Of Hares and Hairs [p]

[Layle]

The comforting crunch of Cid's hooves through the snow was something that reassured Layle that he was doing the right thing. There had been some reports about a slaughter up to the north, a few miles from where he was staying to be precise, and well... ordinarily he wouldn't care, but considering that it was a poacher causing the bloodshed, he had been one of the first to volunteer. Or rather, the only one to volunteer. He was protective of the animals, and hearing that bear and rabbit and deer were being slaughtered for no particular reason save their pelts sickened him; what sort of person would kill all those creatures and only skin them, leaving the meat out to rot like that? Ugh. Even if Layle chose not to eat meat if he had a choice - which sometimes he didn't, and his lean days back in Valm had been more than enough to teach him never to turn up his nose at perfectly good food - he still didn't waste meat when he would hunt, usually giving it to the cooks to make a stew or something. Leaving food to rot when others were starving was something he didn't believe in, hadn't since he was a child and was one of those starving.

A shuffling noise broke the cavalier from his musing, and he glanced down at his saddlebags to see the way that one of the bags was moving, a half-twisted smile forming on his face as he watched the flap slowly wriggle until it was pushed open by an adorable albino snowshoe hare, who let out a soft noise and glanced up at Layle until he reached down with one hand and gently stroked her head. "Shhhh, Lilty, go back to sleep," he murmured. "We still have a way to go." The hare let out a soft noise, nudging his hand and then poked her head out, curious. She couldn't smell much beyond the scent of the gelding that she was sharing with Layle... but the stillness of the tundra... while natural normally this far from any human settlement, this type of stillness wasn't quite right...

Something was coming. She just didn't know what it was quite yet.

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. I finally got a thread for the two of them, I hope you don't mind. Also Lilty is his new pet albino hare that he found caught with a leg in a snare when she was a baby and nursed back to health, so she stays with him and usually travels with him out in the snow since she has better senses than Cid or Layle do when it comes to picking up possible sources of danger, ie an angry bear.

[suna]

the looking glass, so shiny and new!

That cute little rabbit was dead right - something was indeed coming - and it was one rather oblivious taguel. She couldn't say exactly why she wanted to backtrack into Ferox. Perhaps it was simply that she missed the cooler temperatures, and the ability to transform into her beast form and run all that she wanted without risk of overheating. It was natural to do that, right? Going ahead and turning into her beast form and running all that she wanted - at least until she tired herself out (which was rare in itself) was a perfect way to spend her day in Ferox, and so she set about doing that...

At least, until she chanced across a giant bear corpse, and then a few deer, and then a rabbit or three. Their pelts had been removed, but nothing else - simply leaving the remains to be picked apart by crows. Suna slowed, tentatively nudging the corpses with a paw, and then backed away - okay, so either these were some skilled poachers, or there was some type of horrible beast that just ate fur lying in wait around here. Both options made Suna want to leave - and so she turned, bounding in the direction she came from...

And almost ran right into the legs of a horse.

Almost, mind you - her reaction speed was a bit faster in her beast form than in her regular form. She jumped to the side, and then turned about, kicking up snow in a dramatic attempt to put the brakes on her running, even sliding a bit. Curiosity demanded that she look upon the horse in question, and the man riding the horse, too, and suna stood up on her hind legs to get a better view of both. Red hair! And a bandanna! Honestly, he didn't look so scary - and horses weren't scary either. Surely he couldn't be the poacher or fur-eater in question.

But that left the question of, what was this man doing? In that direction, there was... excuse me, She decided to say, her voice a tad distorted by her current form, but there's a lot of... dead things, that way. 'if you're smart, you'll want to turn around and leave, like I just did!'

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[Layle]

Lilty's nose twitched and she then reached up and tugged the flap of the saddlebag back over her head. That was Layle's first sign that something was coming, and the teen reined in, his legs tightening slightly around Cid while his hand hovered, debating if he needed to take his lance into hand. He didn't want to have to fight... but the way that Cid's ears pricked and his body vibrated slightly with tension between Layle's thighs wasn't the way he might have if it was a bear. And he didn't think there was much else out here that would possibly be a threat aside from a poacher or a fellow traveler, and there were precious few enough of both that didn't mean ill.

