A Little Hunting to Break the Ice(Ulric)

[Ronin]

Ronin was already backing away from the wolves when Ulric gave him a command. This was not out of fear, but rather the simple fact that Ronin would have more time to fire his bow the further he was from the group of wolves. He didn't run, as that would most likely show the sign of weakness the wolves were waiting for. Instead, Ronin backed up toward one of the largest boulders, keeping his bow trained on one of the wolves that seemed a little larger than the rest. Ronin's hope was, if he could take out their leader, perhaps the rest would disperse. The boulder he choose was about a foot shorter than he was and had one side that was flat while the others were fairly round. With a single swift move, Ronin lowered his bow, vaulted onto the rock and used his free arm to pull himself to the top. Once he was there, he whipped back around, raising his bow as he did, to face the attacking beasts. The wolves must have thought Ronin was trying to run, because two of them broke away from the main pack and started sprinting toward the boulder on which he stood. Taking longer than he should have to aim, Ronin let an arrow fly toward the front dog. It was a great success, as the arrow buried itself into the the space between the neck and shoulder of the wolf, piercing the left lung and taking it down quickly. Now realizing that it would have to have a more tactical approach than running straight for it's prey, the second wolf began to circle. Full of confidence from his first kill, Ronin quickly place another arrow against his bow string and readied a second shot. Unfortunately, his initial success had gone to his head, and this time he missed the wolf, sending the arrow clanking against the rocks. The wolf had an opening, and Ronin wasn't fast enough to take another shot if it charged. However, the creature didn't seem to hurried to kill Ronin, something that scared him more than if it had come at his growling and biting. Ronin flipped a quick glance to his right to see that part of the pack hadn't showed itself originally, and was now flanking them. "Over there!" Ronin shouted as he reached for another arrow. The intelligent animals had set a trap for the two hunters and it now seemed like the only way out was to spring it. "I've got this one, but watch your right side." Ronin turned his attention back to the wolf in front of him that had already made it's way up to the boulder in a few fast strides and was now crouched at the base of the it, ready to lunge. Ronin knew he didn't have time to turn his bow and shoot the animal as he had only a second to react, so instead he drew back his foot and waited. Just as he expected, the wolf launched itself into the air and toward the top of the rock. Just as it's head came even with the bottom of Ronin's boots, Ronin swung his readied foot forward, catching the beast in the jaw. The wolf fell back to the ground with a loud yell, followed by a thud as it hit the rocks. Slowly, it rose back to it's feet and started circling again, looking for an easier way up. Ronin was concerned about how Ulric was doing on the other side of him, but he some trouble of his own he had to finish off before he could look. Ronin let a third arrow fly and this one found it's target with ease. It stuck the animal, who still seemed a little dazed from the kick to the head, right bellow the ribs, sending it running in pain.

[Ulric]

