fandomhighdorms | The Dorm Lawn, Saturday Early Evening

It was always easier to anticipate people you knew, and Cassandra didn't know Ino especially well. Still, the wall-walking trick from that time on the roof had stuck with her. It was an advantage Ino had that few others did, and that meant the other girl was likely to press it.

The walls were getting careful attention, but Cassandra hadn't seen all of the tricks in Ino's bag, and she was still looking for a shape that was basically human-shaped shadow.

Too bad she was currently wall coloured then, yes? Ino had no intentions of showing all her tricks, but this one was fairly basic all things considered.

The hard part would come when getting down from the wall and over to the picnic tables. It'd be quite a bit harder to pretend to be a bit of open scenery. The wall, at least, did not move.

Ino winced when the sole of her shoe scuffed against the wall and darted a look at Cassandra to see if the other girl had noticed the tiny sound.

Cassandra's life had depended on hearing quieter things more than once, and her head jerked around at the scuff. The problem was that the sound was short enough that she didn't have time to really lock in on it.

The wall, she'd been right about that part. But no dark shadows seemed to stand out. It was always possible the sound had been a distraction, so she went back to scanning all the approaches, just in case.

Ino remained still for a very long moment, watching just in case Cassandra looked again before taking a deep breath and refocusing her concentration and inching herself along the wall.

Finally, she was as close to the tables as she could get without touching down. Ino grit her teeth and very carefully slipped off the wall.

The distance to the tables wasn't far, all things considered. Ino mentally calculated the amount of effort it would take to hold a Henge and keep altering it to match the scenery.

She wrinkled her nose. Not very viable.

There were a lot of tools which Cassandra had at her disposal. Training and patience were certainly useful, but so was surprise. She guessed that by now Ino was fully focused on sneaking, eyes locked on her target and the terrain.

So Cassandra simply moved. Smoothly, quietly, and into the shadows under one of the tables. It was always possible that Ino would spot her there, but if she didn't then she would be keeping cover between herself and the wrong place as she approached.

There wasn't much cover to be had at all really from where Ino was standing. Just a fairly smooth expanse of field between her and the target. Which really made this far harder than it could've been. Why couldn't there be more trees around?

Ino hadn't noticed Cassandra's movement, but when she glanced at the tables again she frowned. Something was different, though Ino wasn't sure what. Dangerous that.

She dropped the Henge, sinking low against the wall, and narrowed her eyes. Then, guessing she might as well give it a shot, Ino carefully went even lower, so that her stomach was nearly brushing the grass and began smoothly, but steadily, no sudden jerks and stops, inching her way over the grass. Ino could only hope the darkness would help hide her.

Cassandra was good at what she did, and waiting had always been part of that. But a small part. She preferred to be active: moving, fighting, being in control. She could wait, and she was good at it, but she wasn't a natural.

Which was why as Ino snuck closer Cassandra's eyes missed her. She didn't usually wait for other people to come to her, she went to them, and was enough to give Ino an edge.

The inches were slowly covered and finally Ino was at the foot of one picnic table, and hardly believing that she'd done it.

Shifting slowly, Ino moved into a kneeling position before swinging herself up onto the table and sitting there. Her body language all but radiated smugness.

Ino? Pleased with her accomplishment? Totally.

There was a shift in the air as Ino touched the table behind her, and Cassandra knew the other girl had made it while she looked the wrong way. Still, she waited. After Ino settled onto the table above her, Cassandra spoke softly, "Good job."

Ino caught the words and twisted around, flat on her stomach again, and peered over the edge of the table. She grinned, "Thanks! I'm pretty surprised actually." Delighted too. "You coming out from under there?"

Sliding out from under the table, Cassandra stepped back and offered Ino a bow. "You are good at this."

The bow made her blush just a little and Ino grinned, "I told you I was better at sneaky."

Cassandra's head tilted slightly to the side, "Trade?"

"Of course!" Ino started heading back to the 'starting point', "It's got to be equal."

"Count then," Cassandra smiled behind her mask.

Ino closed her eyes, relaxing into a more comfortable position and said, "Ten seconds, starting... now."

Cassandra's approach had never been the standard one. As soon as Ino's eyes closed silent feet flashed so that Cassandra was standing three feet directly behind her opponent.

There had been other options, of course, but this was simplest, and in some ways easiest. From here Cassandra could make use of her ability Ino's intention well enough to stay out of the other girl's line of sight.

She hoped.

"Time!" Ino called, then opened her eyes and going on high alert, scanning the area around her for any obvious sign of Cassandra.

This was excellent practise.

Standing behind the people she was hiding from was a tactic Cassandra had developed years ago. It was surprisingly effective, but it had a major drawback. You could only go where they went. That meant she was going to have to wait for Ino to approach the tables if she wanted to maintain her position.

Which meant, if Ino wanted to just stand in one position then it would be a very boring game for both of them. She didn't know that however.

For now though, Ino was still searching the area from one spot. The growing dark was slowly making the lack of cover less of an issue, and both of them were wearing black.

It was one of the reasons Cassandra had decided to go second. It gave her more time to study Ino and the way she moved, but it also meant that it would be getting darker, and that was an advantage she could use.

At the moment, however, she was simply moving slowly back and forth in time to Ino's turning so that she stayed out of the other girl's peripheral vision.

Ino never had all that much patience and just standing and scanning the area was not nearly as interesting actually sneaking around had been so it wasn't all that long before she started sneaking forward stealthily, heading for the tables.

Making sure to keep an eye on her surroundings of course. Where was Cassandra?

This was the part that Cassandra was good at. Moving almost invisibly, timing her steps to match other peoples' so that they wouldn't hear her.

Ino didn't hear her. It was putting her more on edge though because really, there wasn't much cover at all but the darkness and she was looking for Cassandra.

At one point, not far from the tables, Ino paused. She hadn't been checking in all directions. She'd missed two. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Checking out the sky, didn't take long - but best to make sure, right? - Ino then glanced back over her shoulder.

The set of Ino's shoulders and the way her body tensed when she stopped gave Cassandra plenty of warning of her intentions. There were a number of options available, and a quick glance at the tables suggested that rushing in would be the best one.

Cassandra's hands flashed up to her cape. A lot of people made fun of the cape, assuming it was nothing more than an affectation and failing to realize what a useful tool it was. Like now. Cassandra calculated for a moment, then threw the cape up and darted past Ino. If she timed things right the cape should look vaguely like a person as Ino glanced back, and that should keep her distracted long enough for Cassandra to reach the table.

The Dorm Lawn, Saturday Early Evening

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