Solo It Starts With One Line

[Khara]

.
... 29th of Fall, 514av

The last thing any sane, rational person would want to do after a long day of work, a hot bath, a good meal with a friend, and a slow walk back to their room at a bell or two later than it should have been, would be to do anything but fall asleep; especially if their schedule for the next few days promised an exact repeat. So it was with some measure of doubt, if only for her own good, that Khara had begun to wonder if she may have lost her mind somewhere along the way. After all, the Chiet had promised herself she would wait until Market Day she didn't have work to start on the next phase of her project. That too, was what a person who had thought things out would do. There was always the possibility of needing something else, something she hadn't thought of, and if it was Market Day the girl could simply have gone sprinting from her room to go get it - but it wasn't, and she couldn't and that wasn't for another eleven days at best anyway.

It was late, she was tired and sore and sleep really was the only thing she needed, but her mind refused to calm and Khara wasn't about to spend another restless evening staring at the darkened ceiling of her room trying to remember everything she thought of. She had to get it out of her head. Permanently.

No sooner than she entered her room and shut the door, however, that it was the first problem and oversight was noted. The halls of the Darniva Commonrooms had some measure of light source, even this late in the evening, enough that a small glow crept in under her door that always seemed to give just enough light to keep her from stumbling into the few pieces of furniture she had been given. Her room, unfortunately, had nothing. Khara hadn't thought to purchase a lamp, or even candles among the assortment of other items she had picked up on the twentieth. Of course not, you were going to wait. Remember?

A small sound escaped her throat, not quite a groan but somehow managed to convey all the uncertainty she felt while standing in the near darkness. It was followed by a small huff of defiant annoyance as her decision was made. What if someone asks what you're doing? No one's going to ask what I'm doing. What if he comes along and asks what you're doing? He isn't going to, shut up. The last two words of her internal dialog were punctuated as she flung her door open, letting in the meager light from the hall.

"I'm not doing anything wrong," Khara grumbled to herself. It had to be the exact opposite, actually. If anything she was bettering herself for the benefit of others. It wasn't like she was the only one who was going to get anything out of her figuring this whole thing out. You really think the hunters are going to care? You're not that clev- Stop that.

Another sigh of annoyance, more with herself than the actual situation, passed from the corner of her lips, blowing a stray piece of hair from where it had fallen in front of her eyes. Khara watched as it settled before shoving it aside with her hand, tucking the offending piece behind her ear before she took the all-too-short trip back across her room to where the more tattered of the two backpacks she now owned sat on top of the trunk at the foot of her bed. A few objects were removed and set on the floor: a book borrowed from The Enclave on various animal prints, a small vial of ink that she handled with an overabundance of care, a rather plain feather that had been sharpened at the end to a point, and lastly a small book that while had seen better days still remained blank as the day it was bound together.

The backpack was pulled aside as the trunk itself was finally opened and Khara reached inside and pulled out a handful of linen, cut into various side strips and of numerous color. With a small smile she turned to begin moving everything to the small table that always seemed to go unused in the corner of her room, but the expression fell as she saw it was cast into shadow. Oh sure, she could have moved it but that would have probably required moving other objects within the room and then she would have to reorganize later again and...

Her eyes fell to the stone floor where the stream of light was, although pitiful, brightest. You sure you don't want to wait? The Chiet shook her head back and forth quickly, enough to dislodge the stand of hair once more. She glared at it out of the corner of her eye, considered taking her new knife to it, and settled for once more shoving it out of the way. No, she'd waited long enough and if she had to another few days Khara was certain that her head might quite literally erupt from keeping it all in.

With a bit of a huff, and a twinge of sore muscles, the teen let herself drop to the floor, sitting so she faced the open doorway. She pulled the items over to her one by one and finally opened the blank book she had purchased. It wasn't going to be much of a journal, she supposed. Sure someone could get an idea of her life from it, but it wasn't for other people, after all. It was going to be for her, a reference guide for when she needed it, notes to help her remember, and anything else useful she could think of. And it was all going to start with tonight.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Khara]

As Khara unstoppered the vial of ink it occurred to her that she hadn't exactly written anything down since she had stopped being a Yasi. Even that had only been on rare occasions, just enough to teach basics that she had fully been expected to never use again. Maybe one of the Chiet in The Enclave's library would be better skilled at such things, but she knew for a fact she wasn't great. Her penmanship wasn't terrible, legible for certain if she could remember correctly, but just how much of that had changed with time was something she couldn't help but now suddenly worry about.

