Post by Pavane on Aug 11, 2010 22:26:26 GMT -5
Setting:
Open Countryside - Early Autumn (RL day 4)
Characters:
Itou - Female Catahoula Leopard Dog
Jethro - Male Bloodhound
---------------------------------------------
Evening is coming, the sun beginning to dip towards the horizon. With it comes a cooler breeze, blowing lazily through the countryside and stirring the grasses. Itou sits on a low hillock, looking out over the gently rolling landscape with a contemplative look on her face.
The cool breeze was a welcome effect that Jethro was enjoying to the fullest as a gust blew into his face, his droopy ears catching the edge of the wisp and flying just a bit upwards. The hound had caught his fill of food throughout the afternoon, a rabbit and a squirrel. With his appetite satiated for the time being, the copper colored dog made his way through the countryside, on the way back to the pond that he'd been calling home for the past little while. On the breeze, his highly sensitive nose catches the distint scent of Itou, the other hound he recalled meeting earlier that day. Perking those long ears, he heads back her way.
Itou's nose isn't nearly so sensitive as a bloodhound's, though she's good enough at finding a trail. That wind is blowing the wrong way for her to catch Jethro's scent, anyhow, and so she doesn't notice his approach for a while, staring out at the swaying grass with her eyes half-closed in thought. She's eaten too, chasing down a lanky hare earlier - though not without longing thoughts of deer and pig and other larger game that a single dog can't manage.
While Itou wishes for larger game, Jethro is still more than happy with his diet of small animals for the time being. A dog of his size /might/ be able to get a fawn eventually, but he hadn't seen any small deer without adults around, and an adult he couldn't take down by himself. Turning his lips upward in a grin, the dog's heavy paws carry him with a certain amount of 'lazy grace' to it that was actually rather comical to look at. "Weeeell! Nice to see you again, miss!"
Itou opens her eyes a few moments before Jethro speaks; the faint sound of the falls of his paws, the snapping of grass stems below them, is enough to tell the cur that someone's approaching. When she sees who it is, she smiles, and gives a nod of her head in greeting. "Nice evenin', ain't it? How you been keepin' this aftanoon?"
With the temperature cooled down significantly, Jethro is far more comfortable with stayint out in the countryside for longer than he would've when he needed to escape the heat. "It sho' is." He says, keeping his pace quick until he gets up closer to the speckled dog, giving her enough space for the both of them to be comfortable though. "Ain't been this chilly in a while, but it's kinda nice.. good break from the heat anyhow." With his tail wagging behind him, he all the sudden tenses up, and brings his nose up in the air, lifting a paw about half-way. There was danger nearby, relatively close. It smelled like dog, but far stronger. Between sniffs, he continues the conversation. "Oh, I'm aw'right, ..what 'bout you? You get somethin' ta eat?"
Itou nods, with a soft chuckle. "Gets much colder, I'll be wantin' for one of them fluffy coats, but this here's nice," she replies, while her tail sways from side to side, then stops as she notes the change in Jethro's posture. She takes a breath in herself, but whatever it is, it's too diffuse for her to identify from here, so she continues the conversation, though her body tenses a bit, getting more alert. "Sure, found me a nice young hare thought he was fast enough to outrun me." She grins. "He was wrong, a'course."
The comment of hers has the Bloodhound chuckling too, but he gives a shrug and gives up the scent. It may be dangerous, but it's far enough away not to be too worried about it. If he was right in pinning the scent, it was a wolf.. even so, not all wolves wanted to cause trouble for no reason. If they did though, there were two dogs here, only one of them. So, he wasn't very worried. "Looks like the leaves'll be changin' soon. This is my favorite time ah the year. Not too hot, not too cold.. nice smells, all the critters runnin' around." Taking in a deep breath, he sits himself down and lifts a back paw to scratch at something behind an ear, probably a flea, but maybe just a regular old itch.
There's plenty of dangers around, near or far. Just about anyplace, really. Best to know what they are, though - defending from wolves or chasing off wild boar require different sorts of approaches. "Somebody else comin' round here, your nose sayin'?" she asks with a serious look, then hehs at the mention of autumn things and smiles as she starts to reminisce, "Used to run the cows outta the pasture, this time of year. Nice an' fat from grazin' all summer, ready for makin' some sausage."