“Come on, then,” Ulric snarled under his breath, keeping his heavy crossbow trained on the wolves. For every step he took, they took two forwards, slowly closing the distance. He glanced at Desank, knowing the gasvik was reluctant to leave his side in the face of danger. “Get to the rear,” he said coldly. “Make sure they don’t sneak up on us.” He didn’t spare another glance. There were only two things he needed to fear from these wolves; being borne down by numbers, and having them tear at his exposed throat. The beasts were quick and cunning, but they probably hadn’t tried to bring down a man as ruthlessly efficient as him before. “And so it begins,” he murmured as a pair of wolves split from the pack, moving to head off the hunter on his right. The rest kept up their inexorable advance, waiting for him to turn his back and run. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. He tried to even out his breathing, feeling his pulse racing with the suspense. Finally, the wolves surged forward, their hind legs beating wildly against the soggy ground. A few headed straight for him, swiftly outdistancing the others, which streaked around to the side. Ulric waited until the last minute to fire his crossbow, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to reload for a second shot. He had to make this one count. He pressed the trigger mechanism, sending the quarrel whistling through the air to strike the lead wolf in the chest, stopping it in its tracks. Swiftly, he dropped the crossbow and slid the bearded axe from his belt, fumbling with his shield as the next of the wolves launched itself at his throat. “Not so fast,” he spat, his face twisting into a sneer. He brought the axe around in a vicious hack that hurled the wolf to the side, snapping ribs and sending threads of blood lashing across the ground. The impact nearly tore the weapon from his hands, but he managed to keep his grip. If he was unarmed, this fight was as good as over. He scarcely had time to swipe the next wolf away with his shield before another sank its teeth into his leg, trying to rip him off balance. He swayed dangerously, pivoting to retain his balance, and hacked at its hindquarters, his teeth bared into a grimace. The wolf yelped and tried to crawl away, one of its legs handing by shreds of flesh. Ulric would have liked to finish it off, but he needed to deal with the other wolf, as well as two that had sneaked around him and were rapidly closing in for the kill. He managed to knock one aside with a glancing blow, then peered over the rim of his shield as they began to circle. He couldn’t protect his back, but as much as he wanted to charge at the one in front of him, he forced himself to be patient. Hot blood trickled from his torn leg and pooled in his boot, the pain a mere afterthought. “How tiring,” he growled, and then the wolves surged forward all at once. He managed to stop one with his shield, releasing the disc of wood and metal as the beast sought to bear him down, but another leapt on his back, tearing at the heavy leather armor that protected the back of his neck. The hunter was yelling something at him, but Ulric couldn’t catch the words. he stumbled forward, scything his axe around but missing the third wolf as it moved away. He reached back, grabbing the neck of the second wolf. Its snapping teeth punctured his forearm, but he gathered his impressive strength and threw it heavily to the ground. His axe, already descending, hacked into its chest. A low whine, a spatter of blood. He wrenched the axe away, but by now the first wolf had latched onto his right arm. The axe was out of play. To make matters worse, the third wolf darted in from behind, teeth ripping at his ankle, trying to drag him down again. Petching wolves. Ulric felt a surge of panic, but he kept his wits about him. He tore the dagger from his belt and stabbed wildly at the first wolf, feeling the point scrape over the beast’s skull. He swung his arm around, trying to hurl it away with his brute strength, but it continued to rend his flesh. So he struck again, plunging the knife into its eye as he threw himself back, landing his formidable bulk on the other wolf. Both sets of jaws opened, the first beast twitching madly, seemingly unable to coordinate its legs. Ulric rolled away, trying to regain his feet. His knees were about the best he could do before the remaining wolf lunged at him again. “Die, you son of a whore!” He bellowed, sweeping the axe around with all his might. His grip on the shaft, made sticky with blood, slipped a bit, but the tapering head connected with the side of the wolf’s head, tearing away its upper jaw in a gout of blood. It flopped limply to the ground. Ulric regained his feet, breathing heavily. He was soaked in sweat, but there was no more immediate danger. A handful of wolves circled at a distance, the young and stragglers, not trying to engage. Smart. “Stupid,” Ulric corrected the whisper. He reached for his shield, casting a quick glance at the hunter. Ah, more wolves. Perhaps that was what the man was trying to warn him about. “Well, let’s sort that out.” He forced himself into a half-run, half-limp his gore-stained face twisting into another smile. They were upon him almost before he could raise the shield.

[Ronin]

Ronin had been too distracted by the two wolves he was fighting to see the struggle going on between Ulric and other wolves. When he finally did turn around, he was just in time to see the few remaining wolves circling in the distance. Ronin grabbed another arrow and quickly aimed for the one of the wolves head toward Ulric. He wasn't comfortable shooting targets so close to a fellow hunter, but it looked like the man was going to fall without help. With the release of a deep breath, Ronin let loose a shot that zip past the man and buried itself into the skull of one of the wolves, leaving it twitching and bloody on the ground. "Nice shot." He said to himself in a tone too quiet for anyone else to hear. The only problem with the shot had been how close it was to hitting Ulric. Ronin was lucky he hadn't hit the man, and he wasn't going to risk taking another shot from this angle. Instead of standing on top of the rock, being useless and worrying about hitting Ulric with a stray arrow, Ronin slid down off the boulder and landed in a squat to absorb the minor impact. The sound of him hitting the rocky ground drew the attention of one of the wolves, and the creature started to make his way over toward him. The wolf was approaching far more quickly that Ronin had anticipated and he didn't have sufficient time to get off a shot. Before he was even able to reach for his knife, the starved animal was lunging toward him. It was all Ronin could do to get his arm up in front of him, and it was fortunate for him that he was wearing bracers. The wolf's mouth latched onto the leather and it's teeth sunk in just far enough to piece Ronin's skin. The force of the leaping creature knocked Ronin onto his back and his head collided with the boulder he had just gotten down off of. Slightly dazed, Ronin tried to shake the vicious creature from his arm, but it was no use, the wolf had a solid grip and wasn't letting go. When he finally came to his senses, Ronin groped around with his free hand, trying to get to his knife. The blade was strapped to his waist, and at the awkward angle, Ronin struggled to get it out of it's leather sheath. Fighting through the pain of the wolf's teeth tearing into his arm, he finally got the weapon out. Reaching his arm around to get enough force behind his blows, Ronin gave three quick stabs to the creature's back. This was enough to get it to release it's hold on him and attempt to flee. However, fueled by hatred for the animal who had just tried to kill him, Ronin wasn't about to let it run away with it's tail between it's legs. Instead, he reached forward and grabbed the wolf by the back of the next and wrangled it back to him. He wrapped his right around around it's throat and pulled up to leave it completely exposed, and with his other hand, he buried the knife directly into it's neck. Satisfied with his kill and with his pain numbed by adrenaline, Ronin returned to his feet, ripping the blade from the animal's carcass. Again, Ronin had to look to see if the other hunter was alright and attempt to reassess their situation. He looked to see if there were any of the ferocious creatures remaining, and count any that he might have seen. "You need any help over there?" He yelled to Ulric, also wondering about the other man's health.

