The sun was just beginning to set as she finished dismantling her shelter, scattering the sticks and leaves she had made it from and slipping her tools into the small pack on her back. The forest floor was damp and the smell of rain still hung in the air, not a downpour but enough to leave the ground soft. Absentmindedly checking the weapons on her belt, she scanned her surroundings carefully. The fading light of the sun was enough for her to find her bearings. Last she knew, her quarry was headed South, away from Naraku Lake and towards the nearby foothills. Moving away from the villages, good. She had yet to lay eyes on the creature but the tracks she'd followed the previous day had been fresh and the discarded remnants of its previous victims had been poorly hidden along its trail.

She quickly picked up the trail without any trouble, as she had the day before. Deep prints, broken branches, blatant claw marks on tree trunks. She paused by one of the damaged trees and ran her fingers through the marks. This thing, whatever it was, had been assailing villages in the area for months, leaving no witnesses she could find, none still breathing anyway. She had been working on the assumption this creature possessed some level of forethought and had been actively evading detection. Have none of the human trackers found these signs? Perhaps no humans made it out this far. She wasn't seeing any signs of them out here, save the parts the creature dragged with it. It was a few days travel on foot to the nearest village so they may have given up the chase. She was glad to have it away from people but if it made it into the mountains she might lose its trail entirely.

As though on sadistic cue, the buzzing of flies and a patch of reddish mud drew her attention to a leather boot beneath a nearby bush. With a quiet sigh she moved closer and parted the branches. Another human, this one was younger by the look of her, wearing similar clothes and carrying similar equipment to the others, though hers were less worn. "New clothes, new tools," she murmured to herself. "Excited to get them I bet, did you even get a chance to use any of it? Was this your first hunt?" Some of the young tracker's features were still distinguishable, "Not from any of the groups I've seen so far, I think? This thing really goes for the face," she continued quietly, as she carefully searched the tracker's pockets. Rations, a pocket knife, and a pendant. "Goddess of the hunt. I wish this had helped you, guided you home." Returning the pendant, she pulled herself away from the body and slipped quickly back onto the trail.

Moving at a steady jog, her tail swept behind her, keeping her balance as she silently hopped along roots and fallen trees. Not long after though, she slowed to a careful and deliberate walk as she spotted a clearing ahead. Her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted movement, but then, Too small, that's a human, damn it. Go back to your village, you stupid- The thought was interrupted as she got a better look at the man.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw, not the greens and browns of a tracker's garb, but a vibrant blue cloak flowing over black cotton clothes. The materials were simple for the most part, but some unfamiliar lettering was stitched into the hem in places with a white thread. The man stood out sharply against the forest, not even trying to blend in. She looked around quickly for any signs of the creature hunting this idiot but saw nothing.

The man had crouched down, examining something on the ground. With a grimace she realised he was looking at what she presumed to be some other parts of the tracker she found earlier. She stopped maybe twenty metres from him in thick undergrowth, her dark clothing melding into the shadows. She was just about close enough to see his face now and the hand clasped over his mouth. His beard was scruffy, a few days of growth returning around the likely intended shape, his hair was similarly short and messy. Some lines around his eyes showed his age, not old by any means but not a young boy wandering out here by mistake.

He had his other hand outstretched, moving it back and forth strangely. After a moment she realised he wasn't actually touching anything he was examining, just making odd patterns in the air over the remains. He stopped the movements and his eyes began to follow something in front of him, moving across the clearing, but she couldn't see what it was. He muttered to himself, "It was quick, that's a mercy, but still..." He sniffed the air, "No, just attacked physically then? Hmm."

He stood up, watching whatever it was a while longer and walking to the other side of the clearing, away from her, before looking around again. "No markings. No sulphur. Walked then." He stared off in the direction she had been traveling for a moment, shaking his head and looking off into the distance, "But where did it-" he started before shaking his head, "It'll show itself eventually." Shaking himself from whatever train of thought he was on, he strode back to the remains and, taking something from his belt he knelt down again. Before he could do whatever he intended though, his head snapped to look directly at her, a second later he sprang to his feet and his hand whipped back behind him, making a strange motion in the air, but then he stopped and squinted.

Not wanting to find out what he intended to do to her, she span on the spot and began to sprint, hearing a faint crack behind her from his direction. Her feet almost slipped on the wet ground but her tail grasped a branch to steady her. This situation is all wrong and I can't waste time fighting another human. She had barely covered any distance before she stopped in her tracks, her heart thumping in her chest, as the man in the blue cloak stood directly in front of her. "Oh! You're just... right," he said, seemingly to himself as much as her. For a split second she froze, a hand on the hilt of her sword but not drawing it. "You're not-" he started, but just as quickly she forced herself out of the shock and ducked past him under a branch. Her other hand reached out, trying to push him off balance before he struck, but it met nothing but air and she heard the sound again. Not looking back she tore off into the undergrowth.