Blizzard
Inactive Member
- RP Date
- YE 40
- RP Location
- Zenjinkaze Fighting High School
Zenjinkaze
Outdoors Area
Keiko had taken a seat under one of the trees on the schools grounds near her room, surrounded by several books with one in her hand, glasses resting on her nose as she read through them. Survival guides weren't her strong suite despite her love of studying, she was more accustomed to her own martial art and regular studies, survival guides and studies required a certain level of experience to properly understand, which she did not have. Nevertheless she continued reading and imagining.
"Lovely weather today. Don't know why you're wasting it reading." Came a voice from... above her?
Sure enough, in one of the highest branches of the tree, was Addaiel. He was dressed in a dark green field jacket that matched the forest well and fought off the chill, as well as a pair of jeans and worn boots. He sat with his feet pressing him into a comfortable intersection of the branches and trunk, peering out over the fields beyond with a pair of binoculars.
"Good morning. I don't believe I'm wasting the day at all, reading outside is good for the body." Keiko replied, looking up into the tree to see the catboy in the branches, what an unusual pastime, and she hadn't spoken to him before now either. "Can I help you?" The red neko was careful to avoid any lines that would require his name since she didn't actually know it.
Addaiel shrugged and muttered "If you say so..." before adding:
"Uh, nah, I'm fine. As long as the wind keeps blowing towards us. You aren't wearing any strong perfume, are you?"
At that moment, a dark shape flew down from the sky and landed in the branches beside Addi.
"Did you see anything? Tracks? Droppings? Claw marks?" The boy asked the small dragon, never tearing his eyes away from the Eastern building. Lightning shook his head no.
"I don't wear perfume..." Keiko wondered if that was something people usually did, personally she found it a waste of time to indulge so much in appearances. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing up there?" Since she'd already had her reading disturbed, Keiko decided she may as well try to make a new friend if possible.
"That's good. First day I came here I thought I saw a tiger by the east building. Thought I'd gone crazy, but after a quick search online I found out other students had seen it too. So here I am, sitting in a tree, upwind of its prowling grounds, sending Lightning here to scan overhead for it. All reports say that there isn't a native population of big cats in the region, but part of me thinks that's wrong." Addaiel explained quietly. He seemed to be very experienced with this sort if thing- very comfortable outdoors.
"I asked you why you were wearing perfume because if the wind starts going towards the east building, it'll probably smell you and run off." He added. He finally looked down at her. "Oh, I'm Addaiel by the way. I know we haven't spoken much. Nice to meet you, Keiko."
"Oh, you know who I am? I must apologize but I did not know your name prior to meeting." She spoke with a rather refined tone which was somewhat uncommon in their school and most of the army itself. "I'm glad I'm not an issue for your hunting." Keiko herself had already been in the school long enough to have heard the rumors of the white tiger, a title she shared with the rumored creature, she hadn't personally seen it before but believed she'd heard it once or twice before.
"It's no trouble. You were nice and quiet, at least. What are you reading, by the way? A girl as smart as you shouldn't look so stumped." Addaiel asked. In class, when the students had their assignments returned, Addaiel always caught a glimpse of the others' grades. Keiko was always on top, it seemed.
He wasn't a stalker! He just... noticed things. A gift from his mother, according to Cadiel.
"They're mostly survival guides and outdoor manuals." The red neko replied, this student seemed to know a lot about her considering they'd never really met before, it was a little disarming and the awkward girl lowered her head down while she tried to concentrate on the book again. "And I'm not that smart... I just make sure to study properly and review the given materials. Anyone can do it."
"Mmm. Outdoor manuals?" Addaiel asked, raising an eyebrow. No wonder she was having trouble. Those things were no help. Most were out of date with newer and better methods, and they all failed to convey proper technique through words and pictures. The best outdoor skills were taught hands-on. "Any sort of skill in particular you're trying to learn?"
"Nothing in particularly really, things like navigation, hunting and shelter construction without use of technology. Are you good with that kind of thing?" The red neko asked,
Addaiel seemed to perk up at the question, his tail swishing. With a stretch, he swung out of the tree and landed gracefully beside her, taking the book and flipping through a few pages.
"I know a thing or two. I used to to all that with my dad." He muttered, returning the book. "I can help you, if you want. I'm hungry anyways. Been in that tree since before dawn."
Sitting in a tree that early in the morning, was both a sign of his devotion which could be admired but also quite strange and possibly unhealthy. "Well if it isn't any trouble for you I would appreciate some help." The older girl said, standing up with practiced grace, smoothing out her dress and ensuring her hair wasn't in the way. "Shall I meet you after you've eaten?"
Addaiel smiled and shook his head.
"I say we hunt our lunch. I recommend changing into something a little less... elegant." He replied.
Keiko's face morphed into a shocked expression, "You mean going out and killing an animal?" It was somewhat ironic that a super soldier would be opposed to taking lives but she'd never been in a lethal combat situation nor had she seriously injured anyone. "I... I can get changed, but I think I'll just observe."
