Lesson Number Four (Jaiun)

[Fari]

Timestamp: 51st of Fall 511 AV Time: Mid-morning Bijou stretched out her still sleepy muscles. She’d taken to sleeping as a bear; it was just more comfortable when you never got cold and had ample padding. Someone had been pounding on her door so she assumed it was time to get up, she didn’t expect that person to walk right in though. It was one of the trainers, what was going on? She hadn’t done anything completely ridiculous recently, nothing to warrant a room visit. The trainer gave her a strict command to change and so Bijou complied still confused and a little scared. Quickly shaking off her bell, she sat back on rear and shifted. The little girl that was left in the cub's place had shoulder length hair that was formed into completely unmanageable curls. Her face still had quite a bit of childhood roundness to it but her sharp adult teeth had begun to come in and were a little bit big for her mouth yet. Directing her dark chocolate eyes to the trainer she spoke in quiet Vani. “What have I done?” The trainer looked down at her, “You managed to sleep through the other cubs leaving with the bears to learn how to hunt. Get dressed, we’ve found a way to improvise.” Bijou was shocked she didn't even remember hearing about the hunting trip and now to have missed it was awful. She quickly got dressed pulling on her blue shirt and black pants. Before fastening her boots she picked up her bell and placed it around her neck, as a human the bell hung near her navel. She snatched her big blue coat and matching mittens and looked to the older woman still standing in her room. The woman nodded and straightened Bijou’s shirt before leaving without even glancing back, it was obvious the cub was meant to follow. Bijou had to take on a quick trot to keep up with the brisk adult and was wondering where they were headed. They hadn’t gone towards the training room instead they headed for the front, stopping abruptly in the entry room the woman turned to Bijou. “You’re to be taken out haunting with Bear Jaiun, you’re to be respectful and not run off. I’ve brought you here early, you’re to wait quietly until Jaiun arrives.” “Yes Ma’am, I will.” The woman nodded at the reply and turned to leave, she clearly had much more to do today. This left Bijou standing in the entry way looking around for her temporary teacher. She’d never met Jaiun before and so was excited but tried to keep from showing it. Patience, although, was not her best attribute and it wasn’t long before Bijou started fidgeting, mostly trying to make interesting rhythms with her bell by shifting her weight.[/color]

[Jaiun]

"What? Why me?!"

The indignant cry was met by a pursing of the trainer's lips, her black eyes disapproving.

"Bear Jaiun, please do not speak to me in such a way. It's demeaning. Besides, I didn't assign you the duty."

Jaiun growled, his eyes filled with an unhappy flame that almost seemed brighter than the stormgems in the barrack walls. While the trainer sat in one of the few chairs in that room, he was standing, moving from one foot to the other as he looked angrily at the Vantha woman.

"I'm...sorry," Jaiun said, teeth gritted. "But it just seems stupid I was assigned this duty. Why was I assigned the cub? Why not one of the trainers, like you?" He waved at her relaxed form. "You don't seem to be doing much."

The trainer stuck her chin out aggressively. "That is none of your concern, young bear." she said coldly. "Now, Bijou is waiting for you in the entry room."

Jaiun spent a moment snarling at the woman before turning on his heel walking out. A black mood pervaded his mind as he walked through the halls of the Icewatch Barracks, the odd and ever-growing sound of a bell only enhancing his irritation.

When he burst into the room where the little girl stood, he took one look at her and growled in Vani, "Are you Bijou, cub? I'm Jaiun, and I suppose I'm going to take you out to hunt."

