Davin started running, hopefully going in the right direction, hating himself for letting his mind wander as he was running. Avoid the chalk arrows, and make it back to the enclave in two hours, he only had ten minutes to make some distance. From his rogue training, he had a good idea of how to stealth, but in the more natural environment, he couldn't rely on just his natural grace to keep him out of trouble. The direction was a pure guess, knowing he had two easy ones, south should be the edge, and west will be Edges rest, he knew from his trips into the enclave that the edge in most areas was a sheer cliff face that had some things that were growing down it, but he had to be careful, the forest was dense enough that he could round a tree and fall off. He kept a steady pace, sticking to the deer trails and open areas, mainly trying to get distance as well as move towards the enclave. Thinking that he was making good time, Davin was trying to find any kind of marker to guide him, all of the odds and ends from his days of watching The Discovery channel and all of the nature documentaries and survival shows, wishing that he paid better attention. Slowing his pace he started to take in his surroundings, moss growing on one side of the trees, spider webs, he kept looking up trying to see the sun through the canopy, which brought him to a mental screeching halt, he didn't know if the sun ran east to west here. He kept thinking that he was back home, the rules that he knows don't need to follow that, he is running in the woods on a floating island in the middle of what was generally called the afterlife. His fugue ended abruptly when the dust cloud surrounded him, and the pain that ran down his back, coughing as he started to move again, he didn’t have the luxury to idle, he was, in fact, being hunted….

"Just like to let you know, your head start has ended, I have hit you with one arrow, and just to add insult to injury, you're going the wrong way, and just because I'm a nice guy, I'll count to fifty, I want to give you a sporting chance, you said you had survival, trust it," Chand yelled into the woods.

Davin started running again, looking for things that stood out, trying to do what was in his mind felt like an about-face, trusting that Chand wasn't looking Davin tried to catch his stalker as he ran, sparing a glance as he heard the first words.

"Ooooone" The long drawn out vowel caused the pain in his back to surge, he was motivated, looking for ways to make himself harder to track, seeing his previous steps, broken branches, as if he was an elephant. Retrospect is always twenty-twenty, now that he could see some of it he knew what he needed to do, he started running on any large rock that he could find, stepping across exposed roots, ducking under any low-hanging branch, and making sure not to stumble into any bushes. Trying to make his movements stealthy was one of the hardest parts, dry leaves sounding like smashed glass in the relative silence of the forest.

"Twoooooo"

With that, Davin knew that he was being toyed with, but he didn’t know how long he had to go, longbows had a much greater range than any of his tools, so for all he knew, Chand could be anywhere. Finding a dense copes of trees, he ducked under the branches, moving slowly, trying to stay quiet while moving quickly felt impossible, but there was enough coverage that it should help keep him safe while he moved. Davin was never good about keeping time without a watch, so when the "fifty" broke the silence it surprised him, Chand must know a trick for making his voice project like that, sounding as if he was everywhere and nowhere at once. Hopping from root to root was annoying, to say the least, but it made it so he didn’t leave behind any footprints, thinking that he was doing well staying under cover, following the feeling that said that he should go 'this way' felt strange, like he had some innate understanding of which way was west, and as far as he knew, west was where the enclave was.

He quickly lost track of the count as it had faded to a whisper as soon as it got past five, he kept moving as fast as he could manage with his new strategy, making himself impossible to track and then add in what he knew about the terrain as he kept moving, looking for any opportunity to help him make some space. There were places that he saw that would let him set up distractions, he could make a makeshift catapult that would launch a branch off into the distance while he kept sneaking, but would take some of the vines that he'd come across and an intact branch… The setup was a little more complicated than he was anticipating since he'd never needed to set up a hunting trap, it was hidden and he was sure that if he did it right Chand would come right this way.

