Reagent Hunting with the Mask

[XIII]

The part of the Yoreiq forests that Nakeli found herself in today was especially thick. The sun above could barely pass through the tree tops, and only provided faint beams of light whee it did. In the distance from every direction, the sounds of life could be heard. But when the Yoreiqi moved, the area around her fell to a hush. The forest knew that they were there, and it wasn't sure how to react to this intrusion.

"Hm, it's quiet. Hope we don't run into too much trouble. I'm not as familiar with this part of the trees as I am others."

Leaping from the underbrush up to the bough of a tree, the young woman brushed a fiery lock of hair from her face and crouched down to spring again to the next branch that she saw was in reach. But before doing this, she turned backward and looked over her shoulder, eyeing the man that she was guiding through the beautiful mess of nature.

His mask unnerved her a little, mostly because it kept her from being able to read his emotions. She had been fighting the urge to pull the thing off, just so she could see if he was as serious-looking as the mask made him seem. She called out to him, her voice playful and just the least bit teasing.

"Getting tired yet, shaman? It's not that much farther."

[RimmedGlasses]

Ducking underneath some brush Loto emerged swinging his gaze from side to side looking for his guide. She was quite the fiery spirit looking up he adjusted the mask and nodded. "I am right here." He shook his head as she flipped and spun. "If it means we are close to rest I can push on." The forest had grown darker but it was something to be expected for the best stock of items.

He didn't get guides often but for once he was glad he did. Better to fallow a beautiful girl through the path then shuffle through the mud and fight of animals. "I would like to thank you again." He called with a slight lift in his voice. "It will truly help many villages if I can continue my research." Loto sighed he never was one for conversation more action and doing. He drudged through the brush a small animal shuffled through the growth stopped looked at the beastly mask and bolted of. A slight chuckle made him shake for a moment.

"Not a surprise I scare off animals it comes with the territory I guess."'He muttered to himself. Loto kept walking along a narrow path. The mask had always given people pause, but it was a status symbol. A giant wooden and bone status symbol. He tried to keep it off around children but it was something they must know. It was a shamans duty to make sure the old ways never die.

[XIII]

"They won't stay scared for long. Almost no one comes out this deep into the trees. They are, unused to intruders. It won't take much time before curiosity overcomes their caution." Nakeli continued to jump from branch to branch, thankful for the thickness of the forest as it provided an easy pathway without too many large gaps. It wasn't too long before she stopped again, looking around and scratching her shoulder.

"Hold on. Need to check our bearings again."

With that, the girl vanished into the foliage above. She moved quickly and gracefully, the only hint at her location being a slight rustling of the leaves whenever she moved. From her vantage point high above, she wrapped one of the ropes at her waist around the trunk of the tree, steadying herself so that she could have a look around.

Calling down soon afterward, she dropped her rope and slid down to the forest floor on it, landing behind the shaman with a light thud. Nakeli touched her fingertips to his back and laughed, "You'd be dead if I were a predator. But yes, not much farther now. We're still going the right direction."

With that she tugged her rope back down to her and began wrapping it once again around her hips, using the hook and weight at each end as clasps of sorts. e walked as she did this, not wanting to waste time standing still when anything could come upon them at any time.

[RimmedGlasses]

When the girl disappeared into the upper levels he dug his feet in. The lonely feeling of the forest locked in. "She'll be back soon." He sighed cracking his neck. A poke on his shoulder sent a chill up his back. "Well you might underestimate my ability to flail I can get a clean hit in from time to time." He looked at her climb. "If you were a predator could you really kill such a beautiful face." He flicked his mask with a cackle. He fallowed her through as she kept going through the trees.

He gave sighed in relive as he though of sitting down studying plants it sounded like a heaven compared to walking through this eternal darkness just anything to "lighten." his load. He noticed the dirt became softer digging his feet in he sighed in relaxation. He lifted his mask leaving it on his head so that from above all that was seen was the masks face. He shielded his face in order to protect from anything that fell.

"I will not lie, I am growing excited to see what I am going to learn. As silly as that sounds."

[XIII]

a smile and a nod met Loto as Nakeli watched him reveal his face from behind the mask. "Ah, much better. I was beginning to get irritated. Your expressions were just so wooden." A small laugh at her own, slightly idiotic joke.

"And yes," she mused, stopping to look at the shaman, "I think I could kill you, if I were a predator. After all, it's just survival. Fortunately for you, I am not a predator." The last phrase was whispered, a small smirk playing across the young woman's face.

