[The Bronze Wood] Bright 'n Early (Tomas)

[Eris]

54th Day of Spring, 510 A.V. Eris leaned against a tree trunk, feeling the rough bark dig into her shoulder blades. She closed her eyes briefly, savoring the atmosphere. She could almost hear Joel’s voice in her head: Mornings are the best time to start something new. They’re also the best time to climb out a tavern window before your gambling buddy realizes that you cheated him out of ten gold mizas the night before. Her lips quirked up in a smile at the memory. It has been two years since she’d seen Joel and two years since she’d had any proper training. The only practice she’d gotten in anything was on the job, but that always brought an undue amount of stress. She needed a controlled environment – somewhere where messing up wouldn’t mean death. A slight breeze cut through the morning air, waking her from her reverie. She scanned the road to her left and the forest edge to her right. She wondered which way the Kelvic would arrive. She squinted, trying to see into the depths of the forest. Sunlight played off the branches of the nearby trees, but deeper in, the light seemed to wither and fade uncertainly. The narrow road leading to this part of the Bronze Woods seemed deserted at the moment, with the only other living thing there besides Eris, being her horse. Eris smiled slightly at the animal grazing a few feet to her right. Rhine looked to be the most content she’d been in weeks, chewing on the lush, green grass without a care in the world. Eris felt glad to have brought her along. She hoped Rhine would stay put during their little training session. The horse usually stayed where Eris left her, almost always refusing to be tied up. Eris’s gaze flicked back and forth between the road and the wood. Her senses were heightened and she felt at the top of her game. She’d forgotten how good it felt to bask in the sunlight as opposed to the shadows of the night.

[Tomas]

Tomas stretches his legs out in front of him, flexing his paws and digging his claws into the cool dirt. He'd spent the night in the forest, unworried about anything coming upon him. Few woodland creatures would bother a large wolf, even if it was sleeping lazily with his tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth, leaving a small puddle of drool next to it. Such are the advantages of being a predatory Kelvic out in nature. But now the sun was shining, and despite its relaxing warmth Tomas knew he had to get up. The gentle breeze which felt so good blowing through his fur had also brought him news of his friends arrival. He smelled the horse first, but could catch a faintly familiar human scent on the air as well. Yes, it was definetly time to get up.

After a few more minutes of laying Tomas finally rises to his feet, shifting as he does so. He runs his fingers though his short hair, pulling a few twigs of grass from it, then retrieves his clothing and heads to the forests edge. He wasn't far from the road, only a few yards, and so when he stepped out of the tree's he spotted her immediately and waved with a silly grin on his face, then quickly ran over.

"Good to see you again, m'lady. Beautiful morning, isn't it?"

((Still don't have internet at my house, but I didn't feel like waiting. friends and family's interent will have to do. ))

[Eris]

Eris jumped slightly, her head whipping to look at the man who had seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her eyes were resting on the road a few seconds before. So, when the kelvic appeared out of the woods, it was quite a surprise. Rhine raised her nose from amid the grass lazily, assessing the newcomer. Apparently deciding that he did not post much of a threat to her, the horse went back to grazing.

“Good morning, Tomas, ” she replied with a slight inclination of her head, feeling as close to cheerful as she ever came.

“So,” she began, loosening her arms at her sides as if she was preparing for a fight, “How do you want to do this?”

She had no idea how one went about learning tracking in the wilderness. It couldn’t be that different from tailing a target through the city streets, could it? A glance at the dense packs of trees and muddy ground told her that indeed, it was quite different.

[Tomas]

Tomas had never taught anyone to track before, or to do anything really, so he wasn't completely sure of the best way to do it, but he figured he'd just start with the basics and go from there.

"Well, that depends. Do you want to learn to track a person or an animal? There are some differences, but the basics are the same with either. ...So I guess we'll start with the basics."

Tomas motions for her to follow him, then turns and heads off into the trees. He walks slowly, explaining as he goes. "When you first start off, you're going to be slow.. in fact, when tracking by sight I'm not really all that fast myself. But you get better with more experience." Tomas stops and kneels, waving his hand over the ground immediately before him. "Everything you do leaves a mark, whether you're an animal or a person. Sometimes animals are harder to track because they are used to moving through the forest, but sometimes they can be easier. Animals never try to cover their tracks, and when frightened they won’t worry about where they step. People, on the other hand can be tricky."

Tomas stands and takes a step to the side, pointing at the spot where his foot was before. "When they're not trying, people leave obvious signs. They have footprints that are easy to spot, and usually don't think about what they're stepping on." Tomas motions for Eris to kneel next to him. "The ground here is pretty soft, so this is a perfect footprint. You can tell that I was barefoot because you can see a clear indention of the heel and toes. But..." Tomas points to one of Eris' footprints. "...a shoe is even better. Nothing in nature has a footprint like that, and so if you ever see one there is no mistaking that you are definitely looking a person's footprint. I know that's kind of obvious.. but that’s an important thing to remember. If you know what kind of shoes your target is wearing, it may help you identify their prints from any others that may be around."

Tomas looks Eris in the eye then grins. "Course... having a keen sense of smell helps also."

[Eris]

Eris followed closely behind Tomas, listening intently. “I’m more interested in tracking a person.”

