A faint breeze chilled my forehead, removing any sweat that had built up because of the enjoyable hike in the country. Grass rustling in the wind, the sound of grass being trampled under foot, and the occasional animal cry and bird call was most everything which surrounded me.

So familiar to me from countless past patrols.

Only the huffing and cursing of my brother was different.

Around us, as far as I could see, were rolling hills of grass, dotted by bushes either individually or clumped into vast patches almost the size of the copses from near Outer Heart. It was those bushes which were the major difference between the two regions. Few, if any, bushes grew near Outer Heart; it was mainly copses of trees, sometimes even smaller forests, and grass.

Above the sky was one vast, vivid blue field dotted with small fluffy clouds, much like the bushes which dotted the surrounding grasslands. The sun was shining brightly, but this early in the year, it warmed without overheating. As it was still early in the year, we still required some warm layers for the evenings and nights. Not that we had our first night in the wilds yet.

After being cramped up inside for a whole winter, with every moment planned and watched at all times, being out here was heavenly.

So much so I broke down and thanked God for his kindness.

Message Sent

Even with that annoying intrusion, I was happier than I had any right to be. Yes, my feet and legs ached with a familiar pain and my shoulders weighed down by the heavy rucksack I was carrying—it was one of the few innovations of the tribes that saw use within the Suppression Force. But I was truly and honestly happy with my lot right now.

In the month since the tower-top discussion with my Brother, my relationship with Exalted Pine had improved drastically. We had even started courting.

Yes, courting, we couldn’t date. We weren’t allowed to go the places I would’ve liked to go with her; instead, both of us were trapped within Fastidious House. So, instead of taking her places, we explored Fastidious House, all the while being followed at a discreet distance by either my Mother, Brother, or my Brother’s wife.

It seemed she was enjoying our courting as much as I was, even if it made our schedules even more hectic. Still, one other advantage of our courting was that it allowed me to truly understand how vast our sprawling house was.

I didn’t realise we had four major formal gardens, three banqueting halls which could be turned into ballrooms, nine dining halls, a dueling arena, a combat practice yard with chambers for fighters, and countless other empty rooms for various purposes.

One of our favourite spots for our courting were the two galleries which were built extending out into the settlement, on one side were long walls which housed many paintings by famous and not-so-famous painters. On the other side, there was a series of windows and doors overlooking a long and narrow garden, which held a multitude of various different styles of gardens. Including what I was surprised to see, a seemingly Japanese Zen style rock garden. This was Exalted Pine’s favourite garden, so she told me.

Mine was a grass lawn, surrounded by low hedges inset with marble benches. And as it was a distance from both the main house and the surrounding fortress walls, it was as private as could be in such a place.

I climbed up a rise to look around.

Still nothing but grass and bushes and the vivid blue sky and the fluffy clouds. That was if I ignored the faint trickle of smoke coming from a couple of rises away that I saw because of Sneaky-Beaky Lookie and Scoutie.

‘Brother,’ my Brother said, doing his best to get his breath under control, ‘I never realised just how fit you are. Until today, I always thought of myself as better as I was taller and more muscular than you.’

‘We’ve not had that duel you promised me after I found that arena.’

‘Until today, Brother,’ he struggled to get out between taking deep breaths, ‘I was worried that I would show you up in front of Exalted Pine. Now…‘ He took another breath. ‘Now, though, I’m not so sure.’

‘Are you ready for the next leg of our journey?’

‘Would never live it down, if I say no.’

‘Good, now look over there.’ I pointed towards where I saw the faint trickle of smoke. ‘See those two isolated bushes.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Good, now look between them, see that peak with the rounded top.’

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‘Yes.’

‘Good, now keep that oddly rounded top mountain between those two bushes and keep moving in a straight line. If you’re not sure if you are going in a straight line, wait until you’re at the top of a rise and look backwards at the trail you’re leaving in the grass.’

‘Why are you telling me all this?’

‘I want to go and have a look at something which has caught my eye, something I don’t think you’ll be able to do and keep up with me at the same time.’

‘So you’re telling me,’ he said, taking another deep breath, ‘that you’re not even struggling right now.’

‘Yeah, that’s true.’

