Solo Hunting in the Dark

[Rayth]

67th, Summer, 513

Rayth waited quietly up the slopes of one of the mountains, gazing intently down into the forest below. He had spent most of a day traveling from Wind Reach. He was performing his duties as a hunter, as there was a greater need of food in Wind Reach than weapons for the time being. He had alternated between journeying south, traveling as quietly as he could, and sitting still, watching and listening for any sort of prey. He had traveled mostly along the lower slopes of the mountains, high enough as to be safely away from the forest, but close enough that he could observe any creatures moving near the border of the forest. He had thought he had seen an elk or a deer about two bells back, but when he looked he didn’t see anything. He had waited about twenty chimes before he decided to continue south.

The forests were a mixed blessing. Covering the lowest slopes of the mountain and the valleys between them, they were lush with vegetation and trees. This meant that animals like squirrels, rabbits, and deer tended to be found quite often. However, the trees also made spotting that prey difficult, and those same prey tended to draw predators into the forest, making traveling and camping in the area more dangerous than hunting the more sparsely populated sky goats at higher elevations. Rayth liked to travel between the two extremes, not easily exposing himself to the predators of the forest, and able to scan for both the sky goats above, and the more populous fauna below.

He had been taking his time surveying his surroundings while taking a break from the travel, letting his body recover, when he had seen movement out of the corner of his eye and his glance shot to the location he had seen movement in, but he didn't see anything. He wasn't discouraged though, he let his gaze linger over the area, darting his eyes back and forth, searching the surrounding forest, incase whatever had caught his eye was moving. He had waited almost a chime and a half before he caught a glimpse of motion.

There! A small brown spot had shifted amongst the foliage, the flank of a deer, only slightly exposed through the leaves. It was hard to see from such a distance, but Rayth thought he caught a glimpse of a set of horns. From that, and the size of the deer’s flank, he inferred it was a medium-sized buck. He took stock of the surroundings. He was fairly well shielded from the deer by the foliage that had been shielding the deer from him. He saw that the deer was grazing, and wasn’t moving much. There was a tree slightly in front of, and to the right of the deer, which would help keep him from being seen on that side. He carefully moved towards that side until the tree eclipsed the spot where the deer was hidden and then he began slowly advancing towards the tree line, a hundred and fifty yards distant.

[Rayth]

Rayth closed in on the forest, fifty yards, forty yards, thirty yards, excruciatingly slow, and yet the yards seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye. A couple chimes later, Rayth reached the edge of the forest, and estimated he would probably be within bowshot of the buck. He slowly began circling to his right to try to angle around the tree he had used as a shield.

Suddenly, the buck was there, only sixty feet away. Rayth froze, his left hand tightening on his bow, trying to not drop the already nocked arrow. The buck, sensing movement, looked up and glanced around curiously. Rayth was exposed, standing clear of the tree that had protected him, but he didn’t move, trusting his stillness, and gray-brown katinu, to keep the dear from seeing him. The deer continued to look around for what seemed ages, while Rayth was sure that it must be able to hear the rapid beating of his heart, for he heard it loud enough that he would have guessed that people at Wind Reach could hear it. Eventually, the buck, satisfied for the moment that it was safe, went back to grazing and looking for nuts.

Rayth ever so slowly inched his right hand towards the nocked arrow on the string of his bow. He gently wrapped his first three fingers around the string, grabbing the nock between them, and slowly drawing the string. As he did so, he slowly raised the bow to firing position. He lined up for his shot with both eyes open, as he found that it gave him better awareness with his peripheral, and that he could still aim well with practice.

The buck, perhaps sensing danger looked up and looked directly at him. Rayth froze, bow at full draw, willing his breath to steady and his heart to slow. Then the buck decided that the danger didn’t come from that direction and looked to it’s left, exposing it’s neck and chest in a beautiful target for Rayth. He exhaled slowly, and then relaxed his hand, letting the bowstring slip from his fingers. The arrow streaked away with a slight twang, and sailed about a foot to the deer’s right, causing the beast to start and run bounding deeper into the forest.

[Rayth]

Rayth sighed, as the sound of the buck running slowly faded. Darn. Oh well, there’s always more prey. He shrugged to himself as he retrieved his wayward arrow. “And I’m not done yet.” He turned and began to exit the forest, when he noticed a small cranberry bush. He smiled to himself and decided to harvest some. They weren’t all ripe, as it wasn’t late enough in the season, but quite a few were. Rayth harvested several large handfuls, not enough for a full meal, but definitely enough to help him stretch his rations out awhile longer. And while he wasn’t really short of rations, it never hurt to be prepared in the wilderness.

