[IC] Hunt for the Bestial Keys: Mountain Goat

[Rilla]

Kei'taro had been walking for a week, looking for more keys in what was quickly becoming a fruitless search. Of course, the keys were rare and not all animals had them, but this was his longest stretch without finding a key in quite some time.

Frigid air swept down from the mountain that was situated a mile away from him, rising high into the air. His path had taken him this way out of simple expedience. A fabled mountain path that cut through this mountain was said to take days off the otherwise week long trip around the rise. There were other tales as well, but many were written off as simple variations of the fairy tale about the "Troll under the bridge" or in the case, the mean mountain goat that guarded the pass. Kei'taro wasn't unduly worried, as he had experience in such matters.

Another ten minutes passed, and Kei'taro reached the base of the mountain. He had been using Vivid Dragon to keep himself warm, but without a flicker or dim, the flames went out. In itself that was an oddity and he wasn't sure what had caused the sudden dismissal of his abilities. Upon further tests, none of his other abilities were able to work either, though he could still summon RyuKyu, but not the associated abilities that came with him.

He spotted a shack off to the West and jogged towards it. Perhaps the owner within vould shed some light on the mysterious dismissal of his abilities, or at least point out the mountain pass

[MelonHead]

Havardr looked down upon his domain with sharp eyes undiminished by his great age as his snowy white fur bristling in the piercing wind. He made an impressive figure, The King of the Mountain Goats, larger by half than even the largest of his kind, his dark horns rising high atop his head and his beard drooping low. However, it was a task of great importance that saw him far closer to the roots of his kingdom than was usual, as he sensed the arrival of one he had felt moving in the world for some time. He trotted down a near sheer face with almost super-natural ease, his cloven hooves never seeming to struggle to find purchase on icy rock that would have defied any ordinary creature. His movements were odd to the eye, up close and to his own perception he seemed to dawdle along, but as if the very mountain moved to accommodate him he traversed a vast distance in a pittance of time, reaching the flatter grounds even as the intruder sought shelter in an abandoned shack.

“Stop, Hemming.” His voice boomed with the rumble of the earth, aiming to draw the attention of the man who walked below him. He referred to Kei’taro with an inflection that roughly translated to ‘changer of shapes’ a fitting description for the Beast-man. “Turn back, you are not ready to challenge the mountain.”

[Rilla]

Kei'taro wasn't far from the shack when the scent of a beast reached him from on high. He twisted towards the scent and caught sight of a large mountain goat bearing down the treacherous mountain with frightening ease. Out of habit, he eased his hand towards the sword sheathed at his side, Kusanagi. Recently, he had used the sword during a test, and quickly dispatched the man the Order had sent after him.

"You must be the guardian of these mountians, and what a guardian you are." Kei'taro gazed at the creature and a realization dawned on him. Excuse me, would you happen to be one of the Bestial Key holders?" He was hoping the creature, as large as he was and with his ability to speak, Kei'taro was sure he had found another Key beast.

He shrugged off his bedroll and knapsack, and returned his eyes to the Mountain Goat. 'You may not believe I am ready to test the mountain, but I assure you, I am." He held his sword in his right hand, ready to engage in any sort of test that the creature may have in mind.

[MelonHead]

Havardr did not look impressed with the interloper’s claims, but his responsibility was clear, and he could not refuse entry to any who were willing to risk the dangers of the mountain. If Kei’taro could tell that the Goat was more irritated than usual was highly questionable though, for the simple reason that Mountain Goats always tend to look irritable. Regardless, Hadvardr was forced to act accordingly.

“I am Havardr, guardian of the Mountain Key, as natural law dictates I must accept your desire to partake in this test, though I will warn you once now that this challenge will be difficult, and will likely overcome you.” The Goat did not bother with idle threats, if Kei’taro was still convinced he could survive the test then he had every right to try, but Havardr did not exaggerate the danger.

He looked down at the drawn sword with something akin to scorn, turning his nose up at the evil gleam of man’s engineering.
“Leave all but your pelt within the shack, lay it upon the table within, if you survive it will be returned to you.” Havardr of course meant for Kei’taro to discard all but his clothes, for this was to be a survival challenge like no other. “Return to the roots of the mountain when you are ready, and I will explain what you must do to prove you are worthy of the mountain’s power. This will be your last chance to turn back, Hemming, there will always be another opportunity to return should your courage fail you.” This, however, was a lie.

