Open It's Raining Death, Hallelujah! (Kovac, Aidara/Open)

[Kovac]

Kovac overlooked Addy's hungry repeat appraisal of the chiseled lumberjack, he too trying to wrap his head around what the man was saying. Garren was older than his grandparents would be, and how much older Kovac could not guess. The thought gave him pause. Just middle aged? Alakaks were not just not human in physical appearance, they truly were not human at all. To call him a monster was certainly unfair, to call him a god was giving him too much credit, and he certainly talked no different then he and Addy, even in his liquid gold flirtation. Maybe animosity was not the proper approach to the Akalak. The mongrel Avora reserved his final opinion for the moment.

Garren did take charge, at which Kovac did not take umbrage. His tactics were sound, employing the hunter's skills appropriately, and placing importance upon Aidara's safety. The Avora took his bow in hand, and slid an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocked it to the string, hooking a finger on his grip hand over the shaft to hold it against the bow, ready to draw in an instant. Looking back at the Dek trio, who had remained respectfully silent before the upper caste hunter and healer, and in awe of the Akalak, Kovac gave orders. "Stay in back and keep quiet. Do what he says." The half-breed tilted his head at the large lumberjack. With a glance to Addy and then Garren, Kovac took the point as the entered the woods, careful to keep his steps quiet. If they were going to run into trouble, he wanted to see it before it saw them.

[Aidara]

“When you put it like that, it sounds like I am going to be more work than I am worth on this little expedition.” Garron’s abrupt change in demeanor both startled and impressed Addy, who did nothing but nod meekly in agreement to the plan; a quick glance at Kovac showed some unknown emotion boiling just beneath the surface as he too gave a small nod and quickly took the lead. The little healer had fallen in between the two men when Kovac barked his own set of orders, earning another surprised look from Addy. She couldn’t fault him for the comment, nor did she give him any indication she disliked being told to be quiet and stay put, for it must have been hard to stand there and be compared to an Akalak.

Taking whatever gear the men had thought to give her to carry, Addy pulled out the small carving knife she had palmed from the inside of Phaurd’s hut; the old man might have seen her take it, but he had said nothing… yet. Perhaps there would be retribution to pay when she returned, but for now she had a miniature weapon. Looking carefully around her, Addy stepped lightly to avoid crackling too many leaves or snapping any branches; her last hunt had gone down hill quickly because their party hadn’t looked where they were stepping.

A memory surfaced, of the first time she had met Kovac and Addy couldn’t help but smile. How far they had come, both personally and professionally. Though surprisingly unskilled, the little healer was able to step carefully and quietly, following Kovac’s exact footsteps. On her first big hunt, she had flung herself wildly around, jumping like a maniac to even try and hang her bag off the ground. It was hard not to chuckle, but she managed to stifle the sound as she traced the ground for any sign of disturbance.

Kovac was the one who was supposed to be tracking, but Addy couldn’t help but want to learn; when the hunter paused at a leaf or a twig, stooping to examine a print in the mud, Addy stopped as well, peering over his shoulder and trying to take in as much information as she could without actually asking any questions. She knew all the signs of passage, or at least the minor ones they taught all the Yasi: Broken branches, overturned rocks, scuffles in dirt or mud or compressed blades of grass. She knew to look for leaves that had been recently disturbed if a thick blanket of them covered the ground, and to watch for fresh breaks in bark and tears in moss. That, however, was as far as her skill went.

They must have been slogging through the trees for at least a bell when Addy paused, glancing at Kovac before she turned to the side of the path and carefully stepped off of it. Out of the corner of her eye she had spotted something between the trees, though Kovac had been looking the other way at the time, she knew better than to call him over to look for himself. Moving quickly before either he or Garren could stop her, Addy winced as she crunched through some leaves and slid up behind a giant conifer. Sure enough, as she peaked around the edge of the trunk it was there.

“Hey!” Keeping her voice low, Addy called out to the men, waving over whomever responded to her call first. “Are we in far enough to make camp? I found a clearing here.” And she was right. Smaller than any of the Forward Camps, the clearing was a natural one. Trees had grown in a clump around the edge, a few scattered about the middle before the density of the forest resumed a few paces away. However, the two trees that had stood separate had fallen and were clearly dead; gray and withered, they dominated most of the space but if they were able to pull the massive trunks aside…

“Garren, if you can move those we will have more than enough room for the tents and a fire.” More than a little proud and grinning ear to ear, dimples dancing in her flushed cheeks, Addy spun to face them both and waited for the verdict. “What do you think?”

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