He heard the crack earlier than he was expecting, but it had to be the sound of the branch crashing into another tree… The crack of a tree being struck by one of the chalk arrows was distinct, the cloud filling in the air where he was hiding earlier, luckily he had gotten a ways off from there, trying to make up some time while the dust settled and hoping that the crash would cover his steps for a bit, but the hubbub didn't last as long as he'd hoped. Ducking under a low-hanging shrub Davin made his way towards a rocky outcropping, the low plinth creating a small valley that he could run along, seeing a small stream that was still trickling through. Remembering all of the things he'd learned in his life back on earth about avoiding being tracked mostly came from movies, but that seemed to be the right idea because every part of his instincts said that it was perfect, and if he'd understood the geography of this place as well as he thought he did, all the water flowed towards the chasm, which likely meant that it would lead him towards the enclave, or at least away from the edge, so he knew he was heading the right way. Following the riverbed Davin knew that he was at least moving away from the edge, where that was in relation to Edges Rest as a whole he didn’t remember, but he had a vague memory of crossing a footbridge during the jog out.

The small footbridge that sat over the stream cemented it in his head that he was on the right path back, climbing up from the shallow banks, he looked around and checked his surroundings, hoping Chand wasn't just sitting and waiting for him to make himself visible again. As Davin stepped onto the path looking east, he was almost as surprised as Chand was when their eyes met, luckily, he'd been far less complacent in their adventures, so Davin reacted first, sprinting down the path. Every part of Davin wanted him to keep moving but had to make sure that he didn’t run in a straight line. The First chalk arrow burst on the tree that he just passed, catching some of the dust in the wind. Ducking behind and between trees, trying to make himself as hard of a target to hit. The odds seemed like they were not in Davin's favor, he was sure that as soon as he had to cross any form of open ground, he would be done for. Chand let loose arrow after arrow, many of them coming close to hitting Davin, getting more than a mouth full of chalk dust as the arrows hit inches from where he was, knowing his luck wouldn’t last forever, he started looking for something to duck behind.

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The clearing the Davin had run into was at first a fantastic break… till he remembered that meant the cover he was relying on to help stop the arrows was gone. What felt like a rain of arrows fell around him, barely dodged them, giving up and bursting into a sprint. The arrow that struck him in the back almost cost him his footing, barely catching himself as he made it across the clearing and ducked behind a tree. Catching his breath was his main focus, but he still wanted to maintain his cover, from what he saw, Chand wasn't running, so he may have a chance to make up sound ground by using the negative space behind the trees. Davin checked back, seeing Chand maintain his stalking gate, Davin sprinted in as straight of a line as he could, staying in the path that was cast by the tree. Ducking behind a tree along his path, looking back at Chand, who was nowhere to be seen.

Chand chuckled as he planted an arrow into the center of Davin's back, the huge burst of chalk dust obscuring his line of sight, surprised when Davin wasn't floored by the strike. Losing track of Davin again, he decided to go more on the offensive, since Davin seemed to have a good grasp of making use of the terrain to block his line of sight, skirting the clearing making his way to the edge and ducking into the trees, knowing that Davin would be slowed down by the dense brush that lied just beyond the trees. Sprinting between the trees covering a lot of ground quickly in an attempt to get passed Davin.

The tangle of brush that Davin was now climbing over was slowing him down greatly, he remembered passing it when he was following but didn’t remember it being a problem at the time… must have been one of his abilities, the fact that Davin had nothing to support him in the wilds was a big reason for seeking the ranger class, he had plans to stay out in the wilds for weeks at a time, so anything that he could do to support that… He was getting distracted, he didn't know how fast Chand could move, but he knew that it was much faster than he could move by himself. Pulling himself out of the brush left him feeling exhausted, so when the arrow caught him in the side it knocked what little breath he had left in him, curling over into a coughing fit as he tried to catch his breath causing his mouth the be full of chalk dust.

"You almost got away from me there, used the space behind the trees to hide? Only got you so far, should have run around the brush, it slowed you down way too much."

Davin could only respond with a fit of coughs, looking through the dust, not seeing Chand anywhere.

