Wine Woods

4. Hide and Seek pt2

"Did you happen to wonder why Ivan found you so fast?" Alfred asked the children around him. Most shook their heads no, Delaware nodded yes, "You need to use senses besides your sight. The other four of your main five, and every other sense. You need to learn your body, so you can use it to your full potential."

"Like how we tracked August and June by smell?" Delaware tilted his head.

"Wait, you did?" June interjected. Most of the group ignored her.

"Yes, exactly like that. But you can use it differently than tracking. It's a good skill to be able to figure out how far someone or something is away, and which direction something is coming from. You don't need the trail- you need the body itself. The trail can lead you to the body, or help you stay away from it."

"But... what about us? We don't have super senses like you guys," Hailey said, "and it's pretty obvious."

"Your ears are your focus," Alfred replied, "humans can hunt for a reason, and they can track. It doesn't matter if they catch your scent if you've moved before they can catch you. The goal is just not getting caught- not trying not to get sensed. I advise you take off your shoes next round, they leave marks in the ground."

"Who's hunting next?" Hampshire asked, looking around her group.

"Pennsylvania." Alfred said. Most of the kids were still trying to remove their shoes, but who needed to play fair? "3 2 1 go! Pen, stay here a minute!"

Kids bolted, some of them tripping over their own feet. Nobody expected it. Pen sat on the ground, watching kids run past her. She was eager to prove herself. Nobody liked getting caught first. She also wanted to hunt. Why was it that Delaware got to catch dinner and find a surplus of food? Mama had said he would be starting foraging expeditions soon, so they could have more than enough food during the winter. She remembered they sometimes went hungry during the cold months- the doors frozen and it being impossible to get out for food. She remembered her little siblings crying to their mother and him trying to comfort them to no avail. She wanted to help them. Papa had said it was the oldest children's job to protect their smaller siblings, the other nation kids, and the human kids. Ukki had said that Emil was the oldest child, the one that would defend them in general, but it was her job to protect her siblings. Delaware be damned. He was smart but she was stronger, and she knew it.

Not to mention the adults said he wouldn't be a child much longer. His 'omega' coming out. Something about slick and his body forming, and not to mention him crying while hugging his mother. It was weird, and she was curious.

"Pen, you can go now. Use what I told you," Mama advised, her looking over to him. Mama and Papa were their defenders, but she knew they weren't around all the time. There was something more, that stopped bothering them a year or two ago. Probably at least. She hadn't heard the adults yelling about it in a while.

Pushing herself up, she nodded. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to figure out who was who. West and Virginia were in for their nap, and she wondered if Mama would trust her enough to find them if they got lost. Would he? 

It was jumbled, but she could single out Vermont. He smelled really strongly of maple syrup, and some other scent that kinda felt like... adrenaline? Was that what Mama called it?

Walking into the woods, she was comforted as the trees surrounded her. The earth whistled to her, the trees... they knew her. She could feel them.

Tracking Vermont, she studied the greens. 

'Poisonous,' the forest warned her as she looked at the plant. It's red flowers stood out, bright red. Her siblings could get hurt. She got her knife and cut it at the roots, never touching it.