She stared down at the empty pages in front of her and with a large amount of trepidation put the vial in front of her and picked up the quill she had purchased. It was a simple thing made from some unimpressive black bird, not like some of the hawk or eagle feathers she had seen at the market that had beautiful paintings on them. Maybe one day she would let herself afford such luxury, but it certainly wouldn't be in the here and now. The unassuming blackness of the quill in her hand was probably better to hide any potential mishaps with the ink, anyway.

Khara looked towards the book she had borrowed and with determination setting in, tugged it into her lap and began to flip through the various chapters and diagrams. There seemed to be a great deal of information, she considered pausing at one of the sections on the age of tracks in various types of environments, another at telling how big an animal potentially was due to side and depth of their print. She had other ideas, though. Start with what you know, Khara reminded herself as she continued to thumb through until she began the index of various animal prints. There was no doubt as to what the first would be, and she knew she would recognize it as soon as she saw it, or at least, so she thought.

Various hooved prints, detailed in shading regarding depth of various parts graced the pages in front of her. She finally came to where two large similar looking prints were: elk and moose. They both looked similar to her, far too similar. Oh sure, one could be considerably larger than the other but aside from that Khara had no idea what the difference was just by looking at them. A handwritten note in the margin caught her attention.

"When encountering such tracks, first make note of the number. If one is accompanied by dozens, or even hundreds then you can be certain you are on the trail of elk who travel in large social groups. Moose tend to travel alone or in small family units."

Helpful, Khara thought. But not quite what I'm after. Some more script towards the bottom of the page was looked over, the faded text difficult to see in the dim light but with a bit of squinting, Khara managed.

"Elk tracks are round at the toes and almost perfectly side by side. Moose however have far more pointed tips, the track as a whole curves appearing similar to an elongated heart."

Khara's eyes darted back to the two sets of drawings as if to confirm what she had read. Sure enough, she could almost make out a heart shape around the moose's print, but certainly the far more pointed pieces helped to distinguish it from the other. She wasn't certain how it would translate into an actual track in the ground, especially if in rougher soil or undergrowth, but at least now she had an idea to what to look for to differentiate between the two animals.

With some hesitation she finally dipped the quill into the ink, trying to study the moose print, to break it down into basic shapes since that seemed far easier than trying to draw the print as a whole. As a splotch of ink dripped from the tip of the quill into the stone floor next to her, just avoiding the page it hovered near, she had to second guess herself. After all this time, trying to relearn how to use a quill was not the best on something you wanted to at least try and look accurate to the source material.

Her attention shifted to the page to the left. Yes, better to practice scrawling out a few things first. The tip of the sharpened feather met aged paper as she wrote the first thing that came to mind. Just a name, a simple one. Zhol. Really? Her mind was quick to judge. Out of everything you could think to write, that is what you come up with?

She left the name sitting there, staring accusingly at her. A silent curse was struggled forth into the forethought of her mind as she dipped the quill into ink again and added a name below it, the only one that came to mind after, the very inspiration for writing things down in the first place. Azira

Not even your own name? Khara glared at the page as if the ink itself was responsible for the intrusive thoughts. A slash was added followed by the word Huntress. Fine then, it was a warm up; a proper one. List the people she knew and what they are or how she knew them. It wasn't information the Chiet was likely to forget, but somehow she managed to feel it was just as important to get them down as any other valuable information.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Khara]

The list ended up being far shorter than she expected. Only four named graced the page along with their small descriptions; Turrin - Endal Hunter and Dru - Seamstress now followed the other two. Only problem was the first name still lacked a descriptor. In a fit of foolishness she had begun to try and draw something near the boy's name but had instantly regretted it and began crossing it out. This wasn't some girlish diary for her silliness, after all. Khara let a sigh pass as she stared down at the simple letters that represented far more trouble than they should have. Taking the vial of ink in hand she leaned over the book, as if in a secretive manner despite the clear fact no one else was even looking into her room never mind actually being in it with her. There really was only one way to really describe Zhol as far as Khara was concerned in that moment. She dipped the quill back into the vial and began writing again. It's complicat, she couldn't bring herself to finish the last word. Not a diary, remember? The girl sighed in resignation and went to dip the quill back into the ink again to cross out the blunder when suddenly...