For a brief moment, Jethro's brown eyes looked to Itou, but they were closed and he let his nose do the talking again at her question. "Yeah.. not as strong now though, musta ran off." Of course, he doesn't mention what the smell that had his attention was. He didn't figure her to be afraid of wolves. From what little bit he'd heard and from the look of her in general, he kind of assumed that she was from a background not too different from his own. "Oh yeah?" He asks, his back paw drifting down to his neck and scratching at the chain collar that was still around it. It was loose enough so that it clinged around a bit around what scruff remained from his puphood. "Had a big farm did'ja?"
Itou nods at the bloodhound's answer, and relaxes some. Alert, sure, but afraid? Nah. She's not the scaredy type. "Nah, weren't really a farm. The cows, they half-wild, let them go in the swamp-lands come spring, round them up come fall and share the meat about." She barely notices the jingle of the collar - it's a familiar sort of sound, though she hasn't got one of her own, nor does her fur show signs of having worn one anytime recently.
With his itch finally gone, Jethro rests his back paw and slides down onto his belly to rest further. "Huh.. never heard'a that way before." He says, finding it kind of odd. He'd heard of letting cows out to pasture, sure. But to let them run around for most of the year? "My master had himself a farm back home, mostly chickens an' cows. One time he had a whole mess'a geese too, but they didn' last long." Along with him, there was another dog, but he didn't make the trip out. He was old as it was, and was the herding dog for the cows. "So, where'd you come from anyhow?"
Itou chuckles, and nods. "Don' hear 'bout it much, less the land's not so good. Good land, you keep track of your beasts, so they don' go eatin' your crops. Bad land, well - less work to let them find their own dinners, an' easier to round up cows than deer." She's heard about more normal farms, even been down there a few times when her humans went for trading... but that's not her origin. "I be from southa here, down by the waters. Little ol' place in the swamp full of huntin'."
"Makes good sense ta me." Jethro says, and nods in agreement. It seemed like an efficient way to keep track of what good land people did have, and like she had said, it seemed easier too. "South?" He asked, and cocked his head to one side. "My master and I moved out here while back but, we're from 'round swamps and whatnot in the south too." Grinning, his tail wagged a bit more with the realization of just how similar the two of them were, and he laughed a bit as well. "Ain't that somethin!"
Why, that did sound real familiar... the bloodhound's probably from just such a farm as Itou's swamp people would visit for a spot of trading, in fact. She chuckles, and nods. "Sure is. Me, well, I jus' came up this way my own self. My ol' master, well, he got some of the bad magic stuck on him, took to coughin' an' then found himself in one." She shrugs a bit - it's old news, at this point, and she never cared all that much for him anyhow. Though she cared even less for his heirs.
"Sho' is a far way from home." Jethro muses idly, as it really was. The fact that she'd made it out here without a master or a pack was pretty impressive, actually. "Sorry ta hear that." He offered afterward, even though she didn't seem upset about it in the least. He happened to adore his owner, but the man had up and left him out here, it would seem. Maybe he was looking for him? Jethro wasn't sure, but he wasn't sore at his master, certain that it was just an accident. Anyhow, he was faring well, and couldn't complain. "I dunno where mine is. We was out huntin' and I lost 'em on a trail.. went back home and he weren't there neither. Looked around for a couple'a days and hadn't found 'im. He's prob'ly alright though."
Itou dips her head in a nod, looking out over the countryside southwards. "Sure is." She didn't start out alone, though she doesn't say anything about that just now. Those companions were rather closer to her heart than the two-legged sort. Let the sympathy and the moment of quiet be for them, then. As for Jethro's master, it'd take a wiser dog than her to fully understand humans. She nods. "Done got him news, most like, that said he was to take himself off. Humans got them papers, that tell 'em what to do sure as they tell us. I seen what happens, a human tries to ignore the papers. Best they listen."
At the mention of papers and news, Jethro tilts his head to the side and gives a baffled sort of look, easy for him to do given the wrinkling of his face. In fact, he probably always looked at least relatively confused. Poor Jethro. "What'choo mean, news?" He asks, not knowing that his master had received any sort of news. He always just figured he got lost so bad that even ol' Jethro couldn't find him afterward.
Itou's own concept is rather confused, put together from various things she's seen, but she explains as best she can. "Humans, they ain't got sense like us. Them packs, they so big, can't just howl t'each other. So they got papers, carry news as howlin' does. One human, he takes some of them howlin', makes it be a paper, then 'nother one, he howls it out t'other side, just the same."
