Closed [Cobalt Mountains] Tracking isn't Hard!

[Sei Tendo]

10th of Fall, 513AV
8th of Bell

Sei trudged through the damp leaves of the bronze woods, and listened to the soft squish of his leather boots when he stepped in mud. He trudged past the trees, and hummed silently to himself. Sei was dressed for the occasion; wearing his leather armor and boots, with his lonbow in hand and quiver across his back. He decided to get his adrenaline pumping, and lashed out in a wild sprint towards his destination. He bursted through openings in the woods, and hopped over the fallen trees while enjoying the whistle of the passing wind.

He loved the feeling of the wind smacking agaist his face. He ran wildly, he heart beating out his chest, ducked gracefully under a low hung tree branch. He could feel his boots sinking into the ground and emerging, and laughed at the sucking sound when his boots came back up. He was tearing past the trees, and by now he was closing the gap between him and his destination immensely. He slowed to a walk, and bent over to scrape the mud of his boots. After it was gone, he walked on thicker land, trying to avoid the mud as much as possible.

Sei had come to teach another Kelvic how to track, and would teach him stealth along the way. The man had come to him for help, and like the person Sei was, he had agreed. He walked up, and caught sight of the man. "Ready?" He asked.

[Jikadyn]

Remembering the conversation he had in the past about a training session with another Kelvic. Jikadyn quickly and fumbling grabbed his things as he didn't intend to be late. He was a prompt man, and as such avoided lateness at all costs. Grabbing his pants, sliding them on, and then sliding on his jacket he burst through the door to his apartment.His jacket covered most of his body save his head and feet.

Dashing quickly down the cold street. The slap of his bare feet hitting the stone ringing through his ears. It was a beautiful sound to be heard. The slowly onset cool excited him as he loved to watch the season change. Dodging pedestrians and children as they rummaged through the streets. It was only a few minute before the gate would be in sight now.

Having locked the gate with his gaze. He went into a full on run. Quickly bursting the city, and its crowds. The wind blasting across his face. Though not a fan of it. He still did not intend to be late.

Time flowed as he had dashed through the massive gates and into the forest. The cold stone turning to the cold wonderful mush of the ground. The sensation of the dirt slipping between his toes was amazing, and yet rather calming. The roots exposed creating mini obstacles to aviod, and the low hanging branches like death traps waiting to poke him in the eye.

He ran forth coming up to the meeting spot they agreed upon slightly early. He did remember one thing that striked him odd about their conversation. They had agreed to meet as people and not animals. He wonder why this was. I mean we are both Kelvic what could possibly be the issue, but not before the thought had finished. Jikadyn heard a voice.

"Ready, but of course I am ready." he stated looking over the figure that stood before him. He was most certainly well built for a man, and yet had a somewhat frightening feel. Maybe it was his feline like eyes. It seemed to give the man such an intense stare.

"Ah yes before we get to far. I'm Jikadyn. Though you can just call me Dyn." Jikadyn said as he held out his hand in attempt to greet this new fellow. Cautious ever still he watched his every movement. You could never be to safe.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei groaned, and watched as the man scuttled over to him. Something about him annoyed Sei, and if he had to guess, it was Jikadyn's frightened aura. He reeked of fright, which only irritated him further. He introduced himself and extended his hand. He looked Jikadyns hand and turned away, ready to end his lesson as soon as possible. "Keep up shrimp." He said taking long, quick strides deeper into the woods. "I'm Sei by the way. Just so you know, you irritate me." He said bluntly. He gave Jikadyn a side glare, and turned his head back in front of him.

He stopped abruptly, and turned to the Kelvic. "First off, don't step on anything that makes noise. Secondly, stop acting so petchin' afraid, it bothers me." He hissed. He was upset already, and had realized that by the end of this training, he'd end up killing the Kelvic is he didn't stop with the scaredy act. He wanted to just tell him to leave, but that would be rude now, not that he wasn't being rude already. "Stand straight up! Don't slouch, and keep your chin up! And stop looking like a wuss!" He barked, getting more and more upset.

[Jikadyn]

Jikadyn was rather shocked to watch the man just turn away from a normal handshake. He didn't understand. Didn't everyone shake hands when they meet someone else, or was this something that required more companionship. Then the kelvic man calls him shrimp, and proceed to tell him that he irritates the man. Now more confused than ever as to why he would even irritate said kelvic considering they just meet. Though keeping up with the kelvic proved easier than Jikadyn had thought it would.

Suddenly the brawny man in front of him stopped abruptly. Turning to Jikadyn he began to speak of not making noise, nor acting afriad. "Afraid?" Jikadyn thought. "Whose acting afraid?" Jikadyn was a proud creature and very rarely was ever caught afraid. While he was cautious so were most animals he knew of. Even the predators who hunted him. His confusion grew. First, he irritated the man. Now he needs to not be afraid, even though he never was.

Then the kelvic began to tell him to stand up straight, stop slouching, and stop looking like a wuss. This just further proved to confuse Jikadyn. Being, a proud creature he never slouched, or looked like a wuss. Jikadyn began to think this Kelvic was getting a very wrong impression of him. While he thought to correct the man. He figured in time it would be fix itself.