"No, no, no!" She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that Khara hadn't noticed her hand had begun to tilt as she had withdrawn the feather's tip and the ink had begun pouring out of the vial onto the page below, splattering the paper. It wasn't a huge mess, not like the incident in the library, but it certainly wasn't something Khara was proud to cause to something so new.

Her eyes darted around to try and find something appropriate to help keep the rest of the pages in the small bound book from absorbing the rest of the ink. They fell to the blanket on her bed, a grimace crossing her features at the knowledge that technically it wasn't really hers. None of the furniture really was, just like the room itself didn't really belong to her. It had been given to her as a citizen of Wind Reach but Khara knew very well if the worst were to happen, if she should not return from a scouting trip, everything within that she hadn't personally purchased would just be reassigned to another Chiet. Still, whoever was going to be unlucky enough to inherit her living space could suffer with a slightly stained corner of a blanket, couldn't they?

The quill in her hand was abandoned to her lap and the blanket was only partially tugged from the bed, the closest corner edge slapped down over the ink spill and gently pressed upon until Khara was at least somewhat satisfied the worst was taken care of. When she lifted the fabric it wasn't good, but the damage was far less horrible than she had expected it to be. It hadn't marred any of the writing she had done so far, the majority of the stain only took up the top portion of the page she had been working on, and somehow the darkest portion had actually helped to cover up what she had been planning on crossing out anyway. Maybe Lhex was trying to tell her something, though really it was probably just more dumb luck on her part.

The page to the left had suffered some, but Khara had to admit it wasn't bad enough to keep her from attempting to draw the moose's print on the page. All in all, not a disaster as far as the Chiet was concerned. It could have been much, much, worse. Though one tiny little problem remained on the page.

Khara set the vial down above where the journal sat on the ground, just within reach to use but hopefully not anywhere in the vicinity of her being able to knock it over and cause a bigger mess. Another sigh left her as she shoved the damp blanket edge away from her, hoping it would at least mostly dry out before she actually attempted to try and sleep that night but knowing it probably wouldn't. A tug of reluctance was felt before she turned back to the journal, back to the simple name and the blotched out section that seemed to echo her own needs to keep her feelings towards him concealed. Such a chick, her head finally chimed in with regards to the mishap with the ink just as much as a commentary on herself and the situation in general. Shouldn't be focusing on that anyway. Still, it seemed wrong to put something as sterile sounding as horse trainer or works at the stables or whatever other terms someone else might use to describe Zhol. There was really only one thing to put, really.

The quill was retrieved from her lap and spun between her thumb and index finger as she rolled it between them for a moment before giving in and finally dipping it back into the ink. She hesitated, letting it hover for just a moment over the paper before she finally made contact and scrawled out the only two words that really seemed to fit, both as a description and literally on the page thanks to the large black blotch above - horse boy. There was a twinge of bitterness at the lack of room to append the word family or friend to it, but perhaps that was better left unwritten.

Satisfied with the finished list, if not the state of the page and the fact she had spent far too long on something so simple, Khara finally allowed her attention to turn back to the book she had borrowed from the Enclave and to the drawings of the prints on the page. Now for the real stuff.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Khara]

Khara felt herself biting her lower lip before she realized she was as she studied the drawing of the moose print in front of her. Her hands had been wiped again and again on her bryda to make sure that if she touched the book again it wouldn't suffer the same fate as her journal but she still couldn't actually bring herself to pull it closer for inspection. A fact which left the Chiet girl posed rather awkwardly, a hand holding herself up from leaning over the various objects on the floor as she tried to get a better look in the dim light.

The drawing of the track looked simple enough, just four simple shapes: The two larger ones that made up the not-quite-heart and the two smaller just below that were basically somewhere between a water drop and a circle as best as Khara could tell. Still, she knew that even a basic drawing such as this would be hard to replicate. After all, the artist had added in all these extra lines that Khara could only guess were shading that was supposed to show how deep a print was in certain places as compared to the others. If memory served right, it certainly seemed that way in comparison to the actual tracks she had seen.

She hovered over the page, ink dripping from the quill onto the page below as the drawing was scrutinized. Where to start... The smaller two shapes would be easy enough, but they seemed rather dependent on the location and orientation of the larger two. It wasn't that the two shapes that slightly formed a heart shape were difficult to understand, but drawing and seeing were two different things and...

