“A human perhaps, but not my kind.”

Carter sighed.

“You always have some kind of comeback don't you?"

“Of course. Communicating is part of surviving, I simply don't see the point in saying so many unnecessary things.”

“In other words, you won't open up much on your own. What am I supposed to do then if I want to learn about you?"

She paused, then Looked back at him.

“Ask the right questions.”

Getting to Know You

It had been about five days since the encounter with the werewolf pack, and Carter was pleased that Taki's broken scythe had indeed grown back completely and apparently was good as new. He had used the time she had spent healing to get to know the forest more, memorizing landmarks while not straying too far from Taki's tree house. He had gotten good enough to figure out some of the paths Taki took on her daily rounds through her territory, and had decided today to see just what she spent her day doing when she wasn't patrolling or hunting. It had still taken him all morning to catch up with her, perhaps next time he'd Let her know he'd be following her...

Regardless, he had caught up at this wide section of river, and now found himself transfixed by the beautiful and graceful sight that greeted him.

She stood in a barely ankle-deep section of the river, somehow not slipping on the smooth stone of the streambed as she moved about. He recalled how her feet seemed to naturally grip surfaces at will. He had previously seen her running straight up tree trunks or even walking upside down under a Large branch.

She appeared to be going through various stances and attack exercises, as if practicing her own brand of martial arts. Her large, well-formed breasts were stabilized on the sides by her armor but still bounced and swayed hypnotically with her movements, while not appearing to hinder her agility in the least. Realizing that he had once again ended up staring at that part of her body forced him to suppress a blush.

She threw her left hand forward in a punch, her scythe proceeding to grow rapidly out of her wrist in a stabbing motion before folding back against her arm as she pulled back. She did the same with her right hand. She then threw both hands forward, the folded scythe on each arm swinging forward with incredible speed, the wind whistling as they cut through it, the resulting air blades tearing into the water about ten feet in front of her. Drawing her right arm back, she tensed and focused all her strength as she extended the scythe and slashed forward, this time making a rush of air that sent a massive spray of water out in front of her. She then did the same with her left scythe.

This exercise was followed by a series of less strenuous but still impressive kicks and slashes.

He knew she was aware of him, she seemed impossible to sneak up on even from behind thanks to her massive extra eyes. Yet she paid him no heed.

Carter reminded himself that this indifference was her nature, which meant he would have to make an extra effort if he wanted to interact with her.

“Ask the right questions,” he remarked to himself, repeating what she had told him before. He had meant to practice this earlier, but rarely had the opportunity. Apparently healing her scythe had cost Taki's body a lot of energy, which meant she had to spend more time hunting and eating than normal. She also slept more. As a result she got back to the tree house late in the evening and typically fell asleep soon after giving Carter a share of a kill she had already partly eaten. Then by the time Carter awoke in the morning she had left to start her rounds and hunts again. This equated to little time for talking, and also made him wish to do more to at least support himself so she didn't have to spend as much time hunting for him.

Well, regardless, he had found her now and hopefully she would be willing to talk. He'd start with some basic questions he had simply wondered about and then see where that led. He stood and stepped toward her, getting right to the point as he knew a casual wave or other greeting would be pointless with her

“How do you do that?"

“Practice,” she stated without Looking at him or reacting in any other way, moving into another position with utter focus. "I come here daily to stretch and hone my body's reflexes. It is a matter of survival to stay in proper shape."