Looking to his side he spotted a few tracks. They looked as though they belong to some very large animal. Being a creature of the forest he noticed things such as tracks quite often. Though following them or tracking someone he never bothered with, but these prints were on the larger side. Sitting there in the mud just waiting to be seen. He put his hand up hushing the kelvic man. "Didn't we come here so you could teach me how to track? Here is a fine pair of tracks. Maybe we should get to work instead of you teaching me etiquette I already know." Rather bluntly and hastily the words flowed from Jikadyn's mouth as he bent down and touched the tracks.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei smirked. "That's what I've been following." He said, flashing his eyes a Jikadyn. He laughed audibly, and smack Jikadyn on the back. "Congrats on learning the first step of Tracking; Identifying!" He said cheerfully. He bent to his knees and smiled. Sniffing the tracks, he observed them carefully. "Try to identify the animal by it's smell and prints." He said. He waited, and spoke lightly. "Sorry about before, but the atmosphere around you is annoyingly cautious." He explained. "And you can't have fun if your so cautious all the time." He said. He then pointed to the tracks, and traced the outline with his index finger. "Well, lets see... What animal do you know that has a paw size like this Dyn?" he asked. He needed to know where Jikadyn stood in his knowledge, and where to start.

[Jikadyn]

Listening to the kelvic mention that this is what he had been following all along threw him off. 'Did I really not notice at all that we were following these tracks. They are rather large what was paying attention to.'' His thoughts rambled like this for awhile as the Kelvic before him spoke. 'Identify.' He began to think of all the different animals that it could be.

This could prove to be quite the challenge for Jikadyn as he didn't know the names of many of the larger wild animals. Sure he could easily describe them, but their name or what they are called he was very unsure of. In fact he wasn't even sure he knew what his or his parents animal form was referred to. Well he was pretty sure his was an Elk, but his parents he didn't remember.

"Well I cannot tell you what the name of the animal is, but I can describe it to you. Generally it walks on four legs though it has been known to walk on two. It has brown fur and generally begins to hibernate around this time of year. Why its tracks are here is more than likely due to the fact that it was searching for food." Jikadyn speaks. He did fear that his lack of knowledge in thee names of these creatures might anger the Kelvic, but quickly dropped the thought. "Also my cautiousness has never stopped me from having fun." Jikadyn chuckled out.

[Sei Tendo]

"So your thinking bear?" He asked. His face lit into a casual smile, and he chuckled a bit. "Now I know were you stand. First off, you have knowledge of animals around you, but you need to learn their names as well." He began. He stood up, and looked around. He sniffed the air, and was able to find the bears location. He turned to Jikadyn, and smiled pleasantly. It was time for phase two. "Try to locate it now. Without proper navigation, you could be in danger. A track can lie, and you never know when the animal could be behind you. Use your nose, and tell me where the bear is." He said. "Notice the scents closets to you, and determine which scent is moving." He explained.

[Jikadyn]

"Bear." He thought a moment. The name sounded rather familiar to him. Yes. Yes indeed this was the beast he was thinking of. A bear. What a simple name for such a complex beast. Looking up he heard the Kelvic chuckle then make a question about knowing the name of the beasts in the wilds. "I grew up in these parts. Spending alot of time here. Is it necessary to know the names of such beasts? After all I can recognize them. Can I not?" He spoke with a bit of confusion. Was knowing the beasts by there common names really needed.

Then the Kelvic asked to locate the beast known as a bear. He smelled the air. Tying to locate the beast by its scent and not the tracks that lay before them. The cool autumn wind blew into his nose. It was like a night breeze cool and quiet. The small of freshness with a crispy ting to it. It was a rather amazing feel and smell.

Then he smelt it. The bear, or beast whatever it should be referred to as. Ruining the morning crisp air. Jikadyn whirled his head around and looked slightly to the right and behind them. This fouler more beastly smell was definitely coming that direction, and it was not morning dew covered grass smelled. This smell reeked of a foul odor. In fact he was surprised that the Kelvic before was not gagging in disgust from it.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei gave Jikadyn a slight smile. "That's correct. Now, the thing about tracking is knowing your scent... I guess you could say always get familiar with your scent. I'm going to leave you here, and it's going to be your job to find me. Remember that prey can't always be found using tracks.." He said. He was fumbling to find his words, and his explanations came from the top of his head. He was definitely not a certified teacher, and he had little to no experience. "Um.. I guess tracking is mainly the use of your senses." He pulled out a piece of cloth, and wrapped it around Jikadyn's eyes. "In the event your eyes are of no use, how would you track? Hearing, that's how." He said happily. "It's usually sight as the main sense, but if you can't use the others, why do you have them? I'll be testing your sense of smell and hearing. Hopefully you remembered my scent and the bears, cause if you chose the wrong scent you'll die." He said with a laugh. He pulled off his shirt and threw it to his right, and ran to the left. This mean't Jikadyn would have to of Sei's scents. Either he'd follow his shirt or him.

[Jikadyn]

The blindfold came over Jikadyns eyes. Blacking out the sun and everything around him. It was dark under the confines of the fold, but he understood it was needed to help him learn to track better. Scent and hearing were to be his main tools to aid him in the tracking quest. His goal was to find the kelvic man Sei who was out and about in the woods, and to avoid the bear. This seemed like such a simple task until the darkness was presented. Loss of sight would lend quite the hit to the skills he had for finding Sei.

Smelling the air he could smell himself, the bear, and the scent of the kelvic. It was coming from two different areas. Though he heard no sound coming from the area to his left, and he could hear the very quiet sound of bushes moving aside to make room for a running obstacle. Out of the four scents Jikadyn was sure that must be Sei's. He was certain it was not the bears. As he remembered the bears scent coming from another direction.

Following the scent he set forth at a moderate pace. He not only had to be careful not to end up in the bears arms, but also to avoid the local plant life. After all, no sight meant anything even tree could be worthy adversary's.