[Rilla]

“I am Havardr, guardian of the Mountain Key, as natural law dictates I must accept your desire to partake in this test, though I will warn you once now that this challenge will be difficult, and will likely overcome you.”

Kei'taro considered the words of Havardr, and then studied the Mountain Goat, and the Mountain behind him. There was nowhere such a large creature could have ventured from, aside from the massive range that towered above them. He let his gaze slip back towards the massive animal, and cleared his throat. "Such of all the challenges, particular the dragons, and the World Tortoise. Alas it is my duty to attempt to gather all the keys, to be on the physical world, what my... father... is on the spiritual world." He hated revealing his purpose more than he hated his father, which in itself was a feat.

With a audible, relieved sigh, Havardr had decided to let him take the test. He bowed towards the Bestial Key Holder and turned back towards his initial destination. In his excitement, he neglected to ask about the loss of his abilities. He started to turn, but resolved to ask later. Turning back now could result in the challenge being cancelled on the count of percieved cowardice.

After a few moments, he returned with nothing but the clothes on his back. It had taken him a few seconds to decide if that meant leaving his sword, but ultimately decided to do so. He stepped towards Havardr and bowed again, before staring at the creature. "Key Holder, Havardr, as per the right of the challenge; I have several questions. But I shall only ask two." He cleared his throat. "What abilities will I gain if I pass your challenge? And, what happened to my abilities? This demense seems to have restricted their use severely." His eyes remained steady on Havardr, and inwardly prepared himself for what would surely be a physical assault from the creature.

[MelonHead]

Havardr was certainly not displeased to see the man return unarmed, though he had wondered if his courage would fail him at what could possibly be the most important moment on his journey to date. He paused and stared deeply at the man as he asked his questions, interesting ones at that, though not what the King would have asked.

“What abilities will you gain?” The King repeated with a throaty chuckle. “I suspect the mountain will teach you her lessons, that the cold is to be weathered and endured and that to stand tall and unshakable is but a matter of perspective. I’m sure you will understand, should you succeed.” Havardr considered the second question, probably the more important at this moment.

“As you may have guessed, this challenge is not like many you have faced. You were supposed to come here now, this is the beginning of the rest of your journey, and as a result you have to be tested… without the powers you have borrowed thus far. If you are worthy, it shall all be returned to you, and with far more.” He shuffled his feet somewhat and bowed slightly.

“Now, the challenge is thus, we will venture you and me to the top of the world, the summit of this mountain, without attacking one another. If you reach the peak alive I will show you the route through the mountain… but to claim my secrets, what you call a ‘Key’ you must reach the summit before me.” The Mountain Goat then strangely began to walk down the mountain towards Kei’taro.

“You should hurry.” He laughed throatily, showing his confidence by providing the challenger with a clear head-start.

[Rilla]

Kei'taro watched the mountain goat, Havardr, as he answered the poised questions. The part about his keys being locked, so to speak, wasnt surprising to him. It had happened many times before, and were somewhat a common happening. Part of him was ashamed he didnt't see it before.

Secondly, his eyes wandered towards the mountains, even here the chill reached him as bine shakingly cold, and he could only wonder at how cold it might get when he reached the top of the mountain. His adversary for the evening had challenged him to what could only amount to as being a race, and like all the other competitions, he was distinctly disadvantaged.

I will see you at the summit then, fair Havardr, Kei'taro said as the creature officially stated the start of the race. He knew Havardr had a huge advantage as this was territory it had been known to stalk for years, coupled with the fact Mountain Goats were very adept climbers, and were skinned to fight off the weather.

He jogged towards the mountain, and began climbing - it took every skill he had learned during his hunts. The climb itself would be relatively easy, if the first stages continued as thus throughout. Kei'taro paced himself and trudged up the mountain, seeking hand and foot holds. He would show Harardr that all his travels were not to be taken lightly

[MelonHead]

Interesting, the mountain surrenders herself to him, a little.

Havardr watched the young challenger drive himself up the mountain, appearing to take the added challenge of defeating the Goat King in a race to the summit very seriously. He would soon learn that to conquer the mountain took far more than speed or skill, it took an endurance that only existed in a select few. More mental determination than physical prowess, this challenge was a learning experience if nothing else. It seemed thus far he was pacing himself, which was smart, but it would not allow him to defeat the King.

