TROUBLE [twd]

tracks

"See that? Steps are close together. Means we got something on four feet," Daryl points to the ground.

"I see sticks and grass," Nanami frowns, squatting to look at the spot closer.

"I see it," Sakiko hums, placing her hands on her knees and hovering over the track, "And it's pointy."

"That's right," Daryl nods, "What else?"

"Hmm.. There's two holes. What has two holes in their feet?" Sakiko questions.

"Bigfoot," Nanami nods.

Daryl scoffs, "When it's in the ground, it ain't got holes. Means it was something heavy enough to put the holes there."

"That doesn't make sense," Sakiko scrunches her nose, "You make things sound harder than they have to be."

"So, it has two feet in it's feet and it has four feet?" Nanami asks.

"No.. It's.." Daryl sighs, looking up to the sky, "No."

"Four feet and eight mini feet?" Sakiko echoes.

"Look at your shoes," Daryl orders.

Nanami sits down, pulling his leg up to look at the bottom of his shoes. Sakiko twists her ankle, looking down at hers.

"Now look," Daryl continues.

He takes a big step, making sure to put pressure in the ground before picking back up and stepping away. The twins scoot closer, looking at the imprint his boot left in the dirt.

"See it now?" Daryl asks, pulling his leg up so they could see the bottom of his boot.

"Ah.." Sakiko inspects, kneeling to the ground.

She traces over the curve of the print, then to Daryl's tip of his boot. She does the motion over and over, making sure to notice what parts stick in the dirt and what parts don't.

Nanami stands up, brushing the dirt off his pants before stepping in the spot beside Daryl's, leaving his own track. He steps away again, glancing between the ground and his shoe.

Sakiko gently smiles, stepping over to stomp on the other spot beside Daryl's track- a mark of her own. The three stand side by side, looking at the prints they left in a row.

"Everything leaves tracks. Just gotta figure out what they are and where they're going," Daryl informs.

"So, what's this one?" Sakiko asks, returning to the first mark.

"Got any guesses?" Daryl questions.

Sakiko thinks for a minute before shaking her head. Nanami looks to the track, outlining it with his finger as he combs back through his memory.

"Four legs.. It's big.. Pointy feet.. A deer?" Nanami figures.

As Daryl nods, Sakiko looks to Nanami with wide eyes, "How'd you do that?"

"When we were learning how to skin a deer back at camp the deer foot almost ripped my shirt," Nanami recalls.

"Can you tell which way it went?" Daryl wonders.

Both teens seem at a loss at that question.

"The way the toes point is which direction it's goin' in," he offers a tip.

"Is the toes the pointy part?" Sakiko asks, receiving a noise of approval.

Nanami takes the hint, facing the way the track was pointing and looking around, "I still only see sticks and grass.. What about you, Kiko?"