He resumed his short trek out of the woods, and then glanced at the sky to determine how much longer he had until dark. Rayth calculated that he had about a bell left of usable light, and decided to set up camp before it got too dark. He put his arrow back in his quiver and slung his bow, and retrieved his hatchet from his pack. He then set to finding some good firewood for his camp that night. He found a few smaller branches that he quickly separated from their trees, and bundled them under his arm as he hiked back out of the forest again.

He headed up the mountain’s slope until he reached a spot where the rocky ground was flat enough, and he began to set up camp. First, he unrolled his bedroll and spread it on the softest ground he could find, which was still very rough. He left his tent bundled on his backpack as the weather didn’t look as if it would warrant it that night. Besides, it doesn’t take long to setup, and I prefer to see the stars. He then went about setting up his fire, shaving off the smaller twigs off the branches he had gathered and used them, along with some of the smallest braches and a kindling of leaves, to start a small fire going. While the fire was starting to grow, he cut and split the largest of the branches to make some firewood, which would catch easier than logs, but still burn awhile. When the fire started to get roaring, he added some of the pieces he had cut to it, and then resumed chopping. He had intentionally gathered more wood than he needed, just in case. In the wilderness, you don’t take chances, Rayth thought to himself, at least, not if you plan on surviving the unexpected.

Once the fire was going strong and the wood was cut, the sun was starting to set, and he started cooking his rations for his meal. Normally, his dinner would consist of just some dried jerky and hard bread, but the cranberries added a welcome bit of flavor to the meal. He ate about half of the cranberries, making sure to leave enough for his next meal. Then, once the sun had fully set, he added a significant amount of the firewood to the fire, to help it burn through the night, and then lay out on his bedroll. He was asleep within the chime, lost in a world of dreams and memories, none of which he remembered upon his waking.

[Rayth]

68th, Summer, 513

Rayth awoke the next morning sore, but refreshed. He donned his katinu and other gear, and set about making himself breakfast. The fire was still burning gently, so Rayth added a little more wood to the fire. The sun had just risen and was sending golden tendrils of light down through the valley. Rayth stopped for a moment to appreciate Syna’s beauty, and then went back to his food. His meal was identical to the one he had the night before, with jerky, bread, and cranberries. Rayth wolfed the cranberries down, but was afflicted with a strange aftertaste in his mouth from them. Too much too fast, Rayth thought, grabbing his water skin and downing a couple gulps. He stoppered it, and then looked around, taking in the environment, and pondered his plan for the day as he packed his bedroll away.

He could keep traveling, either continuing south or a different direction, but Rayth didn’t want to get much further from Wind Reach, as he was already most of a days journey, and would be spending most of the next day walking already. So he decided to spend the day there, as it looked good for hunting, and he had already almost got his prey. Rayth laced up his boots and tied the cords of his bryda tight, to keep them from blowing loosely in the wind, and then grabbed his bow, nocked an arrow, and headed down towards the forest.

He stopped well before he reached the woods, and travelled parallel to it for a couple chimes, and sat down and began his waiting. From what Rayth had picked up from others, this was not a commonly held way of hunting, most either tracking and stalking their prey, or setting up blinds or stands in the location of their prey to wait. Rayth was fine with his preferred method though, as he didn’t have a stand, and he wasn’t quite a skilled enough tracker to follow his quarry for prolonged periods through the denser undergrowth. Besides, it was safer for him to sit at a distance and train his eyes to catch any sort of movement. And he was still more likely to spot an animal in the forest, even from a distance, than he was to find the goats living higher up the mountains.

Rayth waited about a half a bell before he moved to a new location, about a hundred yards along the slope. He resettled himself and waited. The morning chill was starting to irritate him a little, and he adjusted his arrow on his string, and repositioned himself for a little more comfort, and then resumed scanning the forest with his eyes. He took in the surroundings, trying to gain a sense of what the forest looked like so he could notice any deviation, and also planning how he would approach the forest without startling his prey. He waited another bell and a half before he moved to another location about a hundred and fifty yards down the valley.