"Suit yourself. I'll wait here, then." He shrugged, sitting down against the trunk of the tree with his dragon. Yui have mercy on this girl if her ship ever crashed on some primitive backwater planet and all her fancy technology got destroyed or fail. He almost wanted to laugh, but that would be rude, so he held his tongue.
Keiko gave a slight nod and collected her books, heading back to her private room to change into a basic black shirt and pants, not form fitting but not loose either. Whenever she engaged in unique activities that she wouldn't usually do, Keiko liked to wear a plain outfit and apply volumetric clothing on top, one of the only times she used such a technique.
The red neko soon returned to the tree to meet up with the only male student. "What kind of attire is best suited? Shall I mimic yours?" She asked simply.
Addaiel stood and looked himself over.
"Yeah, that'll do. As long as it can get a little dirty and won't tear on anything." He replied. Lightning climbed onto his shoulder. He motioned for Keiko to follow him and began trudging into the woods. "Let's get to it."
"So! Basics first!" He began in a rather chipper tone of voice. "If ever you find yourself in a survival situation, remember first the Rule of Threes: The average person can go three minutes without air, three hours without shelter from extreme weather, three days without water, and three weeks without food."
He paused to let that info sink in.
"It's important to know because it'll help you prioritize your tasks. Most of the time you'll be able to breathe alright, so the second thing to remember is SWFF." He continued, pronouncing the acronym as "swift".
"Shelter. Water. Fire. Food. Because I'm hungry, we don't have all day, and we're not in danger of death by hypothermia or dehydration, we'll start with food." Addaiel concluded just as they entered a clearing. The odd catboy reached into a hole in a rotted log and pulled out a military-style pack.
Addaiel had been born with his mother's personality and memories from her time in bootcamp, like many natural-born neko were. His mother, like him, had been very preparation-minded. With the war against the Kuvexians raging, they might one day attack Yamatai itself. The one school where the military's most gifted trained would probably be one of the first targets. So, thinking like his mother, Addi had created a few bolt-holes like this one, each stocked with enough supplies to get himself and three other classmates going for three days.
You never knew when one morning you'd wake up to see warships in low orbit and hostile power armors descending from the clouds. Best to have a plan B.
Keiko listened intently as she followed him although something really stood out to her. “Shouldn’t the first thing you do in an isolation situation be attempting to contact the most immediate command post? If no one knows you’re there then a backup will be activated and you’ll be presumed dead.” Keiko said with a sort of naive belief in her voice, she knew what the purpose of her kind was while in service. “Because what’s the point in wasting that time and energy if you just get replaced and left behind anyway.” They were morbid words but to the red neko it was simply procedure.
"Of course, but I'm just going over the basic techniques you can use to supplement your military training. The procedures are different, but the methods are pretty much the same. Another rule of survival is to stay put after sending out all your messages, unless you're being actively hunted by hostile forces." Addaiel replied, appreciating the input as he set the pack on the ground and began digging around inside. "Depending on your rank, who knows how long it'll take for a ship to come find you. Like I said, you only have three to four hours to live depending on the weather. You aren't a Ketsuri princess are you?"
He grinned jokingly at that question.
“No I’m not.” Although she was titled as another type of princess that Addi didn’t realize. She considered continuing her point with an explanation about how you may as well try to eliminate as many enemies as possible before death and several other effective uses of time but thought better of it. “So how do you get protection from the elements then?” Keiko asked.
"We'll do that in a moment, but first we'll set up a snare." Addaiel replied. "Because like I said, we're not in immediate danger."
He pulled out a knife and a small roll of what appeared to be chicken wire from the pack.
"Traditional hunting won't be viable in a survival scenario. It takes a lot more time and energy to track and shoot an animal than it does to lay out a trap. Plus, your weapons may be lost in a crash or something. With a trap, you can hunt while you complete other tasks. The more traps you put out, the higher your chances of catching something. What's more, this particular trap can be scaled up in size to catch a person." Addaiel went on, with a mischievous little smirk. He turned and began walking away from the clearing.
"We'll set the trap away from our 'camp'." He concluded.
"I see, you also mention shooting animals. I think I would be a more efficient hunter with a blade." Not that Keiko wanted to hunt anything when she didn't need to but with her built in ability to fly it shouldn't be too hard to chase down a creature. The concept of traps was much like some military tactics and strategies she'd researched and she already knew how many survival traps worked and their intended prey, although the one time she'd tried to set one ended in a fair bit of blood flying everywhere and a quick trip to the medbay to ensure there was no serious damage.
"Wouldn't a blade just butcher the thing you're trying to eat? You'd have to be pretty precise for that." He mused.
So sure enough, Addaiel quickly had a snare set up a ways from camp. Upon return, he pointed to a decent-sized log about ten inches in diameter and four feet long.
"Now that we have a trap set up, let's work on a basic A-frame shelter. The trick is to always sleep on or above the ground, never in a hole. Water, bugs, and other nasties will find their way to you if you do that. Let's get some logs about this size and create a bed-sized platform for the base." He instructed. "
Keiko blinked, “I am very precise? Do you not practice swordsmanship?” She knew some students were more involved with firearms but surely they still kept their blade skills decent. The red neko wasn’t too fussed about bugs although she liked the idea of avoiding them when possible. Nodding to his suggestion she looked around for a suitable log, finding one she strolled over and effortlessly lifted it back to they’re makeshift shelter.
