Chapter 124

*Ivan*


*That’s how it is for me right now. It’s faint but I can smell the 3 of them heading over.* I told her.
*How do you know it’s them?* Ariya asked me.
*Everyone’s scent is unique. I’ll show you when they get here. It should be something from me that you can borrow. I know most everyone’s scent at the facility. It took some learning to be discreet about it, but catching the person’s scent and then memorizing it took time. There are only a few scents that are important for you to memorize for now.*
*Like Boss?*
*Exactly. It’s going to be good if your senses are still intact while you're alone in there. If you can smell him or anyone coming, it lets us know that we might need to pause while we wait to see what happens.* I explained.
I sniffed the air again and they were getting closer. Their scents were getting stronger.
*Can you tell that there’s 3 distinct scents?* I asked her.
*Yeah, it’s still not super clear but I can tell they’re closer than they were before?*
I grinned, *That’s right. You’ll probably catch on to this a lot faster than other things.*
*That’s because you’re able to break it down for me. So how does it work when you’re tracking?*
*I memorize a scent I’m looking for. Sniffing the air is the biggest way to track. Most trackers don’t have as good of a nose as I do. They also can’t memorize different scents. It takes a lot to memorize them and commit them to memory. The stronger the scent is, the closer I am to them. It takes time to learn what direction the scent is coming from but it’s possible.* I explained.
I sniffed the air again. Once again, their scent was even closer.
*They should be here in 3…2…1…* I thought.
Right on time, Keo, Caleb, and Drake all showed up.
*That’s so cool.* Ariya thought and I laughed.
I loved how excited she got over different things. It made me feel special.
“Did we miss something?” Drake asked.
“I was showing Ariya about how I’m able to pass as a Tracker. I did it when I got to the forest. We were able to smell you guys getting closer. That said, sorry if this is a little weird for you, but Ariya needs to work on memorizing your scents.” I laughed.
“You’re going to sniff us, aren’t you?” Caleb laughed.
I walked over to Caleb and grinned, “Absolutely.”
“You should try teaching Caleb too, that way he can work on it.” Keo laughed.
I quickly ran through what I had mentioned to Ariya and Caleb nodded.
“I always knew that everyone had their own scent but memorizing it is difficult. I’ve never tried.” Caleb said.
“Well this is the most obvious way to get a scent, but it’s the easiest to start.” I told him.
I walked over to Caleb and took a deep breath in through my nose. It was obvious what I was doing. I could see Caleb move to the side a bit. It made me laugh.
“Sorry, I know it’s uncomfortable but it’s the easiest way to catch the scent. You have to think of it as a unique marker for the person. I basically categorize it in my mind. If I’m searching for someone I get their scent and then I’m looking for them. I think of the scent I have and picture their face. It’s pretty much how I’ve memorized the scents.” I explained.
“Isn’t that a little too obvious?” Caleb asked.
“It is, which is why I don’t actually take someone’s scent that way. I do it more discreetly. But to start, that’s what you’ll need to do. You practice with one scent. Over and over until you get it. You have to ignore every other scent that comes to you and focus on the one that you got. That’s how you start tracking. Basically everything else is a distraction.”
Caleb nodded. I could tell Ariya was paying close attention as well. She was listening to what was being said and was making mental notes for herself.
*How do you do it more discreetly?* She asked me.
*Like this.* I told her.
I focused my attention temporarily on Keo and sniffed in silently. I caught his scent quickly and then changed my focus back to everyone.
*How do you know that’s his scent?* Ariya asked.
*Practice. When you focus on a location you’re able to eventually tell what direction a scent is coming from. If I’m focused on a specific location and only grabbing the scents that are in that location I know that the strongest scent I get is the one closest to me in that specific direction.* I explained.
I couldn’t help the smirk that showed up and Drake was the one that caught it.
“You just scented Keo, didn’t you?” Drake laughed.
My smirk spread into a smile, knowing I was caught. Ariya giggled in my head. Of course Drake would be the one to catch on. It was hard to catch him off guard.
“Sure did.” I laughed.
“Wait, you did what?” Keo said, shocked.
“Ivan scented you. Probably because Ariya asked how to do it discreetly. No one would notice if they weren’t paying attention.” Drake laughed.
“Drake’s always paying attention to everything. That’s why Boss has never gotten close to you, isn’t it? You’re always paying attention to what’s going on.” I pointed out.
A smile spread across Drake's face, “That’s part of it. The other part is that unless Boss himself were to come and get me, or his Enforcers, the ones that do come for me can’t beat me.”
“Until Ivan.” Caleb pointed out.
“That’s not totally true. I could track Drake, but unless he only fought me hand to hand, he would win. Energy Manipulation is not an easy thing to beat. It’s something that takes a long time to master and Drake has had the time to master it.” I pointed out.
“Ivan’s right. It does take a long time to master, but I still can learn more. I know how to do a lot but I’m sure there’s even more that can be done with it.” Drake added.
“Besides, Boss has me on Ariya. He would never take me off and put me on trying to find Drake. He did at first when we were trying to get his scent, but that stopped the second Boss learned that Ariya was a Blood Born Navi.” I added.
“Isn’t Boss paying attention as much as Drake does?” Keo asked.
“Yes and no. Boss pays attention closely but only to what's going on around him. He isn’t paying attention to where Ariya is because he has me on it. Someone he believes he can trust. As long as I don’t cause doubt to that trust he’ll leave Ariya to me.” I explained.
*How are you going to scent him then?* Ariya asked me.
*I’m not. You are. Well, we both are. If you have his attention I can scent him because I’m usually behind him. But I want you to try to do it. We have plenty of chances to scent Boss. We just have to make sure to only use the discreet way. It’s like trying to scent Drake. I’ll show you an even more discreet way later.* I explained.
“Drake, at some point tonight, I’m going to try to scent you. I want you to tell me when or if you think I do.” I told him.
*Huh?! Why would you tell him? Now he’s going to be focused on catching you.* Ariya asked me, shocked.
*Because if Drake is focused on it and I can get away with it, it means that Boss isn’t going to notice.* I laughed.
Drake raised an eyebrow at me, “Is that a challenge?”
“Yes. Only because we’re going to try to see if we can’t get Boss’ scent.” I answered him.
Drake nodded, “Challenge accepted.”
“There’s more, I needed to ask you to check my memories after. Something’s been bugging me. The person that trained me, his name was Ryker but I don’t remember anything about him.” I told Drake.
“You think someone else might have messed with your memories?” Drake asked.
“Yes, but I also need to know, why did you send me to infiltrate? What was the purpose? I’m not mad, I’m just curious. There had to be a reason. Because whatever that reason was, there’s a reason I stayed for 14 years without getting my memories back and leaving.” I explained.
Drake’s eyes went wide, “You infiltrated that night to try to make sure that we would get inside information. You were looking to see if any Navi had been captured but also to see if they were continuing to search for us. They pretty much wiped everyone out. We’re all that’s left. But Ivan, if someone messed with your memories, there’s a good chance that they know you’re not who you say you are.”