The King of the Mountain Goats began to stride up the mountain behind his foe, his feet nimbly finding footholds where his opponent had to clamber on all fours. It took him a surprising amount of time to catch him and then pass him on the mountain, he had made it a long way without quite understanding the nature of the challenge. Havardr skipped up another large span of steep earth, the wind biting behind him but causing him little discomfort. Then, he felt the tremor, and knew that the mountain was angry. It was to produce the worst of its torments soon enough, but would the intruder piece together its warnings before it was too late?

The snow began to fall soon after, falling fast with the wind behind it with the makings of a blizzard. It was going to be a difficult climb.

[Rilla]

It wasn't that Kei'taro was a particularly slow mountain climber, or that the mountain was already proving to be more of a challenge than he first thought. The simple reason that he wasn't currently still ahead of Havardr was that the Key Holder was fast, especially in his own territory.

The challenges were always done with the key holder being in advantage. Of course, there had been tricks he could use, or surprises he could dole out - but many here had been taken away. Havardr had zoomed past him with exceptional speed, taking to the mountain with a practiced ease. As should have been the case! Kei'taro wasn't as shocked by this as he probably shouldn't have been, the Goat, after all, had spent a lot of time traversing this range.

What did surprise him, however, was the shakiness that had taken hold of the mountain. He had experienced earthquakes before, but never while climbing a mountain. Combined with the slowly budding phenomena known as a blizzard, he knew he was in for a ride. A normal person would have probably been frIghtened right off the mountain, but Kei'taro was determined to carry on.

While the Goat was considerably at home on this mountain, Kei'taro possessed certain physical advantages. Ultizing his sensitive sense of touch, he felt for the moments when the shaking mountain seemed to ebb and flow. At the same time, he trained his eyes on several points of interest. At the culmination of both, he used his remarkable physical strength and propelled himself up the mountain. This type of watch and wait method increased his movement speed, and soon he was moving in on the Mountain Goat, though not quite in position to overtake him.

Every few tens of feet, the mountains quaking got progressively more violent; soon Kei'taro wouldn't be able to use this particular method to travel, and would have to employ a different tactic.

[MelonHead]

“Impressive, but you’ll have to do more than that Hemming.” The King of the Mountain bellowed down to the challenger, who was making better progress than he expected. This was likely to be a closer contest than he had previously thought, something he enjoyed immensely, he relished the challenge.

The mountains irritability towards the two racers charging up its rocky body was growing progressively more noticeable to the King, he was after all very familiar with this terrain. Arguably, though he was the king, it was the queen who held the power here, the Mountain herself.

His quick and practiced steps up the mountainside flicked the snow from his body before it could settle, and he soon found himself closing in on the first of five way-stones marking the way up the cliff. One fifth of the way to the summit already, and the challenger seemed like he was also close, they were going to make exceptional time reaching the top.

As the snowstorm raged into a blizzard visibility dropped significantly, forcing the challengers to rely on both their endurance towards the cold and their other senses to navigate. Even the King was forced to slow by such conditions, striding forward with a determined trot rather than the flat climbing sprint he had adopted beforehand. The mountain had perhaps provided Kei’taro a chance to regain the lead, provided he could battle the elements effectively.

[Rilla]

Havardr bellowed down towards him about being impressed, yet that he needed more. A grunt that was lost un the winds of the mountain and snow was all that came by way of reply. Kei'taro concentrated on the task ahead, and willed himself forward.

Ahead he could tell that the storm raged wilder, and that he had completed close to twenty percent of the climb. He gritted his teeth, and pushed ahead. His mind thought about several different challenges he had to endure. He thought back to Mama Bear, and how she manipulated solid earth, and that to get a good shot at incapacitating her, he needed to maintain balance. He thought of the World Tortoise, and how the underwater pressure was great, but his endurance willed him through.

A slow realization began to dawn on him, as his balance on the thrashing mountain, and his ability to persevere through the storm increased. Many saw only the tattoos, and not how his body physically grew to accommodate his challenges.

Havardr was not far ahead not, he could practically smell the musk coming from the creature. They had passed the first way stone now, and the blizzard blew fierce. He had, of course, experienced several before but not while racing up a rumbling mountain, or racing a gigantic mountain goat.

