<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/be/Ne%27iine_Vaenn.png)</div><strong>Character name</strong>: Ne'iine Vaenn<br/><strong>Who:</strong>Nae, Dluuni & Dat'aek'i (NPCs)<br/><strong>Where:</strong>Kayax Outskirts<br/><strong>When: </strong>TBD<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Air rushed by her sending dark hair streaming out behind her like a banner. At the last moment her hands caught upon a thick tree branch. Up her body swung once more, pivoting as bark scraped against her tender palms. Both legs swung forth and her knees notched upon the next branch. Moments later she was dangling upside down high in the tree. The upturned tilt of her nose was scrunched as she stared up at her perch contemplatively. It was as she was thinking about how to best get to another branch without breaking something that she heard the giggles of two pups. "What are they doing out here?" she muttered.<br/><br/>Curiosity got the best of common sense. She crunched her body upward and gripped the branch to one side of her knees. Her grip was nearer to the trunk. More stable to place her weight up but harder to get a good grip on. Once the decision was made, however, there was little time to contemplate it. An awkward hop swung her legs free, and then she released her grip on the branch. Deerskin boots landed silently upon the branch below her. After that it was quick work to climb down the tree.<br/><br/>Dluuni and Dat'aek'i scampered ahead of her, utterly oblivious to the scout they'd picked up in the mischief.<em>I'm going to have to pass on this kind of laxness to Ggaal,</em>she thought. Though to be fair, she was at least the second best scout in the tribe, something she proved as she continued to slip after them unseen.<br/><br/>When she saw their destination she paused. Nae.<em>Damn it.</em>Scowling, she began to climb another tree. Though slower it might give her a slight advantage when it came to stalking him and the pups. Blind as he was his other senses were well honed. If she'd approached the normal way he would undoubtedly smell her. From the trees her scent would be somewhat masked even to his nose by the pine sap and the confusion of the wind.<br/><br/>Ne'iine had just reached her chosen perch when she heard the delighted shrieks of the two pups. Unwillingly a smile tugged at her lips as she leant against the trunk of the tree. Nae had a way with the young ones, a kind of playfulness mixed with mystery that made him seemingly irresistible to the younger ones. And her. Not that he ever seemed to notice. Crouched as she was upon a thick branch in a tree set far back, she couldn't see the scene but she could well imagine it. Like her, many of the pups tried to practice their stalking using Nae as the target. Unlike her, the pups had no idea what they were doing and tended to end up being tickled more often than not.<br/><br/>Quietness descended once more, yet the pups didn't come back. Which meant that there was something going on. Once more Ne'iine's curiosity would not let it lie. Scowling at her own inability to say no to herself when it concerned him, she crouched and then launched herself for the nearest tree. Perhaps she'd been named for a bird, but she moved much more closely to a squirrel. In this way she traveled, garnering bruises and scrapes that she shrugged off easily. At least, until a chipped piece of bark she had not seen dug into one of her scrapes and tore at her hand.<br/><br/>With a yelp she released her grip on that particular branch. Snow rushed up to meet her alarmingly quickly and she clenched her eyes shut. Cold was her first impression, as well as the realization she'd been well bruised for the next fortnight. Gingerly she pushed herself into an upright position. Dluuni and Dat'aek'i were staring at her wide eyed, little mouths rounded with surprise. "That, pups, was a very graceful dismount," she said with a much haughtiness as could be mustered on short notice. She could only pray that Nae wouldn't have cause to comment on her clumsiness.