[Fari]

Bijou stopped abruptly stopped jingling her bell as Jaiun walked in. He seemed upset. But surely he wasn’t upset at her; she hadn’t done anything wrong yet. So Bijou smiled brightly at Jaiun and replied quickly in Vani, speaking too fast for normal conversation because she was so excited. “Yes Sir! I’m Bijou. So where will we hunt? Can we hunt seals?” She tried to keep as unaggressive posture as possible. Bijou knew instinctively that male bears were far more aggressive than females and so something that wouldn’t bother her in the least might be very offensive to Jaiun. Trying to get a good look at him without giving herself away Bijou noticed he had golden hair but only a little bit. She wondered if perhaps it was more difficult to grow hair golden rather than black and if that is why he didn't have much. The one thing she was actively looking for was his mark, she didn’t have one yet but she always loved to find them on the older bears. Trying to restrain her question because she knew they were irksome to the older bears, the cub finally decided on a statement instead.She spoke with determination, she liked to excel but it wasn't very often that she was the best at the training activities. “We’ll definitely do better than the big group of cubs. I’ll be really quiet, don’t worry. Most of the time I can even keep the bell quiet when I’m sneaking."She made the bell tinkle for emphasis. A good question, at least by Bijou’s standards, finally came to mind. “Should I change here? I don’t want to lose my clothes if we wait.” In truth they were her only clothes and while replacements could probably be found she liked her matching mittens and coat. The little bear watched Jaiun expectantly; he was new to her in many ways. Bijou had never been outside the city before, once the trainers had taken the cubs to the gate so they could see out of it, but never beyond it. Also, she’d never been alone in the presence of a male bear and so that was new as well. Finally, she might be able to make friends with him if she wasn’t too bothersome. Far beyond the last moment for politeness Bijou realized she’d forgotten something.She sheepishly whispered her forgotten courtesy. “Uhm, it’s nice to meet you Jaiun.”

[Jaiun]

The cub seemed excited, her happy mood pervading even Jaiun's grumpiness. He had to remind himself it wasn't her fault that he was stuck on this trip. Well, it partially was, but it wasn't like she was the one who'd picked him to come along.

Jaiun barked a laugh as he heard her suggestion. Seals! Well, she was an ambitious one. "Seals...yes, I do believe we can hunt seals." he said, licking his lips. It'd been a while since he'd a good bit of seal meat. He wasn't too particular about food that played in water all day long, but seals were nice all the same.

"Of course we'll do better than the big group! Those trainers barely know anything on hunting." Jaiun scoffed. "Trust me, cub, you're far better off with me."

Jaiun turned towards the cub, and for the first time, sized her up. She was small and female, dark-haired like most of the cubs. A unconscious hand went up to touch Jaiun's golden hair, coming back down with a deep sigh.

"Change...yes, change here. We'd be far better off in our natural forms." he said absentmindedly, already thinking to the task ahead. He turned to the side as he thought about where the best seal-hunting places would be. Down by the shore, certainly...he was concentrating so much he nearly missed her whisper.

He managed to hear it, however, and his head whipped around as he looked down towards her. A grudging smile tugged on the male bear's lips. "A pleasure to meet you too, Bijou."

[Fari]

Bijou bubbled excitedly she clearly got the better bear than all the other cubs! The cub’s first thought was to start pulling off her clothes to change, she had gotten in trouble for ruining coats and it hurt to do anyways. She even dropped her leather corded bell at her feet. But, with the clothing pile clutched in naked arms, she realized she was nowhere near her room. The child scampered into a corner and shoved her blue bundle behind a meant for those waiting their turn to speak with an official member of the Icewatch. Her clothes were certainly safe here; no one would steal from a bear! Turning back towards Jaiun, in a half run Bijou closed the distance. Half way between them she shifted sending out a spray of bright lights that left a considerably larger bear in the little girl’s place. Bijou skidded to a stop next to Jaiun. Nudging her bell with her nose, the little cub got her nose instead the leather loop and managed to pull it on with some creative tugging. It was clearly a maneuver the little bear had practiced. Plopping down on her rear haunches she looked at Jaiun expectantly, she was clearly trying not to fidget because every so often the bell would jingle as her muscles twitched. The cub’s patience didn’t last long; she let out a small mewled growl. She couldn’t let Jaiun bear think she was ordering him, males hated that, but she didn’t want to wait long either!

[Jaiun]

The smile still tugged on his face while the cub turned to shift form. She certainly was an eager one.

As Bijou made to change, so did Jaiun. The pair of breeches he had been wearing fell off, and the necklace with the polar beer tooth was set down on top of it carefully. Unlike Bijou, Jaiun didn't hide his things; he knew nobody would be so bold as to touch them.

