I had not asked Safi what technique she picked up in the library, so I had no idea how she was planning on taking care of a trink. It did not take us long to spot another, this time it was Itzcoatl who found it. Safi wasted no time.
Hurtling down from the trees, some sort of bird, so fast I could barely tell that it was no more than a soul-form. I could only watch as it plucked the trink from the side of the tree; it's talons punctured the trink's skull as if it were a soft fruit.
It disappeared rapidly, only perceptible for three puny seconds. Plenty of time for what was required of it. Unfortunately, it's disappearance left the dead trink without means to stay airborne. Itzcoatl's hand, and only his hand, snatched it from the sky before it fell.
He dropped down from the tree he was on, the trink now in his possession. "That's two. I've thought of a better way of doing this."
"I don't want you off on your own," I said. "Being split up is not a very good way of learning how to work as a team."
"That's not what I was going to say," Itzcoatl replied. "I can find the trinks, grab them, and then lob them over to you. All you have to do is kill it before it escapes."
"But, they can glide?" asked Safi.
"Oh yes, they're much more manoeuvrable in the sky than they are on the side of a tree."
"I see, so it's a moving target."
"Exactly, but that's not all. I'm not going to help you, so you'll have to recover it without damaging it. That means not letting it fall."
I smiled, it was a great plan. "I'm in," I said. Safi was more hesitant but eventually agreed.
"I'll give you a minute or two to plan, then I'll start throwing trinks." He jumped back up into the trees. I had plentiful options, some more subtle than others. It was tricky, thinking of a technique that was believable for me to have learned whilst simultaneously being enough to impress Itzcoatl.
Impressing Itzcoatl was mandatory, considering he'd only joined our team out of curiosity, an extremely fickle sentiment. I needed to impress him until the curiosity turned into something a bit more steadfast.
Charming Shot, a technique that perfectly encapsulated what I was aiming for. An arrow imbued with the inextinguishable desire to return to where it was released from, regardless of any weight attached to it.
"Do you need help?" I asked Safi.
"I have an idea, I'm just not sure if I can do it."
"Well, I know a pretty good way of finding out..." I said with a cheeky smile.
"Alright, alright. I get your point," she sighed. I waved to Itzcoatl to signal we were ready. We could not see him but we didn't need to, we only needed to see the trinks.
There was a sudden squeal as the first trink appeared in the sky, it's large wings spread as it looked for a safe place to land. I pulled back the bow string, this time with a far better idea of where the arrow would end up. I filled the qi arrow with the Charming Shot technique then let loose. The trink barely saw it coming, the arrow hit it squarely in the chest. Before Safi could make any remarks, there was another trink in the air.
She snapped her attention on to the gliding creature. A crackle that started from her fingertips darted through the air, latched onto the trink and set off violent spasms as it lost control. It began to fall from the sky, incapable of gliding.
Before it got too close to the ground, I saw the soul-form bird again. It snatched the trink as it was plummeting and killed it with its talons once again. This time, however, it was extremely close to the ground. The dropped trink landed softly onto the bed of snow. Safi rushed over and collected it, examining it carefully for damage.
During this my arrow had returned with the trink still attached. The arrow dissipated as I hung the trink from its tail on my backpack. I was barely finished by the time the next trink was in the air.
We went on, taking it in turns as Itzcoatl threw one trink after another. It was a while before Itzcoatl stopped, leaving Safi and I gasping for air. Each of us had a fair number of trinks hanging from our packs.
Itzcoatl dangled down from a tree. "We have company," he said. He dropped down and moved behind me, clearly not interested in doing any of the talking.
"Where did he? Ah, there you are," came a voice from the trees. "Oh, there's three of you?" asked a woman, still latched onto a tree above us. She let go and slammed to the ground, shooting snow into the air. She was wearing what seemed to be an incomplete set of armour, a comfortable looking hat and she wielded no weapons - unless you counted the extra pair of arms.
"Yep, three of us," I said.
"You're doing silo?" she asked, looking at our bags filled with trinks. "How long have you been out here for?"
"A few hours," I replied simply.
"That's not bad going," she said, only slightly impressed. "I was going to ask if you'd like to come back with us but, you seem fine."
"Thank you."
"Donia! Are you coming?" A shout rang out through the jungle causing a second of silence while the surrounding creatures tried to figure out if it was time to run. Donia, the four-armed lady in front of us, rolled her eyes.
"See you later," she said.
"Before you go," I began. She paused what looked to be preparation for a giant leap.
"What?" she asked, her interest piqued.
"What would I have to do for you to join my team?" I asked. She blinked, twice. Then laughed.
"I like that a lot," she managed to say as the laughing subsided slightly. "You're a good kid, I really respect that."
"I appreciate it, but I would still like to know." I reiterated, so that she could tell I was not joking. Her chuckling stopped as she seriously considered my question.
"I'd need you to win the far-side tournament. If you manage that, we'll talk further."
"Understood, nice to meet you. I'm Sen'o."
"Donia. It's lovely to meet you, I'll look forward to next time."
"Me too," I said with a smile. She readied her jump again, and this time followed through. She launched herself into the air, caught hold of a tree, then jumped to another. Every jump made the tree shiver as if it too could feel the icy cold.
"You're a nutcase..." said Safi who had her head in her hands. "What if she had taken that the wrong way?"
"I knew she wouldn't," I assured her.
"What gave you that impression?" asked Safi.
"I can tell these things," I answered. She snorted at me.
"Shall we keep on going?" asked Itzcoatl.
"Let's take a break, we can set up camp, gather some bark then call it a day. What do you think?" Itzcoatl looked at the excessive amount of trinks we had collected and nodded.
"That'll be fine."