The cold chilled him to the core, but perhaps more thoughts and realizations of his changes would come to the forefront to aid him. His magic was still cut off, but no demesnes could take away the comforting presences, of his tattoos, and skills that they taught him.

In a flurry, he gained on Havardr, and with the second of five stones in relative sight, he sought to pass him - even if he had to slow down. Despite his insight, the Mountain was still hard to climb between the blinding blizzard and the shaking surface.

[MelonHead]

Havardr pushed himself as the weather intensified, doing all he could to prevent the intruder from getting ahead of him even for a moment. They were neck and neck for a short while, and the climb melted away as they cleared the second way-stone. The weather eased for a moment, the calm before the storm, as the King pressed his advantage as far as he could to take the lead once more.

The going would get tougher now as endurance was tested and then surpassed, forcing the challengers to pull out every reserve they had before the end. Havardr had made this climb many a time before, the question was if the challenger could force him to use a speed of which he had never been required to utilise before.

The shaking intensified as they passed the second way-stone, the rumble of something devastating approaching the duo. Havardr would have smiled.

[Rilla]

Kei'taro pushed himself in spite of the cutting winds that accompanied the blizzard he, and Havardr, faced. The second waystone was just ahead, meaning they were encroaching on the second half of the mountain, a short while later. To his side, he could see the gallant Mountain Goat, Havardr, pushing up the mountain.

Neck and neck.

The mountain shook as a house poorly built when confronted with booming lightning or a passing transfer truck. Kei'taro gripped the rocky surface hard, and continued to quickly take advantage of the ebb and flow, though his speed was severely reduced. Havardr pulled away then.

The climb melted away, the second waystone passed, and the going was easier. Though the blizzard threatened to anoint him in frostbite, and the mountain threatened to toss him down its nearly unfathomable depths, he found his footing. It wasn't an exactly level surface, but it was more than enough for a man whose entire life was spent in the company of animals.

He endured the cold, and timed his breaths. He wasted no time, and quickly came alongside Havardr. Running, his speed was swift. The third stone was barely in sight, and as he glanced to his side, Havardr had fallen behind. The climb was coming back, and as it did, his run changed.

Monkeys.

He loved them, even had a tattoo from them. Of course, the tattoo was useless - but not the skills you learn keeping up with them. He began using his reach to grab hold, and his lower body strength to swing himself up. It wasn't as easy going as he wished, and several times he slipped on a foothold or handhold, and went back a foot or so.

Luckily, he made up the ground. His breath was steady, but upon closer inspection one could find the tell-tale signs of a man becoming winded. He hoped he could make it, but the blizzard, and elevation, made it colder than the Winter Wonderland, and the shaking mountain wasn't helping.

[MelonHead]

As they closed in on the third waystone, Kei’Taro passing it before the King by a significant margin, the rumbling of the mountain had reached a fever pitch. The Goat knew what this meant, and he had been counting out the minutes that passed before each shake, gauging how long it was before the break point of their race.

The blizzard had picked up again at this point, obscuring Kei’Taro from view as he ploughed on ahead. However, the Goat was not worried about his progress, though he did fear somewhat for his life. Taking advantage of his intimate knowledge of the Mountain, the goat had already began moving at a diagonal, judging the tremors carefully. With a few leaps and bounds he set himself behind a favourite shield of his, a large rock set at a diagonal which was favourable to the valley of snow which they had been climbing.

Then, all he had to do was wait. Before long the rumbling was growing into a great cascade of sound and the snow began moving up above Kei’Taro. The avalanche struck with little warning, huge volumes of snow crashing down towards the climber as he made impressive distance up the mountain. It was a shame, Havardr thought to himself, believing his challenger was almost certain to die in the wave of white death.

The snow hit Havadr’s shelter and crossed past him, luckily he had already moved away from the centre of the fast-moving snow, and so only a fraction of the avalanche’s force hit his shelter and deflected away, heading further down. He would have no choice but to wait it out however, or risk being caught in the snow’s crushing embrace himself.

[Rilla]

He could barely here Havardr's gigantic frame behind him, but dared not risk a look back to see if the beast was really that far behind, or if the sounds of the driven snow and quaking mountain were the blame. Besides, he knew he was in the lead.

Successfully, he passed through the third waystone and knew only two remained. His breath was noticably more haggard, but his body was used to being pushed past the limits. This would prove to be no different.