When Bijou returned to him, a larger, older male polar bear would be waiting. He sat on his haunches and growled curtly once she mewled at him, cutting her off. In the rough language of the bears, he said,

"Patience, Bijou. That's something you must know if you are to hunt anything, anything at all. The prey won't just walk up to you. You must be sneaky, fierce, and above all, patient." Jaiun grinned, exposing one bearish canine. "Let us be off."

With that, Jaiun loped out of the room, out of the Barracks as well. He moved into the streets of Avanthal, the cold dash of the wind lost on his shaggy form. With a slight tilt of the head to make sure Bijou was following, Jaiun then launched into a full-out run.

He kept the pace up as he ran the breadth of Avanthal on his four limbs. They passed through the Icewatch Gates, with little trouble, the guards there recognizing their own.

As they made their way to the beaches, Jaiun decided it was time to determine the extent of Bijou's knowledge. "What do you about seals, cub?" He growled.

[Fari]

Bijou trotted behind Jaiun excitedly, making a game of hoping between his giant footsteps in the snow, at least until they hit the main streets and Jaiun starting running. Oh man he was fast! The game ended quickly as the little bear chased after her teacher, only managing to keep up because he cleared the way ahead of them. Bijou really wanted to stop as they passed through the gates, she had only been through once and in a giant group of cubs! There were things to be sniffed didn’t Jaiun know? But he kept running so she had to keep up. Her bell getting into a natural rhythm as her knocked against her furry chest. It would let Jaiun know that she was always right behind him or if she ended up straggling. Down the coast she followed him, struggling to keep up with his long strides. But she managed, Bijou wouldn’t miss out on sealing hunting for anything! What did Bijou know about seals? “They’re fat and they swim.” About summed up her total knowledge of the creatures, “Oh and they taste yummy.” Jaiun bear had said to be sneaky and Bijou knew her bell wasn’t quiet; it was how the guards used to catch her whenever she tried to escape. So as soon as he would let them slow down Bijou would drop her front legs from underneath her and scoot across some snow. The snow would get inside the bell and stop the chiming until it melted, which it wouldn’t if they stayed outside like this. It was the best way Bijou had come up with to keep the bell quiet. She was specifically disallowed from taking it off, she had promised not to also. The little cub had practiced sneaking a lot since she used to escape so often, hopefully it would be enough to snatch up a seal.

[Jaiun]

Jaiun made a bearish approximation of a laugh as Bijou responded. The language of the bears could only tenuously be called that, for like all bestial languages it was more conveyed as emotions and intentions than actual crystallized thought. He'd managed to understand Bijou fairly well however, and she he; and what she had said seemed to amuse him.

"That's a fair approximation of a seal, I'd say," Jaiun said, pawing at his nose unconsciously. "What you have to remember is that, even though they don't have our claws or teeth, seals are good at fighting back. Of course, even one such as you could easily overcome you. No, what you need to be wary of is the seal sensing your presence and running away." Jaiun growled softly. "Slippery little buggers, they are."

"What we're going to do is see if we can find one resting on the ice. If that happens, we have to be stealthy and sneak in close. If the seal doesn't notice and when we get close enough, we leap forward and attack. You understand?" Jaiun eyed Bijou askance. His eyes were on her bell, which would only bring noise and disrupt their stealth attack - it would do more harm than good. In one swift maneuver Jaiun reached forward and snatched the bell with his teeth, careful not to bend the metal beneath his molars. He twitched away and the ribbon around Bijou's neck broke free. "We'll come back for that later," he said as he spat the bell onto the snow, tucking the snow around it so it would form a noticeable mound for him to find later.

Looking Bijou in the eye to make sure she would follow, Jaiun began to move away from the trees down to the ice of the beach proper. After several steps he paused, and looked back.

"Come up here and stand by me so I know where you are." He grumbled, gesturing with his nose to his side. "And don't get discourage if we don't see a seal on the rocks. I have other ways of finding them." he bared his teeth in a facsimile of a hungry grin, then moved away, making sure Bijou was indeed heeding his orders.