Closed Passengers (Azira and possibly Khara)

Two Inarta and a Wind Eagle kelvic go out to hunt. What could possibly go wrong?

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The westernmost tip of Kalea, Wind Reach is home to an amazing group of people and their giant eagle mounts. [Lore]

Passengers (Azira and possibly Khara)

Postby Azira on April 8th, 2015, 5:02 pm

OOCI'm so, so sorry for the delay

As the highest caste member - until Sira joined them, of course - it was only to be expected that Khara would respond to Azira's orders without hesitation, no matter how gently they might have been given. If there was any reluctance on the part of the game scout then she was clever enough not to show it openly. It was good to see the girl following her lead in more than just direction, her bow also ready as they crept through the trees. The sound they'd heard could only have been a Wind Eagle but that didn't mean that their feline predator wasn't ahead of them too, maybe attracted by the noise as they had been. Neither of them were taking chances and it relieved the huntress somewhat to know that she had someone to watch her back. Despite the added bit of security, which Khara's presence brought, the teen still felt edgy.

Every step they took broadcast their position, seeming overly loud in the Avora's ears. If the predator was nearby then it would no doubt be able to find them easily, approaching and attacking them on silent paws before they even had a chance to know what had hit them. They encountered no dangers however, only Sira who appeared to have had a very rough landing indeed. It was obvious that her body had been raked with sharp twigs and smacked into heavy branches. There were cuts and scrapes in numerous places, the early beginnings of a few bruises and a cut on her forehead that sent a trickle of blood down her face. The fluid had been smeared across her brows, no doubt the unintended effect of trying to keep it out of her eye. The Endal looked to be in a bit of a state but she didn't seem too badly injured, everything appeared superficial, including that head wound. No way would the woman get straight into business like that if she was seriously hurt.

The options presented to them surprised her. Retreating and flying off like scared little chicks was what she'd expected, even if she hadn't been keen on the idea. Going off to hunt somewhere else also made sense. There were still other hunting locations they could reach on foot without having to cross paths with the mother cat. Finding and murdering the kittens was far from what she would have deemed a wise course of action. They didn't know if they'd been perceived as a threat and being stalked as a result but if they purposefully went near those young cats or harmed them, they guaranteed bringing trouble on themselves.

"I would have thought..." The teen hesitated, careful to choose words that wouldn't cause offence to her superior. "If we head towards the kittens, aren't we asking for trouble? I mean, even if we don't harm them the mother will have to be close to them and she won't be happy about it. If we leave the kittens out of it, it won't like its kill being taken either. We don't even know what kind of cat we're dealing with, what condition the kill is in, too many unknowns. It's probably too risky." The girl shook her head, looking to Khara to see if the Chiet would back her up or give another opinion entirely.

"Running away is the easy way out and it'd be like failing. I say hunt somewhere else. Better to go somewhere with fair game rather than going somewhere that a predator has been all over. We might not get the cat's kill or be able to kill anything ourselves if we go that route. I'm all for hunting somewhere else. Unless..." Azira considered the thought that had entered her head, wondering at her skill with her bow, considering the drawbacks of shooting a short ranged weapon like that from eagleback. It might work though. "If we were able to attack from above then we might be able to deal with the cats. Shoot them on the wing so to speak but I can't guarantee my skills in that area," she explained, shrugging as she put forward the idea all the same. They could always try but she doubted that Sira would be too happy about taking to the air so soon after crashing out of it.
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Last edited by Azira on June 12th, 2015, 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Passengers (Azira and possibly Khara)

Postby Khara on April 10th, 2015, 4:23 am

Khara really didn't like the idea of running away, not when the hunt had been so promising before Sira had spotted the kittens. Of all the options presented that was the only one that Khara had a definite answer towards. The other two were more complicated.

Azira covered all the good reasons for going and finding somewhere else to hunt, but the truth of the matter was the day was already stretching on and if they started over from the beginning there was no guarantee that Khara would be as lucky a second time on finding a new trail to follow. They could always go in search of the other deer that the mother cat hadn't killed for her young, but that still put them all in danger of running across the feline herself. After all, as much as it could have been stalking the three Inarta women, it could very well have been off in search of more prey as well. Either way, it couldn't have been too far, it wouldn't have left the kittens alone.

