Author's notes:
I still do not own Claymore blah blah.
Okay, after I had done the chapter I read it over and over, hated it more and more with every time reading it and simply began anew. And I can say, yep, it is shorter, but considerably better (imo)
Enjoy!
Chapter 13 – Wrong trail?
"She was here! Just a few minutes ago!" Vectra suddenly said shortly after she had abruptly stopped in her tracks, making Hitomi's eyes widen.
"We have no time to lose, then!" the latter said emphatically.
They stood in the middle of a wide plain that reached as far as the eye could see. The soil beneath their feet had many cracks all over it and was as dry as a bone and very dusty. The only thing that differed from the plain was a single mountain in the north that seemed to be around three miles away.
Vectra carefully nosed the air while making a wondering face that soon turned a little grim, as she said: "Why haven't I noticed?"
"What are you babbling about?" her comrade asked enervated. "Let's get going already, which direction?" she added, getting a little upset about the detention.
"Calm yourself would you?" her superior demanded. She then walked around a little, nosing the air the whole time, while she got a clearer picture of the situation.
"Dammit," she cursed, "how could I not have noticed that earlier?"
"What is it?" Hitomi asked while trying to stay calm.
For the past few days they had gotten closer and closer to Jacqueline. Hitomi had been tense the whole time because she absolutely could not wait to see her after more than two years. And then, as they were so close to her, Vectra slowed them down for no apparent reason. Or at least she did not tell her comrade the reason, what upset the latter.
Vectra faced Hitomi who was taking long, deep breaths to somehow keep her temper in check, and explained the situation to her: "From the very beginning she was not traveling alone. The scent of her old uniform did not match her scent exactly, even if you consider how old it already was, but I thought, that her scent might have changed over time. Unfortunately I was mistaken, ..."
"Well, what?" Hitomi sharply interrupted her.
"The more often you interrupt me, the longer it will take to explain" her comrade reminded her, making her sigh heavily.
"As I said, I was mistaken. It was not her smell that was different, it was a second person traveling with her. A warrior as I can tell now. The two of them have separated, the one who went northeast smelling more like Jacqueline. At any rate, lets follow the one who went northeast" she finished her explanation.
She was about to begin following said person, as Hitomi said: "She went northwest."
That puzzled Vectra a little what clearly could be seen in her facial expression. Hitomi, knowing that they had no time to lose, explained, talking rather fast: "Firstly, they know that we are following them. They also know that we are most likely after Jacqueline, because she is the only missing warrior right now. Secondly, Jacqueline knows that I can not sense her and she should also know that you can't sense her. The only other thing that could give her location away is her smell, what she should know, too. She most likely assumed that we were following her by smell. The two of them splitting up is of course thought to lead us on a wrong trail. Of course we would follow the one that smells more like her. She assumes that we don't waste time thinking about them trying to lure us away from her, so they have arranged for the one that is not Jacqueline to smell more like her than the actual Jacqueline, by simply exchanging their cloaks. Furthermore, Jacqueline is a right-type. So it is more likely for her to pass the mountain on its left, so it is right of her."
Vectra blinked a few times. "A right-type?" she asked.
"Easy:" Hitomi began to explain, "I spent two months together with her and I like watching people, so I noticed a few things. For instance, when we were sitting at a campfire, she always placed herself left to me. When I placed myself left to her she looked at me way less often while talking to me. If a tree, a person or something else is in her path, she passes it left to avoid it. She looks to the right considerably more often than to the left. And, last, but not least, she is a right-hander."
Her comrade tilted her head a little and then gave her opinion: "First of all, I think that pseudo-psychological right-type stuff is nonsense. About the other thing, yes, they most likely split up to lead us on a wrong trail. However, they are well aware that the Organization has not sent some amateurs after them. They of course assume that we think about why they have split up. Secondly, they have no way of knowing who we are after. Thirdly, even if they knew, they have no way of knowing that we are following their smell. We could as well be following their footprints since they have spent most of their time walking through a forest with moist soil. Also, their footprints look exactly the same and even if not we had no way of telling which one Jacqueline is. And, since they have left the forest for this plane where they don't leave footprints supports the idea of them thinking that we are following their footprints. We follow the one who went northeast, after all."
"Wait a moment!" Hitomi shouted at her disappointed. "Let alone the fact that you are wrong about the right-type being of no importance, why would they even have split up, when they were assuming that we were following their trails?"
"Just because they assume that we are following their trails doesn't mean they automatically exclude any other way of tracking them. We are following the one northeast and now I don't want to hear another word!" Vectra stated emphatically.
She began to head north while Hitomi ground her teeth, mumbling: "You better are right!"
Hitomi then caught up with her superior angrily telling her to at least hand Hitomi her blade. Vectra was puzzled, asking her what for. Without hesitation Hitomi took Vectra's blade herself and put it into the second fitting on her back and before her superior could protest Hitomi grabbed her and began to carry her bridal-style.
"What the...!" Vectra protested, her face slightly blushed.
"If you are right," Hitomi explained harshly, "Jacqueline will still get away from us easily with as slow as you are. So from now on I am the legs and you are the nose!"
"Th-that's ridiculous! I am your superior, treat me with a little more respect!"
"Stop the babbling, start the sniffling" Hitomi deadpanned before starting to accelerate to a speed that only left afterimages of her and Vectra every twenty meters.
###
A cloaked figure that was dashing right into a forest looked behind for a moment, revealing a wide grin from under her hood.
Author's notes:
Yep, that actually is it. As I said, chapters will become shorter. And after starting that chapter anew since the first version was crap, I can say: this is the length following chapters will most likely have.
This one here has a lot of conversation and I want to know what you think of Hitomi's and Vectra's reasoning.
Next time the both of them will encounter either Jacqueline or Vanessa, that much is for sure.
Until then, stay tuned!
And to anyone who has noticed that I had Jacqueline state that Vanessa was dead: Yep, that was a mistake, I will correct that in the future.
kstefan88