Nya found teaching Jade wasn’t actually that hard of a task. The woman did listen and seemed to pick things up even if she moved like an awkward human that never got out of a paved city. That would change. But in order for it to do so, Jade would have to train, harden her body, and learn things Nya could teach her as one woman to another.
Jade certainly seemed to have conviction. Nya watched her as Jade paused at the edge of the jungle where Nya was showing her the layers, and almost spoke to herself as she affirmed that she would survive Syka, teach Dina to respect it, and stand in… what? Symmetry? Nya wasn’t sure what Symmetry meant but it sounded right somehow.
The Kelvic nodded. There was so much more to learn. She pushed onward, leading Jade further into the jungle and back to where the murky shadows flowed. “The first thing to know about the jungle is that its so easy to get lost. Most people get lost when they look at what’s right in front of them and not at the landscape and topography around them at some distance. If you are always pushing away branches and darting around trees, you aren’t seeing your pathway and your pathway will get erratic.” Nya said softly, gesturing in the distance to the ridge line she was actually following. The boulder field had ran up its base and headed up the maw.
“It’s so easy to walk off a cliff because you were too busy dodging a spiderweb. I know so because I’ve done it.” Nya admitted, not proud of that fact. After a moment, she continued her lesson.
“Here, in The Maw, the water always flows to the sea. If you get lost you can find the coast by turning and following a waterway downstream. It might not put you out on the coast someplace familiar but it would be helpful if you had an idea if you were north or south of the settlement and then could walk whichever direction to get back to it. But be careful following waterways. Most animals do as well. So that’s where the big predators and dangerous insects will be.” Nya cautioned, pointing out a stream draining downward, but not turning to follow it. “Streams get bigger as they drop in elevation. They run into rivers and then into the sea.” Nya pointed out, not knowing if Jade knew this or not. She might very well have already made that observation.
Then she glanced at Jade again and snorted in disgust. “Stop moving as if you are tired!” Nya reached out and grabbed Jade’s hips, moving them with her hands, showing her. “Loosen your hips and turn your shoulders…” Nyas hands reached for Jade’s shoulders. “Loosen up your whole body. Bend and twist like I told you before. Lengthen and shorten your stride as the terrain demands. Move like a snake, sinuously, as you move through the jungle, Jade.” Nya insisted, stepping back away from her.
“You won’t get so beat up, bruised, or even cut and scraped. Cuts can really hurt you here. They can get infected in just a few short moments. Everything in this jungle can smell blood. If you bleed, stop and stop the bleeding… “ Nya added, moving forward and onward.
She paused at a rather large stream where she lead Jade across and paused at the far side. “This is getting thick in here. We’ll need our Kukri’s.” The Kelvic said, unsheathing her long knife and demonstrated to Jade how to use it. “Always carry one of these when you move through the jungle. You will come across vegetation that will block you and make the way impassible. Don’t hack away at everything out here though. It’s wasting energy and will wear you out. Use controlled contained upswings. They will be quieter. Swinging down, like chopping, will carry further and alert things you don’t want to know you are here about your presence.” The Talderian Forest Cat said, knowing she was right about it. “Things will start tracking you…. Stalking you. Because of that stop and listen to the world around you periodically. Catch your breath and get your bearings. Do so regularly. It will keep you calm and collected. Half the people that die in the jungle die because they panic.” Nya admitted, knowing Jade might not understand but once she got lost the first time or scared, she’d know what the kelvic was talking about.
“I would also suggest carrying a staff to help you walk or even a short stick. You can cut one from a sapling. They can move vegetation out of the way without damaging it … and leaving a trail. Plus you can use them to gently move snakes or break spider webs. You can even avoid ants with them. Ants are everywhere so watch it if you sit down. Some of them bite hard and sting really bad!” Nya said, pausing to show Jade a trail of ants and point out a rather large spider web as she walked.
“I like staffs to help cross water that you can’t see through. Remember how I told you not too? Well you can do so if you have a staff to prod into the water before you. You can so quickly tell if you are hitting rocks or say the soft body of a crocodile.” Nya pointed out, chuckling at one memory where she had stepped on a croc thinking it a rock and the ensuing scrambling flight that had ensued. Never again would she cross dubious murky water without a stick to tell if something was living or stone.
Nya paused then, her frequent stops making more sense to Jade now that the kelvic had told her why she was stopping. “There’s a thing called ‘survival thinking’ that you need to learn. It’s hard to explain but what it means is that if you get lost or in a bad situation in the jungle, even if you have no training you can survive as long as you think clearly and wisely and don’t panic. If you have all the training in the world and panic, you can actually get in trouble faster and dead easier than you could if your head was clear.” Nya pointed out.
“One thing that happens is panic causes a very strong confident person into someone who is indecisive. And out here being indecisive can kill you. If you let the stress of being lost, alone, or having lost someone like Dina in the jungle, then that stress will have an effect on how you think. You can make extremely dumb decisions Jade, you need to understand what you are feeling and why. You can get stressed by being hurt, being lost, something hunting you…. Even not having control of your situation. Things like bad weather or being really tired can do it too. If these things are causing you stress, you need to stop and fix them if you can. You need to remove the stress to survive. Does that make sense?” The Talderian Forest Cat said, quietly urging Jade to understand.
1201=28633/50000