She turned away from the shaman and continued to walk. The back of her mind was loving the solitude of the forest, and being alone with someone else. But the forefront of her thoughts stayed on keeping an eye out for danger. After all, fun could be had at any time back home. Better to put it off an live another day. Pushing aside some low hanging branches, Nakeli motioned for the shaman to move forward. "We have arrived. Just past these trees, near the outcropping of rocks."

She waited for the shaman to enter the glade and quickly followed. Once inside, she sat on a set of particularly smooth rocks and sat contentedly to watch him work. She didn't know a whole lot about these plants, only just the bits that she was certain were common knowledge.

[RimmedGlasses]

A frown is feigned for a moment as she says he could be killed. "Bah if you leave me even with a little bit of blood I still have a chance to walk off." Loto chuckled as she walked in front of him. "By the fire goddess she is quite the little sprite."  He shook his head. "Later you have work we can play when we are done."

He ducked his head walking into the glade. He looked around in amazement and placing his mask next to the girl he ran deeper into the glade. "You may fallow if you wish I'll only be around here." A small smirk is shown before turning back to a long tropical flower its' petals make a bell shape and droop above the water. Plucking a flower lightly he begins to examine it forcing blood to his fingers to get a more magic touch on it. "Hmm I should bring a sample of these." Wrapping it around his ear he continues around the glade. Making sure the mask doesn't grow legs and run off from time to time.

As he walks slowly through the glade he notices a baby tropical bird flapping a one good wing. Taking it into his hands he finds the other wing has been broken perhaps by falling. "Quite now little one no need to fret. You are in hands that heal now stay still." He walks with some haste as he plucks a few flowers he had seen in his travels.  Swings by the rocks he snags the mask placing it on his face he exhales as he begins to crush the flowers down to a light dust. "Kaharashi-nu Kaharashi-nu." Rubbing the dust on the bird a red faint glow surrounds him. Slowly he shapes the wing from its' bent broken form to a straight and true wing.

"You should be fine now I maybe young but I come with great teaching now off you go."  The small bird wobbled at first but got off and was gone back to the forest. Loto removed his mask with a sigh.

[XIII]

A grin of her own met the shaman's proposal and Nakeli grasped her ankles while remaining seated on the rocks. "That sounds nice, shaman. I may have to take you up on that offer." Then she thought for a moment, "But you'll have to leave the mask off. I like seeing people's faces."

She sat quietly for the first few minutes as he walked away, content to just sit in the shade and relax. Then, her curiosity began to get the better of her. Scooping the shaman's wooden mask up, Nakeli tried it on, feeling the odd weight that it carried and how unbalanced it made her head feel. She didn't worry about him catching her wearing it. The way that the shaman stomped around through the trees, Nakeli had ample time to remove the mask and put it back in its place whenever he came to check on it. Every time that he did, the girl would smile cheekily at him and thumb her nose.

In between trying on the mask every time that the shaman left, Nakeli began looking herself over. She mentally took note of the tattoos that needed touching up and which ones might need to be added onto to hide the few scars she had accumulated over the years. There was the slash across her stomach, where she had fallen from a small hill onto her hooks. Maybe a fish of some kind. Or a jaguar. The thought of having a predator tattooed on her made her smile. A jaguar it would be then.

The shaman was so quiet when he came back the last time, Nakeli almost didn't hear him in time to put his mask back. When she saw that he was holding a bird in his hands, Nakeli watched intently to see what the shaman was going to do. He put back on his mask and the girl sighed inwardly. She smiled though as he healed the small creature and set it loose into the jungle again.

[RimmedGlasses]

The shaman turned removing his mask he let the strap wrap around his neck and the mask rest on his back. "I am sorry for bothering you Nakeli I am not allowed to commit a healing such as that with out the mask of my teachers." He smiled looking at her with a warmheartedness, "I also got some field work done I say that calls for a break would you have any ideas?"

Loto rolled his shoulder his break excuse was a backwards way of letting the blood restore with in him. Even with something as small as a bird he still had to use alot of power to put bones back in order. He had a light sweat, wiping off his face he shook his head. He sat beside the rock his guide perched on looking up at her. He tried to slow down his breathe.

[XIII]

Nakeli shook her head and waved apologetically at the shaman. "No no, I understand that you need the mask. It doesn't really bother me. I just prefer getting to see your face is all. Much better looking, by comparison."

She arched her back when he asked her what she wanted to do, almost like she was looking to the sky for answers. Tapping the rocks with her fingers, she shrugged after a minute and looked back at the shaman. Looking back down at him, she noticed how bad off he looked and brushed the sweat off of his brow tenderly.

