt respectful of, rather than the sort that was simply demanded. There was curiosity there as well, for the woman who was both Eagle and Endal in one. Not that the Chiet had the mind to ask her anything, but she suspected she'd learn more by just being around the woman all the same.

As they set out Khara listened intently, even if the instructions were confusing. While the explanation finally came in the form of a boot print and Sira together, it only shifted the confusion. Sira's daughter? She hadn't even known the Endal had a daughter. Hunting her, though? Why did they need to do that? Surely the girl would return in the evening just as all the others did. Unless...

Khara tried to push the thought out of her mind. Someone running away from Wind Reach seemed a horrible thought and Khara didn't even want to try and guess why anyone would do such a thing. Sira had said one thing that completely drove out the need for questions, though, I don't trust any of the other scouts to help me find her. Khara wasn't sure what she had done to earn that opinion, but she was determined to keep it. If Sira trusted her with the task then she no doubt would trust her with whatever information was necessary to complete it.

She nodded her head in understanding, not entirely trusting herself to speak out of fear that once she started it would be difficult to stop. Her eyes followed the tree line and she frowned a bit as they began walking towards it. Khara could only guess that Sira's sight was far more keen than her own and if she lost sight of the tracks then it would be a difficult trail to find. Hopefully not impossible, though.

There were some questions, however, that did need to be asked. Khara could only hope she could phrase them in a way that wouldn't seem too prying. She didn't want to sound like she was just asking about an animal, but she didn't want to make it too personal, either.

"Do you know when she set out?" Khara asked, trying to keep the surprise of what - who - they were after out of her voice. "Or... Where she could be heading?"

She cringed a bit at her second question. It sounded far too obvious to a point where she felt stupid for asking. If Sira knew where her daughter was going then of course she wouldn't have needed the scout. Though, it was a fair question... There could have been many paths that she could take depending on where the girl was headed and many obstacles that could have come up that prevented her from reaching her destination.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Sira]

"I don't know where she is headed, and I doubt she really knows either," Sira answered as they approached the tree line. "She left last night, just before sunset. It was getting dark when I went after her so.. I lost the trail. I'm not very good at this ground tracking thing anyway. But I won't be able to spot her from the air. She knows what I look for, so she'll keep out of sight."

They reached the spot that Sira indicated from above and Sira knelt. The foot prints were there, a pretty nice set of them. They went off into the trees, where it became more difficult to track them, at least for Sira. She wasn't particularly worried, however. Natalie could take care of herself, it was just a matter of finding her before she decided to risk shifting.

"Something else you you know. Natalie, that's her name, is like me. A Kelvic. Not a wind eagle, but a Kestrel. Basically a really small falcon. Also she hates me.. But that's a long story. She's been acting out, causing trouble in the city, so the Valintar had her collared. Well, sort of. That's what we call it when you make it to where a Kelvic can't safely shift. For me, it would be an actual collar. For her it's piercings in her arms. They don't bother her in human form, but they're too heavy in bird form and she can't fly. Plus.. it's just dangerous to shift with piercings in. It's why I don't wear any. Makeup too, gets all over the feathers and sometimes in the eyes. Anything too fancy just gets in the way or, for me, gets destroyed when I shift. Anyway, she's stuck in human form unless she figures out a way to get the piercings out, so we should be able to track her."

Sira stood and pointed off into the trees then started forward. She moved slowly, cautiously, not wanting to disturb anything, and kept her eyes trained on the ground. Was that a foot print? No.. Oh, a broken twig? Wait, no, it was just growing funny. So much easier when you could just fly above and spot your prey running around, but Natalie wouldn't be that stupid. Sira glanced over at Khara, making sure she was coming along.

"You're better at this than me, so you should probably take the lead."