Aliquam: Academy of the Arts: Southern Section
They toured their assigned area on horseback although Lute asked to climb down halfway through the patrol. Asides from the fact that it felt a bit stressful to be on a horse, more so the same one that snapped its teeth and him and recently almost plowed him over, the virtuoso had to check other details and the rhythmic clopping of Sebastian’s hooves was distracting. When he was back on solid ground he let the stallion advance a few meters farther in front before executing a trial echolocation. When they first arrived in the expansive gardens, the virtuoso already had a stinging suspicion that his abilities would confound rather than clarify.
“If we try to extend our range…” He murmured to Delilah and snapped his fingers. There seemed to be a bush trimmed like a metal spring behind the hedge on his immediate left, but the ‘picture’ was blurry. A gust of wind blew in from the north as the sleepy orange sky gradually coalesced with a darker tint of blue, but Lute’s attention was on the bush. The breeze ripped through its leaves as he listened, and the already hazy outline he had of the plant’s appearance was quickly smudged beyond recognition by the second feed he received. Both the virtuoso and his familiar sighed before the young man decided to jog to catch up with Rose and Trixie, peeking in around the hedge to see if his guess was accurate.
It was, but the discovery only served to distress Lute. If he ‘saw’ something he’d rather that it was exact, especially on a mission like this. So it was with an irritated and determined expression that the virtuoso aligned himself beside Sebastian, using the stallion’s clopping as his feed to continue on with more trials as the night crept in over the horizon.
"... I guess this is it, then," The virtuoso raised his head then turned to look up and Rose and Trixie. "Let's do our best...! But um... Should we split up or stay together?" He gestured to the wide gardens. It did seem like a place a thief would use to discreetly enter the Academy.