[Rayth]

Syna was high in the sky before Rayth saw anything. He saw it first as a small spot of drab color, which didn’t look to have been there the last time he had looked. Rayth peered carefully at it and he saw it shift, exposing a brief flash of white. Rayth smiled to himself, it looked to be another deer, a little surprising that he would get this lucky. He had thought he would be looking until the sun was high in the sky and starting its journey down. The deer was deeper in the forest than the one the day before, so Rayth decided to beeline for the trees, still moving cautiously incase he came upon the deer suddenly again, it wouldn’t do to have his good luck turned bad by a lack of caution.

He reached the woods after a few tortuous chimes. He made sure that his arrow was still set well on the string of his short bow, held in his left hand. Slowly, cautiously, Rayth entered the forest, moving slowly from tree to tree in the direction of the deer he had spotted. He reached the area where he had seen the deer, but it wasn’t there. Where is it? Rayth thought to himself furiously, It can’t have gone far, unless it was spooked off. Rayth approached the small clearing, still pondering how he could have scared the deer off, if it was him at all, when he heard a sharp crack from his left. It took all of his self-control to keep from whirling around to face the sound, but he managed to freeze in place. He waited several heartbeats, which felt like an age to him, before he slowly turned his head just enough to see what had made the noise.

His heart leapt, the deer! As luck would have it, the deer he had been stalking had moved only a couple of yards, or Rayth had missed his intended destination by a few feet. Rayth internally shrugged the thought away, if I missed, then I will try to figure out how I went wrong, but now is not the time for that. The deer stood a mere twenty feet away, close enough that Rayth could clearly see it’s eyes as it was foraging. Rayth almost laughed to himself as he realized that it was the same buck that he had encountered the day before.

Rayth slowly gripped his bowstring, and drew it back gently as he raised his bow. He lined up his shot with both eyes open, taking in the deer, his bow and arrow, and the surroundings in one mental image. The deer glanced up and looked around as if it sensed something, or maybe smelled it. Rayth felt a peculiar sense of déjà vu as he saw the deer glance around. He relaxed his hand and shot the arrow before the deer could realize he was there. He heard the soft twang of his bow as it sent the arrow flying, like a bird of prey, towards its intended target. And this time, it hit.

[Rayth]

The deer had been looking to it’s right, leaving it’s whole left side open for Rayth to shoot. The arrow embedded itself just a few inches back of the deer’s heart. With a violent jump, the buck leapt into the air and bolted into the forest, leaving behind the sound of the pounding of hooves and the crashing of the underbrush.

Rayth waited a few heartbeats before he trusted himself to move. He felt annoyed that he had missed his intended target, the deer’s heart, at such close range, but at the same time was happy to have got anything with his shot. Oh well, you take what you can get. Rayth approached the spot where the deer had been hit and checked the ground. He saw the deer’s hoof prints, and the vegetation he had been eating, and even the broken bush that the buck had charged through on it’s escape, but he didn’t see what he was looking for. Blood, there’s no blood. I must have not managed to hit any major vessels or veins. Rayth sighed, That means it will take a long time for it to bleed out, which itself means that I am going to be following this guy for a long time. Rayth followed the deer to where it had escaped his sight, found the deer’s trail of churned ground, and started after it.

He followed the trail for three bells. The trail was clear at first, but after a while, as the deer had calmed, the hoof prints weren’t as deep or as clear as they first had been. Rayth had managed to follow okay, only losing sight of the trail a few times, and regaining it after checking the surrounding brush for signs of disturbance. Once, he almost lost the trail completely, and he had spent three chimes searching for it to resume when he had found the clue he needed, a few spots of blood dotted on the ground. From that, he had been able to find the resumption of the trail, and had started seeing blood along the trail every couple feet.

At one point, he heard something behind him and he spun, hand drawing the bow and replacement arrow to ready position, but there was nothing there. He kept his bow up and ready, but nothing happened, nothing leapt out and attacked him, although he thought he saw movement, but there was nothing. He slowly relaxed tension on his bow, and kept going.

[Rayth]

Eventually, Rayth stumbled into a clearing and looked around. Syna was beginning her journey down into the west at this point, and Rayth still had not caught up with the deer. He searched about until he picked up the trail again as it led off to one side of the clearing. Then he saw the buck. It was only a couple yards from the clearing, laying out on it’s side, barely moving. When it saw Rayth, it tried to get up, but it could barely kick it’s legs. It then tried to turn to face him with it’s head, but it couldn’t muster the strength to move it.