A breath was released as quill contacted paper. A glance was given back to the drawing before the first curve was made, settling to attempt the left side first. It looked like a strange water droplet shape, curved inward and elongated and Khara slowly drew the shape, praying the ink she had loaded the feather's tip with would hold out for the entire thing. When she finished the shape wasn't quite right, but certainly similar enough that Khara could at least find some sort of similarity between it and the one done by someone who actually knew what the petch they were supposed to be doing.

The right shape would be easily enough done, just the same as the left only mirrored. Or, at least, it was supposed to be easy. As she drew along the paper it became clear that the task was far more daunting than it seemed. It's just a simple thing! Not some masterpiece! The tip of the feather stuttered as she drew, but still the relative shape held true and the two together, while looking far from anything like some sort of heart shape descried in the notes, it did at least seem to resemble the upper two shapes in the drawing. The two circles below each shape were quickly done, appearing more as oblong ovals that didn't nearly line up with the bottom of the two upper shapes but still, Khara couldn't help but look back at the completed image. The four shapes clearly represented a moose track or at least close enough for her liking.

Her quill was dipped back into the ink and roughly scratched across the paper, filling in lines that vaguely resembled the shading on the drawing in the book. It wasn't going to be perfect, so she refused to even try and make it so. Once again she was forced to remind herself this was a journal for her own benefit, so if good enough worked for her, then good enough it would be. At least for now, she admitted.

With the one print finished in her journal her attention turned to the empty space below. It would have been easy - maybe - to place the elk print below but Khara knew she wouldn't be able to replicate the differences between the two to be actually beneficial. Which left the other print she knew for sure that was as different from a moose as she could think of - a zynx.

Khara glanced at her hands again, making sure they were ink free before she finally pulled the book from the Enclave back into her lap after setting the quill to the side. There weren't too many feline creatures in the region but whether that would make the subtle differences harder to replicate or not would remain to be seen. Now to just hope that the author and artist of the book had documented the animal; there was no way she could do the drawing on her own.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Khara]

Khara flipped through the various animal prints drawn out in the book. Goats, sheep, deer; They all looked so similar. It seemed like a lifetime could be spent studying all the little nuanced differences that marked one animal from another and you still would never be able to remember everything. The author even had an entire section dedicated to the different species of wolves there were in Kalea and once she got to the fox prints her head began to swim over the concept of trying to figure out the difference between them and a younger wolf. Better to just avoid the bigger tracks in general, she thought. Despite having been a game scout for several years, Khara had been lucky enough to never come across a wolf, let alone a pack of them. She'd heard about hunters and their apprentices getting attacked by them, though. The thought caused a shudder to run down her spine and her hands to quickly flip to the next section.

Much like all the other animals, at first trying to pick out the differences in the various feline tracks seemed an impossible task. Apparently even size could be deceiving. Not that Khara particularly thought there would be a lot of good to come from knowing the difference between a zynx and a kougara, they both were to be avoided as far as the scout was concerned. Another note in the margin caught her eye, however.

"Despite their smaller size, zynx tend to be far more territorial and dangerous than larger cats. Hunting in their territory alone is not recommended."

Khara cringed as she remembered Azira's frustration with her on their first hunt together when she hadn't fully followed up the possible danger. So I've come to learn, her mind responded to the scribbled words of advice.

The thing that bugged Khara the most was the fact that despite the knowledge that the smaller cat was just that, the zynx print drawing seemed almost the same size as the kougara. Sure enough though, there was some sort of explanation scrawled out for her.

"Zynx and Lynx both have larger prints relative to their size, their large paws acting similar to snowshoes in the Winter season. However, the stride will be smaller than larger feline species and the tracks may appear less distinct due to the extra fur both of these cats have on their paws."

Well that was interesting. Khara had assumed the slight distortion to the prints she had seen were due to age, not due to some extra factor that may have made the print less clear than she had expected fresh prints to be. She nervously bit at her lower lip upon realization that she had been on her own the first time she had come upon those tracks back in Summer. Maybe going out alone wasn't such a great idea... No. Don't think like that. Just, now you know. Okay? Her thoughts went on to call her various other things for even considering letting the thought get to her. She had known very well the dangers that being a game scout brought along, worrying yourself over worst possible scenarios was only going to earn herself a one way trip towards being a Dek.

