As Noah makes his way down the mountainside, his head is already filled with planning the next task. He knows that since he has not brought home a luxere, he must provide something. Along his way to the pass, he had chosen to hunt in he had set some small snare traps. Hopefully, an unassuming rodent -- preferably a large, stupid one -- found the unfortunate path and got caught up in the man's knots. Noah was not nearly as good as trapping as Ezekiel, but he had learned quite a few tricks from his younger brother and had some success. Enough success, paired with the younger man, to keep them alive in the harsh place they chose to call home.
Nearly lost in his thoughts, hearing the disruption on the mountainside above him took him longer to recognize than he wanted to admit. He heard the small boulder shift and tumble and his self-preservation instincts grabbed ahold of the controls. His shoulders went up and his dominant hand quickly moved to the sheathed dagger on his thigh. His face hardened and he turned on heel, ready to face whatever was causing the disturbance. There were not many options in Halo for a retreat. Anything that chose to attack would pursue, and he knew it was always better to face head-on in this proximity. This knowing, this confidence, however, did not stop his heart from banging against the cage it was trapped in.
With rising blood pressure, Noah searched above him, scanning quickly and intently with iced blue eyes. He tried to keep control over his breathing as he finally set eyes on the frame of a woman -- a woman? -- standing several yards from him. "Hello." He said simply, cooly, kicking himself for not being a clever wordsmith.
