Hatot, kept his eyes closed, listening to Hex’s words as they were whispered into his ear like a soft breeze carrying the sounds from nowhere. Hatot waited for a moment, concentrating as best he could, blocking out pain and exhaustion. His head slowly turned his head, his eyes opening to slivers as he looked down on along the ground towards the items Hex had covered. He began focusing on the item to the far left, trying to consciously push away all other auras that were flooding his vision. He soon found it more difficult than expected, as the auras of the other items began to filter through his field of vision, like vibrant colored locusts swarming a wheat field in the summer. His eyes slammed shut again, breathing slowly as he relaxed himself once more.
It was hard to imagine, but he found it difficult to focus on just “one” thing. Being an Akalak, harboring another soul, his very existence was like a duality in nature. His training involved broad focus as well. When he saw an opponent, he was taught not to focus just on the opponent alone. He was trained, since he was eight, to look at multiple aspects of the opponent. The look in their eye, they way they stood, how they breathed, sudden twitches of tightening and relaxing muscles, changing facial expressions, even how they breathed. Having to focus on one aura was almost like someone telling him,
“just look into your opponents eyes, and their eyes alone.” It was difficult when all his past training caused his observation to become like a reflex reaction.
He gave a slow sigh, hinted with signs a frustration and waning patience. His hand slowly reached across his lap as his fingers slowly fumbled around the ground until he found the covering and pulled the first object out in his hand.
“I need a different approach, at least for now.” Hatot then simply explained before bringing the object just a mere four inches from his eyes.
As he began to open his hand, the object resting in his palm, his eyes once again slowly opened, slivers at first. Then he sat motionless, staring into the palm of his hand, like some statue carved into some contemplating philosophical pose. Only his chest seemed to move as it expanded with each slow breath he took. Colors, hues of teal, black and white appeared in his vision as the blue of his own hand soon faded to black, bringing the object in his land into view. So close, it became easier to focus on. The colors of teal and black seemed to mingle together in some exotic, abstract looking dance. They were blurred, merely colors mixing around each other as white seemed to sparkle like fireflies at night over the other colors. No real shape could be made out for the most part, only the colors alone.
“I don’t understand quite what I’m seeing.” Hatot then said, squinting slightly as if to bring a far away object into a more clear view. He gave a slow twitch of his head as he blinked for a moment.
“I, I don’t know. I get a cold feeling, like earth or some sort of mineral and something else. A taste tingling at the back of my mind, playing with my tongue almost. Is that salt?”