"....Ohh.." Jethro says with a nod, the few wrinkles on his face moving with the gravity of the gesture. He could act like he understood pretty well, but whether he did or not was up for debate. "Sure are some strange things, that's fer' sho'." Letting out a huff of breath, the hound shakes his head and gives half chuckle in thought. Oh, the thought had crossed his mind that his master had just abandoned him after a few hunts gone bad, but no! Naw, his master wouldn't do that! "Kinda makes ya wonder what they're howlin' about, don't it?"
Whether or not Jethro understands, it's doubtful whether Itou could explain it any better. Mostly, she figured out papers by living in a place where only a few folks could read them - so she heard them being dictated, then read aloud on the other end, and put it together from that. How it actually works... well, beats her, but it sure seems to. "Don' seem it's very good, most times. Papers come, them humans get angry, or sad. Sometimes they laugh, but most times they yell and cry."
Well, yelling and crying was never good, that was for sure. But, enough about the humans. As much as he conversed about them, he didn't much care to think about them for too long or he'd get all melancholy and whatnot. "Weeeeell, have you talked to anyone else since ya been here? 'Side from the other ladies a'course?"
Itou lets the subject of humans pass. They were a curious sort, that was for sure, but she'd never quite cared for them the way some dogs seemed to. Companions, yes, but not friends. She gives her head a bit of a shake. "Can't say as so. To judge by the smells, that ain't all we got round here, but I ain't laid my eyes on none of 'em."
"'Bout the only other one I know of off-paw are uh.. Sarge? He's a big ol' fluffy sort. One'a them northern breeds 'er somethin'. Had a harness on 'im and everything, gave him some nasty scratches." He remembers having to rip the leather harness from the other dog when they'd first met, and he hadn't seen him much since then. Been busy, he figured. Plus, Jethro slept most of the day away, in the pond. "Same kinda dog as that Ah-lah-rook gal."
Itou nods. "Sarge, huh?" she says, considering on that, and on the female of the same sort. "Ain't quite sure what to make of them fluffy dogs..." she muses, then laughs. "Well, I guess come winter, I gonna like 'em jus' fine. Beats me, though, that Awhlarou sayin' how she fished. What sorta dog fishes 'stead of huntin'?"
Chuckling, Jethro gave a shrug of his shoulders. "They're kinda odd, but they prolly think the same 'bout us short-coats, I reckon." Again, an itch that was scratched, but on the other side and with another back paw. "Don't quite know what's so great about fishin' anyway.. fish don't taste that great 'less the humans do somethin' with 'em. I much prefer rootin' around and gettin me a big ol' fat rabbit."
Itou laughs along with Jethro. "Mos' like. Well, I ain't gonna say bad 'bout no dog for them looks. Ain't what matters." She nods a bit, about fish. "Fish ain't bad, but I ain't gonna look for it special. Now, me, I get my druthers, I be chasin' a wild pig, a proper three runnin' down ol' man boar."
"Ain't that the truth," Jethro begins with another slow nod, resting his back paw and standing himself up,
shaking a few loose hairs from his coat and letting out a quiet yawn. "Weeeeeellp. It's gettin' kin'a dark out here and there were some relatively dangerous scents lurkin' nearby.. I think I'ma head back to the pond, you're welcome to come with if ya'd like. Nice and safe, and the water cools ya off ang gets ya' a drink in the mornin'."
Itou considers on that for a moment, then rises as well. "Bit'a company seems a fine thing," she says, smiling. "Nice thing 'bout a pond, is there ain't no gators in it. Makes for much more pleasant drinkin', and a fine place to rest."
"Sho' does!" The hound says, happy to have some company as well. Contentedly wagging his tail, the big tall bloodhound takes in a few sniffs of air before he begins to trot in the direction of the pond, falling quiet as he was 'on the trail', sort of. Even though he obviously knew the way back to the pond by sight, by now.
Itou pads along by Jethro, a few steps over and a half-step back. If this were hunting, she'd be the one ready to veer in on the prey once it was flushed from cover, cutting off angles of escape and catching it in the pincer of snapping jaws. As it is, it's a companionable enough way to follow along - she hasn't been back and forth enough to learn the best route, yet, though she could likely find her way alone if she wanted.