Then there was the third option, head to the young animals and possibly do away with them and their mother, and then steal their kill. It was the more dangerous option, but as much as running away sounded cowardly, somehow that course of action sounded even more spineless. While a partially eaten animal would have been better than nothing to return to Wind Reach with, what good could there be in killing such young animals? A few less predators in a few years time, perhaps. But didn't they have as much a right to live and hunt as the Inarta did? Even if they just hunted and killed the mother and took the kill, it would be a death sentence to the young ones.

Khara's eyes flitted between Azira and Sira as the Avora spoke, her suggestions making a decent amount of sense, even if it did sound like giving up to some extent. Well, all except that last suggestion but it had been tricky enough just flying out with the two of them in a saddle made for only one person. Unless she meant for Khara to stay behind at the camp while Sira and Azira handled the cats.

She shuffled uncomfortably, eyes lingering a bit too long perhaps on the blood dripping down Sira's face from the gash on her forehead. The Endal was especially intimidating in that moment with talon sword in hand and a somewhat hungry look in her eye. It was with a small amount of dread that Khara noticed the attention shifting to her, to see what she had to say on the matter.

The Chiet fought against the uncomfortable lump that was trying to form in her throat before speaking, her voice coming out in a harsh sounding whisper that betrayed how dry her mouth had gone. "Choosing another area to hunt would be the safest option," she echoed the obvious and forced herself to take a breath and forced an uncomfortable swallow before continuing. "But we've come this far. The prints we've been following suggested more than one deer was around. While the survivors no doubt ran as far as they could get from the kill site, they wouldn't have done so in a careful manner and they would be easy to track down. They might be out of range of someone on foot by now, though. Unless we could tell how long ago the cat made it's kill, we can't really say."

It wasn't much of an option, but maybe if hey coupled Azira's idea, took the skies and got around where the kittens were and tried to spot the fleeing deer from the air... It was a long shot, but so were all of their choices.


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Passengers (Azira and possibly Khara)

Postby Sira on June 3rd, 2015, 7:47 pm

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Sira listened to each of the ideas presented to her, considering each one. As far as killing the kittens, stealing the kill, and maybe even killing the mother, Sira had no qualms with doing that at all. As far as she was concerned, all of them were prey to her, especially if she took eagle form. The kittens had only to venture out of cover of the treeline and they would be fair game to any wind eagle who felt like snatching them up. A cat made for as good eating as a mountain goat as far as Sira was concerned, and Sira knew the cats would have no qualms about eating her if the situation was reversed. However, she did see the sense in not going after the kittens. A battle on foot against the mother cat could turn ugly, and there might not be enough of the deer left to be worth taking anyway.

"Hmm.. I suppose the kittens are too small to be worth much in meat anyway. But if there are a lot of them.. It would be easy enough to take them all if we could guarantee the mother wouldn't be a problem, but I think you're both right. Safer to just leave them and not worry about having to deal with the mother. Unless of course she decides to come after us first. Then the kittens are fair game, as far as I'm concerned."

Sira glanced around, trying to get her bearings. Everything looked so different from the ground in comparison to the sky, but unlike most wind eagles, Sira spent equal amounts of time both on the ground and in the air with hunting. She pointed off into the trees, "The kittens are back that way. The trail you were following came from that direction. If we go..." she paused, taking another look around, then nodded to herself, pointing in another direction. "That way, it might let us intercept the trail of the fleeing deer, assuming they kept going in the same direction. If they scattered, well, then we'll just have to hope we stumble across the trail again, I guess. What do you think, Khara? Azira?"

Sira turned to the game scout and huntress in turn, her gaze questioning. Though she had a lot of experience as a hunter herself, and trusted in her instincts, the game scout was the one trained in tracking animals and understanding their behavior. Azira was the one trained to hunt solely from the ground level. Sira could detect basic signs and tracks, and knew a lot about different kind of game, but her hunting style was a combination of aerial surveillance and short ground excursions once the prey she was after had been detected from above. She rarely hunted from the ground alone. That would be Khara and Azira's specialty.