"I know that the pointy end goes into whatever you're trying to kill. I also have some memories of my mom fooling around with a sword in bootcamp. Not even sure it was part of her training." Shrugged the catboy as he placed a few more logs down, creating a bed about six long. He proceeded to dump loads of soft leaves onto the platform for insulation as well as some semblance of comfort.
"Honestly, I'm probably the worst hand-to-hand combatant in the school. Pretty sure they only chose me because of my marksmanship skills." Addi admitted with a bit of a blush.
Keiko nodded again, “If you need any assistance in training or working on hand to hand and melee combat I’m available on weekends.” The older girl realized that she might come off as arrogant considering only Gunnhild had ever witnessed her sword skills as of yet. “You and Miss Gunnhild would probably get along well.” She mentioned while thinking of the yellow girl.
"I'd appreciate that. Oh, and Gunny and I already hang out and stuff. We hit the shooting range every once in a while for some friendly competition. Well, almost friendly." Addi chuckled and laid two long, sturdy sticks along the ground so that their tips overlapped and created a letter "A". He motioned for Keiko to do the same with another pair before returning to his backpack to fish out more cordage.
“Of course, although I can’t teach you the art I study I have been practicing basics since I started here.” The second year had a late reaction but when she thought about her words she realized she may have unintentionally revealed her secret. “So uh, you and Gunnhild have already made friends, that's good although she didn’t mention you at all. I would have expected her to tell me all about a friend of hers who loves guns as well.”
"I dunno what to tell you." Addaiel muttered as he began lashing the poles together. He did it slow for Keiko to see, then had her stand up her A on the opposite end of the platform. Addi then laid a stick across the top of the two A's, lashing the connections together and creating the frame.
"So there's the frame," he explained, wiping a bit of sweat from his temple. "From here we lay more sticks down each side, and plug the holes with mud and large leaves. It's a basic shelter that'll keep out the weather and last damn near forever with some upgrades."
Keiko highly doubted such crude structures would last forever when the basic materials would soon rot and become weak but she wasn’t the expert on this topic. “I see, so like this?” She asked while holding a few large sticks against the frame to compare them.
"Exactly." Addaiel beamed. He loved the feeling of having built something like this. He grabbed several more sticks like the one Keiko had grabbed, and pretty soon, there was a somewhat functional shelter built. It wouldn't keep out wind or rain, but it would protect from the sun. Addi knelt before the opening and crawled inside, careful not to bump into anything to hard.
"Come on in! It's nice and cozy!" He called from inside, having enough room to lay his whole body down the length of it, with another two to three feet to spare. In an emergency, the shelter could easily accommodate two. A fact which he shared with Keiko.
"In extreme cold, the combined body heat of you and the other poor sap stranded with you will keep you warm. Throw on a few emergency blankets and you're golden!" Said the catboy.
Keiko crouched down at the opening and peered in, looking around the very snug interior of their stick hut before crawling in and lying down beside Addi taking up what little room remained. "It is rather confined in here, I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable by taking up the rest of the room." The red neko half apologized as she tried not to move around too much for fear of pushing the wall out. "I can see how this arrangement would be beneficial during cold temperatures."
"Mmhmm. Put some boulders around the outer edge and the walls won't be in danger of collapse as well." Addaiel muttered as he peered sideways and was met with a rather pleasant sight.
Speaking of boulders...
He grimaced. God damn it all. The only guy in this school, and it had to be a school full of nekos, who all inevitably turned out lesbian.
"So! We got shelter built and food on the way! Anything else you want to learn?" He asked quickly.
“Hmm, is there anything else that’s very important to know? Otherwise I have one thing I’d like to try.” The girl answered while turning over slightly to face him.
In such cramped quarters, Addi had to bight his cheek to keep a blush from spreading over his face. He was pretty sure this was how a few, er, erotic films began. His heart began thumping in his chest.
"Just making fire, but what did you have in mind?" He asked, trying to fight his voice from cracking.
“I’d like to test a theory of mine, I’ll be back shortly.” Keiko said while worming her way out of the hut and quickly flying back to her room to retrieve her practice weapon. A katana that seemed to be scaled up by 75% to quite a large size, a black sheath and hilt with silver blade. Upon returning to their little hut she drew the weapon and moved over to a relatively small tree.
The neko muttered a line of her sedoka under her breath before tensing her muscles and swinging sideways in a slash. The well kept blade smashed through the wood as glowing words flowed over Keikos skin. She stood back and watch the trunk fall to the side with satisfaction. “We can move onto fire making now.”
"...Oh." Addaiel sighed in equal parts relief and disappointment. He climbed out of the shelter and began clearing away a patch of dirt with his foot. "Neat little thing you got there. Not really standard, is it?"
“Well for my fighting style this is almost small, it’s simply a practice weapon which I have better control with in terms of stopping before I make contact with my partner.” Keiko explained while taking a large rag to clean the blade with before sheathing the blade once more. “If you ever enlist my services you’re welcome to use a standard weapon. The movements are the same.”