Open Countryside - Early Autumn (RL day 4)
Characters:
Itou - Female Catahoula Leopard Dog
Jethro - Male Bloodhound
---------------------------------------------
Evening is coming, the sun beginning to dip towards the horizon. With it comes a cooler breeze, blowing lazily through the countryside and stirring the grasses. Itou sits on a low hillock, looking out over the gently rolling landscape with a contemplative look on her face.
The cool breeze was a welcome effect that Jethro was enjoying to the fullest as a gust blew into his face, his droopy ears catching the edge of the wisp and flying just a bit upwards. The hound had caught his fill of food throughout the afternoon, a rabbit and a squirrel. With his appetite satiated for the time being, the copper colored dog made his way through the countryside, on the way back to the pond that he'd been calling home for the past little while. On the breeze, his highly sensitive nose catches the distint scent of Itou, the other hound he recalled meeting earlier that day. Perking those long ears, he heads back her way.
Itou's nose isn't nearly so sensitive as a bloodhound's, though she's good enough at finding a trail. That wind is blowing the wrong way for her to catch Jethro's scent, anyhow, and so she doesn't notice his approach for a while, staring out at the swaying grass with her eyes half-closed in thought. She's eaten too, chasing down a lanky hare earlier - though not without longing thoughts of deer and pig and other larger game that a single dog can't manage.
While Itou wishes for larger game, Jethro is still more than happy with his diet of small animals for the time being. A dog of his size /might/ be able to get a fawn eventually, but he hadn't seen any small deer without adults around, and an adult he couldn't take down by himself. Turning his lips upward in a grin, the dog's heavy paws carry him with a certain amount of 'lazy grace' to it that was actually rather comical to look at. "Weeeell! Nice to see you again, miss!"
Itou opens her eyes a few moments before Jethro speaks; the faint sound of the falls of his paws, the snapping of grass stems below them, is enough to tell the cur that someone's approaching. When she sees who it is, she smiles, and gives a nod of her head in greeting. "Nice evenin', ain't it? How you been keepin' this aftanoon?"
With the temperature cooled down significantly, Jethro is far more comfortable with stayint out in the countryside for longer than he would've when he needed to escape the heat. "It sho' is." He says, keeping his pace quick until he gets up closer to the speckled dog, giving her enough space for the both of them to be comfortable though. "Ain't been this chilly in a while, but it's kinda nice.. good break from the heat anyhow." With his tail wagging behind him, he all the sudden tenses up, and brings his nose up in the air, lifting a paw about half-way. There was danger nearby, relatively close. It smelled like dog, but far stronger. Between sniffs, he continues the conversation. "Oh, I'm aw'right, ..what 'bout you? You get somethin' ta eat?"
Itou nods, with a soft chuckle. "Gets much colder, I'll be wantin' for one of them fluffy coats, but this here's nice," she replies, while her tail sways from side to side, then stops as she notes the change in Jethro's posture. She takes a breath in herself, but whatever it is, it's too diffuse for her to identify from here, so she continues the conversation, though her body tenses a bit, getting more alert. "Sure, found me a nice young hare thought he was fast enough to outrun me." She grins. "He was wrong, a'course."
The comment of hers has the Bloodhound chuckling too, but he gives a shrug and gives up the scent. It may be dangerous, but it's far enough away not to be too worried about it. If he was right in pinning the scent, it was a wolf.. even so, not all wolves wanted to cause trouble for no reason. If they did though, there were two dogs here, only one of them. So, he wasn't very worried. "Looks like the leaves'll be changin' soon. This is my favorite time ah the year. Not too hot, not too cold.. nice smells, all the critters runnin' around." Taking in a deep breath, he sits himself down and lifts a back paw to scratch at something behind an ear, probably a flea, but maybe just a regular old itch.
There's plenty of dangers around, near or far. Just about anyplace, really. Best to know what they are, though - defending from wolves or chasing off wild boar require different sorts of approaches. "Somebody else comin' round here, your nose sayin'?" she asks with a serious look, then hehs at the mention of autumn things and smiles as she starts to reminisce, "Used to run the cows outta the pasture, this time of year. Nice an' fat from grazin' all summer, ready for makin' some sausage."