His sharp senses were virtually buffeted with each passing second, but still registered the intensity of the mountain. Kei'taro knew something was amiss. But what was it?

In a moment, his answer started to descend from the mountain as though it were alive and had read his mind.

Avalanche!

He had heard about these deadly displays of natural fury. How the crashing snow would bury any mountain climber beneath tons of snow, left for dead. Had Havardr known that the mountain was prone to such vicious acts? It was probable. Yet, Kei'taro couldn't think of that at the moment, instead feeling the insatible urge to survive. Boulders were scattered among the mountain side, none dislodged despite the constant lurching of the mountain.

One would have to do.

He immediately headed towards one not far off, but the snow was right there! A deadly race within a race, one that he had to survive to win the one he started.

He nearly made it.

Unscathed.

As the first bit of the heavy falls reached him, he lurched into a jump but was thrown off balance by the quaking mountain and tumbled. Indeed he had made it, snow slew over him with a temper that was only matched by the feriousness of a mother protecting her young. Was that what the mountain was doing? It couldn't be, surely Havardr had to experience such things as well.

Tough love.

In either event, he crashed into the ground and rolled; he felt way more than he heard the tell-tale sound of his arm being injured. Probably broken.

An agonizing moan escaped his lips, but it was lost in the thundering roar of the avalanche. Nothing to it but to wait, and quite honestly, it was the longest twelve minutes of his life.

[MelonHead]

Now the contest between the two took a turn. No longer a race, there was only the waiting and the creeping cold. The avalanche poured by, taking only a few moments to move further down the mountain, but where the snow settled it settled as hard as concrete. Anyone caught beneath would be almost certain to freeze.

The King of Goats had been relatively unscathed, hunkered behind his rocky fortress with the foresight to seek suitable cover. He wondered if his foe had tried to replicate his actions, if he had taken cover behind one of the boulders closer to the middle of the avalanche it would have been swept away and likely killed him. There hadn’t been an avalanche that powerful in nigh on a decade, it seemed the mountain was pulling out all her stops for this new challenger. Interesting.

Havardr was fairly certain the race was no longer on, seeing as how his competition was probably dead. Regardless, he set off, watching the snow dotting the mountain far more carefully. If the avalanche had any positive effects it took the edge of the mountainside, levelling the terrain just enough so that it wasn’t quite a vertical climb. That part was coming though, the last leg as it were, he hated it.

Striding through the teeth of a blizzard, Havardr hardly felt the cold, but if his foe had to remain stationary to survive the avalanche the cold would settle in his blood. It was going to be tough going from here to the fourth waystone.

[Rilla]

The rumbling passed, but Kei'taro, subconsciously, could hear the terrible crash of the centermost boulders being forced down the mountain. His sense of touch was on fire, as every horrible bump and slew of snow vibrated the mountain. That and well...

His arm was definitely broken, and he had no actual key that could heal him. He would have to field set it. With his good arm, he pushed out and exited the snow. Havardr was nowhere in sight, but wouldn't possibly have passed him yet. With his back pressed against the boulder, he tore at a sizable length of his shirt and fashioned a makeshift sling.

This mountain was hard enough to climb. Now he had to do it with one arm.

Kei'taro grimaced and pushed himself to his feet. The snow had flattened out the steep mountain some, easing his ability to climb. Chill settled in his bones, but his stint in the Winter Wonderland, a place he was apt to return as there were hints of a large, possibly Bestial Key holding, polar bear residing there, had given him some kind of resistance to it. Or rather, this could wasn't yet enough to incapacitate him.

As he climbed a shaggy moving apparition appeared to his forward and side, far off.

Havardr.

The beast survived and passed him. He was truly the King of the Mountain.

And Kei'taro was coming for that throne.

[MelonHead]

Havardr turned his head and could just barely keep the astonishment from his eyes. How in the world had his opponent survived the avalanche… and relatively unscathed? He had of course noticed he was in fact injured, but considering he should be buried and frozen, it was amazing. It also worried him, a little.

He pushed on, carrying his hefty weight up the mountain. The blizzard had been thinning out sporadically for their journey, but almost as if the avalanche was her last effort it seemed to be easing off now, the mountain was giving them a moment of respite. It was probably so that they could really show the other what they could do. He passed the fourth waystone at an impressive speed, bounding up the mountain in a fashion that looked almost impossible. How could an animal that had to remain on four legs effectively climb up a near vertical cliff? The answer was with a lot of skill, but even he had to move quite slowly at that point as he sought out spots where he could place his hoofs, and launch himself further up the rocky expanse.