Of course, that was when he suddenly realized that the shape on the horizon was a large rabbit-like beast, and before he could react, Cid was rearing up with his hooves lashing in fear and surprise at how close the creature was coming to him, Layle powerless to do much more than clasp at his mount's mane until Cid placed all four hooves back down again, nostrils flared as he scented the air, slowly calming down after the scare. Peeking out of bring blue eyes that had been squeezed shut, Layle gently reached down to pat the horse's shoulder, hearing the gelding whuff softly into the air and create crystals in front of his nose. "You're okay, Cid, you're okay," he muttered softly, soothing the mount, and then he flickered his eyes up, almost in awe. A taguel, the voice was enough to confirm it. He'd heard of such people... but never in even his wildest dreams had he imagined he would be gifted with the chance to meet a member of the proud race.

Though dead animals... that meant he was on the right track. Politely, Layle nodded as best he could, relaxing and making a point of bringing his hand away from his lance. "I suppose that's... good," he hazarded, his expression neutral. "I disagree with the loss of life... but hopefully if there's all those animals, I can figure out how fresh they are and whether or not I have a chance at catching the poacher." Curiously, Lilty poked her head out of the bag again, the snowshoe hare letting out a soft sound before squirming, forcing Layle to lean over and pick her up gently in one hand. "Easy, girl, it's a long fall," he murmured gently before returning his attention to the taguel. "You don't have to show me if you don't want to. Just the information you gave me is more than enough to help me bring the poacher to justice." 'I hope,' he added mentally.

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. Layle's last sentence is his thoughts, all the rest of it is actually speech c: ..... And you should have seen the way i jumped when the doors started slamming from the wind jfc I probs resembled Yarne right about then.

[suna]

the looking glass, so shiny and new!

Oh, it really did seem like she startled the poor horse - Suna allowed herself a pang of guilt over that, though she said nothing. It seemed like the man had it under control, and it seemed a little silly for her to mumble out apologies in this situation. Suna's nose twitched and her attention was momentarily diverted by some vague sounds, far off- but then her attention was brought right back to the man as he spoke. I suppose that's... good,' Suna tilted her head at him almost comically - good? Just how was it - 'I disagree with the loss of life... but hopefully if there's all those animals, I can figure out how fresh they are and whether or not I have a chance at catching the poacher.' Ohhh. Ohh! This man wanted to catch the poacher.

In all honesty, Suna felt a little bad for simply running off and not having the courage to try herself. Had those been human corpses - well, she probably still would have run, very very far away. But if there were alive humans, in danger, she was certain that she would have tried to pitch in and help, even if she were completely useless in the matter. All the same, as a taguel, a fur-eating monster was quite a scary thing! She had reason to be worried, and reason to be worried about this man. if you're sure you want to chase after this poacher. cause, i mean...

Casually skinned corpses were somewhat viscerally terrifying to Suna, of course. i don't think it's that great of an idea for you to go alone, she said instead - slyly giving herself permission to appease her own guilt and help this man out. Why not? Okay, so the corpses were terrifying, but with backup, maybe she could be a bit braver, and do some good as well. What was the harm in it? Best case scenario, they find the poacher, ask him to stop, and then they all leave cheerfully. Not even Suna was dumb enough to think that would really happen.

Now, Suna normally didn't feel much of a connection to other rabbits - she'd eat a pie made out of them if offered one - but still, the white hare that the man seemed to dote over caught her interest anyway - and continued to catch her interest. In the end, she caved to her curiosity and asked - also, who's that? A pause. the rabbit, i mean! and... your name, too, that'd be nice. Right... you were supposed to ask for people's names before you asked for their pets names. Right.

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[Layle]

Layle's hand on the snowshoe hare between the horn of the saddle and the crease of his hips was gentle, stroking the soft white ears thoughtfully even as he kept his gaze focused on the large rabbit-like creature before him. Slowly, the young man nodded, his expression firm. "I volunteered for the job at the behest of the East Khan. I can hardly turn my back after signing up for that... not to mention that it personally sickens me for animals to be killed like that." The Valmese man smiled sadly, adjusting his grip on the reins. "Technically I'm not alone. I have Cid here, and I'm not too bad with a lance, or at least, I'd like to think I'm not after all the training I was -" 'forced into' "- participating in a year ago."

