[Bronze Wood] The Hunters Awaken (Sturlin)

[Miharu Mindi]

14th Day of Spring, 510 AV

No matter whether or not Stulin had fallen asleep alone, he would wake to find himself toasty warm despite the chill air of the Cobalt Mountains in Spring. That was, of course, because at some point in the night he'd been joined by a rather large, furry wolf who basically served as his own personal furnace. Perhaps he'd shivered in the night.

Perhaps she just didn't like to think of him sleeping alone after exhausting himself for her benefit. Either way, he awoke to find himself snuggled up to Miharu, her nose tucked against his shoulder and her tail completely flattened by Mr. Pickles - who was not above getting in on the warmth.

[Sturlin]

As he awoke he noticed that he had a furry companion. That was funny, because Mr. Pickles had never had fur. It isn't as though it had all fallen off one day, he really was born that way. Groggily wiping at his eyes he looked at the Wolf, and then the Cat, and chuckled. Reaching over he tickled Miharu's belly in an attempt to get her attention. "Thank you for the warmth my friend. I feel well rested indeed!" One could get used to having a personal heater nearby, though all that fur felt rather strange. This thought led him to a Miharu without fur, and he chuckled softly at the image.

[Miharu Mindi]

The wolf sighed contentedly at the tickling, which in her wolf form just felt like scritches and was fine by her. His thanks got a looooong stretch in reply, after which she just grumbled and thrust a cold, moist nose under his chin. As if to say Who's waking who up now, hmm?

The poor cat's rest was disturbed when Miharu's tail began thumping against Sturlin's legs.

[Sturlin]

Mr. Pickles expressed his displeasure by kneading at the coarse fur of the affronting wolf with his claws for a moment before hopping up and stalking out of the tent. His swishing tail flicked the tent flap for a moment, and then he was gone. Sturlin jerked away from the cold nose, laughing and ruffling her ears with his hands. "I get it, I get it, I'm getting up."

The hunter was halfway out of his bedroll and toward his pants when he remembered that the wolf was a woman and that he was currently disrobed. Snatching his leathers up he hurriedly bounced into them. The scars that began on his face and ended on his hand did indeed trail with less frequency over the majority of the left side of his body. With one last tug he adjusted the clothing on his body and rushed out of the tent so that the cool air could greet his blushing face. "Sneaky wolves and their eyes. Isn't that right Mr. Pickles."

"Mreow?"

[Miharu Mindi]

A bark of amusement followed him out of the tent, and a moment later it dissolved into girlish giggles. "Ah, humans," she snickered, and emerged from the tent wrapped in her toga - she'd at least had the courtesy to bring it with her when she'd snuck in during the night.

Of course, sleep-tussled curls and heavy-lidded amber eyes probably didn't help his blushing problem.

She gave another stretch to get human-shaped muscles back in order, then just flopped down in the grass again. "Do I need to hunt again?" she asked, rubbing a fist into her eyes. "I can't remember if there's food left or not." Always hungry, this one.

[Sturlin]

Sturlin spent as much time watching her as he did looking around his surroundings. His answer was still fogged a bit by sleep, "I have some beans I could cook, or gruel. You would probably find hunting tastier, unless you would like jerky for breakfast." He offered a small shrug. At least he knew that his cooking was horrible, some people refuse to admit it.

Moving over toward Francis he rubbed the horse down and went through his morning ritual of caring for the animal's needs. In a short while he would need to walk him down to the stream to water him, but he would wait until after they had decided breakfast arrangements to do that. Francis didn't mind, like his master he was rarely in any hurry.

[Miharu Mindi]

She yawned again, and wrinkled her nose at the mention of gruel. "Ugh. No. I'll scrounge up something," she said, forcing herself back up to her feet again.

While he made his way over to the horse, she wandered over to her waterskin and took a few deep swallows. "All right. I'll be back soon - if you'll fill my waterskin for me, I'll try to bring back enough meat to keep you stocked for a day or two," she chuckled.

She dragged her dress off and draped it over the log, then in a flash of light she transformed into her (in her opinion) better form. She gave a bark of farewell, and then bounded off into the trees.

Just a little over an hour later, there was a slow, lumbering crashing through the trees as Miharu came back dragging what looked like a somewhat smaller version of a wild boar into the clearing. She looked a little worse for wear, and would probably need a nap, but she'd taken the damn thing down and that was enough for her.

She got it as far as the edge of the clearing, and then collapsed in the grass to pant and catch her breath.

[Sturlin]

"Thank you. I will be sure to come back with plenty." He smiled to her and gathered the water skins. Untethering Francis he led the way toward the stream with Mr. Pickles bobbing along behind them. His trip was less eventful than hers, for which he was grateful. There was still tension in his shoulders and back from the exertion he had put himself through the day before. Several days of rest were in order.

Francis had enjoyed his fill of the water and Sturlin was finished bathing. Once the camps water supply was restocked the three companions returned to their home and awaited the return of the hunter. It felt strange to be the one tending the fire while someone else killed the food. Upon Miharu's arrival he felt a little embarassed. Aside from one encounter in the past in which he used magic to defend himself, he had never felled a beast as impressive as this one.

Walking over to her he knelt next to Miharu and gave her a good petting over. If she felt thirsty and was not interested in shifting, he would also uncork her water skin and hold it carefully for her to lap some up with her tongue. "Nice kill. Looks like I will be eating jerky for a long time."

[Miharu Mindi]

She whined softly at the petting, and gratefully lapped up the water that he poured for her.

It didn't take her long to recover; stamina and endurance were the things she had in abundance, it had just taken longer to drag the damn thing here than it had to kill it.

When she'd finally caught her breath, she shifted again and shoved up to her feet, padding over to her pack to dig out her skinning knife. "That was a good time," she chuckled, a feral glint of happiness shining in amber eyes. "You have to be careful with boars, they'll savage you if they get the chance," she said with a tilt of her chin to the tusks. Not only was the throat torn out, the entire rear of the animal was covered in blood. "I'm not sure if its skin will fetch anything, but no point wasting it," she said with a shrug. Then she simply knelt down, still naked, beside the boar and began skinning and butchering it.

She was careful and methodical, as focused on it as he'd been on his meditations, and soon she had the thick, bristly hide folded into a pile beside her. Next she motioned for him to bring the pan over, and she began cutting out thick slices of rump for him to fry up for breakfast.

[Sturlin]

It took him quite awhile to respond to her when she motioned to him. He prided himself on not being too focused on the physical, but it was definitely distracting to have a kelvic in the camp. Perhaps later, once he had stopped drooling, he would ask her if other members of her kind were this casual about their nudity. Once she had gestured a second, or perhaps a third time, he arrived with a pan and collected the meat that she cut for him.

"If you come back, perhaps I will know how to cook by then." A bit of salt could improve anything, but that was all he could really offer. This time he was able to keep the meat a little juicier, a little pinker in the center. Sturlin allowed her to work in silence until the meal was finished, and then he brought her a plate.