Rayth was a little surprised at how quickly the buck had deteriorated, he had thought it would be a few more bells before it would bleed out. He quickly crossed to it and knelt by it’s head, “Don’t worry, it won’t last long,” he told the deer, before slashing it’s throat with his knife, spilling it’s life out onto the forest ground. He replaced his arrow and shrugged his bow over his shoulder. Well, at least I managed to save it some suffering. Rayth quickly went about the task of cleaning the carcass. The body was to large for him to drag back to Wind Reach, so he would need to harvest the body here and take what meat he got back in his pack.

The process went smoothly, and Rayth managed to get quite a bit of meat. At one point he accidentally sliced open one of the bucks organs, spilling something out and ruining the surrounding flesh, but he still managed a good haul. He carefully placed the meat in leather wrappings, which were specifically made and treated for the job, and put them in his pack. He had room for more, but the sun was getting low at that point, and he knew that he would need most of the next day to get back to Wind Reach, and so resigned himself to only bringing back what he had. Returning from a hunting trip means a successful trip; the kill is just a bonus. Rayth reminded himself.

He looked around and decided on the fastest course out of the valley forest, picked up his pack and started in that direction. He stopped at the border of the forest to gather wood again, and then continued up the rough mountain slope. He again chose a camping location and went about setting up for the night. By the time that Syna’s last light disappeared over the mountain, Rayth was fast asleep.

[Rayth]

Something is out there. Rayth roused himself and took stock of the situation. I don’t know what is out there, but there is something. Rayth didn’t know how he knew it, but he knew he was right.

He quickly leapt up and threw some of the extra wood onto the fire, his shadow dancing across the rough mountain ground. He had been tempted to just remain in his bedroll and see if whatever it was would leave him alone, but Rayth knew that danger wouldn’t spare him if he was in bed, and was determined to fight, instead of dying helplessly trying to pretend he was safe. He grabbed up a flaming stick from the fire and grabbed his knife, bemoaning his unstrung bow. It would take too long to string it. He stared about him into the night, turning left and right to try and see what was out there, but he saw nothing.

Suddenly, he spun about and searched the area that had been behind him. He didn’t see anything for a second, but then caught the gleam of light off of eyes. Cougar eyes. He stared back at the eyes and held the flaming branch out in front of him, it was the only thing he could do. His knife would do little good against the wildcat, and his bow would be useless unstrung. And so he stared, fighting back his panic and fear, as he had heard animals could sense them. He even tried his best not to blink, for all the good that would do him.

The cougar slowly drew closer, its light brown coat slowly growing lighter as it came in towards him. Rayth was just about frozen. Cougars almost never come far from the forest, he thought, the valley slopes tend to be safe from them. Obviously not this night. The cougar stared at him, and he stared right back, ready to give it his all if he was attacked, knife or not, bow or no bow.

Their eyes met each other, glinting in the night, the blue-green cougar eyes and Rayth’s golden-yellow eyes. The cat eyes and the falcon eyes, two predators in a staring contest. Rayth’s heart pounded so loud he thought the earth would shake. Time seemed to slow until he could count his heartbeats. Boom. It stared at him and he returned it. Boom. It’s gaze shifted from his left eye to his right. Boom. Ten beats past. Twenty. Fifty. He began to lose track. And still the cougar kept his gaze, not moving.

And as suddenly as the cougar had appeared, it was gone. Rayth held his ground, gazing out into the night, searching for the predator. He didn’t believe that his luck was that good, that the hunting cat would just turn and leave. But it had. He gathered up his bow and readied it, and then sat watch for about a dozen chimes, his heart still pounding at the near encounter. His sleep that night would be fitful and broken, haunted by a cat, which would stalk him, but never jump him.

As he waited for his heart to calm, he reflected on a lesson learned. I need some way to defend myself without my bow. My knife normally works, but it would not protect me from a wild cat, not to mention a wolf or bear! I need something more substantial, maybe a sword. He was still reflecting on this when sleep eventually did return to him, and he finally nodded off.

[Stardust]

Rayth

Skill	XP Earned
Hunting	5
Tracking	3
Observation	3
Shortbow	3
Stealth	2
Wilderness Survival	3

•	Lores Earned
•	Knowing One's Surroundings
•	Wilderness Survival: Gathering Materials to Start a Fire
•	Wilderness Survival: Maintaining a Fire
•	Following A Trail Of Blood
•	Removing the Meat
•	The Gaze of a Wild Cat
•	Close Encounters With A Cougar

Dream On

Very nice job thread! It was exciting and a thrill to read!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.