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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 6, 2009 18:29:55 GMT -5
Monkuta looked down at Marina, watching her begin to make her way back to the cabin. He laughed a little, she even acted tough when there was no one around to see it.
He leaped down from the tree, not wanting her to leave just yet.
"Hey, wait!" he shouted.
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Post by ivory on Jun 6, 2009 18:38:59 GMT -5
She swirled around at the sound of his voice, her heart jumping a little in unreadiness to face him. She forced herself to do as he asked though, stiffening so as not to fidget. It took more than she was willing to admit to not take off again.
"What do you want? I was heading back," she added just in case he thought her a coward. Her eyes hardened at the thought.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 6, 2009 18:44:55 GMT -5
Monkuta walked up to her, smiling.
"Why would you want to do that?" he asked with fake confusion. "We're training out here today anyway. Time for you to learn how to hide. Something that, if last night is any indication, you won't pick up as fast."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of coal, holding it out to Marina.
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Post by ivory on Jun 7, 2009 9:00:02 GMT -5
She wasn't too hurt to not snap back at his insult. "I can hide just fine. None of the guys could ever find me." The fact that she'd done so to hide from the boys' attacks at first, she didn't care to say. It'd hurt her pride to be reduced to doing that, but if her parents had found out, she'd never have been able to go back to the town and be a 'boy'.
She struggled to keep her glare on his eyes, but couldn't help her curiousity when he held out his hand. She flicked her eyes to it for just a second to satisfy it before glaring back up at him. "What's coal got to do with hiding?" Neither could she help the hint of dying curiousity in her voice.
Curiousity was another rule 'unfit' for a Lady. They were supposed to just accept. Men, her mother had told her, didn't like talking wives. She'd asked as many questions as she could whenever a known suitor was coming to see her. Though she was only thirteen, her parents found it wise to marry her off as soon as she was able. To protect her they said, ignoring her arguements that she could protect herself well enough.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 7, 2009 10:14:35 GMT -5
Monkuta shrugged, still smiling. "Maybe nothing," he said. "Maybe everything. When I was your age, I liked to paint my face black with it whenever my mentor told me to practice my stealth. Do what you want with it."
He placed it in Marina's hand, patting it lightly.
"Alright... Let's see. I'm going to close my eyes. I want you to hide. When I open my eyes I'm going to find you and tell you everything that you did wrong," he explained, jokingly.
He shut his eyes, whistling a little tune as he waited for her to complete the task. He knew he would find her easily. He also suspected that this would be the hardest to teach because he'd been good at it without much practice since he was younger than she.
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Post by ivory on Jun 7, 2009 10:34:55 GMT -5
She opened her mouth to say that she didn't want to, but bit her tongue when he closed his eyes. He really was serious. She gave a slight shake of her head before searching the ground, easily finding what she wanted. She lifted a rock the size of three of her fists and as she took off she lugged high at a tree it in the opposite direction. It was a trick she'd used often to confuse the boys chasing her.
She crashed through the brush only until the sound of the rock crashing through the branches faded into silence. Then she slowed her mad rush and walked more quietly. She remembered hearing the boys' voices, yelling and cursing as they plundered around trying to find her. She walked on the roots of the trees whenever she could so as not to accidentally step on dry twigs and upon moss for the same reason. She normally would have headed for the stream to wade a few yards down stream before coming up on the opposite side of the bank and heading into the place she always hid in. It was well hidden too since they never found it, but she didn't have such a place here and she didn't know of any stream nearby.
So she improvised. She searched above her for what she wanted and once she found it, she jumped up and grabbed the lowest branch of the tree. She climbed up it with hardly any finess as she'd hardly had to do so before. The boys who usually chased her liked throwing rocks in the branches in their anger, so she stayed out of them as much as she could. She bit her lower lip as she wondered if he did the same, but decided that she'd just have to climb higher then. So she did.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 7, 2009 11:01:44 GMT -5
Monkuta opened his eyes, looking around. Marina was gone, so she had either taken him seriously or gone home. He wondered why she had thrown the rock into the trees. Did that really fool boys her age? He shook his head in amused disappointment. He walked slowly down the path she'd left behind in her haste, easily following the heavy indents in the ground and the crushed leaves and twigs left in her wake. Then it became harder to follow. This must be where she was when the rock hit the ground, he decided.
Still, it wasn't too difficult. He noticed that her tracks disappeared whenever there were visible roots in the ground, making it easy to guess where she went. And sure enough, at the end of the trail he came to a tree. He looked up and saw two little feet dangling down from a high branch.
He grinned, quietly scaling the opposite side of the tree, using the sturdier branches to support his weight. Finally, he reached the same height as Marina and swung around the tree, letting go so that he half-fell, half-flew into a sitting position on the branch next to her.
"Hey there."
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Post by ivory on Jun 7, 2009 11:37:20 GMT -5
Marina jerked back in startled suprise and with a scream, she fell backwards. She made a wild grasp at the nearest branch. Her arm hooked around it as if she were giving it a headlock and she gritted her teeth as her arm felt as if it'd been jerked from its socket. She hung there for a second, breathing hard before gropping with her feet to find another branch.
She slowly uncurled her arm from the one that had kept her from falling and hauled herself back up to level with him. "Why'd you do that for?" She glared at him as her heart beat frantically, but it was aimed more at herself than him. She berated herself for not being able to spot him, even as he climbed the blasted tree.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 7, 2009 12:13:36 GMT -5
"Because that's what the angry men with swords are going to do when you spy on them and they catch you," Monkuta said as though it was common knowledge.