He knew now that it was a short and difficult climb for him, a possible chance for his one armed opponent to catch up if he could bare the pain. After this short hurdle though the mountain wound up to the peak, a flat out sprint to the finish as it were. The fifth waystone was up there, awaiting the winner of this contest.

Havardr was no longer sure who that would be.

[Rilla]

He saw his four legged Mountain Goat opponent, Havardr, turn and look upon him. A mere man, or was he, survived an avalanche. Survived one of the most damaging, cataclysmic natural disasters to ever befall mankind! And the shit had broken his arm. He lopped along, picking up speed and trying to regulate his breathing.

It was hard! His arm was broken and thriving in pain, the cold seeping into his flesh and embracing the tendons and muscles around the break. He set it, and it would hold, but much more time on the mountain and he would either lose the arm, probably permanently, or have to deal with a permamently injured limb.

Neither was an attractive option.

The winds of the blizzard were slowing down, the mountain seemingly having exhausted itself. Yet, she still had physical attributes to overcome.

As he passed the fourth waystone, he could see Havardr. The blasted goat was easily scaling the near vertical face of the mountain. Surely he was tired? Surely it was difficult! Kei'taro gritted his teeth. The mountains waning snow made it easier to see. He began his climb, using his formidable eyesight to see areas where he could grab or step.

He made good time, the side of the mountain he was own didn't seem entirely difficult, but he was still climbing one handed up a mountain.

The mountain began to flatten out, and off to the side he could see his nimble steps had placdd him nearly neck and neck with Havardr, or in his case neck and rear. The fifth waystone, the final waystone, was just up the way. It would be a mad dash.

Breathe.

Sprint!

He took off as fast as his aching body could take him. There was still some distance. Maybe, just maybe, what he learned from this travels would aid him. The speed. The endurance. The will. The mountain was to be conquered.

[MelonHead]

Havardr charged up the mountainside, building speed after his slow start. He had underestimated his foe once more, taking the time immediately after scaling the near vertical part of the cliff to regain his breath. However, determination to scale his own mountain and protect his secrets was not enough to challenge the determination of the challenger. In terms of pure endurance, he was starting to realise that despite everything he was beaten.

Still, there was not a chance of him giving in. He was going to use every shred of his remaining energy and strength to reach that waystone before the human. He owed it to his fellow Keyholders. The Goat did not doubt one thing, if Kei’taro won he was more than worthy.

It was neck and neck once again, but though the Goat was particularly well suited to the climbing of a mountain he was not built for pure speed. Somehow the human with his long stride and damned limitless energy was pulling ahead. The goat bowed his head, trying to increase his speed with each bound, but the waystone was fast approaching. He growled low in his throat, exhaling with one last breath of exertion.

It wasn’t quite enough. The damned human passed the waystone perhaps a few seconds before him. It was incredibly close… but as they passed the waystone the ground rose up suddenly and then stopped… flattening out and providing them with a view through clear skies.

Havardr stopped, breathing hard, the race over and not in his favour. He snorted once and then allowed himself to become transfixed with what was to his mind an ordinary view. It always had this effect, even to him, so how his foe felt about the land sprawled out in front of him like god’s own garden, who knew…

“Damn… you… Kei’Taro.” He breathed, insulting the challenger good-naturedly. He regained his breath with a few pants, looking down at his injured contender.

“Take back your power, and more. You’ve earned the secrets of the mountain, of that I have no doubt.” He looked back to the majestic view before him, returning to thoughtful silence.

“The mountain herself would like to give you a gift… something I cannot give you. Look out across the plains, and you will see your path laid out for you. Indistinct, hazy, but there it lies, just waiting for you to take it. You will learn something about your future, should you wish it.” He snorted and walked away from the human, giving him time to look out, and enjoy the feeling of his power returned with extra.

“When you feel ready, descend from this place and take your path, you will find what you left behind waiting for you. I expect you will find the mountain far more accommodating on your way down. Do not forget what you learned here Hemming, for I will not forget what I have learned from you.” The Goat walked away then… perhaps leaving a few moments for Kei’Taro to say his farewells if he so wished.