Kaori gently took the small stuffed doll and held it to her chest to give it a hug as well. The child was quite innocent seeming, but the fact that she was in a fioran clan meant that she was a mage of sorts. Kaori wanted to know why it was that this child was here, what clan she belonged to, how she'd gotten to Lady Ceostra's castle, and what her clan was like.
"Hello Walter, it's an honor to meet you." Kaori said in a very calm, respectful tone. While other adults altered their voices to sound stupid for children and animals, Kaori spoke normally. This child reminded Kaori of the difference between their worlds. When Kaori was her age, she had already killed hundreds of men and was talking as an adult. In these lands, children had an opportunity to be young and make mistakes without being afraid to die for it.
Kaori handed the bear back to Mamie while still getting the answers to her questions. The reason Kaori didn't ask the child too many questions was that often times children didn't know how to answer them. Either that, or they felt a need to lie for fear of negative repercussions. From what Kaori had learned from the very moment she started staring at the child, her clan were pirates in disguise. They operated intelligently, using magic to cover their tracks by means of masks and false names. Kaori was glad that she was able to see the child's past since it was more likely the questions would go unanswered if not answered deceptively.
"I don't mind letting you touch the chickaroo but we need to finish preparing. Once we find him, you'll need to wait for me to calm him down so he doesn't get scared and attack." Kaori said, her voice was blunt but not harsh.
"If you'd like to help us, I've got a few things you can do to speed preparation up." she added. Often times, children were eager to learn new things so long as it was hands-on, or there was a very clear reason why they were doing it.
A rather massive creature was walking up to the two girls. It was six feet tall while standing on its four massive legs, fifteen feet from nose to tail, and three feet from shoulder to shoulder. The onyx colored scales on its body were accented by a crimson trimming and set on a background of dark grey, leathery hide. It was obviously a predator, and if Mamie knew of the Dragonhounds, a powerful one at that... It walked up to Mamie while making an audible, low, snarling kind of sound. It pressed its snout into Mamie's stomach and began pushing until she'd fall to the ground. After that he'd begin sniffing her face just before licking her cheek while slowly waving his massive tail. Kaori let out a small giggle at the sight. It was always amusing to watch Ikuchi while children were around since he looked less like a wild animal and more like a domesticated pet.
"Don't worry about him. He's harmless towards children." Kaori said while gently rubbing his side. The Dragonhound was massive, standing taller than Kaori herself and could easily double as intimidation factor during negotiations.
Ikuchi stopped licking the girl and walked in a circled around her. He laid down, resting his head on Mamie's lap letting out a small whimper. Kaori stood next to her and kneeled down.
"I've got an idea..." Kaori said with a friendly tone, sliding her hands under Mamie's armpits and lifting her from under the massive half-dragon's head. Ikuchi lifted his head and began whimpering.
"Don't worry..." Kaori said while walking to his side.
"Here you go." she said and placed Mamie on Ikuchi's neck, right on top a set of scaly plates that were perfectly shaped for riding.
"Be sure to hold onto him while he's moving, okay?" Kaori said just before Ikuchi stood up, taking the small girl high up; or at least, higher than she'd normally be on her own two feet.
"He's an extremely rare breed of animal called a Dragonhound. They're part dragon, and also part wolf; so they're highly social." Kaori informed Mamie while walking towards the hunting tool shack.
Upon arriving there, the Dragonhound laid down again to let Kaori take Mamie off him and escort her inside. Kaori would lead Mamie to a chair and sit in it, picking the child up and setting her in her lap. She grabbed a nearby rope, and a hook and said
"I want you to completely relax your arms. I'm going to show you a special way to attach these." If Mamie would relax fully, then it'd make things easier; but Kaori would be alright if she were slightly resilient. Mamie's arms, hands, and fingers would take on a purple glow and begin moving on their own. Kaori would say in a soothing tone '
relax' just in case Mamie began to worry and resist. She would slowly control her hands to grab the hook and rope and show her how to tie a noose, except stringing the rope through the loop end of the hook instead of stringing someone's throat. Once both ends were tied, Kaori showed her how to turn them into neat coils that were easy to store on a rack.
"When you finish both sides, you set them on one of those hooks." Kaori pointed to a set of low hanging hooks that had several other finished rope traps.
"I'd like you to make ten of those since that's all we need for today. The locals can finish the rest. When you're done, come find me over at the field and I'll teach you something fun." Kaori said kindly, removing the child from her lap and leaving the room with a set of short rope lengths.
Once Mamie had finished and gone out to the field, she'd see Ikuchi waiting inside a very large pen. Next to him was a very strange weapon called Bolas, which was two boulders connected by rope.
"Good timing Miss Mamie, I just finished getting things set up." Kaori said while grabbing a set of bolas and walking over. She gave the girl the weapon, letting her feel the weight; roughly 3 kilograms or 6.6 pounds.
"These are called Bolas, they're an extremely old and effective weapon. They're used when you want to bring down a creature without hurting it too much by tying up the legs. I'll be teaching you how to throw them, and once you can do that standing; you'll learn to use them while riding my Dragonhound." Kaori said, her tone implying a degree of challenge with the promise of a valuable reward.
"For now, I'll show you how. You'll need time to get used to the weight, so don't worry if you mess up. It takes time to get it right, and took me hours to get anywhere near the target." Kaori said while moving towards the other sets.
She picked one up and stood in front the target that was basically a reinforced scarecrow. Kaori held the weapon at the mid point, letting both rocks dangle.
"Hold them at the middle of the string so you can get a good balance. Then hold them above your head and spin them as best you can." Kaori instructed, holding them above her head and spinning the rocks.
"It'll be a bit difficult to get used to this, so you might wanna take a few minutes of doing that. When you're ready to throw, carefully aim at the thigh of your target and throw it in their direction." Kaori demonstrated, throwing the stones and hitting the scarecrow's knees.
"Once they hit the target, they'll tie around their legs and make them trip. They'll be hurt a little, but nothing that can't be treated with basic first aid. From here, it's your turn to try. I'll hold Walter and use a barrier to make sure nothing flies in our direction." Kaori said.
While Mamie practiced, Kaori would do as she said. If she started looking disheartened, Kaori would coach her to keep going. She'd notice that her muscles wouldn't get tired no matter how many she threw; mostly because Kaori was using magic to heal the sore muscles. Kaori was using a barrier since she anticipated that some of the bolas would come in her and Ikuchi's direction and while the Dragonhound had extremely thick scales, she didn't want to leave him unprotected. Ever so often, Kaori would also provide a quick pointer on how she could improve her aim when she got close but didn't quite hit the mark. The bolas were easy to master; it could be done in a day if the user was dedicated enough. If Mamie would keep up with the training, she'd be able to do it within roughly the same time Kaori got it.
![Senior [500]](https://i.imgur.com/Nmfn8cD.png)
![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