Khara set the book aside once more and plucked the quill from where it rested. While she doubted she would ever forget what a zynx track looked like ever again, she was still determined to document it. If nothing else it's practice, right? The print wasn't as simple looking as the moose's had been. The top portion was going to be simple enough, just four oval like shapes in an arch. The feel of the quill in her hand was becoming familiar once more and the shapes were drawn quickly, one after another with a bit more confidence. Well, mostly. She still had to repeat the shape to fully make sure the lines weren't entirely uneven and even then her hand had slipped and hadn't followed the original drawings she had made perfectly in some places.

The shape that made up the bottom of the print was looked at once more and the Chiet could feel a frown tugging at her features. It was far more complicated than just a simple circle and she couldn't think of any sort of name for it rather than just the bottom of a cat print in terms of what the shape actually was. A glance back to her unfinished drawing made the look of displeasure fully form and Khara felt herself tug her bottom lip between her teeth again, nibbling at an edge until the spot became sore. She considered waiting until she became better with drawing things to come back to it and finish, but the scout knew it would only bug her and she wouldn't be able to fully focus on the rest of what he had planned to write into the journal until it was finished. Come on, just do it already. A quick breath was released as she felt a small surge of courage well up inside of her. It quickly fizzled as she realized she had to hype herself up over a drawing.

Quill was dipped in ink, once more a bit too thickly and she winced as the stray drops hit the paper. The tip was pressed to the paper to quickly prevent more of the ink from ruining what little of the print she had drawn so far. With eyes darting between her page and the actual drawing in the book she slowly began to draw the curves of the lower portion of the zynx track. Three curved lines that connected on the bottom, the last slowly continued to almost form a circle. She took a breath before moving the quill upwards towards what would become the top of the shape and drew the first of the two curves that would make it. Okay. So far so good. Khara nodded reassuringly to herself and moved the quill back to the ink, far less liberally this time around. The second curve was slowly drawn, trying her best to mimic the one to the right but knowing it wouldn't really look the same no matter how hard she tried. One final sweep of the quill was made to connect the top curves back to the bottom and close out the shape.

The scout sat back and looked at the drawing. It actually came out better than she had expected. Maybe not good enough to actually tell it from any other type of feline print but it certainly looked like a cat print! The size was definitely wrong, she'd drawn it a bit bigger than it should have been but it worked for what she wanted. Even the random blotches of ink and stain from where it had spilled earlier didn't seem to bother her. It gave them character, she told herself.

A quick moment was taken to label the two drawings for the animals they represented, just to add a final touch and then Khara set the quill aside. It would take a bit for the ink on both pages to fully dry and while she knew she should probably stop there and try and get some rest, the fabric strips were calling to her once again. They were, after all, the main reason she had taken up the journal in the first place. Deciding what color would symbolize certain things was going to take some time though, hopefully enough so that the ink would dry and she could get to what she really wanted to finish that night. Sleep could wait.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Khara]

As ink in the journal was left to dry, Khara's attention turned to the multitude of colored strips of linen she had bundled together. A small shift in where she was sitting left the books, and the light from the hall, to her left so she could have a clear space to begin sorting and spreading the pieces out.

The first one that came to notice, even though it's brightness was muted in the dim light, was the bright purple piece that Khara couldn't help but think of the Symenestra girl who had helped her with the fabric in the first place. She still owed Drusilla more thanks than the simple pinion she had given her would ever be able to convey, not just for the material, but for other things too, like listening to her talk, like telling the Chiet girl her own stories. A twinge ran through her at the thought of what the Seamstress had said at one point that had caused Khara to show far too much emotion to someone she didn't really know. The girl's gaze shifted to seek out the few red pieces she had been given, the same slight ache persisting as she set them aside along with the purple. While Khara had yet to decide what the other colors would mean, it had been decided almost immediately that these two would mean safety. She wasn't sure if the fact it was because the two colors made her think of Dru and Zhol was exactly a good thing, though. It was a bit personal, and while that made sense to her, if she ever had to explain her system to someone else... You'll come up with something.

A small sigh and a nod of her head was enough to push the concern from her thoughts as she turned to the rest of the fabric. There was a dark brown that Khara wondered if she'd be able to spot among anything very easily once it had been placed, the same could be said for the green pieces that she still couldn't decide if the different tones of which should be for different things or if green could simply just be... green. There seemed to be a lot of blue as well. That would stand out among any sort of plants or trees or even snow, she guessed. Maybe they could just be used as general markers to let her know she was going in the right direction towards her findings.