She knelt beside him, observing the indentation his foot had made in the ground. Indeed, it was a very clear-cut footprint – one that would be quite easy to spot. Her gaze darted from his footprint to hers, trying to gage all the similarities and differences. She nodded as he talked, taking in all the information , even if it did some a little obvious.

Once he was finished speaking, she asked, “Is there a way to tell how much time had elapsed since the footprint was made? If the prints, haven’t been washed away, that is.”

[Tomas]

Tomas thinks a moment then shakes his head. "Not that I know of.. there are some things that might help to tell if a trail is cold, but they aren't guarantees. Depending on where you are, the trail could get disturbed. If there is a light snow and the track is mostly filled in, then the track might be old. But that depends on how much it was snowing. Same goes for sand, leaves, and stuff like that. If the track has been covered in leaves or other debris, then it might be old. But then again, a big wind might have kicked up or the person might be intentionally covering their trail."

Tomas looks around for a few minutes before picking up a stick about two feet long. "Okay, moving on." He kneels next to one of Eris's footprints again. "One important thing to do when tracking a person is to figure out their stride. That's how much distance there will be between each of their footprints, assuming that they're walking normally. The stick isn't required, but it helps when starting out."

Tomas lays the tip of the stick in the center of the front print. "To measure the stride you first have to find a pair of footprints. Then put the tip of the stick here, like this, and lay it across the other footprint. You'll want to mark the heel and toe of the back footprint somehow on your stick, with a knife or cloth or something."

Tomas moves the stick forward to the front footprint, "Once you mark your stick you put it on top of the newest footprint you've found, then use the stick to tell you how far away the next footprint should be. If the person is walking normally the tip of the stick should be right in the center of the next footprint. Just pivot the stick around till you find it."

Tomas stands back up and goes back a few yards, then hold out the stick to Eris. "Now you try it. Follow you're footprints back to where we were."

[Eris]

Eris took up the proffered stick, turning it over in her hands a few times before bending down to look at her footprints. She placed the end of the stick across her footprint. She reached for her belt and drew out her dagger from its sheath. She made two shallow cuts on the stick at the start of her footprint’s heel and end of the longest toe. She then lifted the stick again, placing it on the next footprint and ten the next. The end always ended up more or less in the middle of the following footprint.

Eris repeated the maneuver a few more times until she was back to where they started. She straightened up, the stick still gripped in her hand.

"That’s a neat trick,” she acknowledged. “But if the person being followed knows this, wouldn’t he or she try to vary the length of their footprints and change direction as often as possible?”

[Tomas]

Tomas chuckles and nods his head. "Yeah, that can happen. Which is why the most important part of tracking is attention to detail. You have to be able to spot the slightest impression of a rock in the dirt, or bent over twig where all the other ones are standing. You have to remember to look up ahead, while still paying close attention to the ground in front of you. Sometimes tracking can only get you so far. If they get in a river and float downstream you're probably not going to pick the trail up again unless you just get lucky, and by then they'll have gained too much distance."

Tomas thinks back to the last time he tracked somebody through the woods. Were it not for his sense of smell he probably wouldn't have found them so quickly, due to one certain factor. "Another thing you have to worry about is people like me. Our footprints can change. Some people can fly, and others can race through the trees. If that happens, you can throw tracking out the door."

"So, how bout we give it a try. I'm going to go off into the woods, and you find me. I'll keep it simple for now. No shifting or doubling back or anything.. unless you want to skip straight to the advanced stuff. If you give up, or get into any trouble, just give me a shout and I'll hear you. I've got really good ears. Sound good?"

[Eris]

“Sounds good,” Eris echoed, already planning out some sort of game plan in her head.

She loved challenges, relishing both the physical and mental trials. Quite often, challenges usually ended in someone’s death for her. This was a pleasant change.

She didn’t know much about tracking yet. She wasn’t sure she could find Thomas even if he stayed in his human form. One thing she did know, however, was that she was not going to give up.

[Tomas]

"Alright. Give me about fifteen minutes then come after me. I'll try to make it easy since it's your first time. Remember, if you lose the trail or need me for whatever reason, just call for me. I won't go to far."

Tomas turned and promptly took off into the woods, walking at first, but after a few minutes he broke into a run, making sure his feet landed firmly on the ground to leave good easy tracks to follow. He traveled pretty much in the same direction for a few minutes before taking a sharp left, digging his foot into the ground and turning hard on his heels. He ran a short distance further then slowed to a walk.

He began to pick his steps more carefully, leaving less visible foot prints but making sure to step on leaves or twigs to leave signs of his passage for Eris to follow. After about 10 chimes he started to walk casually, as one might do after believing they had escaped their pursuers. He still made sure to take a few heavy steps here and there in case she lost the trail, but for the most part he walked casually not worrying about what he stepped on or where. By this time Eris should have been on his trail.

About 20 minutes into the game Tomas came to a small clearing, an ideal place for a campsite. Deciding to mimic what it would be like if she came upon an abandoned campsite Tomas walked around the clearing randomly, tossing some sticks into the center of the clearing as if he had prepared a fire, then continued on his way. After a short distance he decided to stop and wait. If she found him after the clearing then she passed the test, if not he would be close enough to hear when she called.