Spring the 52nd, 520 AV
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Going outside was the best!
While the halls of Syliras were amazing and were filled with people (Naiomi loved people), they were still and stifling. Smells just sat and grew stagnant. She missed the open plantations of Kenash. It still didn’t make any sense to her why they’d had to leave, but Master had said Kenash was too dangerous. Just because she’d been beat up once. Granted, it had been bad. Time had only served to make her forget the severity of th physical pain she’d had to endure as she healed.
What she hadn’t forgotten was the emotional pain of that day. That’d been the day Wynnie had run away, had decided to join up with the Rujaro. In her leaving, Wynnie had made it clear she didn’t want Nai to follow her. Wynnie’d severed their bond but also had saved Naiomi’s life. It had left the Kelvic broken and confused, but Master had been there to pick up the pieces. As much as she loved him, he wasn’t someone for her to bond to, but he had given her direction and a purpose.
Master! He was the one who had brought her outside today. It was just one of the many reasons she loved him.
Today was a hunt as these outside trips always were, but this one was special. Today, Master had brought the finest, most well-seasoned hounds, the best he’d ever trained. It was an opportunity for Naiomi to learn. Several of Syliras’ hunters were joining them in hopes to bring home plenty of game to stock the city’s supply.
They were out on the Kabrin Road now, setting a steady, rapid pace for themselves to get away from the city. Even though Syliras was self-contained, the wildlife still tended to avoid areas where people were. The road wasn’t much better, but it did cut through the wilds. With its well-traveled path, the Kabrin made it quite obvious when a game trail cut across it.
Naiomi wasn’t as accustomed to searching for visual markers. In Kenash, the surrounding swamps tended to devour most of those, so she had mostly used her nose. Now, as she trod barefoot in nothing but her shirt at Master’s side, the Kelvic did her best to keep her concentration on the road.
That was difficult to do with as beautiful as the day was. A light spring rain had swept through in the early morning, keeping the heat of the day down. With the smell of petrichor cleansing the air, everyone was feeling younger, including Methuselah, the old retriever who Naiomi was sure had been at this as long as Master had been. He sprinted here and there, old nose working to discover the many things that had transpired since the last time they had come this way, his swollen and arthritic joints forgotten.
Naiomi’s eyes began to wander the verdant countryside around them until Master brought her focus back to the task at hand. “Hey, Pup. Are you keeping your eyes open for signs of game and trails?”
“Yup,” she lied, bringing her eyes back to the edges of the Road. She liked to use yup instead of yes. It sounded more like Master’s nickname for her.
“Really.” He was giving her the opportunity to be honest.
She didn’t take it. “Yup.”
“Then why didn’t you point out the trail we just passed.”
Guiltily, Naiomi stopped in her tracks and looked behind them. Sure enough, several dozen paces back, a worn trail through the grass and brush led up to the Kabrin on one side and picked back up on the other.
She looked back at him, smiling victoriously, as if she had made the discovery of a lifetime. Her arm raised, and one finger pointed haphazardly in the direction of the trail. “Hey, look, guys! I found something.”
One of the hunters laughed and clapped Master good-naturedly on the shoulder. “You’ve got your hands full with this one, Eleazar.”
Naiomi forgot Master had a name other than Master. It always threw her when someone used it.
Another of the hunters chuckled as they all began to make their way back to Naiomi’s newly-found trail. “You’re lucky though. She’s whip smart. Combine your training with a smart girl like her who can actually understand what you say, and you’ll end up with the best hound you’ve ever trained.”
“She’s clever,” Master admitted, “but she’s stubborn. Ain’t that right, Pup.”
“I learned it from the best.”
The hunting party stopped where the trail ran into the Road.
“Tell me what you see, Pup.”
Naiomi didn’t know what there was to see aside from the obvious. She said as much. “I see a trail, same as you do.”
“Do we take it?”
Despite knowing this was a loaded question and he was using it to teach her, Naiomi answered confidently. “Well, we found it, didn’t we? Why wouldn’t we take it?”
“Because nothing has been on it in quite some time.”
“Why didn’t you just say that?”
Master smiled. “Because I wanted you to look, really look, and to learn.” He kneeled down next to one side. “See how even the newest growth is quite long? There is nothing disturbed, no tracks.”
Naiomi nodded. “Yup. Now maybe we should stop wasting our friends’ time.”
Everyone laughed and started back up the Road again.
boxcode credit : Ennisa
