“‘Three… two… Druiker!’” Tinker heard his leader’s voice and snapped his head sideways to find her. He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye and threw his arm out to catch the ball being thrown to him. The ball described a gentle arc through the air as it passed directly into his path. There was only one problem… A tree stood between the young inventor and the ball. The tree was rather small, and only the topmost branches were in his way, but it was enough that access to the ball was blocked off. [i]well, looks like I get to test two new devices today[/i]. 

As he sped towards the tree, Tinker let a small burst of steam out of the nozzle on his left side. This changed his path so he would pass to the right of the tree instead. The problem with this course of action, however, was that it would take him out of the ball’s arc. That’s where the second invention came into play. Tinker flicked his left arm out sharply and a steel hook slid out of his sleeve. He grasped a loop forged into the end and rammed the hook into the tree. The idea behind the hook was to provide a way to change direction even more sharply than originally provided by the omni-directional gear. The hook did not perform as planned, however. First, it dug too deep, jerking Tinker’s arm sharply and painfully. Then, the hook simply snapped. It seems that the speed granted by the steam gear was simply too much for the hook to handle. This had the effect of throwing Tinker bodily into a nearby tree. The impact jarred his whole body and the rough bark scraped at his back and arms. He was, however, able to sweep a leg out in his uncontrollable tumble and send the ball flying in Zero’s direction. 

After the impact, Tinker had to stay seated for a moment. He had several scrapes on his arms, bruises on his back, and possibly a fractured rib. [i]Damn[/i]. Tinker sighed and realized there was nothing for it. He reached into his belt pouch and popped out a small flare which he then lit and tossed up into the air. Apparently the hunting practice would have to turn into a rescue and field stabilization practice……