He lay down on the branch, his back against the trunk. Looking around in silence for a moment, appreciating this spot in the woods, he almost forgot that Marina was there. He turned back to her.
"Your first mistake? Rocks flying through trees don't sound like footsteps. Abandon that strategy right now. It might work on little boys, but if it didn't fool me, it won't fool any of those angry men with swords I mentioned."
He toyed with the thought of having her search for him, but decided against it. It would take too much time.
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Post by ivory on Jun 7, 2009 12:52:13 GMT -5
She actually grinned at his answer. The thought of being in constant danger as a 'ranger' was highly appealing. So was the possibility that she'd learn more moves to beat up on them if they tried, moves she had a brief thought to use on Jordain when next she saw him. She toyed with the idea, but doubted in her heart that she'd actually do it. For some reason, she found herself half-liking this man and didn't want to destroy his trust of her. But maybe if she had permission...
"Your first mistake? Rocks flying through trees don't sound like footsteps. Abandon that strategy right now. It might work on little boys, but if it didn't fool me, it won't fool any of those angry men with swords I mentioned."
She thought to refuse to listen to his logic, but she'd never been able to pass up a chance to learn more. So she took his advice, albeit grudgingly, and placed it within the folds of her memory. It still didn't stop her from countering though. "That's because boys are stupid," she scowled. She didn't even wait a heart beat before launching into her next question. "Can I try again?"
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 7, 2009 13:47:30 GMT -5
Monkuta smiled. Maybe he was breaking through to her. She was like he was at her age in a lot of ways. The thought amused him.
"Of course. That's why we're here, isn't it?"
He leaped out of the tree, rolling to brace himself on impact. He shouted up to her in the tree:
"This time, don't just go somewhere that would be hard to get to. Find a spot with good natural camouflage. Look for surroundings that match the colors you have on!"
He shut his eyes.
"Go!"
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Post by ivory on Jun 7, 2009 14:33:37 GMT -5
She sat there wondering for a second in wry humor if he would think to look in the same place twice. Would he be puzzled when he didn't hear her or find a single clue to her passing? Because of course, she hadn't moved? The thought amused her enough for her to stay there. That and she wanted to see if he had as much pride as she did. Would he admit defeat? She wasn't sure why she wanted to know, only that it meant a great deal to her to find out. So she waited for his eyes to open.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 7, 2009 14:40:28 GMT -5
Monkuta waited and, hearing nothing, opened his eyes. He frowned, looking up in the tree.
"I told you to go!"
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Post by ivory on Jun 7, 2009 16:50:42 GMT -5
So much for her plan.
Marina sighed before taking off, but not before shooting him a glare. He didn't seem to have such high faith in her learning abilities. She'd show him she vowed, she'd be better than any other male apprentice out there.
She paused as she made her way back down, biting her lower lip as she wondered for a moment when she started to think of herself as his apprentice. She shrugged it to the back of her mind as she began her climb back down. As soon as her feet touched the ground she took off. She ignored the cruch and crack of leaves and twigs beneath her feet, wanting only to get distance between them for the moment. After she made it roughly a hundred yards she stopped at the nearest tree and jumped onto the lowest branch. She hung there for a second before swinging herself over the ocean floor at a ninety degree angle from which she'd come. Her arms felt heavy and her fingers screamed in protest after only four trees, but she was well use to pain thanks to Jordain's group of boys. Albeit the pain had mainly been focused on her torso, stomach, and upper limbs, pain was still pain.
So she carried on until she found a rock to drop on, which was about twenty trees over and she glanced around, looking for the best direction to go. There was a patch of moss on her right and in front of her, but she'd walked on some last time and he'd been able to find her. So she took the 'path' on her left across the 'regular' forest floor. She was careful not to step on any twigs in case he was near, but her way was painstakingly slow and she'd never been known for her patience. She gritted her teeth in concentration as she forced herself to keep that pace until she crossed a game trail. She bit her lower lip in indecision before deciding to take it. She figured that if she made a little noise it wouldn't hurt too much and she could go at a faster pace. The thought that water might be at the end of it caused her to make a little too much noise for a few seconds before she remembered to keep quiet, thus aka, go slower. Her teeth grinded upon each other as she did so.
A few minutes later she came upon a pond and she grinned as she sunk into the water. She waded in until she was waist deep before turning back around and sinking down to her ears. She settled amongst the weeds to better hide her and waited for the ranger to find her once again.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 7, 2009 17:01:48 GMT -5
Monkuta opened his eyes and looked around. No sign of her. Nothing in the trees or behind rocks.
Why did she always feel the need to get so far away? Monkuta shrugged off the thought and started down the trail. He shook his head in disappointment. It was so easy to follow. He walked until he got to the river, where the tracks ended.
Into the trees again, eh? He looked up, no sign of her. So she used the trees to get around; clever. It didn't leave any tracks.
He hopped into the trees as well, swinging until he saw tracks again, leading away from the river. He followed them and eventually came to a small pond with weeds sticking out of it. He saw the top of her head and grinned.
Let's see what she'll do...
He sat down by the side of the pond, splashing water on his face, drinking and giving no indication that he'd noticed her.
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