It took him a moment to catch up to what she was suggesting, but the moment he did, the human perked up, a slow smile spreading across his lips. "But I'd be more than happy to have an ally to help me find the poacher," he said, grinning, only to blink at the question, ducking his head slightly in a sheepish manner. Vaigali - and even thinking the name like this made a slight rush of anger run through him, though it left almost as quickly, a summer squall that disappeared as swiftly as it had come to leave a familiar sense of emptiness in its way - would have been scolding him if he'd known that his little brother had forgotten his manners like that. "A-ah. This here is Lilty, she's a snowshoe hare that I rescued as a baby after she was caught in a trap that smashed her leg." He lifted the hare up, showing her off, and then lowered her again, setting her down. "Cid is the scardy-horse I'm riding, and I'm Layle."

The Feroxi smiled, at ease even if Cid shuffled beneath him, the gelding trying to keep warm in the cold, a task made harder by the recent trim to his fur that his rider had given him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss...?" he trailed off, a gentle nudge for the taguel to give her name as well.

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. Fluffy snowshoe hare is cute and fluffy. And Layle is cute and fluffy too, he's just not a snowshoe hare. *brick'd*

[suna]

the looking glass, so shiny and new!

Oh, so it was the East Khan that sent him? Not just some random do-gooder, then - this was an issue big enough to worry a Khan. Suna wasn't quite sure how she felt about that bit of information, and her worry was obvious in the way that she twitched her nose. The man continued about his training for a little bit before seeming to catch on - and then outright giving Suna permission to tag along. Now, she couldn't really smile in her beast form - their faces weren't exactly made to let them do so - but she made a reasonable facimile of one, saying a quick, okay!

He had training, after all! He had all sorts of training. Surely, whatever poacher was out there, they wouldn't be so scary.

Suna had to be honest - Lilty was a cute name, and an even more adorable rabbit. Suna wasn't able to resist the temptation to get a little closer - dropping back down onto all fours to close the distance and then rising up again, curiously sniffing at the hare. Cid was his horse's name? Did he name all of his pet animals? and... well, nice to meet you, layle! and, um, sorry for scaring cid, she finally said, backing off now to give the horse some space. After all, if he was a scaredy horse, she didn't want to do anything that could result in Cid throwing poor Layle off.

As much as a part of her wanted to keep on questioning Layle about his animals and just why he carried a rabbit around in a bag, the issue of those animal corpses weighed on Suna's mind, and she bounded ahead a bit, giving herself a head start, before she turned back to Layle and called - the dead animals were in this direction, she just came from there, so it wasn't exactly hard to remember where they were. follow me! she said, and then began moving. It was painfully slow by her standards, but she couldn't go ahead and run full tilt like she wanted, unless she wanted to risk losing her companion in all of the snow she kicked up.

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[Layle]

Layle couldn't help but to laugh at the taguel's equivalent of a smile, the male able to sense the goodwill radiating off of her but at the same time rather amused at the expression on her face. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe," he assured her. He softened slightly as he watched her sniff at Lilty, the little hare letting out a soft noise as she tried to sniff back curiously. Obviously Lilty liked the taguel, she usually shyly hid inside of whatever was the nearest object that could conceal her presence when she was around strangers.

The cavalier smiled and shrugged, unable to wave his hand since he didn't want to jerk on the reins that he still gripped in them. "It's fine. I didn't fall off, and neither of us got hurt, so really, there's no harm done." He patted the gelding under him, carefully easing Lilty back into her pocket, and then he clicked his tongue, steering Cid into the track that the taguel's larger body made in the snow so that the horse could have an easier time getting through it, his pace soon picking up from a wary trot to an easy gallop at the urging of the other about where the animals were even as Layle thanked the gods that he was lucky enough to find an ally who could help him move faster now that Cid didn't have to try to shoulder through massive snowdrifts the size of his chest. "Hey! Wait!" he called, thighs tightening as he urged the gelding onwards, the gelding at least used to the taguel's presence enough to chase after her with no concerns showing up. "You never gave me your name!"