For a brief moment, Jethro's brown eyes looked to Itou, but they were closed and he let his nose do the talking again at her question. "Yeah.. not as strong now though, musta ran off." Of course, he doesn't mention what the smell that had his attention was. He didn't figure her to be afraid of wolves. From what little bit he'd heard and from the look of her in general, he kind of assumed that she was from a background not too different from his own. "Oh yeah?" He asks, his back paw drifting down to his neck and scratching at the chain collar that was still around it. It was loose enough so that it clinged around a bit around what scruff remained from his puphood. "Had a big farm did'ja?"
Itou nods at the bloodhound's answer, and relaxes some. Alert, sure, but afraid? Nah. She's not the scaredy type. "Nah, weren't really a farm. The cows, they half-wild, let them go in the swamp-lands come spring, round them up come fall and share the meat about." She barely notices the jingle of the collar - it's a familiar sort of sound, though she hasn't got one of her own, nor does her fur show signs of having worn one anytime recently.
With his itch finally gone, Jethro rests his back paw and slides down onto his belly to rest further. "Huh.. never heard'a that way before." He says, finding it kind of odd. He'd heard of letting cows out to pasture, sure. But to let them run around for most of the year? "My master had himself a farm back home, mostly chickens an' cows. One time he had a whole mess'a geese too, but they didn' last long." Along with him, there was another dog, but he didn't make the trip out. He was old as it was, and was the herding dog for the cows. "So, where'd you come from anyhow?"
Itou chuckles, and nods. "Don' hear 'bout it much, less the land's not so good. Good land, you keep track of your beasts, so they don' go eatin' your crops. Bad land, well - less work to let them find their own dinners, an' easier to round up cows than deer." She's heard about more normal farms, even been down there a few times when her humans went for trading... but that's not her origin. "I be from southa here, down by the waters. Little ol' place in the swamp full of huntin'."
"Makes good sense ta me." Jethro says, and nods in agreement. It seemed like an efficient way to keep track of what good land people did have, and like she had said, it seemed easier too. "South?" He asked, and cocked his head to one side. "My master and I moved out here while back but, we're from 'round swamps and whatnot in the south too." Grinning, his tail wagged a bit more with the realization of just how similar the two of them were, and he laughed a bit as well. "Ain't that somethin!"
Why, that did sound real familiar... the bloodhound's probably from just such a farm as Itou's swamp people would visit for a spot of trading, in fact. She chuckles, and nods. "Sure is. Me, well, I jus' came up this way my own self. My ol' master, well, he got some of the bad magic stuck on him, took to coughin' an' then found himself in one." She shrugs a bit - it's old news, at this point, and she never cared all that much for him anyhow. Though she cared even less for his heirs.
"Sho' is a far way from home." Jethro muses idly, as it really was. The fact that she'd made it out here without a master or a pack was pretty impressive, actually. "Sorry ta hear that." He offered afterward, even though she didn't seem upset about it in the least. He happened to adore his owner, but the man had up and left him out here, it would seem. Maybe he was looking for him? Jethro wasn't sure, but he wasn't sore at his master, certain that it was just an accident. Anyhow, he was faring well, and couldn't complain. "I dunno where mine is. We was out huntin' and I lost 'em on a trail.. went back home and he weren't there neither. Looked around for a couple'a days and hadn't found 'im. He's prob'ly alright though."
Itou dips her head in a nod, looking out over the countryside southwards. "Sure is." She didn't start out alone, though she doesn't say anything about that just now. Those companions were rather closer to her heart than the two-legged sort. Let the sympathy and the moment of quiet be for them, then. As for Jethro's master, it'd take a wiser dog than her to fully understand humans. She nods. "Done got him news, most like, that said he was to take himself off. Humans got them papers, that tell 'em what to do sure as they tell us. I seen what happens, a human tries to ignore the papers. Best they listen."
At the mention of papers and news, Jethro tilts his head to the side and gives a baffled sort of look, easy for him to do given the wrinkling of his face. In fact, he probably always looked at least relatively confused. Poor Jethro. "What'choo mean, news?" He asks, not knowing that his master had received any sort of news. He always just figured he got lost so bad that even ol' Jethro couldn't find him afterward.
Itou's own concept is rather confused, put together from various things she's seen, but she explains as best she can. "Humans, they ain't got sense like us. Them packs, they so big, can't just howl t'each other. So they got papers, carry news as howlin' does. One human, he takes some of them howlin', makes it be a paper, then 'nother one, he howls it out t'other side, just the same."