"You have some skill, I will admit that, normally by this point, I've hit my prey at least half a dozen times, you're only at three, so good on you kid, but you also only have fifteen minutes left, so we can do this one of two ways, you try and sprint the rest of the way in, or we call it here, and we work on some of the other skills that we as Rangers use."

Getting his coughing under control, Davin looked around, trying to put his eyes on Chand, which wasn’t easy since the cloud of dust was still thick around him. Standing above him in the trees, an arrow knocked, aimed just above his head. Digging in and covering himself with the brush as the dust started to fall, covering him and the ground. Watching Chand as the dust settled, he watched as the surprise hit his face.

"I see, making a run for it." Chand leaped from his branch and launched himself into the trees towards to what he could only assume was the enclave.

Pulling himself out of the brush, Davin started moving again, dusting himself off as he moved, trying to keep Chand within eyeshot as he kept up his pace. Ducking behind trees from time to time, trying to keep up the cover he'd gained. Losing track of Chand as he leaped through the trees, he gave up his need for cover and broke into a sprint, he knew that he was close, and he could keep up a quick pace for a while, assuming that he wouldn’t have to climb over any more brush.

Passing the last few trees and leaving the forest a weight felt like it was lifted from Davin, he wasn't used to being out in the woods, let alone having to run for his life and maintain cover at the same time. It was all too new for him.

"When did you get behind me?" Chand asked as he said from the trees above Davin.

Looking up at him, hands raised to offer some protection from the arrows that he assumed were aimed at his face. "The shot to my chest used the dust cloud to dive under the brush and hide."

"Ha, good job, didn't expect that, not a bad strategy either, may not work against animals that rely on scent, but for sight, it is a solid way to go." Hopping down and landing next to Davin. "Too bad the time is up, but you made a good go at it."

"Yeah, I figured I wouldn’t make it, but I still wanted to try."

"Good on you." Waving for Davin to follow him, he walked towards the enclave.

"So I didn't pass, does that mean I can't be a ranger?" Davin asked, disappointment edging into his voice.

"Why would that stop you from being a ranger? I was just having some fun with you, and I have found that most learn better when they get to figure out what works for them rather than just me yelling instructions at you like some kind of crazy general." chuckling softly as they walked.

"Wait, so that was just to get me on the right track?" Davin looked confused.

"Basically, you'll be the one needing to do the practice, and if you've done enough to trigger it, you'll get a prompt, that you meet the qualifications for the class and you can choose it if you want. Just need to have a baseline to work with."

"Good to know, what are the big ones other than survival?"

"Exploration, slaying, martial weapons, medium armor, shields, and some choose animal handling and nature as their extra skills."

"Working on my whip hits that martial weapon? And with Survival that covers some of my Exploration?"

"Yes to the weapon, no on the exploration, you actually need to explore, luckily that’s one of your goals, so it shouldn't be an issue."

"Okay, what about the Medium Armor? I only have my leathers."

"That one can be just a matter of starting to work with it, there isn't much difference between medium and light armors in most instances, but they do restrict movement some, and it's never a bad skill to have if you want to protect yourself."

"Shields?"

"We can get you one, you can practice it anytime you're free, I suggest while you walk, get a good idea for the balance and the weight."

"Now the slaying?"

"That one has a little wiggle room, I hunt monstrosities, anything that threatens the area around us as well as some of the bigger critters that may be a bit more dangerous. Mayberry on the other hand, his skills are far more opportunistic than mine."

"Opportunistic?"

"Yup, similarly to how Rogues do, but more like a focus, it’s a handy skill, I have a spell that is similar, but his is a bit more potent than mine."

"We get spells? I was hoping we would, but I didn't want to assume."

"Yup, later than most, but we have a good mix of support spells."

The two of them made it back to the enclave, chatting in good spirits, Davin feeling worn out, sore, and hungry.

"Going to head back?" Chand asked.

"Yeah, I'm beat. I want to say thanks to Mayberry too."

"He should be still at the smoking hut." Pointing in the general direction of the hut.