The scouting had been rather uneventful. Traveling around had confirmed Eihmo'tei's suspicions. The outlying area was just flat grassland. The river, as well as a few scattered trees, were the only features in this desert of yellow grass. There was not much talking between the two, because of the language barrier. They stayed close to the river, both for navigation, and because it was the best place to look for evidence of fauna.
"Prey... Drink from River." he said, cupping his paws and licking his palms to simulate drinking. Then he pointed to an eye, and brought the pointed index finger down to the dirt where he had printed. "Find... Prints." He smiled as she nodded in agreement. He was glad he could get the point across without language. With some more exploring, the only signs that could be found were that of small mammals. Some even skittered around as they moved, taking the Zerdani by surprise. He was not used to small animals being about during this time of the day.
Finally, Eihmo'tei found something. He beckoned Tala over to see. There were hoof prints in the dirt, made not too long ago. They looked antelope-like, yet a little different. He figured it was some sort of relative of the animal found back home. He made sure Tala was able to get close enough to the prints to observe them. "Big thing... With horns." There were two signs for this: the typical holding the hands apart for "big", and the "horns" sign, made by putting two index fingers up beside his temples. The young student found the latter amusing, stifling a giggle. Eihmo'tei could not help but to chuckle as well with the thought of how silly he must have looked.
They continued their searching for several minutes. Every moment spent was another little bit that the sun fell. Soon enough, it was time to head back. The Zerdani was about to call it when he was interrupted by his young student.
"I found some!" she cried, impressed with her discovery.
He came over to examine the prints, but became unnerved by what he saw. Tala noticed this and questioned, wondering if she had done something wrong.
"You did good. Very good!" he reassured her, forcing a smile. It was time to leave now, and he let her know it. The Zerdani pushed the girl along, still a bit worried. As they came into sight of the others, the sun was about to set. Eihmo'tei was visibly scanning the surrounding area, nervously looking for something he hoped was not there.