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. Oops that should've been the Western Khan, not the Eastern in the last post I made. My bad! That's my fault, not yours! I'm not editing it, I'm just telling you so you know for future reference and don't think I changed it out to be dumb or anything.

[suna]

the looking glass, so shiny and new!

Oh, that was right. She did forget to give out her name entirely. Whoops! suna! she called back, without actually looking back - hopefully, Layle could hear her. If not, it could just wait until they arrived at the corpses. They were making good time, after all - even if Suna had to go slower than she otherwise would, she managed to get herself into a sort of rhythm, only stopping occasionally to check back on Layle and make sure that he was still with her, and to sniff and listen for a few moments, just to make entirely sure that she wasn't leading them straight into a bandit camp or something.

Soon enough, she recognized the area, and the scent of death was clear to her - maybe not so much to Layle, being a human, but in her beast form, it was even more difficult for Suna to ignore things like that. She snorted - not out of amusement, but more a sad attempt to try and stop smelling rotting corpses, and then slowed to a stop, turning to face Layle once more. we're super close. she warned him, and then without waiting, she bounded the rest of the way, milling about the dead animals once more.

Yep, definitely a skinless bear... and then theeeere were the deer corpses, a bit farther off. she could even see the smaller ones she had run into first - the rabbits. She really had no idea why someone would kill and then litter like this, (surely even poachers would want to cover their own tracks?) but she also supposed she was glad that the person who did this appeared to not be around at all.

Vultures and crows had been giving the corpses an undue amount of attention, but it was short work for Suna to scare them away, even before Layle arrived, snapping and kicking up a huge fuss enough that any reasonable bird simply figured, 'Alright, I'll leave the big beast thing alone and eat more later'. And with that done, she turned back to her companion, and rose up on her hind legs again, saying, here we are... and then she wrinkled her nose. What a terrible place to bring someone to, really. do you think you'll find any clues from this? i just see, well... dead things.

In the back of her mind, Suna wondered if she should bother to change back to a more - well, personable form now that they arrived, but she also didn't want to go through the trouble of changing back just to transform again to travel. And Layle didn't seem to mind her current state of... beastliness.

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[Layle]

Layle nodded when he heard the name, easing up on Cid slightly. Suna. That was the name of the taguel he was following. It was a nice name, he decided, and with that, he let Cid pick his own pace through the snow, once again thankful that Suna was able to break through some of the drifts and make it easier for both horse and rider to get through the snow. As they went though, slowly, Cid under him began to act more antsy, the first sign that they were approaching an area of a lot of death even if the gelding was well enough trained to refrain from flinching away at the unease running through him. Lilty was hiding away in her pocket of the saddlebag, and eventually, even Layle himself was able to scent the rotting corpses, the hand with the reins starting to come up to try to cover his nose before he steeled himself, lowering his hand again so that Cid wouldn't think he was asking him to slow.

Layle felt his breakfast churn at the sight of the skinned bear carcass, but he forced himself to clamp down, reining in at the top of the hill and patting Cid's shoulder. "Good boy," he murmured softly, dismounting. "Stay here, you don't need to come any closer, good boy," he urged, bringing the reins over the gelding's head and dropping them almost casually, though he knew that Cid would no more move from that spot there than he would if he were tied there. The human held himself firm, padding towards the bear, crouching at its side and waving away the few flies swarming around the meat. "Still warm..." he muttered to himself, able to feel the heat just waving his hand over the carcass. "We must not be too far from the culprit." He swept a practiced eye over the ground, scanning for prints, only to let out a soft noise, pointing. "They came from the west, heading east," he stated, gesturing towards a few faint bootprints that he could see. "There was only three. A little few to take down a bear of this size, so they must have been either very skilled or very lucky. Perhaps both." Straightening up, he padded forward, glancing at the other corpses. "If I had to guess... they killed the deer and rabbits first, prey animals wouldn't just hang around in a slaughter like this. They likely used a spell or a bow to kill them, and then while they were harvesting the skin, the bear was lured by the smell of the meat, since it seems to be lacking in fat and the ground is a bit more scuffled around it, hinting at a more physical struggle than the clearer snow around the other victims."

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. Oops that should've been the Western Khan, not the Eastern in the last post I made. My bad! That's my fault, not yours! I'm not editing it, I'm just telling you so you know for future reference and don't think I changed it out to be dumb or anything.