Standing up and slinging the sword over her back she added as an afterthought, "Well now I know I can make my own logs for shelter building." A quiet musing as she surveyed her handiwork.
"I'll keep that in mind." Addaiel nodded and stood up from what was now a circle of stones with a small pile of dry leaves, pine needles, and other tinder in the center.
"Now, fire. According to the lord Murphy himself, your equipment will fail the moment you need it, so it's always a good idea to carry at least two firestarting tools, and more importantly, know how to make fire without them." He went on, laying down a flat piece of wood and using his knife to sharpen the point of a stick. He then scraped out a hole in the edge of the plank, creating an airflow in. Finally, he stuck the point of the stick into the hole.
Keiko carefully moved over and sat down beside the cat boy, watching him prepare to light a fire, she hadn't done it before but well versed in most sciences and could guess what he would do next. "So you're going to use friction to generate heat?" The red neko said, scooting a bit closer to get a good look and take mental notes.
"That's the gist of it, yeah," nodded the catboy. "We're making a coal, which we'll carefully move into that pile of tinder here. That'll start a small flame that we can build on with bigger pieces of wood."
He pressed his hands together on the stick and began rotating it quickly, pressing down. Occasionally his hands would reach the bottom and he'd have to readjust.
"This is the hardest part. Takes the most time and effort." He groaned with exertion. "Even with Neko-strength."
Eventually he passed the stick to her and asked her to give it a try so he could take a breather.
Keiko was intrigued by this somewhat simple process, although she didn't know what strength had to do with it considering friction was more to do with speed in this case. Taking the stick from him she inspected the point which he'd been pressing into the base to see if there was any heat being generated. Her long, crazy green hair bounced and skittered around whenever she moved her head, her violet eyes never missing a detail.
"It looks like you were focusing too much on the pressure and not enough on the speed, with such a small instrument as this you will need a lot more speed to generate enough heat." The red catgirl concluded, speaking from her acquired knowledge from the many textbooks she'd studied. Taking up the stick once more she slotted its point into the shallow groove and began to twist, as she'd recommended Keiko focused on the speed rather than the pressure and before long a small wisp of smoke was drawn out from the point of contact.
"Huh. Good work. I guess I'm just hungry." Addaiel shrugged with a sheepish grin. Very carefully, he covered the coal that Keiko had just created with a small pile of grasses and needles. Leaning down, the catboy began to gingerly blow on the pile until it began to catch. Next came the small twigs and sticks that made up the kindling.
"Once the kindling's burning good, we'll add the fuel." he muttered, occasionally leaning down to blow on the flames. Sitting back on a log and watching the fire, he glanced over at Keiko. "So, I know this may seem a little personal for two people who've just met, but what's your story, Keiko? You know, like where are you from? How'd you end up at Zenjinkaze?"
Addaiel internally cursed himself, realizing how unsettling the blunt way he'd asked such a thing may have been. He had never been good with people so far in life, his only real social connections being an eccentric Elysian zoologist and all the animals he'd met. Sometimes he wished he could actually speak to animals, because he found them easier to deal with than humans.
Keiko didn’t seem to notice the straightforward nature of the question, she often operated in the much the same way and simply thought for a moment. “I was sent here right after I was born, I’ve never had basic training or fought outside a competition.” She didn’t speak sadly just factually as was her nature.
”Apparently I was too different for soldier training.”
"In what way?" Addaiel asked with a quirk of his brow, his interest piqued.
“I have never been able to kill, I would have been killed myself had the school not asked for me to attend. I’ve also never been good at teamwork, I never rely on anyone.” The red neko explained, motioning to the small fire. “I think it needs a bit more.”
"Yeah, in a second, once it grows a little more. If we dump more stuff on right now we could smother the flame." Addaiel agreed with a nod. "So were you ever in combat? Most new neko haven't killed anyone, after all."
“No, I didn’t pass the simulation training. Even in them I couldn’t do it, guns were never my strong suit.” She replied, her glasses reflecting the light of the small flame. Keiko’s time in the training camp hadn’t been terribly enjoyable and was part of why she became as isolated as she was now.
"Huh. Guns were pretty much exclusively why I was accepted to this school," said Addaiel, a little intrigued at the idea of a neko that couldn't kill. Even he, though never having done it, sometimes felt that primal thrill whenever he watched a fight. It was a part of neko DNA at this point. "Aside from learning some boxing from my dad, I'm a lousy fighter. Guess they figured they could just teach me that and turn me into a super soldier... or whatever it is they're trying to do."
“You’re likely to end up in SAINT with those kinds of qualifications, I believe I’m being readied for officer training and starship command but I’m not sure.” The red neko replied, looking up at the catboy across from her. “I’m glad you decided to talk to me this morning, it’s been quite a pleasant experience talking to you today Addaiel. We shall have to catch up again soon.” She poked the fire a little and gently placed a little more sticks atop it.
Addaiel smiled, reaching over to pat Lightning's head.
"Sure. Maybe next time we'll do something semi-normal." he joked.
“Sounds good, maybe lunch sometime?” Keiko asked, she simply meant it as a fun activity and didn’t realize the implications behind such an offer.
