Rustic Navigation - Maiya and [Open!]

The morning sun shown a pale light against the cliff-side and beyond, overlooking the plains below with silent diligence. There was silence in the air, a soothing veil of serenity accompanied by the faint beat of an eagle's wings circling overhead, gliding against the updraft as it scanned the grasses below for its next meal. For just a brief moment, everything was still, in this one area, the bare plains littered only in a few sections by pieces of an abandoned village pillaged and in ruins, bits and pieces of it laying at the base of the cliff and housing a few rodents if nothing else. It was hard to tell whether or not the wrath of the Saiyans had reached this area. The ruins seemed somewhat aged and worn, abused by the no-nonsense business of the Earth's timely cycle. Vines and roots crawled over chunks of adobe and cement, wood rotting as it degraded into the soil upon which it once dominated. Metal rusted, and along with everything else, fell to the corrosion of monthly rains. Nature was taking back its settlements, slowly but surely.

There was hardly any movement, save for the eagle above and the rodents rustling about to safe areas below. Within the ruins, Maiya slept upon an old cot, shoved in a corner of a hut that still contained 3 walls and part of its roof. She was curled up in a tight ball, jacket set behind her and weaponry resting against the wall just in front of her face. Her eyelids twitched slightly as the rays of the sun gently glinted in her direction through the roof, her fingers twitching just afterward, hand numbing from her head resting against her bony wrist. With a deep breath, she awoke, blinking her eyes to stave off her blurry vision as she dragged herself up to her knees. She rubbed her eyes, a soft squeaking sound piping within her chest. With a stretch and a groan, Maiya popped her vertebrae back into place and turned to her bracers resting with a small handgun and an assault rifle. Slipping on the bracers, she eyed the guns, the clean metal shining soft glints of sunlight at acute angles. She gave the rifle especially a tired look. As clean as she kept it, it was no disguise against her knowledge that she was running out of ammo for it. Soon, it would be a useless piece of scrap, unless she was lucky enough to find spare rounds laying around in the next piece of civilization. Which was unlikely.

People's first impression of her wasn't exactly positive. Walking around toting firearms and knives out in the open gave her the image of a terrorist among her own, which became disadvantageous. It forced her to avoid cities altogether unless it was crucial for her to briefly inhabit it, for supplies or otherwise. Whenever she had to frequent the cities, she had to hide her weapons somehow, so as not to get into trouble. With the arrival of the Saiyans though, frequenting cities became inconvenient for her, strategically at the very least. Maiya made it a point to steer clear of highly populated areas, but stay within the constant of cover, to keep from being discovered, which was difficult. Maiya wasn't educated with the extent of the Saiyan's power of perception and knowledge. They probably already knew of her existence, and just haven't bothered to put forth the effort to kill her yet. Regardless, Maiya took caution with every step.

With a sudden rustle in the grass outside, Maiya froze, grabbing her handgun and hugging the wall as she moved to the opening in the hut, taking a peak outside and squinting her eyes as she looked around. She cocked it before sneaking out. She relaxed with a deep breath when she spotted the source: the eagle tearing at a mouse in the grass. She smiled a little, though it was bittersweet. Seeing a big bird killing a small animal wasn't something she cared to witness in the morning. She went back into the hut and put on her jacket, slipping the handgun in the slots within after clicking on the safety, and securing the assault rifle across her back with a belt over her front. Lastly she clicked her bracers over her forearms an headed out into the open.

Maiya stepped through the grass with a relaxed swagger, her steps uneven as she traveled over the equally uneven terrain. The eagle before had flown off with its mouse meal as she approached, her attention locked on the jagged side of the cliff ahead of her. She studied it, lips slightly parted as she mapped out the thresholds and ridges that were sturdy and climbable. It looked easy enough. She had conquered trickier routes before. The ruins planted at the base would help give her a boost up, too. As she walked towards the ruins, Maiya stretched out her arms and popped her knuckles, doing the same with her legs once she reached the piles of cement and rubble.

