Since harvesting the sweet nectar from Merith it had been two days since he last ate so he was feeling rather peekish but not as ravenous as he was with that nerd … well the term would have been lost on him but she was very interesting.

She indeed was an inquisitive one but he did not mind answering her questions. Usually he only dealt with Thudd or Slazz. Thudd was sleeping now and the later only wanted to speak about blonds. To Birch it never mattered what color the leaves of the saplings had as long as they provided him nectar.

Nothing from the old trail that he had been monitoring today so he moved to another.

He was moving along, jaunting from tree to tree when he stopped as he heard a grunt, then another. No not a sexual grunt but it was enough to give him pause. There was someone or something out her so he moved to investigate moving with stealth as he jaunt from tree to tree he got a better look.

Soon enough, he came to the edge of a small clearing where an unusual sight greeted him: a young woman in a white t-shirt and red shorts seemed to be dodging something, her long braid whipping about as she pivoted away from something. There was no sign of her opponent that Birch could see, though.

------------

The clearing wasn't one Susan had used before for her practice, but she tried to avoid using the same ones too frequently. While it was too small for her karate and judo kata, it was a reasonable size for the wolf-fang fist dodges she'd learnt from Edward. Without someone to help, she had to make do with just practicing the basic forms, but she didn't have a student training partner and wasn't willing to pay what any monster would demand for helping her.

Birch's soundless approach and treelike appearance hid him well enough that she was unaware of his presence as she dodged imaginary projectiles.

What was this? Curious Birch watched on from the edge of the clearing watching the student evade attacks that had not been there. He wasn't certain about what these fleshy ones were up to but he watched on in silence for awhile wondering what she was doing at first.

His kind had not exercised, nor did they practice fighting techniques either, at least not hand to hand stuff. He gazed at her, watched for a moment then jaunted as he stepped into one tree only to come out from another opposite and behind where she was.

He was feeling a bit peekish and a snack was in order but he was a curious creature too. He crept forward into that small clearing regretting that there were no closer trees to jaunt into in which she wouldn't see his approach any way. He hated being exposed even if the distance was short, even if she was now surrounded on all sides without realizing it.

Confident that she had been trapped already he did not immediately grab her. Rather he spoke.

What are you doing, sapling?

Susan jumped slightly as someone spoke behind her; one of the reasons she tended to practice in the forest was that the dead leaves made it harder for anything to sneak up on her. Spinning around, she faced… a tree. Well, technically a tree-person, but still…

Are those damned pixies around here somewhere, or is this thing a monster itself?

Still, while she'd learned not to trust the creatures on the island, this one had avoided an easy opportunity to try and grab her. While it was probably on the island for the same reason as all the other monsters she'd met, it might not be interested in her that way right now. In any case, she'd probably be no worse off talking to it as long as she didn't let her guard down.

"Practicing some martial arts kata," she answered, glancing quickly to the sides in case this thing was trying to distract her so something else could grab her.

Dead leaves were no challenge to him for plants could pass harmlessly though his body as easy as she could move through the air. There was simply no noise when he moved through a forest unless he wanted there to be. Green eyes stared out at the sapling though as she whipped around, startled.

At this precise moment he was only a little peekish though he was far more curious. He figured he would feed eventually but there was no driving force that urged him to do so at this exact moment. Still his eyes didn't lustfully flow over her body. Sex had not been a driving factor for him, it was a means to an end for him.

Hm. Show me.

The request puzzled her. "Show you what, exactly? More kata?" She shifted her position slightly to make it easier to start a sequence if that was what he wanted. "I don't know how long you were watching, but I'm not that skilled at that style, so you might have seen pretty much all I know of it already."

Whatever this creature wanted, she was reasonably sure now that it wasn't a creation of the pixies; she doubted those little menaces could remain focussed long enough to keep this up without giving themselves away. That meant she could keep her attention mainly on this thing.

Birch would see to his appetites later, whether with her or another had yet to be seen. Probably with her since she was rather convient in being here right now. His thick wooden head nods in response to her, they is a slight groan of wood rubbing against wood indicating that he hardly moved his head in the human gesture that he had learned some time back.

I have not been here long but I have never seen a ... he seemed to consider while in reality he was ensuring that he was pronouncing the new word correct. It was a simple enough word … kata before. What is it used for?

He seemed curious about the world around him. Whatever he had wanted now it seemed that the kata was the main focus of his interest at least for now.