Finally, she set aside the two yellow pieces. They seemed more golden in the light from the hall, they made her think about the color her eyes were. Not really that rare among others her age it seemed as they had once been, it seemed. There was only one other person she knew who had similar colored eyes, Eagle eyes as they were sometimes called, and that was the huntress, Azira. The twin strips of fabric were held up, one in each hand as she moved one in front of the doorway and watched how the light barely glowed through the linen. Yes, definitely like fire and eagle eyes. Khara supposed she would only need one for what she thought would be best, but two would be good. Always have a backup, she encouraged herself. The twin yellow pieces were placed under the red and purple ones to her left, an area she was starting to associate with ones the teen had decided on their meaning. It was settled then, yellow would be tied and placed as nearest to where she had tracked the animal to as possible. It meant success, then and that suited her just fine.

Of course, that didn't leave a lot in the way of bright colors to clearly serve as an area warning of potential dangers. Khara guessed most would have used red for that purpose, but she just couldn't. That left the green, then. Just like the twin yellow that would mean a good end, the twin green could represent a possible bad one. They would only stand for the need for extra caution, after all. It wasn't like the scout was going to go putting little pieces of green fabric on the entrance to some bear's den or anything like that!

So blue would just be an all around color, and that was fine too. Khara liked blue, after all. It was the color the sky took on in the warmer months when all of Skyinarta seemed to come alive and the hunting got better. It also was the color of some elk she had heard weird rumors about once. There had been a lot of mystery associated with that sort of thing. And just as she had originally thought, it was clearly the color that would stand out the best.

That left only the brown undecided for now, but Khara had asked Drusilla to keep pulling fabric for her when she could. Maybe more colors would come along later and the system could become more complicated. For now, though, the brown could just stay behind until she thought of something better or had more to work with.

All in all the system sounded like it wasn't going to be as complicated as Khara had originally planned for it to be, but that was probably for the best. Simple is good to start with, she thought with a small nod of her head. A sudden flinch coming upon the girl as her mind added in the obligatory snideness with a simple, Anything more complicated and you'll just mess it up before you even find out if it works or not.

Khara frowned for a moment as she looked at the small piles of fabric strips. The one single disparaging thought seemed to start a small rock slide of doubt. Maybe this was a stupid idea, after all. What would a hunter think anyway if she was tugging off pieces of fabric from plants and trees and tucked under rocks as they went along? Wouldn't a proper scout be able to follow the same trail they had the day before with ease no matter what the weather was? Orthin didn't use such a stupid system, after all, and he was practically the best there was!

Petch that, the thought suddenly came to her, surprising in it's stubbornness as she let out a breath of air in a huff. Who cares what Orthin does or what works for him? I'm not him and will never be him. If this works then who cares what others will think? They'll get to kill the animal just the same and will probably be happy just because of the less time it'll take to re-find where you left off.

Besides, her inner pep talk continued, boldness creeping into the tone that brought a guilty smile to her. If I become a hunter I won't need a game scout. I'll have my own way of doing things, then.

A nervous glance was given towards her door as if she was half expecting to find someone standing there, somehow aware of the thought and was ready to bring on all the punishment she probably deserved for even considering such a thing. Thankfully the space was just as clear and empty as it had been since she had started that night. A sigh passed from slightly chapped lips as Khara let the sudden tenseness ease from her shoulders and turned her attention back to the journal.

A cautious wipe of her finger against one of the darker blotches was given to test if it was still dry or if it would smudge. A lift of her hand into the light from the door showed there wasn't any new ink stains present, certainly nothing where she had just touched against the page. It was enough to give the girl reason to shuffle herself back to sitting in front of the journal. Another lament was given at her lack of foresight to purchase some paint colors to make the list better. It was okay though, Khara realized. So long as she left herself room on purpose the colors could be added in later for sure.

A new surge of optimism warred briefly with a yawn that left her. The bell must have been getting late and she could feel drowsiness creeping in. No, she stubbornly refused. Finish what you started. Write down what they mean and then sleep.

"Right," Khara whispered to herself and turned to the fresh, if not slightly ink stained, page.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Khara]

Blue - Khara scrawled down first, a slight flinch scrunching her nose as she looked at the added drops of ink that had come with once again over estimating just how much ink she would need to write the simple word. The quill was pressed to the page once more as she prepared to write... what, exactly? How did you get the overall concept down in just a few words?