"'Kay... here we go..." she breathed to herself as she hoisted herself up onto the cracked piece of hut against the side of the cliff. With a grunt and a leg-jump up against the wall, Maiya grabbed onto the lowest ridge. She climbed the sequence of ridges up almost like a ladder before having to thrust herself up to a small threshold and weaving herself up via a number of others. Looking up ahead of her, Maiya caught sight of a branch close to the top. She was about halfway up and had to frog-hop a few times to reach the branch. When she was close enough to reach it, a threshold beneath her foot gave out and broke out from under her. "Ahhh!" she cried out in surprise, her hand latching onto the branch as she swung from the side of the cliff. "Ohhh crap...!" she squeaked, swinging her feet towards other thresholds and reaching for another ridge with her free hand. "Ugh...." she sighed softly, looking down beneath her as the piece of the cliffside tumbled to the ground below. "Geez... That was close... Gotta be careful..." she said, looking back up, "At least I'm close to the top..."

Maiya's hands gripped the edge of the cliff, her legs tucked up under her and her boots pressing against the flatter side beneath the edge. She hung below, not sure what could be staking around above. She quietly, slowly rose herself up, peeking over the edge. She saw nothing but grass and trees. Lots of trees. Lowering herself down, she sighed a deep breath before launching herself up over the side onto her knees and hoisting herself up to her feet. "Ah... Nice exercise in the morning, I suppose," she stretched with a content grin on her face, "Very nice." Maiya headed towards the collection of trees, whistling softly to the victory of her almost-flawless climb. She was stopped when she heard a growl behind her, freezing in her tracks and eyes going wide.

She peeked over her shoulder, spotting a tiger leering at her, fangs bared in a big-cat grimace. "Oh crap..." she hissed to herself, turning to face it and backing slowly away, "Please tell me you're just here to observe and not eat... You had a meal yesterday and you're full, right...? Oh damnit..." The tiger started to stalk forward, growling and spitting at her. It was strange behavior for any predator that Maiya had come across. Usually when they were hunting, they were silent, stalking to ambush. Maiya had taken some of their tactics and applied it to her own ways of surviving and combat.

Watching the tiger, Maiya stood her ground, muscles tensing as she gave a sigh to at least calm herself. It was probably a situation of stumbling into the beast's territory, which she would be very eager to flee if given the chance. But if the tiger chose to attack, she'd have to defend herself. Given the circumstances though, she'd rather avoid what would be a noisy conflict. The attention of what could be nearby is the last thing she wanted to grab just because she angered a wild animal.

She rose up her hands, as if in an effort to talk her way out of the situation, "Hey now, let's not get violent... I get it, you don't want me here. I'll leave... just let me go and I'll go..." With a spitting growl, the tiger lunged at her, missing her as she jumped out of the way with a surprised squeal. Maiya scurried to her feet, glancing at where the tiger had landed before climbing up one of the nearby trees, "Geez! Talk about ruining the mood!" Maiya stayed up on her branch, watching the tiger grunt and growl below. It walked away, glancing back at her briefly with a low sound. She sighed deeply in relief before she looked back and saw the tiger run towards her tree and jump up, claws digging into the bark and swiping at her.

"Ahh! Give me a break!" she cried as she fell from the branch, dangling from it by her hands. In a frenzy, she pulled herself up and leaped to a branch on another tree. "Crap... I didn't think those things could climb..." she grumbled to herself as she hopped from branch to branch, the last one she caught herself on breaking and sending her to the grass with a thud. "Ahh..." she sighed while on her back, "Gotta get up... If I'm going to die, it'll be from something worth writing about..." She rolled up onto her stomach and got up to her feet, turning away from the direction of the cliff and fleeing off into the clearing.

Pakos was training, he saw a person running by him. "Hello..." he said "are you going somewhere?"