[suna]

the looking glass, so shiny and new!

No matter how Suna looked at it, she saw some gross, dead, furrless animals. She watched as Layle dismounted his horse, cooing comforts to the animal and also to his rabbit, and then approached the corpses, quite certain that this would be a dead end, because what else could be gleaned from these dead gross animals? Their scent overpowered her nose - where otherwise she might have been able to track the culprits by scent alone, it was hard to find anything that didn't just smell like death around here. Perhaps Layle would give up, turn around, and leave.

Suna came onto a realization.

She was wrong about a great many things.

These corpses were like a minefield of information, apparently. Suna sniffed - her first instinct was a somewhat offended huff, and then a somewhat insecure sigh - okay, so she totally didn't have some like... hardcore sherlock holmes level ranger training like this guy did! And you know what, she didn't even want to find those stupid poachers anyway. They were probably terrifying! So... so...

Okay, she just had to admit to herself, Layle had her beaten when it came to assessing crime scenes.how did you find out that much just from looking?? she asked, wondrously. i can't smell anything but these animals. so I'm useless right now. However, it was like a lightbulb went off, and a part of what Layle just got done saying sunk in. ... what does it mean that the bear came and struggled? She paused. does it mean they're strong enough to take down a hungry, angry bear?? A little bit of alarm edged into her voice. A hungry, angry bear! Taguel were supposedly skilled at taking down beasts, but Suna never had to actually hunt in her life - and she vastly preferred it when her meat was handed to her in a nicely made pie. (What a spoiled little rabbit she was.)

are you sure you want to fight people that can take down bears? was the obvious question, but then she paused. Did she really want to convince Layle to not track down these people and then have them wandering about, possibly skinning actual taguel? um... not that i'm saying you should quit or anything, or that i want to quit, she amended, sheepishly. why do you think they left these corpses here? and where do you think they went? Surely, Layle had all of the answers on the subject.

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Layle

[Layle]

Layle didn't determine a lot from the actual corpses - no, he could just tell how fat they were based on how much he saw, which was usually a good indication of how well fed the animals were, and how much lean muscle they had, which was a slight indication of how well they had fought - but instead actually from the ground around them and a little bit of deductive reasoning. It was something formed mostly by Layle sitting and using process of elimination over what was more practical for something like this, and if he could eliminate any options, well... whatever was left, no matter how outlandish, had to be the truth. Or at least an option for him to consider at any rate. Leaning back on his heels, the cavalier chuckled. "My reasoning may not be entirely right... but I'll walk you through it, Suna."

He gestured towards the bear. "I started with that the poachers had to be somewhere close. How much time, I'm not sure, but when I went to inspect the carcass, just waving my hand over the animal made me feel a little bit of heat on my hand. Since it's so snowy out, I'd say that would imply that the animal was killed pretty recently." He then took a few careful steps over to a fairly undisturbed area, pointing out the bootprints in the snow. "Now, over here, if you look, there are three distinct patterns in the boots. One of them has newer shoes, something that looks ill-worn. Another has pretty poorly crafted shoes, which you can see in the nailmark on the left shoe. And then there's the third set of prints, which is someone with a heavy limp. You can see they tried to walk mostly in the footsteps of everyone else, but if I concluded that was how they normally walked even if there weren't occasionally prints to the contrary, I'd have to assume that they deliberately were leaning more on one side than the other on certain steps, which doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. And as far as direction goes, that's pretty easy, that's just figuring out where the heel and where the toe is when they're walking."

The cavalier spread his hands out. "Now, if it were only three people to take down a bear that would be that big, I would have to say that probably one of them is a mage or an archer, if only so that they can get the distance needed to take down a bear. Either they weren't expecting it and got lucky - which is my guess since there's a lot more bloody snow around the bear corpse than all the others - or they were and they knew what they were doing to take it down, or at least thought they did." He then shook his head. "As far as the order, goes, well... that's just a bit of logic. If you look at the bear, it doesn't have a whole lot of yellow-white meat, which is fat. Which means that it was likely trying to fatten up. And while bears will hunt, most of the time any animal is going to prefer to scavenge off of what's already dead. So if it was coming out here in the open, there had to be a reason. Potential food would be a very good one. Prey animals like rabbits or deer, on the other hand, wouldn't wander anywhere near a bear, dead or otherwise. Not unless it was pretty obvious the bear was alone." He then tilted his head to the side. "Add to that the fact that if you look at the snow around the corpses, there's a lot more little bunched up mounds of snow around the bear than any of the other animals, just like it would be on a training area or where there was a scuffle."