[Ulric]

“Come to us, you shykes,” Ulric sneered. “Come and get your arses rammed.” He leaned aside as the lead wolf lunged at his throat, its body twisting through the air as it sailed past him, then brought his axe around in a sweeping arc that half-severed the forepaws of another that sought to latch onto his leg. “Did they think they could kill us?” A burst of laughter erupted from his lips as he brought the shield around to guard his exposed side, smashing the metal boss into the snout of another lunging wolf. It whined and slunk away, circling along with its fellows. An arrow suddenly hissed through the air, coming perhaps a hand’s breadth from piercing Ulric’s neck before it sank into the head of the wolf that had gotten past him. “Son of a whore,” he spat, clashing axe against shield, and hacked at one of the remaining two. “Nobody steals our slaughter.” Clearly, the irony of their initial encounter was lost upon him. Had his reality not been so badly distorted, he would have been grateful for the hunter’s intervention, but now it just made him more annoyed. “What’s this, a cripple?” Ulric moved toward the wolf he’d injured earlier, not bothering with the others that snapped at his heels. He brought the axe down, ending its frantic crawling for good. A wolf sprang at his throat, but again the shield interposed itself and the axe swept around to strike a glancing blow. More whimpering, another wolf retreated from the fray. Leaving him with just one more, a bit larger than the others. Not the leader, though. He recalled that wolves were supposed to lead by example. Now he strode forward, swinging the axe not with the intent of dealing a mortal blow, but luring the wolf into attacking so he’d be able to finish it with a perfectly timed counter. However, it didn’t seem to have much of a stomach for fighting. Ulric leapt forward with a short, quick hack, but the wolf darted a few paces away and remained there, snarling. Its hindquarters bunched, as if it was preparing to pounce. He thrust with the axe, trying to poke it in the face, but the wolf darted aside, snapping ineffectually at his ankles before halting out of striking distance. “We are not amused,” Ulric snarled. He sprang forward several paces, making a few, desultory hacks, but the wolf eluded him. Now it was just being a pain in his arse. He took a half step forward, feinting, and hurled the shield like a discus. Its metal rim spun through the air, dealing the wolf a doubtlessly painful smack in the chops that finally convinced it to join the others in flight. The tang of fresh blood clung to the air. The gasvik was just sitting on a boulder, watching the carnage. Ulric scowled when he realized the danger was over. He peered at the hunter, who was clutching a bloody knife. “What does it mean, do we need help?” The implication was mildly insulting. He ambled over to the hunter, halting when he was a good half-dozen paces away. His words were probably more menacing than he intended, but annoyance swiftly yielded to amusement. “Yes, these beasts need a good skinning,” he replied, observing the wolves the hunter had managed to take down. “You fought well,” he said grudgingly, with a bit of a wince. He tended to find that puncture marks were more painful than life threatening, but there was always the danger of catching something from wild beasts. His lips curled into a savage grin. “Don’t tell us you would’ve preferred to hunt rabbits.”

