TEINAR > Teinar

Rollin' in the deeeeeeep! [Tally-poo!]

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Rhi-Rhi:
Needless to say, shit got done.

Cyrus got the approval of the head of his Outfit, three council members, and the warden, and Temple was moved out of the facility and into his place. Temple wasn't exactly free and likely never would be, not completely, but he was placed under Cyrus's supervision along with a list of restrictions that weren't nearly as restrictive as before. He'd proven himself back there in the tunnels, earned a certain degree of trust, and with it a certain degree of freedom.

And what better way to celebrate this unlikely victory than to go on a hunting excursion?

Temple had said he wanted to learn! And Cyrus decided to kick-start those lessons and put his words to the test. Besides, they needed more meat; Temple had eaten up a lot of what Cyrus had, and with two of them living there, they'd need to bring in more to compensate. Time for Temple to start earning his keep.

It was too risky for Temple to go topside (and it was one of those Restricted Activities, anyway) so Cyrus took Temple down into the subterrain, down into the tunnels that were created not by people, but by burrowing animals. It was dark and dank and musty and the only light they had came from the bio-luminescent vines that grew along the walls and their own flashlights. The air was a little thinner down there, too, though the plants provided enough. It took some getting used to.

Cyrus paused and knelt down, examining small scrape patterns in the soil. He motioned Temple closer. "Fresh tracks. Know how I know that?" So far, they hadn't encountered any critters, but they had come upon plenty of tracks and scat, old and new, and Cyrus was taking it upon himself to quiz Temple whenever they did.

Tally:
Cold, damp, and harsh as the subterrain was, Temple was thrilled to be out in it.  Not because of where he was, but because of what he was doing.  His work in Teinar may have been useful, but it was boring and tame as hell.  Out here it was all real, all immediate, and it was a welcome relief.

The first thing he noticed was how it wasn't pitch black, even away from the city, even without any lights on.  So many things glowed down here there was often this subtle light source that came from everywhere and nowhere.  Not enough to really see by, but enough to pick your way over the rocks and through the tunnels.

Thankfully they had real lights, and plenty of them.  It was one of the first things Cyrus impressed upon him.  Lantern bobbing at his hip, Temple followed behind the soldier and joined him when he hunkered down.

Even on close inspection, Temple couldn't see what they were looking at.  "It's all just...the same.  How can you tell one little mark in the dust from all the others?"

Rhi-Rhi:
Cyrus let out a sigh. He'd heaved that same sigh several times already on this trip and had a feeling he'd be doing a lot more sighing before this adventure was up.

"It's not all the same, princess. How many times I gotta tell ya that? Okay. Okay, look." Reaching out, he grabbed Temple by the collar of his shirt and hauled him down even closer. He wanted him to get a real good view. "Just open your damned eyes and look. See how the impression's all sharp and clean? See how the earth around it's all soft and freshly churned? That's how ya can tell it's fresh. Make sense?"

Tally:
There it was, that sigh again.  How many times was he going to have to hear that?

Temple didn't protest when Cyrus hauled him down by his collar, but he did shoot him a pointed look.  One might even say a challenging one.  Cyrus liked to throw his weight around.  It was going to come to a head one of these days—they still hadn't had that fight they'd talked about—and the only question was when.

"Y'know," he said, not looking at the tracks, or whatever they were, "there's a real easy way to speed this up."

Like the last time he'd brought this up, he didn't expect to get anywhere with this.  He just figured it didn't hurt to ask.  If Cyrus would just let him follow his train of thought, get Cyrus's perspective on this from inside Cyrus's own head, it would go a long way to giving Temple the knowledge he needed now instead of waiting for him to comprehend it himself.

Rhi-Rhi:
"An easy way? Ya mean like you payin' fucking attention, genius?" Cyrus said, releasing Temple's shirt with a shove and an exasperated sound.

"Ya can't just...magic your way through life, ya know! So we're doin' this right and we're doin' it my way and we ain't leavin' this spot until ya can tell me what made those tracks. We've gone over it. We've seen these tracks before. What animal did it and how can ya tell. Go on. Ya wanted to learn this shit so we're gonna do it the right way."

Not some weird, unnatural way that involved Temple going into his head, because that was definitely off limits and the kid knew it.

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