Realizing that he had embarked on quite the monologue, the cavalier flushed and ducked his head. "Ah... sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure you could follow me."

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. I think Layle's watched too much Sherlock Holmes. Or wants to win every game of Clue ever. *wheezedie*

[suna]

the looking glass, so shiny and new!

Suna blinked and listened intently to Layle's explanation, occasionally glancing between him and the pile of corpses. ...So... he learned that it was recent from how warm the corpses were? That was fair, but Suna wasn't about to start prodding at corpses for their heat, especially considering they were furless and she'd rather keep her distance. The rest of it, though... Suna had a feeling that she would have never even picked up on any of it, had Layle not taken the time to explain to her. And you know what? A lot of her still didn't see quite a few of the clues that had given him so much information, untrained as she was. At the end of his explanation, all Suna could really offer was an i see... the kind of 'I see' one said when they really, did not see at all. A pause from her end, and then she said - that's... really impressive! i wouldn't have been able to do that. Wait, didn't she already say something like that just a few moments ago? ...Oops.

She turned the information over in her head, sniffed a bit about the corpses, (moving carefully, as to try not to ruin Layle's precious clues), but then settled that she was just not going to pick up anything new any time soon. Give her a tome and she might understand that, but dead wildlife? Please, no! so... i guess we should follow the tracks? Suna asked. It took a little bit of orientation for her to figure out which way was the boot heel on these tracks, but she managed it within a minute or so, moving off and then, as if waiting for approval or clarification from Layle, she turned back and sat on her haunches once more.

There was something bothering her about this situation, though. ...why do you think they didn't cover their tracks at all? i mean, they left these corpses... and even left all of these footprints in the snow. like, are they just cocky, or...? or was it a trap of some sort? Layle likely wouldn't be able to derive the answer from simply snow and blood splatter, but that didn't stop her from asking, anyway.

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Layle

[Layle]

Layle could tell that Suna didn't really see exactly how he'd figured out everything that he'd gotten out of the prints, but he just smiled. "I can teach you how to read tracks later," he offered. "I'm just used to it after having to do the same thing with animals. It's better to take down animals if they're injured beyond repair when you're hunting, and it's saved a few horses after battle." A little bit of a lie, but a white one - he'd first learned how to track like that from the Valmese army, where he was trained as a forward scout, and he'd learned the finities of being able to glance at tracks and decipher how large a host was, what the likely units were that he would have to go up against, and what direction they were traveling. Not that he was going to admit to that out loud, even if it was to someone who wouldn't turn him it; the Valmese army was something that he was trying to put behind him.

The cavalier looked at the tracks for a moment more, roaming around the corpses in the hopes of figuring out exactly what weapons they'd be going up against, but he couldn't see any scuffmarks in the snow, which meant that he was on his own. For all he knew, he was- He stopped in his step, bending down near one of the the deer, ignoring the smell and the heat as he carefully extracted a single arrow. Okay. So that meant at least one archer since he didn't see any hoofprints to indicate something different and somehow he doubted it was an assassin. His eyes next picked out a large drift of snow, and with a sudden widening of the blue orbs, he realized that one of the three was a mage of some kind. So one mage, one archer... that put a lot of things into place. They could have taken down a bear, but with the way the animal was so much bigger, it was likely a struggle for one person with any weapon to keep such a creature from reaching either of the more vulnerable parties. Still, that archer was a good shot if the corpses were anything to go by, there weren't any other marks. Filing that information away, he looked up at the taguel. "I don't know. It might be a better idea to go back to the khan and ask for backup. If I'm right... we're dealing with a mage and an archer and an unknown swordsman or an axeman or lance-wielder." The cavalier cursed softly. The closest they had been to catching the culprits, and they weren't going to be able to do much more than just let the group go!