I had not asked Safi what technique she picked up in the library, so I had no idea how she was planning on taking care of a trink. It did not take us long to spot another, this time it was Itzcoatl who found it. Safi wasted no time.
Hurtling down from the trees, some sort of bird, so fast I could barely tell that it was no more than a soul-form. I could only watch as it plucked the trink from the side of the tree; it's talons punctured the trink's skull as if it were a soft fruit.
It disappeared rapidly, only perceptible for three puny seconds. Plenty of time for what was required of it. Unfortunately, it's disappearance left the dead trink without means to stay airborne. Itzcoatl's hand, and only his hand, snatched it from the sky before it fell.
He dropped down from the tree he was on, the trink now in his possession. "That's two. I've thought of a better way of doing this."
"I don't want you off on your own," I said. "Being split up is not a very good way of learning how to work as a team."
"That's not what I was going to say," Itzcoatl replied. "I can find the trinks, grab them, and then lob them over to you. All you have to do is kill it before it escapes."
"But, they can glide?" asked Safi.
"Oh yes, they're much more manoeuvrable in the sky than they are on the side of a tree."
"I see, so it's a moving target."
"Exactly, but that's not all. I'm not going to help you, so you'll have to recover it without damaging it. That means not letting it fall."
I smiled, it was a great plan. "I'm in," I said. Safi was more hesitant but eventually agreed.
"I'll give you a minute or two to plan, then I'll start throwing trinks." He jumped back up into the trees. I had plentiful options, some more subtle than others. It was tricky, thinking of a technique that was believable for me to have learned whilst simultaneously being enough to impress Itzcoatl.
Impressing Itzcoatl was mandatory, considering he'd only joined our team out of curiosity, an extremely fickle sentiment. I needed to impress him until the curiosity turned into something a bit more steadfast.
Charming Shot, a technique that perfectly encapsulated what I was aiming for. An arrow imbued with the inextinguishable desire to return to where it was released from, regardless of any weight attached to it.
"Do you need help?" I asked Safi.
"I have an idea, I'm just not sure if I can do it."
"Well, I know a pretty good way of finding out..." I said with a cheeky smile.
"Alright, alright. I get your point," she sighed. I waved to Itzcoatl to signal we were ready. We could not see him but we didn't need to, we only needed to see the trinks.
There was a sudden squeal as the first trink appeared in the sky, it's large wings spread as it looked for a safe place to land. I pulled back the bow string, this time with a far better idea of where the arrow would end up. I filled the qi arrow with the Charming Shot technique then let loose. The trink barely saw it coming, the arrow hit it squarely in the chest. Before Safi could make any remarks, there was another trink in the air.
She snapped her attention on to the gliding creature. A crackle that started from her fingertips darted through the air, latched onto the trink and set off violent spasms as it lost control. It began to fall from the sky, incapable of gliding.
Before it got too close to the ground, I saw the soul-form bird again. It snatched the trink as it was plummeting and killed it with its talons once again. This time, however, it was extremely close to the ground. The dropped trink landed softly onto the bed of snow. Safi rushed over and collected it, examining it carefully for damage.
During this my arrow had returned with the trink still attached. The arrow dissipated as I hung the trink from its tail on my backpack. I was barely finished by the time the next trink was in the air.
We went on, taking it in turns as Itzcoatl threw one trink after another. It was a while before Itzcoatl stopped, leaving Safi and I gasping for air. Each of us had a fair number of trinks hanging from our packs.
Itzcoatl dangled down from a tree. "We have company," he said. He dropped down and moved behind me, clearly not interested in doing any of the talking.
"Where did he? Ah, there you are," came a voice from the trees. "Oh, there's three of you?" asked a woman, still latched onto a tree above us. She let go and slammed to the ground, shooting snow into the air. She was wearing what seemed to be an incomplete set of armour, a comfortable looking hat and she wielded no weapons - unless you counted the extra pair of arms.
"Yep, three of us," I said.
"You're doing silo?" she asked, looking at our bags filled with trinks. "How long have you been out here for?"
"A few hours," I replied simply.
"That's not bad going," she said, only slightly impressed. "I was going to ask if you'd like to come back with us but, you seem fine."
"Thank you."
"Donia! Are you coming?" A shout rang out through the jungle causing a second of silence while the surrounding creatures tried to figure out if it was time to run. Donia, the four-armed lady in front of us, rolled her eyes.
"See you later," she said.
"Before you go," I began. She paused what looked to be preparation for a giant leap.
"What?" she asked, her interest piqued.
"What would I have to do for you to join my team?" I asked. She blinked, twice. Then laughed.
"I like that a lot," she managed to say as the laughing subsided slightly. "You're a good kid, I really respect that."
"I appreciate it, but I would still like to know." I reiterated, so that she could tell I was not joking. Her chuckling stopped as she seriously considered my question.
"I'd need you to win the far-side tournament. If you manage that, we'll talk further."
"Understood, nice to meet you. I'm Sen'o."
"Donia. It's lovely to meet you, I'll look forward to next time."
"Me too," I said with a smile. She readied her jump again, and this time followed through. She launched herself into the air, caught hold of a tree, then jumped to another. Every jump made the tree shiver as if it too could feel the icy cold.
"You're a nutcase..." said Safi who had her head in her hands. "What if she had taken that the wrong way?"
"I knew she wouldn't," I assured her.
"What gave you that impression?" asked Safi.
"I can tell these things," I answered. She snorted at me.
"Shall we keep on going?" asked Itzcoatl.
"Let's take a break, we can set up camp, gather some bark then call it a day. What do you think?" Itzcoatl looked at the excessive amount of trinks we had collected and nodded.
"That'll be fine."