"Y-yeah... p-perfect!"
Outdoors Area
Keiko had taken a seat under one of the trees on the schools grounds near her room, surrounded by several books with one in her hand, glasses resting on her nose as she read through them. Survival guides weren't her strong suite despite her love of studying, she was more accustomed to her own martial art and regular studies, survival guides and studies required a certain level of experience to properly understand, which she did not have. Nevertheless she continued reading and imagining.
"Lovely weather today. Don't know why you're wasting it reading." Came a voice from... above her?
Sure enough, in one of the highest branches of the tree, was Addaiel. He was dressed in a dark green field jacket that matched the forest well and fought off the chill, as well as a pair of jeans and worn boots. He sat with his feet pressing him into a comfortable intersection of the branches and trunk, peering out over the fields beyond with a pair of binoculars.
"Good morning. I don't believe I'm wasting the day at all, reading outside is good for the body." Keiko replied, looking up into the tree to see the catboy in the branches, what an unusual pastime, and she hadn't spoken to him before now either. "Can I help you?" The red neko was careful to avoid any lines that would require his name since she didn't actually know it.
Addaiel shrugged and muttered "If you say so..." before adding:
"Uh, nah, I'm fine. As long as the wind keeps blowing towards us. You aren't wearing any strong perfume, are you?"
At that moment, a dark shape flew down from the sky and landed in the branches beside Addi.
"Did you see anything? Tracks? Droppings? Claw marks?" The boy asked the small dragon, never tearing his eyes away from the Eastern building. Lightning shook his head no.
"I don't wear perfume..." Keiko wondered if that was something people usually did, personally she found it a waste of time to indulge so much in appearances. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing up there?" Since she'd already had her reading disturbed, Keiko decided she may as well try to make a new friend if possible.
"That's good. First day I came here I thought I saw a tiger by the east building. Thought I'd gone crazy, but after a quick search online I found out other students had seen it too. So here I am, sitting in a tree, upwind of its prowling grounds, sending Lightning here to scan overhead for it. All reports say that there isn't a native population of big cats in the region, but part of me thinks that's wrong." Addaiel explained quietly. He seemed to be very experienced with this sort if thing- very comfortable outdoors.
"I asked you why you were wearing perfume because if the wind starts going towards the east building, it'll probably smell you and run off." He added. He finally looked down at her. "Oh, I'm Addaiel by the way. I know we haven't spoken much. Nice to meet you, Keiko."
"Oh, you know who I am? I must apologize but I did not know your name prior to meeting." She spoke with a rather refined tone which was somewhat uncommon in their school and most of the army itself. "I'm glad I'm not an issue for your hunting." Keiko herself had already been in the school long enough to have heard the rumors of the white tiger, a title she shared with the rumored creature, she hadn't personally seen it before but believed she'd heard it once or twice before.
"It's no trouble. You were nice and quiet, at least. What are you reading, by the way? A girl as smart as you shouldn't look so stumped." Addaiel asked. In class, when the students had their assignments returned, Addaiel always caught a glimpse of the others' grades. Keiko was always on top, it seemed.
He wasn't a stalker! He just... noticed things. A gift from his mother, according to Cadiel.
"They're mostly survival guides and outdoor manuals." The red neko replied, this student seemed to know a lot about her considering they'd never really met before, it was a little disarming and the awkward girl lowered her head down while she tried to concentrate on the book again. "And I'm not that smart... I just make sure to study properly and review the given materials. Anyone can do it."
"Mmm. Outdoor manuals?" Addaiel asked, raising an eyebrow. No wonder she was having trouble. Those things were no help. Most were out of date with newer and better methods, and they all failed to convey proper technique through words and pictures. The best outdoor skills were taught hands-on. "Any sort of skill in particular you're trying to learn?"
"Nothing in particularly really, things like navigation, hunting and shelter construction without use of technology. Are you good with that kind of thing?" The red neko asked,
Addaiel seemed to perk up at the question, his tail swishing. With a stretch, he swung out of the tree and landed gracefully beside her, taking the book and flipping through a few pages.
"I know a thing or two. I used to to all that with my dad." He muttered, returning the book. "I can help you, if you want. I'm hungry anyways. Been in that tree since before dawn."
Sitting in a tree that early in the morning, was both a sign of his devotion which could be admired but also quite strange and possibly unhealthy. "Well if it isn't any trouble for you I would appreciate some help." The older girl said, standing up with practiced grace, smoothing out her dress and ensuring her hair wasn't in the way. "Shall I meet you after you've eaten?"
Addaiel smiled and shook his head.
"I say we hunt our lunch. I recommend changing into something a little less... elegant." He replied.
Keiko's face morphed into a shocked expression, "You mean going out and killing an animal?" It was somewhat ironic that a super soldier would be opposed to taking lives but she'd never been in a lethal combat situation nor had she seriously injured anyone. "I... I can get changed, but I think I'll just observe."
"Suit yourself. I'll wait here, then." He shrugged, sitting down against the trunk of the tree with his dragon. Yui have mercy on this girl if her ship ever crashed on some primitive backwater planet and all her fancy technology got destroyed or fail. He almost wanted to laugh, but that would be rude, so he held his tongue.