She paused in thought for a bit, unsure of just how much she'd need to explain. On the one hand, the creature would still be as confused as before if she assumed it understood too much. On the other, if she explained at too basic a level, it might think she was being condescending and get annoyed.

After a moment's thought, she decided it would be safer to just give the basics and let the tree ask if that led to more questions. "Well, they're the basic forms of martial arts. They're mainly used for belt ranking tests and for keeping your skill from eroding." That was sure to lead to at least one more question, but it'd give her an idea of just how alien some of the concepts were to the thing.

Birch considered. He dwelled over the word belt and the context that he heard it used before but something did not make too much sense there for him.

By belt you don't mean something to hold you pants up due you?

He wore no clothes himself but the scientists that had been responsible for him learning language did so he had picked up on such concepts. He considered her words though as he pondered these things.

Can I assume that different belts denote different skill levels to distinguish the novices from the Masters? Those of the same skill levels compete against each other? I cannot see a Master learning much from a novice and vice versa since a Master would simply overwhelm someone with their knowledge.

By belt you don't mean something to hold your pants up, do you?

"No, not really," she replied. "It originally referred to the belt that was part of the outfits for some styles, but the concept got adopted by a lot of other styles."

Can I assume that different belts denote different skill levels to distinguish the novices from the Masters? Those of the same skill levels compete against each other? I cannot see a Master learning much from a novice and vice versa since a Master would simply overwhelm someone with their knowledge.

She nodded. "That's pretty much it; the color denotes the skill level attained. Although, depending on how much rank advancement depends on getting forms precisely right, someone with a lower rank might actually be a better fighter. And, obviously, the masters are the ones who teach the novices. But, yeah, in competitions it's usually the same belt levels."

Birch considered. He wouldn't know one belt from the other unless told so there was no sense asking her that question since the answer would make no sense to him without an explanation of the various belts anyway.

What do you use these … Martial Arts for? It looks like a dance from what I saw though admittedly I did not see much of it. Martial would seem to imply some form of combat but you mentioned competition two so is it a game with two opposing sides doing battle with one another?

That question seemed to make it clear that the creature didn't know anything about the concept other than what she'd already told him. "Well, 'martial arts' is a collective term for a large number of systems of hand-to-hand combat. Most of them are unarmed, but not all. Mostly, they're used for self-defense and tournaments. And competitions are usually one-on-one, not free-for-alls or two teams all going into combat at once." She wondered just how much more explanation the creature would want; at some point, her ability to explain concepts was going to fail. Still, as long as it was asking about this, it wasn't attacking her; maybe it would even leave her alone once its curiosity was satisfied.

Birch nods as he gets a clearer picture of the martial art. He considers for a moment about matters as was explained to him.

Insightful of course but it does me little good. Saplings are too fleshy to perfect martial techniques and there is no need for them against other denziens of this place. But sill interesting. Thank you for being so informative though I find that it is only fair that I share the same sapling.

I will harvest you now, not out of any malice on my part but as a means of nourishment. I regret doing this to one that has been so informative though it is the way of things here.

The creature's statement didn't come as a surprise; while she might hope there were some creatures that weren't interested in having their way with her, she knew how things went here. Here we go again. Maybe I'll actually manage to get away from this one. She didn't like her chances; with the creature's tree-like body, she wasn't sure she could do any real damage to it, and they were rather far away from campus. Still, she had to try.

"You'll understand if I don't just let you do that," she said, shifting to a fighting stance. "And I think a secret technique I've learnt will help here. Face opponent and…" She abruptly pivoted and dashed away from the creature, picking up her gym bag as she passed it. "…Fast break!" If she was lucky, the sudden move would take her opponent by surprise and allow her to gain enough of a lead that it couldn't catch up to her before she got to campus.

Oh, no offense taken. I wouldn't expect it. I wish that the situation was different, I really do, but the fact of the matter is that I must eat to survive.

He explained, he watched her square up to face him. His rough, tree-like body gazed at her as he listened to her words. He had not rushed in for the attack but he had considered her words before she broke and ran, snatching up her bag as she went. He watched after her for a moment as he casually walked forward to the edge of the clearing. His eyes watching her retreating form.

He let her get some distance away before stepping into a nearby tree jaunting to one just ahead of her.

He emerged from it with a shake of his head. Running will do you no good. I can cover far more ground then you in this terrain. Sadly that leaves you with two options though if I did not possess this gift there may have been an outside chance that you might have out distanced me.

Your best chance for evading me would have been in the clearing though I would be dangerously close, too close for your tastes I am willing to bet.