"Well, I'm hungry and you don't look so good. I could go find us some fruit or something to snack on. And whenever we get back, I'll cook us a proper meal." Her stomach growled a bit and she nodded, "Yeah, I think that's what I'll do. When I get back, maybe we can talk... or something."

She left her last words dripping with ambiguous meaning and a smirk. Standing up, Nakeli stretched her arms above her head and looked around. She knew that there had to be some kind of fruit trees nearby. She bolted off into the trees, vanishing from sight into the foliage.

Not very long later was Nakeli coming back, her hooks jingling together in time with her steps and making the ropes they hung from sway ever so slightly. She carried in her arms the wrap-skirt that she had worn into the jungle, held like a bundle filled nearly to bursting with all manner of fruit that she knew was good for eating. Spilling the fruit out onto the rock she had sat on before, she wrapped the skirt back around her waist before taking a seat back beside the shaman.

"Here, eat. It will bring your strength back up. You're going to need it. For the walk back home, of course," Nakeli nudged him playfully and took a ripe berry into her mouth, crushing it with her tongue and savoring the sweet flavor.

[RimmedGlasses]

Loto sighed as she sped off before he could decline the offer for her to get food. He hated being babied and watched over. He was used to serving the greater good and to be cared for seemed strange. But it was custom, and he was in no frame to be rude, and the offer for a proper meal was alluring. He placed his mask in his lap an slowly tapped on it.

When she returned he gave a thanking smile and nod and took a hold of a small fruit. He inspected it for a moment taking a bite he felt the blood rush to his head. "Thank very much you are a life saver."

He stood up stretching his legs. "Now why would someone like you care to see a person like mes'  face? I am a man of study and wisdom not of muscle and hunt." He winked at her with an impish smile as he slowly walked around the glade. "I understand if it frightens you. Most women even more so for beautiful women look with fear when I walk through a town with it on." He shook his head as he remembered some past adventures.

[XIII]

Nakeli shook her head and took another bite of food in her mouth. She waited patiently while she chewed the sweet berry before speaking. "Your mask does not frighten me, shaman. I just prefer to get to see how you react and the expressions that you make. The mask makes none of these and I find it a tad frustrating, not being able to see how you feel by looking at your eyes."

Sucking the juice from the fruit from the tips of her fingers, the girl leaned back against the rock and looked at the sky. "Being a hunter is not what makes a man great. You are selfless and you give completely of yourself to our people. I find those qualities much more admirable than the ability to catch and kill a helpless creature. Even if that helpless creature is delicious."

She laughed at her own stupid joke, turning to the shaman and laying her hand over his with a smile.

[RimmedGlasses]

Loto chuckled lightly at the statement. " Perhaps you hold truth in that statement. You are too kind." He slowly slung the mask over his shoulder. Turning to face his guide. "Thank you for the meal you were right I wouldn't have made it far in there. He jutted a thumb behind him back into the thick jungle. He gave a slight smile as he made a final look around the glade.

"If I had half a brain I would remember how to get through to here. But beggars will not be choosers." He shrugged and walked over to Nakeli offering his hand. "Shall we shove off and head back to your village?" He looked up at her she was something but what he couldn't put his finger on it.

[XIII]

Taking the hand offered to her, Nakeli helped herself up and smiled at the shaman as he face came close to his. "Don't mention it. I'm just glad I won't have to drag you all the way back." Walking around him, the girl gently brushed her fingers across his arm as she did.

With a twirl, she was turned so that she was half facing the shaman and half facing the path that they had taken into this area of the forest. With a shrug and a grin she pointed off another way, different in direction from the way that they had come.

"This way will lead us back to my village of birth, if that is where you would like to go. Otherwise, we can head back to Ainu, or really anywhere else on the island that you might want to go. Just tell me our destination and I'll lead us there as safely as I am able."

[RimmedGlasses]

Loto smiled lightly as she brushed next to him. "Hmm it all sounds interesting." He chuckled lightly. "But for you I am at your mercy.." He thought on what he just said and rubbed the top of his head closing it out with a "Just don't be to rough with me." He shook his head in a self scolding. "That was awful."

He walked to meet her where she stood. "Wherever is most comfortable to you that is where we can go." Loto brushed a hand through his hair as his eyes looked around the area the midpoint of the world it seemed. His eyes continued to swing until landing on his guide once more. "So where would you like me?"

[XIII]

"I won't lie shaman, that was awful." Nakeli grinned back at the man from over her shoulder, but kept her pace going, almost tripping once or twice over a root or rock that she didn't see. After that, she began looking at where she was going again.