[Ronin]

Ronin walked toward the other hunter as he approached, removing his pack from his back along the way. From his pack he pulled a clean piece of cloth he used for cleaning up after hunting. He used it to wipe the blood from his blade as he listened to the other man's compliment. "You are a skilled hunter yourself. I was fortunate to have you with me, that was a large group." Inspecting his knife to see that it was clean, Ronin's only reply to the man's next statement was a chuckle and a small shake of the head. "I'll collect the carcasses and you can start the skinning." Ronin's words were not meant as an instruction but as a proposed way of going about things that he assumed the other man would accept. As soon as he was finished speaking, Ronin walked back toward the boulder he had been standing on when the wolves had first attacked. He grabbed toof the wolves by the scruff of their necks and dragged them back to where Ulric and he had been standing. There, he threw them in a pile before going to collect the rest of the dead beasts. Once he had gathered all of the wolves into one pile, Ronin pulled out his knife again and looked at the other hunter, watching his method of skinning. Ronin was still not an expert when it came to how to butcher an animal, so he did his best to mimic the other man's actions. Ronin started by bleeding the animal, slitting the throats of a few others while he waited for his to drain. Once the blood flow slowed to a drip, Ronin started to make his incisions. His first cut ran the length of the wolf, then he started cutting around all the legs and the neck, still watching Ulric to see how and where to make the cuts. Once he had removed the pelt he held it up for the other hunter to see. "Does this look right?"

[Ulric]

Ulric barked a laugh when Ronin suggested that he start the skinning by himself. His expertise lay elsewhere, but he’d done this on a few occasions over the past year, and knew the basic technique. He yanked one of the carcasses onto its back, then took his axe and chopped off the head and paws with several brutal hacks. Next, he reached for his knife. He carved the wolf from bloody, gaping neck to groin, taking care not to cut too deeply, so the organ juices would not foul the carcass. Making a final cut around the hindquarters, he began to peel back the pelt, using his knife to separate skin from muscle. Inevitably, his patience waned. Along with the pelt, he began to cut away swathes of meat. He suspected that the drudges would have to scrape them away, and if that were so, they would likely appreciate the slivers that weren’t destined for the cooking pot. How caring of you. I swear, it’s almost as if you’re a decent person. “Spare us your mockery,” Ulric growled. He’d readily murder the drudges for mercy’s sake, but other than that, they were so weak, so utterly pathetic that his fury deserted him when he stared into their vacant eyes. The others deserved death for invoking this suffering. When he was finished, Ulric cast aside the rubbery, mottled pelt, and hauled another wolf toward him. He couldn’t help but sneer at the naked, pink carcass. Hungry, were we? On a whim, he plunged his knife in the eye socket of the severed head, prising out the round, slimy orb, which he proceeded to pop into his mouth. He bit down, grimacing as the viscous fluid slid down his throat. “We must take its sight,” he said to the gasvik, which regarded him absently. He did the same with the other eye, then bared the chest cavity, using gloved hands to snap the glistening ribs and yank out the heart. “We must grow stronger,” he promised. Without hesitating, he sank his teeth into the raw, stringy flesh, warm blood filling his mouth and trickling down his bearded chin. He chewed, swallowed, and returned to his labors. “Aowe anea or qwinf pweom? Yaewn aodn qdb and amoewdn hdosn, adnewi qown bus qwnss. Auwei omdan weomen xusn adon.” Ulric shook his head. He didn’t expect the gasvik to understand. “We have gods to slay,” he said simply. He worked swiftly, removing the pelt from a second carcass, and started on a third while the hunter dragged over the last of the stiffening wolves. His axe descended again, and more blood splashed the ground. Ulric gave the hunter a sidelong glance, watching him cut rings around the paws. That was one way of doing it. He gave a grunt, not caring about the condition of the pelts. “Let somebody else do the scraping,” he said. “Desank says we mustn’t linger.”

[Phoenix]

Character: Ronin Experience: Tracking-5, Long(?)bow- 5, Hunting- 5, Socialization- 5, Organization- 5, Stealth- 3 Lores: High Strung: Jumping at every noise, Attempting to diffuse a situation, Struggling to breech a language difference, Braving the unknown and offering friendship in a handshake, Outnumbered by wolves and living to tell the tale Character: Ulric Experience: Tracking-5, Crossbow-5, Bearded Axe- 5, Shield-5, Hunting- 5, Socialization- 5, Skinning- 5, Stealth- 3 Lores: A novice at tracking quietly, Um…ew, squished bunny, Struggling to breech a language difference, The simplicity of handshakes and a step towards civilized, Hunting for Bears, Outnumbered by wolves and living to tell the tale, Eating of the enemy The Method, The Fire: I really enjoyed this thread, and I am disappointed that it didn't get the chance to be finished! I think the experience is self explanatory. If I got any of the weapons used wrong, or missed some, just say so and I'll fix/add the experience! Any questions or concerns, please send me a PM and I'll be happy to help!