A small, "hmm", left her, her hand raising without thought and the tip of the quill was pressed her lips. The sudden taste of ink caused the girl to recoil away. Her free hand quickly replaced where the ink covered tip had been, a small face of disgust and embarrassment leaving her at the dark smudge her fingers took away. Petch my life... Khara sighed and ran the back of her hand across her lips, hopefully wiping away the remaining ink rather than smudging it across her face. No way to tell until the morning at that point, really. Right, so next Market... Paint and some sort of water basin. A glance was given around her sparse dim room. Maybe a lantern... If this sort of thing was going to become a bit more normal it seemed like it would be a good investment. The thought of adding more things to her room caused a mix set of emotions. Making it more than just a room would be nice for a change but that guilty nudge that someone else would just have more things to deal with if she never came back from a scouting trip couldn't exactly be ignored.

Khara returned her focus to the word on the page in front of her to try and move her thoughts back to where they should have been. Another yawn tugged at her, a reminder of something else she should probably be doing rather than sitting around in the faint light from the hall with a head full of pointless possibilities.

Right. Blue. The way to describe the use for the color was considered again, the Chiet letting the tip of the quill linger in the vial of ink as her increasingly sleepy mind struggled for the best way of wording it. Finally she brought ink to paper again.

Blue - Placed between clear signs. On the right track.

It would do, Khara supposed. At least she knew what she meant by it, and that was what mattered.

The rest was scribbled out easy enough for the most part:

Red and Purple - Safe Area. Good place to rest or find shelter.
Green - Possible danger. Use caution.
Yellow - Game last spotted here.

She considered briefly writing down Brown - and leaving it blank so it could be returned to later, but there was still plenty of space left on the page and just like she had set aside the strip of fabric to be decided on later, so was the item left off from being written down. She could always come back to it later.

The small empty space above the list was eyed. Maybe she should put some sort of short title or introduction to what these seemingly random colors meant? Would it be worth it to add that information in? Her eyes wandered over the inked letters she had written out as Khara tried to fight off another yawn. What to put...

That's it! She fumbled a bit as Khara reached for the strip of brown fabric and placed it on the left page, opposite where she had written about the other colors. Whether the strip would find use or not, for now it could act as a page marker, making her notes on the marker system easy to find and acting as an unwritten explanation for what the colors would stand for. She couldn't help but notice the slight brown tint the ink seemed to take in the dim light and that solidified the idea even further.

The Chiet couldn't help but smile, not some faked platitude or the alternate beam of joy. It was simple, a reflection on a bit of pride she felt at the journal she had started. It wouldn't mean anything to anyone else, but to her? It was a tangible something and that suddenly seemed to matter a great deal.

The heel of her hand found it's way to her eye on the same side as completion of her self-imposed task seemed to finally let her head open the floodgates of exhaustion. The small mess on the floor was looked over, a decision to leave it until the morning coming made. The vial of ink was stoppered once more, though. Knowing her luck she would knock it over on the way back to her bed after she shut the door if she didn't.

The journal, still opened with the freshly marked page was lifted carefully from the floor and carried to be placed atop the dresser that sat against one wall of her room. Another smile tugged at her lips before she turned to the door and the small shred of light it let in. A glance was given to the skylights, darkness thankfully revealing she hadn't stayed up too late. The girl had half expected to see the first rays of Syna's warm glow. Tomorrow, the word came as a silent promise. If I don't get asked on a hunt, tomorrow we'll see if it's worth it or not.

A small nod and another guilty smile at thinking herself actually clever for a change went unseen before Khara finally shut the door to her room, blocking out the light from the hall. She almost couldn't wait for morning.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Neologism]

XP:

• Writing: +2 xp
• Observation: +1 xp
• Drawing: +2 xp
• Copying: +2 xp
• Organization: +1 xp

Lore:

• How to start a journal
• Start with what you know
• Elk travel in herds
• Moose travel in small families or alone
• Ink: Very messy
• Moose Tracks: Large, pointed toes
• Elk Track: Smaller, round toes
• Zynx: Territorial
• Zynk & Lynx Tracks: Large and not very distinct
• Blue: Placed between clear signs. On the right track.
• Red & Purple: Safe Area. Good place to rest or find shelter.
• Green: Possible danger. Use caution.
• Yellow: Game last spotted here.
• You don't need to compare yourself to Orthin

Notes: Don't forget to edit your post in the request forum as 'Graded'.