<h4>Chapter 290: Sneaky Beaky Like</h4>
"…and that is theyout of the wholepound do you have any questions Xiang?" asked Kat
"No" said Xiang, much too quickly in response. Kat red back at him, unimpressed. *I bet he forgot it all. Dammit, how am I supposed to make sure that he remembers anything. That answer was so fast I have trouble believing he was doing anything other than reacting to his name…*
"Are you sure?" asked Kat wearily.
Xiang went to shout a retort, but Kat could practically feel the derision before it happened so she moved quickly to m her hand over his mouth… then decided hitting in the back of his head was preferable, and did that instead, clipping him over the back of his head lightly. Xiang grimaced, and went toin more, but Kat red him down, and that silenced any furtherints.
"Ok follow me" said Kat, turning towards thepound and expecting Xiang to follow. Kat kept low, and made sure not to make any sudden movements as she stalked through the trees. Xiang looked like he couldn''t understand why she was out in the open for so long, but Kat didn''t exin it to him. Instead, she could only hope that human eyes were always designed to spot sudden movements.
*Hmmm, I''m not sure how stealthy I actually am. Even ignoring the fact that it''s the middle of the day, the trees provide good cover and I have a dark outfit… the problem is, I''m not naturally pale, I''m practically a walking spotlight. I''ll just have to abuse my hearing to make sure I''m never in sight lines… unless… shit will there be guards? I didn''t see any but… depending on if the silence area is actually two-way, there might be some on the edges of it.*
Kat strained her ears to try and find evidence of her guess, focusing on that short strip with strange muted and distorted sounds. Sadly, nothing managed to stick out. At the very least Kat was sure that if there were guards, they weren''t moving around. That meant she needed to be careful when looking around, but that she wasn''t going to be snuck up on.
*Still, at this speed we are a way''s out. I think we should be safe for a while. It depends on how many guards there are, and where they are positioned. I can say at least that they aren''t too far away from the base, because otherwise I''d be able to tell. It''s only where the sound is so funny that I can''t be sure.*
And so, Kat stalked through the trees as quickly as she dared. She wasn''t too concerned about being identified from this range yet, because even she couldn''t see too far in the mass of trees, so unless they had radar, they''d be fine. Of course, if they did have that, they were screwed anyway.
Once Kat entered what she assumed would be just barely out of a standard human''s observational range of the strange distorted area of sound, Kat held up a signal to stop. Xiang red a bit but stopped in ce.
"What?" he hissed, making sure not to raise Kat''s ire by speaking loudly.
"We are close to their base now. I can''t hear inside of it, and the area immediately around that doesn''t sound right. I''ll need to make sure there are no guards" said Kat
Xiang shook his head "I won''t have you going off on your own again. We are so close, let''s just charge them"
Kat sighed. "Look, do you really want an all-out attack?
"Yes" hissed Xiang "I''ve been telling you this the whole time"
Kat narrowed her eyes. "Ok, how about you think of it this way" *What way? Quick mee up with an idea. Why can''t he fight them… bandits! I''d been putting it out of my mind but that''s it* "you couldn''t even fight the bandit leader, and now you want to take on thepound?"
Xiang scoffed "I beat him fair and square. Besides isn''t that your job? To keep the riff raff busy?"
*I really don''t know that it is Xiang.* "So you''re saying that some random bandit is stronger than everyone in that base? And that you will have no problems?"
Xiang tried and failed to suppress a wince as he said "Yes I do"
Kat shook her head and said, "Look, you can''t honestly be that obtuse"
"What does obtuse mean?" asked Xiang while narrowing his eyes.
*Ooh, looks like little Xiang can''t understand… well I was going to say basic English but I guess he probably doesn''t speak it… wait. That doesn''t make any sense then… how does the trantion work if he can''t understand me? System?*
Summoner Xiang has heard the equivalent word at least once in his life and should understand it. The fact that he doesn''t is not a w of the trantion tool, but a problem with Summoner Xiang''s own ineptitude
*Wow even the system is getting in on this.*
"Look" said Kat hoping an order will work better "I am going to check, and you are going to wait. If you move from this spot I''ll" *I''ll what? Um… shit uh…* "run you back to town and give you another half a week''s journey to learn to think a little"
Xiang raised an eye as if challenging her and tried to convey ''that the best you can do'' with his eyes.
However, Kat had already turned away. First, she leapt up into the trees, and then let her flexibility and surefootedness carry her as she bnced across the branches and hopped from one to the other. She wasn''t as careful about not getting spotted, not willing to risk Xiang jeopardising herpletely, and praying the elevation and tree cover would be enough to stop anyone spotting her.
This turned out to be a worthwhile gamble, as the closer Kat got, the more the strange area of sound cleared up. By the time it was only a few hundred metres away Kat could definitely hear someone breathing. Focusing on the sound as she ran, Kat tried to see if she could find multiples. She couldn''t be certain with the distortion, but at the very least there was only one nearby.
Once she was only a few metres away, Kat managed to spot the figure through the trees. The person in question was sequestered away in one of the trees ahead of her. There was a line the middle of the bark, and Kat could see the person''s eyes sticking out.
*Hmm… guess I can just bust my way through, right? The sound distortion should actually be helpful.* Kat watched the eyes, and whenever they looked away from her hiding ce, Kat moved herself closer and closer.
When she made it to the tree, Kat examined it for just a moment, and realised that the whole bottom was actually a door. *Well… I don''t even need to break anything then.* Moving swiftly, Kat pulled on the door, and heard a crack anyway. *Woops must have broke the lock.* The poor guy didn''t have a chance.
Kat''s hands flew into his hiding ce, and she covered his mouth and pinched his nose closed. He tried to struggle in Kat''s grasp but she gave his head a light tap against the wall, which seemed to daze him. Thatpound with theck of oxygen, meant that in just a few more moments the guy was out cold.
*Cool. Now I just have to manage to do that to the rest.* Kat bit her lip as she shut the door on the unconscious man. *Now… what else should I do? Leave him? Tell Xiang? … Kill him? No… I don''t want to responsible for more death than I need to be. Hopefully if Xiang can get his revenge this little gang of thugs will be forced out of the area.*
Sprinting back to Xiang, Kat was pleasantly surprised to find that he was in fact in ce. Sure, he red at her and barred his teeth, but he was at least in ce. "Ok let''s go. I''ve taken out the guard" said Kat
"Did you kill him?" asked Xiang
*What sort of a question is that?* "No" said Kat
Xiang scoffed "Why not? He deserves to die"
*Quick. Think of something mildly convincing, and potentially true you can tell him so he won''t finish the job or force me to. I can decide what to do with themter if I have to.* "Well, what would we do if they could smell the blood? This way anyone who found him might just think he fell asleep on watch" said Kat.
Xiang frowned, but didn''t contradict Kat anymore. He just set off towards thepound at a light jog. Not exactly stealthy, but Kat did just say she took out the guard, so she''d allow him this much. *But not a metre more. Once we run into the greenhouses he''ll be moving at a slow, sedate speed. I just hope that they contain something rare enough that I can convince him to just steal from them instead.*