Keiko gave a slight nod and collected her books, heading back to her private room to change into a basic black shirt and pants, not form fitting but not loose either. Whenever she engaged in unique activities that she wouldn't usually do, Keiko liked to wear a plain outfit and apply volumetric clothing on top, one of the only times she used such a technique.
The red neko soon returned to the tree to meet up with the only male student. "What kind of attire is best suited? Shall I mimic yours?" She asked simply.
Addaiel stood and looked himself over.
"Yeah, that'll do. As long as it can get a little dirty and won't tear on anything." He replied. Lightning climbed onto his shoulder. He motioned for Keiko to follow him and began trudging into the woods. "Let's get to it."
"So! Basics first!" He began in a rather chipper tone of voice. "If ever you find yourself in a survival situation, remember first the Rule of Threes: The average person can go three minutes without air, three hours without shelter from extreme weather, three days without water, and three weeks without food."
He paused to let that info sink in.
"It's important to know because it'll help you prioritize your tasks. Most of the time you'll be able to breathe alright, so the second thing to remember is SWFF." He continued, pronouncing the acronym as "swift".
"Shelter. Water. Fire. Food. Because I'm hungry, we don't have all day, and we're not in danger of death by hypothermia or dehydration, we'll start with food." Addaiel concluded just as they entered a clearing. The odd catboy reached into a hole in a rotted log and pulled out a military-style pack.
Addaiel had been born with his mother's personality and memories from her time in bootcamp, like many natural-born neko were. His mother, like him, had been very preparation-minded. With the war against the Kuvexians raging, they might one day attack Yamatai itself. The one school where the military's most gifted trained would probably be one of the first targets. So, thinking like his mother, Addi had created a few bolt-holes like this one, each stocked with enough supplies to get himself and three other classmates going for three days.
You never knew when one morning you'd wake up to see warships in low orbit and hostile power armors descending from the clouds. Best to have a plan B.
Keiko listened intently as she followed him although something really stood out to her. “Shouldn’t the first thing you do in an isolation situation be attempting to contact the most immediate command post? If no one knows you’re there then a backup will be activated and you’ll be presumed dead.” Keiko said with a sort of naive belief in her voice, she knew what the purpose of her kind was while in service. “Because what’s the point in wasting that time and energy if you just get replaced and left behind anyway.” They were morbid words but to the red neko it was simply procedure.
"Of course, but I'm just going over the basic techniques you can use to supplement your military training. The procedures are different, but the methods are pretty much the same. Another rule of survival is to stay put after sending out all your messages, unless you're being actively hunted by hostile forces." Addaiel replied, appreciating the input as he set the pack on the ground and began digging around inside. "Depending on your rank, who knows how long it'll take for a ship to come find you. Like I said, you only have three to four hours to live depending on the weather. You aren't a Ketsuri princess are you?"
He grinned jokingly at that question.
“No I’m not.” Although she was titled as another type of princess that Addi didn’t realize. She considered continuing her point with an explanation about how you may as well try to eliminate as many enemies as possible before death and several other effective uses of time but thought better of it. “So how do you get protection from the elements then?” Keiko asked.
"We'll do that in a moment, but first we'll set up a snare." Addaiel replied. "Because like I said, we're not in immediate danger."
He pulled out a knife and a small roll of what appeared to be chicken wire from the pack.
"Traditional hunting won't be viable in a survival scenario. It takes a lot more time and energy to track and shoot an animal than it does to lay out a trap. Plus, your weapons may be lost in a crash or something. With a trap, you can hunt while you complete other tasks. The more traps you put out, the higher your chances of catching something. What's more, this particular trap can be scaled up in size to catch a person." Addaiel went on, with a mischievous little smirk. He turned and began walking away from the clearing.
"We'll set the trap away from our 'camp'." He concluded.
"I see, you also mention shooting animals. I think I would be a more efficient hunter with a blade." Not that Keiko wanted to hunt anything when she didn't need to but with her built in ability to fly it shouldn't be too hard to chase down a creature. The concept of traps was much like some military tactics and strategies she'd researched and she already knew how many survival traps worked and their intended prey, although the one time she'd tried to set one ended in a fair bit of blood flying everywhere and a quick trip to the medbay to ensure there was no serious damage.
"Wouldn't a blade just butcher the thing you're trying to eat? You'd have to be pretty precise for that." He mused.
So sure enough, Addaiel quickly had a snare set up a ways from camp. Upon return, he pointed to a decent-sized log about ten inches in diameter and four feet long.
"Now that we have a trap set up, let's work on a basic A-frame shelter. The trick is to always sleep on or above the ground, never in a hole. Water, bugs, and other nasties will find their way to you if you do that. Let's get some logs about this size and create a bed-sized platform for the base." He instructed. "
Keiko blinked, “I am very precise? Do you not practice swordsmanship?” She knew some students were more involved with firearms but surely they still kept their blade skills decent. The red neko wasn’t too fussed about bugs although she liked the idea of avoiding them when possible. Nodding to his suggestion she looked around for a suitable log, finding one she strolled over and effortlessly lifted it back to they’re makeshift shelter.
