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33rd of Fall, 514av
It was raining. Khara had heard grumblings about it in the warrens before she even got close to the Sanikas Gates. She had waited patiently, feet shuffling while praying Azira wouldn't come calling on her. Not that she didn't want that as well, but Khara had plans of her own for a change. So when the huntress didn't show, the Chiet game scout had quickly returned to her room to drop off her bedroll and blanket and scooped up the colorful bundle of cloth that had sat ready for several days. The opportunity to test out her theory of marking important areas as she tracked was something she had looked forward to ever since she had come up with the idea. Gaining the fabric had taken time, then deciding on meanings had been actually far more complicated than Khara had ever anticipated it being, but now? Now she was ready.
As she approached the gates there seemed to be a slightly larger crowd than usual, hunters and others who were hesitant to step into the cold rain of Fall. With a sigh she tightened the ruby colored scarf around her neck and pulled up the hood of her katinu before nudging her way through those gathered, a slew of apologies left in passing.
There had been plenty of reports of animal activity in the area, most out past the Forward Camps in the The Unforgiving and few scouts were chosen to accompany the Endals and lucky Avora but most had resigned themselves to the more mundane tasks of acting as a second set of eyes for hunters willing to make use of them. Khara had been left to her own devices that day, which meant she could follow up on a far more interesting prospect. Rumors had spread among the game scouts of several groups of takin that had been entering the area the last few days, though only one small herd had been found so far. Although there were already others heading out to see if the rumors were true, Khara was fairly certain they would be following up on supposed closer sightings, what she had planned was a bit more adventurous.
The walk south in the direction of the Vine Forest took Khara a little over two bells, the time seeming even longer in the constant steady downpour. Thankfully the sightings hadn't been within the Forest itself. Khara wasn't certain what sorts of dangers were within, but the stories of the so-called Moonlight Escape just beyond were more than enough to give the Chiet reason to avoid the place, at least while on her own. She could remember the directions she had been told clearly: take the pass towards the Vine Forest, go below the tree line, and then east when you come to the landslide from several seasons back. Directions weren't exactly easy to figure with the clouds covering the sun, but one of the more seasoned scouts even had a tip for that: Moss grows on the north side of trees. There had been some argument among the older scout and several of the younger ones about how that wasn't always true, but the general consensus still seemed to be that if most trees in the area only had moss on one side, it was most likely north. Most likely wasn't entirely comforting, but it was better than nothing when the sun was obscured.
As Khara neared the area she began paying more attention to the trees. She knew she had come south from Wind Reach, so that gave at least some sense of direction, and sure enough while it wasn't always true, the moss she saw did seem to have a tendency to grow on the northern side of things, trees included. The landslide was easily enough spotted, less slide and more of a piece of mountainside that had come apart and crumbled to the valley below, flattening trees in the process. The pass continued on but it wasn't before too long that she saw a trail that seemed to head off into the sparse trees opposite the cliff side. She couldn't tell if it was from previous hunts or possibly a game trail just by sight, but it seemed to head east and that was good enough for her.
The girl hurried under he slight covering a tree offered out of the rain and her backpack was slid from her shoulders and opened. A bit of rummaging had to be done as items had settled during her trip, but it wasn't long before Khara tugged the bundle of fabric strips to the top of the contents. A single blue piece of linen was pulled free and held between her teeth briefly as she closed her backpack and settled it back into it's proper place. The fabric was then tied to a branch of the tree she was under, clearly in sight from the pass itself.
"Well, that's a start", she spoke softly to herself, the ongoing rain practically drowning out the sound of her voice even to her own ears. Still, Khara couldn't contain the smile as she returned to the trail and cast a glance back at the piece of blue fabric that was darkening as it became sodden. Still visible. Perfect!
As she approached the gates there seemed to be a slightly larger crowd than usual, hunters and others who were hesitant to step into the cold rain of Fall. With a sigh she tightened the ruby colored scarf around her neck and pulled up the hood of her katinu before nudging her way through those gathered, a slew of apologies left in passing.
There had been plenty of reports of animal activity in the area, most out past the Forward Camps in the The Unforgiving and few scouts were chosen to accompany the Endals and lucky Avora but most had resigned themselves to the more mundane tasks of acting as a second set of eyes for hunters willing to make use of them. Khara had been left to her own devices that day, which meant she could follow up on a far more interesting prospect. Rumors had spread among the game scouts of several groups of takin that had been entering the area the last few days, though only one small herd had been found so far. Although there were already others heading out to see if the rumors were true, Khara was fairly certain they would be following up on supposed closer sightings, what she had planned was a bit more adventurous.
The walk south in the direction of the Vine Forest took Khara a little over two bells, the time seeming even longer in the constant steady downpour. Thankfully the sightings hadn't been within the Forest itself. Khara wasn't certain what sorts of dangers were within, but the stories of the so-called Moonlight Escape just beyond were more than enough to give the Chiet reason to avoid the place, at least while on her own. She could remember the directions she had been told clearly: take the pass towards the Vine Forest, go below the tree line, and then east when you come to the landslide from several seasons back. Directions weren't exactly easy to figure with the clouds covering the sun, but one of the more seasoned scouts even had a tip for that: Moss grows on the north side of trees. There had been some argument among the older scout and several of the younger ones about how that wasn't always true, but the general consensus still seemed to be that if most trees in the area only had moss on one side, it was most likely north. Most likely wasn't entirely comforting, but it was better than nothing when the sun was obscured.
As Khara neared the area she began paying more attention to the trees. She knew she had come south from Wind Reach, so that gave at least some sense of direction, and sure enough while it wasn't always true, the moss she saw did seem to have a tendency to grow on the northern side of things, trees included. The landslide was easily enough spotted, less slide and more of a piece of mountainside that had come apart and crumbled to the valley below, flattening trees in the process. The pass continued on but it wasn't before too long that she saw a trail that seemed to head off into the sparse trees opposite the cliff side. She couldn't tell if it was from previous hunts or possibly a game trail just by sight, but it seemed to head east and that was good enough for her.
The girl hurried under he slight covering a tree offered out of the rain and her backpack was slid from her shoulders and opened. A bit of rummaging had to be done as items had settled during her trip, but it wasn't long before Khara tugged the bundle of fabric strips to the top of the contents. A single blue piece of linen was pulled free and held between her teeth briefly as she closed her backpack and settled it back into it's proper place. The fabric was then tied to a branch of the tree she was under, clearly in sight from the pass itself.
"Well, that's a start", she spoke softly to herself, the ongoing rain practically drowning out the sound of her voice even to her own ears. Still, Khara couldn't contain the smile as she returned to the trail and cast a glance back at the piece of blue fabric that was darkening as it became sodden. Still visible. Perfect!
"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"
