As Yuca got to work taking on one of the crabs, Valdrada did her best to play defense. She kept swinging her shield in a wide arc to Yuca's side, discouraging the crabs from getting too close. A few tried their luck, pincers reaching close, but combined with the longer reach from her sword, she was able to keep them back. Scraping her sword against their shells didn't seem to do anything, though. It looked like their rock-like shells weren't just for show, since her blade mostly bounced off with a scraping sound. However, a cracking noise made her look over to see that Yuca seemed to have had a lot of better luck than she did at harming the crabs. "Careful!" When the one whose shell that the other woman cracked tried snapping at her, Val tried to squeeze in between them to fend off the attack. Swinging her sword around, she managed to snag it in the crack that Yuca had left. Snapping her arm to the side, Valdrada watched with wide eyes as her blade easily slipped into the crack and pierce the crab's soft insides. "Uh, I think we can work together to beat them! If you can crack the shells, I can finish them off," she said, taking a quick look back at Yuca. @Yuca Shimi
Blinking a bit, she snapped out of it, and got ready once more, a little more confident this time. "Thats a wonderful plan! Get ready!" She took a stance, one leg in front of the other, the back leg turned to the side while the front foot pointed forward, one arm in front of and slightly above her head bent at a right angle, while the other was behind her, also bent at a right angle. She carefully stepped forward towards the nearest crab, and brought her back foot forward, swinging her back fist into its shell above its eyes, staggering it slightly. She stepped back quickly, probably further than she needed, but it was more than enough for Valdrada to get in and finish it. The splintering crack was more defined this time, and though her hand hurt decently, she was more focused on the battle in front of them, and it didn't bother as much, though later it probably would. She should probably get some sort of gloves or something to better protect her hands, and maybe thicker boots if she wanted to kick. She was brought out of her thoughts as another crab had made its way to her without her noticing, and she almost jumped, stumbling backwards onto the ground, and kicking its claws as she scrambled away from it. @Valdrada
She and Yuca eventually picked up a good rhythm: whenever the taller Felis smashed open a shell, Valdrada was right there to stab the exposed insides with her blade. She got a bit cut up from a pincer attack or two while she was distracted with trying to dispatch more immediate targets, but the cuts weren't too severe. With some effort, the crabs were all dealt with, at least as far as she could tell. Grimacing as she wiped her sword clean in the nearby river, she took a look around. Yeah, couldn't see any crabs. But then again, their rocklike shells really did blend in with the smooth, eroded river stones, so that wasn't much of an indication. "I hope that's all of them," Val said, frowning as she looked around once more in case something tried moving. "I guess we should keep following the river to find the lake. Hopefully Mr. Smithwick is okay..." @Yuca Shimi
Wiping her brow, she looked at all the cracked and broken shells and dead crabs. At least it wasn't a boring time for them. "Well, I didn't see any signs of ripped clothing, or and blood before we ran into these crabs, so maybe he didn't run into them." As Valdrada mentioned moving on, Yuca would grab a couple crab claws, twisting them off with a cracking sound, and bringing them with them. "Maybe we can use them for food, or bait for fishing. I'm sure he will be hungry when we find him!" She was trying to be optimistic about the man being alive, and she hoped these claws had enough meat to cook for three. She would follow Valdrada down a path next to the river, being careful to step too close as to fall into the river. As they walked, she would place the crab claws in her rucksack and close it tight, so they wouldn't fall out. @Valdrada
"That's a good idea," Val said, when Yuca started snapping the claws off the crabs. She hadn't thought about it until the other mentioned it, but Matias probably would be really hungry if he'd been out for an entire day. Having no idea how to break off a crab claw, she watched Yuca as she grabbed some, and then began leading the way again after she had gathered quite a few. The lake wasn't far off, so they made it there in a decent amount of time. Surrounded by trees, it did indeed look like a beautiful spot for relaxing, with the sun's light reflecting off the placid surface. Still though, they weren't here to relax. They were here to find someone. That being said, there did not appear to be anyone around. Frowning, Valdrada started walking around the shore, looking for any hints as to where Matias might have gone. "I can't really see where he could've gone," she said out lout as she searched. "Do you see anythi- Oh wait!" Climbing up onto a large nearby rock, Valdrada peered down over the other side. In the wet sand on the shore, there looked to be large footprints left behind. Whoever left them certainly had bigger feet than she did--those prints looked to be around the size that an adult man would leave. The sand around them looked a bit crusted over and dried out, indicating that it had been a while since they were left. "Do you think these are his?" Not knowing fully how to track them, Valdrada didn't realize that those were not the only set of prints left behind. There was something else living in these woods that had been here recently--something very heavy with very large paws that had stomped on after the direction that Matias's footprints were heading. @Yuca Shimi
As they arrived at the lake, Yuca smiled and ran up to it, taking a look around at the crystal clear lake as it reflected the sky above them. "Wow... I can see why he would want to come here!" She looked and saw Valdrada walking around one side of the edge of the lake, so she decided to walk the other way, hoping to find some sign of him having been there. She was halfway around her side, when Val called her over, and she took off at a run to see what she had found. "What is it?" She stopped short, and looked at the ground a bit before spotting the man sized foot prints. "... It could be, but if it wasn't him, perhaps it was someone that knew him," she reasoned, thinking if nothing else, it could lead them to someone who might have a better idea of where he was, if they couldn't find him. She nodded a bit, and smiled to her partner, "Lets see if we can follow these anywhere!" she kept her eyes on the ground, looking for more tracks of the human variety, and though she saw some other tracks, she didn't think anything of them. She figured this was a popular watering hole or something, so many animals must come by here. Any danger that may lie up ahead, she was unaware of. @Valdrada
Well, that sounded good enough for her! Looks like they knew where to go now. Valdrada trotted on, gaze swiveling between the muddy ground and the leafy, concealed terrain ahead. Wouldn't want to get ambushed by monsters, or miss some really obvious hint. The tracks were occasionally hard to follow, but a bit of close looking kept them pretty all right. It took a moment or two to find the tracks again after they'd passed through a thick bush or a tall patch of forest grass, but they never strayed too far. "He's walked a long way from the lake," Val commented after a while, frowning. This didn't appear to be the direction of the village either, or even the mine... Weird, what was he doing all the way out here? "I think he went into that cave over there," she said, gesturing at where the tracks appeared to lead. "Do you think he's still in there?" she asked, somewhat doubtfully. A whole day and then some, inside a cave? @Yuca Shimi