"I know that the pointy end goes into whatever you're trying to kill. I also have some memories of my mom fooling around with a sword in bootcamp. Not even sure it was part of her training." Shrugged the catboy as he placed a few more logs down, creating a bed about six long. He proceeded to dump loads of soft leaves onto the platform for insulation as well as some semblance of comfort.
"Honestly, I'm probably the worst hand-to-hand combatant in the school. Pretty sure they only chose me because of my marksmanship skills." Addi admitted with a bit of a blush.
Keiko nodded again, “If you need any assistance in training or working on hand to hand and melee combat I’m available on weekends.” The older girl realized that she might come off as arrogant considering only Gunnhild had ever witnessed her sword skills as of yet. “You and Miss Gunnhild would probably get along well.” She mentioned while thinking of the yellow girl.
"I'd appreciate that. Oh, and Gunny and I already hang out and stuff. We hit the shooting range every once in a while for some friendly competition. Well, almost friendly." Addi chuckled and laid two long, sturdy sticks along the ground so that their tips overlapped and created a letter "A". He motioned for Keiko to do the same with another pair before returning to his backpack to fish out more cordage.
“Of course, although I can’t teach you the art I study I have been practicing basics since I started here.” The second year had a late reaction but when she thought about her words she realized she may have unintentionally revealed her secret. “So uh, you and Gunnhild have already made friends, that's good although she didn’t mention you at all. I would have expected her to tell me all about a friend of hers who loves guns as well.”
"I dunno what to tell you." Addaiel muttered as he began lashing the poles together. He did it slow for Keiko to see, then had her stand up her A on the opposite end of the platform. Addi then laid a stick across the top of the two A's, lashing the connections together and creating the frame.
"So there's the frame," he explained, wiping a bit of sweat from his temple. "From here we lay more sticks down each side, and plug the holes with mud and large leaves. It's a basic shelter that'll keep out the weather and last damn near forever with some upgrades."
Keiko highly doubted such crude structures would last forever when the basic materials would soon rot and become weak but she wasn’t the expert on this topic. “I see, so like this?” She asked while holding a few large sticks against the frame to compare them.
"Exactly." Addaiel beamed. He loved the feeling of having built something like this. He grabbed several more sticks like the one Keiko had grabbed, and pretty soon, there was a somewhat functional shelter built. It wouldn't keep out wind or rain, but it would protect from the sun. Addi knelt before the opening and crawled inside, careful not to bump into anything to hard.
"Come on in! It's nice and cozy!" He called from inside, having enough room to lay his whole body down the length of it, with another two to three feet to spare. In an emergency, the shelter could easily accommodate two. A fact which he shared with Keiko.
"In extreme cold, the combined body heat of you and the other poor sap stranded with you will keep you warm. Throw on a few emergency blankets and you're golden!" Said the catboy.
Keiko crouched down at the opening and peered in, looking around the very snug interior of their stick hut before crawling in and lying down beside Addi taking up what little room remained. "It is rather confined in here, I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable by taking up the rest of the room." The red neko half apologized as she tried not to move around too much for fear of pushing the wall out. "I can see how this arrangement would be beneficial during cold temperatures."
"Mmhmm. Put some boulders around the outer edge and the walls won't be in danger of collapse as well." Addaiel muttered as he peered sideways and was met with a rather pleasant sight.
Speaking of boulders...
He grimaced. God damn it all. The only guy in this school, and it had to be a school full of nekos, who all inevitably turned out lesbian.
"So! We got shelter built and food on the way! Anything else you want to learn?" He asked quickly.
“Hmm, is there anything else that’s very important to know? Otherwise I have one thing I’d like to try.” The girl answered while turning over slightly to face him.
In such cramped quarters, Addi had to bight his cheek to keep a blush from spreading over his face. He was pretty sure this was how a few, er, erotic films began. His heart began thumping in his chest.
"Just making fire, but what did you have in mind?" He asked, trying to fight his voice from cracking.
“I’d like to test a theory of mine, I’ll be back shortly.” Keiko said while worming her way out of the hut and quickly flying back to her room to retrieve her practice weapon. A katana that seemed to be scaled up by 75% to quite a large size, a black sheath and hilt with silver blade. Upon returning to their little hut she drew the weapon and moved over to a relatively small tree.
The neko muttered a line of her sedoka under her breath before tensing her muscles and swinging sideways in a slash. The well kept blade smashed through the wood as glowing words flowed over Keikos skin. She stood back and watch the trunk fall to the side with satisfaction. “We can move onto fire making now.”
"...Oh." Addaiel sighed in equal parts relief and disappointment. He climbed out of the shelter and began clearing away a patch of dirt with his foot. "Neat little thing you got there. Not really standard, is it?"
“Well for my fighting style this is almost small, it’s simply a practice weapon which I have better control with in terms of stopping before I make contact with my partner.” Keiko explained while taking a large rag to clean the blade with before sheathing the blade once more. “If you ever enlist my services you’re welcome to use a standard weapon. The movements are the same.”