‘And here I was thinking that you were just hiding it well…’

‘If I was hiding it well, I still wouldn’t admit it to you, though, Brother.’ I said with a laugh, slapping him on his shoulders. ‘Right, oddly rounded hill kept between those two bushes. Keep going in a straight line. And I’ll catch up with you, so don’t worry about me.’

Tugging my rucksack tighter on my shoulders, I smiled and started jogging away in a completely nonsensical direction.

‘Curse you Brother,’ I heard him shout loudly after he must’ve lost sight of me.

After jogging for a while, I stopped and reoriented myself to the faint trickle of smoke. From the way it was faltering I could tell that whomever had been sitting around the fire was putting it out safely. So I couldn’t rely upon following that marker, still I somehow innately knew where the fire had been. Probably one of the advantage of traits.

Relying as much on Sneaky-Beaky Lookie and Scoutie as I could, I made my way towards where the fire had been. On my way, I fell into a familiar pattern of thinking of watching my surroundings and making sure I wasn’t doing anything out of place.

At least in the house, I had the safety net of being able to use the fact I had spent ten years as a Tier Three. A safety net I’d not had to use so much in the past few weeks as I finally uncovered the faint social cues of those surrounding me to interact with the environment better. It was like what I was doing out here now, using faint cues in the environment in such a way that would make me seem as if I belonged there.

It was as if I was playing at being a chameleon. No, that wasn’t quite right. I was using my adaptability to ease myself into understanding whatever environment I was currently in. I could tell there was a slight difference in this that using Sneaky-Beaky Lookie and Scoutie. That was heavily focused upon observing, hiding, sneaking, and trailing. All the traits of being a good scout. But though based upon observing, I was using the observations to blend in, but not to hide from but be accepted as part of.

Hidden Trait 3 Unlocked: Adaptative Understanding of Domain

The trait kicking into action reduced the shock at gaining the new trait. My mind understood the seemingly endless plains of grass as it had never before. As my understanding grew, I realised that moving in a slightly different way would make it easier for me to travel, and at the same time be more stealthy.

Insects, which I had ignored in the past as distractions, became signs for me to do better. And helped me interact with the grass plains better. In time, I sped up slightly, and it felt like I was impacting the world around me less.

Small rodents which inhabited the grass were less cautious of me.

I started to rock in time with the wind when I felt it particularly strong.

Before I realised it, I was so close to where the fire had been. It should be just over the other side of the rise I found myself at the foot of. In a hollow I would’ve never have noticed not long before, I placed my rucksack. Free of that burden, I traversed the rise slowly and carefully, impacting the environment as little as I could. Just before I reached the top, I lay down and slowly, painstakingly millimetre by painstakingly millimetre, I edged up over the top of the rise.

Through the waving grass I looked down into a well-concealed hollow, at a well-built man who still looked powerful even though with almost pure white hair he had truly aged. He had packed his camp goods into a smaller rucksack than that which I had left below. Next to him, in the middle of a highly trampled ring of grass, was a ring of stones sunk into the ground which was filled with mud. A muddy depression next to that showed where he had got the mud to put out the fire safely.

His eyes scanned the tops of the hollow in an amazing display of animalistic awareness.

I slowed my breathing and did my best to use Adaptative Understanding of Domain to act as if I was nothing but a bit of grass. All the while heavily leaning upon Sneaky-Beaky Lookie and Scoutie to further disguse whatever would give me away. I must’ve been doing something right because a small brown bird walked up next to me, pecking away at the ground for insects or seeds or something.

His eyes scan passed me, did a double scan. The bird which had been pecking at the ground then flew into the air. He kept his eyes on the area where I was hiding for a moment longer. All that while I did my best to use Sneaky-Beaky Lookie and Scoutie to hide myself and Adaptative Understanding of Domain to be one with the grassland. After far too many heartbeats, he continued his sweep around the rest of the rim of the hollow. Finally he looked up at where my best guess my Brother would be located and picked up his rucksack. His back was to me, so I couldn’t see his face, but the body language I could see was showing signs of confusion, tension, and conflicting desires.

Without a further look at either me, or where my Brother was, he ran up the slope of the hollow in a crouch and started heading further into the depths of the wilds.

I crawled down the slope before kneeling in the grass, watching him run through the grass. This time, it was not he who was in command, but me.

With a smile, I was sure would look evil if I could see it; I started to hunt down my Father.