[ Hei tells Chekov, though what he really means is If she's alive. ]
[ The grove unfolds in a dozen shades of green around them. Carefully, Hei scans the terrain. All five senses tuning in, as if collecting the molecules shaken loose by other shapes, alive and moving. He feels the wind engaging millions of pine needles on their branches, like clattering whispers. A rabbit careening through the grove, dashing through dry leaves. Fifty feet. Birds, too many to count, dotted among the trees, flapping, swooping across the foliage. Thirty feet. A heavy shifting, possibly a threat, possibly an ally. Fifteen feet. ]
[ Hei goes perfectly still. His gaze fixes on the spot where a shadow flickers between the lush foliage, something settling across the planes of his face and in the set of his shoulders. Distrust is the best skill anyone can learn -- especially during a time like this. If it's an enemy out there, there are two expected responses. One is an old-fashioned Who's there? The other is silence. Either would betray wariness, and therefore embolden the enemy to attack. The correct move is a non sequitur, something incongruous that will momentarily occupy the enemy's cognition while his brain tries to process the unanticipated response. ]
[ And, if it's an ally, something this wildly off-track will coax them to show themselves. ]
[ so, instead of attacking, Hei inflicts the airwaves with a familiar song -- as croaky and tuneless as ever. ]
no subject
[ Hei tells Chekov, though what he really means is If she's alive. ]
[ The grove unfolds in a dozen shades of green around them. Carefully, Hei scans the terrain. All five senses tuning in, as if collecting the molecules shaken loose by other shapes, alive and moving. He feels the wind engaging millions of pine needles on their branches, like clattering whispers. A rabbit careening through the grove, dashing through dry leaves. Fifty feet. Birds, too many to count, dotted among the trees, flapping, swooping across the foliage. Thirty feet. A heavy shifting, possibly a threat, possibly an ally. Fifteen feet. ]
[ Hei goes perfectly still. His gaze fixes on the spot where a shadow flickers between the lush foliage, something settling across the planes of his face and in the set of his shoulders. Distrust is the best skill anyone can learn -- especially during a time like this. If it's an enemy out there, there are two expected responses. One is an old-fashioned Who's there? The other is silence. Either would betray wariness, and therefore embolden the enemy to attack. The correct move is a non sequitur, something incongruous that will momentarily occupy the enemy's cognition while his brain tries to process the unanticipated response. ]
[ And, if it's an ally, something this wildly off-track will coax them to show themselves. ]
[ so, instead of attacking, Hei inflicts the airwaves with a familiar song -- as croaky and tuneless as ever. ]