Standing up and slinging the sword over her back she added as an afterthought, "Well now I know I can make my own logs for shelter building." A quiet musing as she surveyed her handiwork.
"I'll keep that in mind." Addaiel nodded and stood up from what was now a circle of stones with a small pile of dry leaves, pine needles, and other tinder in the center.
"Now, fire. According to the lord Murphy himself, your equipment will fail the moment you need it, so it's always a good idea to carry at least two firestarting tools, and more importantly, know how to make fire without them." He went on, laying down a flat piece of wood and using his knife to sharpen the point of a stick. He then scraped out a hole in the edge of the plank, creating an airflow in. Finally, he stuck the point of the stick into the hole.
Keiko carefully moved over and sat down beside the cat boy, watching him prepare to light a fire, she hadn't done it before but well versed in most sciences and could guess what he would do next. "So you're going to use friction to generate heat?" The red neko said, scooting a bit closer to get a good look and take mental notes.
"That's the gist of it, yeah," nodded the catboy. "We're making a coal, which we'll carefully move into that pile of tinder here. That'll start a small flame that we can build on with bigger pieces of wood."
He pressed his hands together on the stick and began rotating it quickly, pressing down. Occasionally his hands would reach the bottom and he'd have to readjust.
"This is the hardest part. Takes the most time and effort." He groaned with exertion. "Even with Neko-strength."
Eventually he passed the stick to her and asked her to give it a try so he could take a breather.
Keiko was intrigued by this somewhat simple process, although she didn't know what strength had to do with it considering friction was more to do with speed in this case. Taking the stick from him she inspected the point which he'd been pressing into the base to see if there was any heat being generated. Her long, crazy green hair bounced and skittered around whenever she moved her head, her violet eyes never missing a detail.
"It looks like you were focusing too much on the pressure and not enough on the speed, with such a small instrument as this you will need a lot more speed to generate enough heat." The red catgirl concluded, speaking from her acquired knowledge from the many textbooks she'd studied. Taking up the stick once more she slotted its point into the shallow groove and began to twist, as she'd recommended Keiko focused on the speed rather than the pressure and before long a small wisp of smoke was drawn out from the point of contact.
"Huh. Good work. I guess I'm just hungry." Addaiel shrugged with a sheepish grin. Very carefully, he covered the coal that Keiko had just created with a small pile of grasses and needles. Leaning down, the catboy began to gingerly blow on the pile until it began to catch. Next came the small twigs and sticks that made up the kindling.
"Once the kindling's burning good, we'll add the fuel." he muttered, occasionally leaning down to blow on the flames. Sitting back on a log and watching the fire, he glanced over at Keiko. "So, I know this may seem a little personal for two people who've just met, but what's your story, Keiko? You know, like where are you from? How'd you end up at Zenjinkaze?"
Addaiel internally cursed himself, realizing how unsettling the blunt way he'd asked such a thing may have been. He had never been good with people so far in life, his only real social connections being an eccentric Elysian zoologist and all the animals he'd met. Sometimes he wished he could actually speak to animals, because he found them easier to deal with than humans.
Keiko didn’t seem to notice the straightforward nature of the question, she often operated in the much the same way and simply thought for a moment. “I was sent here right after I was born, I’ve never had basic training or fought outside a competition.” She didn’t speak sadly just factually as was her nature.
”Apparently I was too different for soldier training.”
"In what way?" Addaiel asked with a quirk of his brow, his interest piqued.
“I have never been able to kill, I would have been killed myself had the school not asked for me to attend. I’ve also never been good at teamwork, I never rely on anyone.” The red neko explained, motioning to the small fire. “I think it needs a bit more.”
"Yeah, in a second, once it grows a little more. If we dump more stuff on right now we could smother the flame." Addaiel agreed with a nod. "So were you ever in combat? Most new neko haven't killed anyone, after all."
“No, I didn’t pass the simulation training. Even in them I couldn’t do it, guns were never my strong suit.” She replied, her glasses reflecting the light of the small flame. Keiko’s time in the training camp hadn’t been terribly enjoyable and was part of why she became as isolated as she was now.
"Huh. Guns were pretty much exclusively why I was accepted to this school," said Addaiel, a little intrigued at the idea of a neko that couldn't kill. Even he, though never having done it, sometimes felt that primal thrill whenever he watched a fight. It was a part of neko DNA at this point. "Aside from learning some boxing from my dad, I'm a lousy fighter. Guess they figured they could just teach me that and turn me into a super soldier... or whatever it is they're trying to do."
“You’re likely to end up in SAINT with those kinds of qualifications, I believe I’m being readied for officer training and starship command but I’m not sure.” The red neko replied, looking up at the catboy across from her. “I’m glad you decided to talk to me this morning, it’s been quite a pleasant experience talking to you today Addaiel. We shall have to catch up again soon.” She poked the fire a little and gently placed a little more sticks atop it.
Addaiel smiled, reaching over to pat Lightning's head.
"Sure. Maybe next time we'll do something semi-normal." he joked.
“Sounds good, maybe lunch sometime?” Keiko asked, she simply meant it as a fun activity and didn’t realize the implications behind such an offer.
"Y-yeah... p-perfect!"