The girl stayed quiet for several minutes, chewing on her lower lip in concentration as she navigated the thick underbrush. The path was different from the one that they had taken earlier, and so it wasn't quite the same. She finally stopped for a second, looking up into the canopy for a few seconds.

Untying the ropes that hung around her waist, Nakeli looked at the shaman and smiled sweetly, "I'm taking you back to my village. But, I have to admit, I've lost our way a bit. So if you'll excuse me for just a minute shaman, I need to check our bearings."

In a blur of motion she was gone, vanished into the treetops like some kind of elegant bird.

[RimmedGlasses]

"To.. your village." He whispered to himself as he started to pace frantically. " What if they think I am voodoo. Or they don't like my tattoos. Calm Loto breath mon breath." He started thinking for a moment shaking off his fear he smirked. "It will be fine I am with one of their natives. Unless she was banished and I am a trophy for her to bring back!" He shook himself and sighed. "It will be fine nothing with happen." The Shaman ran a hand over his braids.

He didn't realize how long she was gone as he began to wander back and forth he snagged a few more flowers but not to study. He removed the  the leaves and began veining them together into a small crown. He had learned this talent from a small village that had an influx of small girls. It was acute trait he was glad he picked up. Although not exactly the most tradition wise activity it was their culture. He examined the crown unsatisfied he looked around and found the perfect center peace a large Yellow Ilima hung near by. He looked to the sky. "Forgive me motha." He muttered as he plucked it wrapping it at the head of the crown. "Now where could she be." He looked up as if she was to fall from the heavens.

[XIII]

The shaman was distracted. His gaze fixed upward, he didn't even notice the muffled whipping sound that shot from a nearby shrub. Something rough tightened around his ankle and the world was spinning for a few brief seconds, nothing but a blur of color, light and shadow intermingling.

Then Loto found himself on his back, still looking up at the canopy with his mask lying askew next to his head. His attacker, Nakeli herself, slunk forward out of the underbrush, one of her hands wrapped up in the rope she had used to subdue the shaman. She loosened the snare from around his ankle and tugged the rope back by her side. Crawling over to where he lay on the forest floor, she set a hand on the middle of his chest and gave a large, childish grin.

"And so the mighty huntress once again kills a hapless trespasser in her jungle home."

With a flip Nakeli was beside the shaman, lying beside him and looking up into the trees, her hands sitting idly on her stomach. "You don't need to worry. No one's going to think poorly of you. We might be a small village, but we are aware of our own culture. No need to assume you'll be stoned to death or anything like that."

[RimmedGlasses]

Loto laid there the jumping was so quick he had no time to even react. He knew he couldn't be in too much danger he strained when his back hit but the pain was smother by a touch on the chest. He looked up with a slight smile. "I am not worried of being stoned just worrying of offending everyone has different ideas." Hr smiled reaching for the crown of flowers. "You almost broke your gift and I had worked so hard." He chuckled placing it on her head. "Good it fits." He smiled looking at his ankle.

"Now I don't mean to sound rude but can you free me I mean I haven't known you for a day and you are already tiding me down and making scenarios in your head." He winked slightly as he tried to hold back a laugh.

[XIII]

Nakeli touched the ringlet of flowers and smiled sweetly at Loto. She leaned over and gave him a small peck on his cheek, then whispered a thank you into his ear. At his request, the girl untied the rope from around his ankle so that he could stand up again.

Standing up with a graceful spin, Nakeli looked down at the shaman with a snarky expression. "I think it's you who is getting ideas and making scenarios, shaman." She took a few steps away, twirling the rope in her hand.

She didn't bother to reattach the rope around her waist as she began walking again, keeping it wrapped partially around her forearm as she pointed the way. "If we keep moving in this direction, we should reach my village before sunset. Which is good because nighttime out here is somewhere I do not wish to be."

[RimmedGlasses]

As she walked off from cutting him down he felt a giant grin growing shaking out of it he tied the mask around around his head. "That would seem to be the case." He chuckled the echo made a hallow sound as he looked to the sun it was moving quick but it was to be expected by such a day. He made sure not to lose any distance from his guide he knew he would last perhaps a day in this jungle. He always needed guides and he hated it.

" So what does your blood family do. I am sure with your demeanor they are quite a happy group." He looked at her through the mask feeling his face return to normal he lifted it up to show a light smile. He rolled his shoulder as he thought it had been many moons since he had to have this small talk but he enjoyed it. Human contact was a rare thing in his life but that didn't mean he didn't want it.