Good Genes [Shuhei & Rayden Traen]

Tracking had never been a strength of Rayden's. After all, life inside a controlled compound had the unfortunate lack of excursions to track beasts in the wilderness, let alone following a powerful wizard. Matching Shuhei's speed had been nearly impossible for Rayden, and were it not for his increased senses, he'd probably have lost the guildmate long ago. The deeper they got in the fog however, the more he cursed having the same senses. The concoction of fumes was a foul aroma, and had his skin crawling with each inhale. It was becoming harder to distinguish other scents amongst the gas. He would not be deterred by the fragrance. Or by the constant assault of tripping roots against his feet. Or by the unnatural noises he heard crawling around the woods.

There were many reasons to turn around. To go home and pretend this all was simply a hallucination caused by eating some spoiled meat. Yet the fire-topped mage refused to yield in his stalking. Stalking his prey, of course, not the other type of stalking. He was simply watching someone for information, nothing more. There was no way he was simple enamored and wanting to watch a certain White Wizard work. Not at all. He simply wanted to see a power mage handling a job and learn from the example. The blush was from the fumes, it was making him feel sick. He shook his head, forcing the unwelcome thoughts out. Twisting around as he did, his back slammed into the tree, his hubris making a rather large sound. He cringed, minor pain snapping him to reality. His foot had shifted in the dirt below; the sudden turn caused it to completely lose footing and drop him. That was not part of the plan, and he prayed Shuhei simply wrote it off as a rumbling of the forest, or somehow didn't hear it at all.

WC; 316