"....Ohh.." Jethro says with a nod, the few wrinkles on his face moving with the gravity of the gesture. He could act like he understood pretty well, but whether he did or not was up for debate. "Sure are some strange things, that's fer' sho'." Letting out a huff of breath, the hound shakes his head and gives half chuckle in thought. Oh, the thought had crossed his mind that his master had just abandoned him after a few hunts gone bad, but no! Naw, his master wouldn't do that! "Kinda makes ya wonder what they're howlin' about, don't it?"
Whether or not Jethro understands, it's doubtful whether Itou could explain it any better. Mostly, she figured out papers by living in a place where only a few folks could read them - so she heard them being dictated, then read aloud on the other end, and put it together from that. How it actually works... well, beats her, but it sure seems to. "Don' seem it's very good, most times. Papers come, them humans get angry, or sad. Sometimes they laugh, but most times they yell and cry."
Well, yelling and crying was never good, that was for sure. But, enough about the humans. As much as he conversed about them, he didn't much care to think about them for too long or he'd get all melancholy and whatnot. "Weeeeell, have you talked to anyone else since ya been here? 'Side from the other ladies a'course?"
Itou lets the subject of humans pass. They were a curious sort, that was for sure, but she'd never quite cared for them the way some dogs seemed to. Companions, yes, but not friends. She gives her head a bit of a shake. "Can't say as so. To judge by the smells, that ain't all we got round here, but I ain't laid my eyes on none of 'em."
"'Bout the only other one I know of off-paw are uh.. Sarge? He's a big ol' fluffy sort. One'a them northern breeds 'er somethin'. Had a harness on 'im and everything, gave him some nasty scratches." He remembers having to rip the leather harness from the other dog when they'd first met, and he hadn't seen him much since then. Been busy, he figured. Plus, Jethro slept most of the day away, in the pond. "Same kinda dog as that Ah-lah-rook gal."
Itou nods. "Sarge, huh?" she says, considering on that, and on the female of the same sort. "Ain't quite sure what to make of them fluffy dogs..." she muses, then laughs. "Well, I guess come winter, I gonna like 'em jus' fine. Beats me, though, that Awhlarou sayin' how she fished. What sorta dog fishes 'stead of huntin'?"
Chuckling, Jethro gave a shrug of his shoulders. "They're kinda odd, but they prolly think the same 'bout us short-coats, I reckon." Again, an itch that was scratched, but on the other side and with another back paw. "Don't quite know what's so great about fishin' anyway.. fish don't taste that great 'less the humans do somethin' with 'em. I much prefer rootin' around and gettin me a big ol' fat rabbit."
Itou laughs along with Jethro. "Mos' like. Well, I ain't gonna say bad 'bout no dog for them looks. Ain't what matters." She nods a bit, about fish. "Fish ain't bad, but I ain't gonna look for it special. Now, me, I get my druthers, I be chasin' a wild pig, a proper three runnin' down ol' man boar."
"Ain't that the truth," Jethro begins with another slow nod, resting his back paw and standing himself up,
shaking a few loose hairs from his coat and letting out a quiet yawn. "Weeeeeellp. It's gettin' kin'a dark out here and there were some relatively dangerous scents lurkin' nearby.. I think I'ma head back to the pond, you're welcome to come with if ya'd like. Nice and safe, and the water cools ya off ang gets ya' a drink in the mornin'."
Itou considers on that for a moment, then rises as well. "Bit'a company seems a fine thing," she says, smiling. "Nice thing 'bout a pond, is there ain't no gators in it. Makes for much more pleasant drinkin', and a fine place to rest."
"Sho' does!" The hound says, happy to have some company as well. Contentedly wagging his tail, the big tall bloodhound takes in a few sniffs of air before he begins to trot in the direction of the pond, falling quiet as he was 'on the trail', sort of. Even though he obviously knew the way back to the pond by sight, by now.
Itou pads along by Jethro, a few steps over and a half-step back. If this were hunting, she'd be the one ready to veer in on the prey once it was flushed from cover, cutting off angles of escape and catching it in the pincer of snapping jaws. As it is, it's a companionable enough way to follow along - she hasn't been back and forth enough to learn the best route, yet, though she could likely find her way alone if she wanted.