Cam is over here, being idly telekinetic with one of the temporarily harmless fire-flowers. He was briefly talking to Carinna but then she scampered off.

Now there is a Sherlock watching him.

"...Hullo, Steel. What's up?"

"Everyone seems to ask me that. My lurking abilities must be deteriorating."

"If you're trying to sneak up on people you'll have to try a less paranoid template with less magic."

"I sense a challenge."

Cam laughs. "Well, I can tell you it won't work on Aurora if she's got her aura out, and not on Golden with her super-senses, and probably not on Sarion either, although if she determines that you're trying not to be noticed she might politely ignore you. Anybell else it'll depend on their attention and what powers they're deploying right then. And if you like hide-and-seek where one or more parties are egregiously cheating, try Pattern, she has a stealth aura feature."

"It is charming," says Sherlock, "how you assume I will not also cheat."

"I did say one or more. I would love to see how what you have stacks up against Pattern's ninja aura."

"Should I suggest it to her, do you think?"

"Why not?"

Smiling slightly, she follows the forest to wherever Pattern might have got to.

Pattern might have gotten to over here, but she's sure not obvious.

"I perceive that a game of hide-and-seek will not be necessary to test this particular interaction," says Sherlock, looking directly at the place that Pattern is.

"Pattern?" Cam asks. "Why are you ninjaing right now?"

Pattern un-ninjas. "Felt like it," she says. "Wasn't talking to anybody, wanted a moment to think but didn't want to go home for it. What's up?"

"Cam wondered if I would be able to find you while you were engaging in stealth. It seems I can."

"How'd you do it?"

"The royal family of the Enchanted Forest has a connection to the forest that lets us do various useful things. Only the reigning monarch has full access, but heirs and descendants can manage little tricks. Mine is finding. Finding people, finding objects, finding my way, finding a shortcut."

"Oh. So you knew where I was, but you couldn't directly detect me?"

"That is an accurate summary."

"Now we know how that works. I guess the forest doesn't count as something with perception that my aura can refuse to permit."

"That is one possibility."

"You have another hypothesis?"

"It is also possible that the forest is better at knowing what is in it than you are at telling it not to."