He sighed, rubbing his face. What a disappointment. Shaking his head, he answered the question. "I have no idea. If I had to guess, I would have to say that since they're so far out, they don't have to worry about anyone finding the corpses until they're long done and the tracks are covered by the snow or destroyed by the wildlife. We... or I guess you could say I... got lucky that you found them so close to when they were killed."

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. LMAO I realized that this would be a good paralogue type thread, a scuffle against some poachers. A smaller one at any rate. *coughs and turns pink*

[suna]

the looking glass, so shiny and new!

Suna could think of all sorts of objections to the idea of returning to the Khan. For one, did the Khan really want to be bothered? For another, running all the way back and then back here gave the poachers plenty of time to run away. And of course, it gave Suna plenty of time to want to chicken out. She wiggled her nose in thought, sitting on her haunches. That said, four people... four people! Suna might be able to talk to four at once, on a really really good day, but fighting them? Much less ones that knew how to use arrows and magic?? God, that was downright terrifying with two people - and though Suna hoped that Layle was wrong, she also wasn't going to insult his tracking skills by implying that he was wrong.

Oh, yeah, and the fact that if he was right and they barreled in, they could end up dead.

At least she was semi-useful? Yay for finding corpses. Nay for finding a Khan. ...i guess we could go back, Suna finally said. i've never met a khan before. maybe it'd be best for you to go! wait, did she really want to sit out here, alone, in the snow, with a bunch of fur-stealing poachers running about? Did she really? wait... no, um, lilty might get lonely, she said, backtracking with a completely obvious excuse. Lilty was fine before Suna met the rabbit and likely would be completely fine without her presence.

so we're both going to meet the khan and ask for help? she finally said. where to? and do you think the khan would be annoyed? i'm not sure i can run all that way, but... Unfortunately for Suna, as much as she enjoyed running in her beast form, it did tend to wear her down. Burning off energy was usually the point, not long-distance treks.

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Layle

[Layle]

Layle didn't like the fact that they would have to go back. This was the closest they'd gotten to the poachers since the group had started causing trouble, and with the tracks so fresh, he doubted that it would take very long for them to catch up, especially if Suna went first and loosened some of the snowdrifts for Cid to be able to plow through easily. But after getting a feel for the strength of the group, well... he wasn't entirely comfortable asking Suna if she was prepared to trust him and fight for him. Especially considering that for all he knew the group could be even stronger than he'd estimated. Or have connected up with stronger allies, which would put even more of a strain on the two of them. No, it was something that didn't sit well for him, but he'd rather be safe than sorry - he wasn't Valmese military anymore, after all.

"The khan is really kind," he stated with a chuckle. "Even if she'd deny it, she's gentle enough to allow me to stay on even though I don't like fighting very much." He shrugged. "It's not that I'm not strong, I'm pretty good with the lance... but it's my choice not to fight." The cavalier couldn't help but to chuckle again at the obvious excuse, shaking his head. "And we can't have that, now can we?" he teased gently. "Rabbits can die if they get lonely, you know, and I'd be heartbroken to lose her." With one more glance around to confirm that he wasn't going to get anything more out of the area, he padded towards where Cid was waiting in the snow, reaching to scratch Lilty's head where she had poked it out curiously at the mention of her name before he firmed his grasp on the saddle, pushing himself up with the stirrup and easing his weight onto the horse so that the gelding would hardly notice that his rider had mounted again. "The khan could hardly fault you for coming back considering how much you helped me. In fact, I think she'd be happy to have you with me when I report, though she might not act it. She has to keep up her image of the toughest out of all of us, y'know?"

Though he supposed that Suna had a point. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to stay in beast form for the entire trek back. Chewing his lip for a moment, he adjusted the saddlebags and then dismounted again. "Cid can carry us back. He's carried heavier loads than just me and someone else, and I'm a good enough rider that I'll be fine to sit behind you and steady you while I guide Cid. Besides, he knows where to go to get back to the stables anyway, so he shouldn't be too much of a problem unless something spooks him, and he doesn't frighten easily."

Words. -- Tags. suna Notes. LMAO I realized that this would be a good paralogue type thread, a scuffle against some poachers. A smaller one at any rate. *coughs and turns pink*