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Passengers (Azira and possibly Khara)

Postby Azira on June 12th, 2015, 8:01 pm

It didn't look as if the Chiet was going to speak at all. Despite being a scout, she wasn't a particularly experienced one and it always struck the huntress that the girl wasn't keen on the idea of giving her opinion about anything. Inarta could usually speak their minds, even in front of superiors, but the ones that wanted to survive their Yasihood usually developed some sense of self-preservation. In other words, they knew when it was a good time to keep their mouths shut. Khara probably didn't want to go against anything either Azira or Sira said but she'd have a difficult time if she tried to please both of them. The Avora waited impatiently for the girl to give her opinion, ready to nudge her into speaking if necessary.

Sira had merely given them options, whereas Azira had voiced an opinion. It was unsurprising when Khara agreed with her assessment that they hunt elsewhere. It was the one that made the most sense of course. The scout's comments on the situation seemed to be the best way of giving both Azira and Sira what they wanted. Sira wanted to kill something and it was the kittens that she was really after. If they had to track the escape route of their prey then they were going to have to wander into dangerous territory. They'd have to examine the kill to establish a time frame to work out how far ahead the deer had gotten. If they were too far ahead then they could pursue them by air. They'd have to enter dangerous territory after all, or at least go near to it.

The Endal took what they'd said into consideration before providing a solution the teen hadn't considered. They wouldn't have to pick up the trail within the clearing where the kittens were. They'd been following a trail anyway before they'd gone to meet Sira. There was no guarantee that their path wouldn't intersect with the cats or encroach on their territory but they could be better prepared. There were three of them this time. which meant that they could keep a better watch. One of them could bring up the rear and look out for threats from behind, Khara could track up front and one of them could go in between the other two to look out for threats up ahead. They could each take a side as well to make sure they were completely protected and allow the scout to get on with her work in peace. They might not encounter any trouble at all but if they did then they ought to be well covered.

She nodded her approval, glancing Khara's way only briefly before she addressed the Kelvic. "I think we should go after the other deer then. We might come across the mother cat but we should be able to deal with her if we keep a good look out for her. Khara can walk in front to guide the way and someone can go behind her to watch for danger ahead and someone can bring up the rear to look out for our backs. What do you think? I don't have any preference for where I keep watch." Sira had said that while they were on this hunt that they were equal so she couldn't protest that the huntress had a plan in mind. It seemed perfectly sensible to her. Plus if she got the Chiet's opinion first, she'd be fully supportive. If she waited for Sira to respond then the thoughts the scout voiced would be more cautious and neutral.

"You'd be all right with just focusing on tracks, wouldn't you, Khara? I'm sure you trust us to look out for you. That you know you have no reason to worry, right?"
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Passengers (Azira and possibly Khara)

Postby Khara on June 25th, 2015, 1:17 am

Khara could feel herself nodding subtly in both the suggestions that the other two Inarta offered. Intercepting the trail of the other deer seemed like their best bet, and while it may involve a bit of searching and more than just a little luck, it shouldn't prove impossible in the slightest.

She couldn't help but look to Azira as she suggested their formation. It reminded her of one of the initial rules the Avora had laid down when she had begun hunting with the scout. Do what Azira says, even if it sounds potentially life threatening. Khara had been willing to put her life in the huntress' hands before, there was no reason to question that now, especially not with Sira around as well.

The scout nodded fully in reply. "Right. I can do that," she replied simply.

It wasn't a complete answer, not really. Not in the way that Azira may have been looking for at least. Though, despite horror stories of scouts being offered up as bait or other questionable activities from the hunters making use of them, Khara had never really felt that she'd been in that sort of situation. Certainly not now, any way. The two would be watching after her as Azira said, all she would have to do was focus on the tracks. Her attention turned back to the way they had come from, where they had left the initial deer trail.

"If that's the plan, then I think it's best if we set out from from here and follow roughly in the same direction as the trail was going, it wasn't exactly curving all over the place, after all. So long as we keep where the kittens are off to one side we should be able to come across where the other deer veered away when the cat attacked, we may even run across where that happened depending on if the cat actually manipulated the deer into running towards where it would eventually have to drag the kill to," Khara stated as her hands returned her formerly readied arrow to her quiver before slinging her bow back across her shoulders.

She wasn't certain if the cat had the ability or tactics to do such a thing but the deer themselves should have been easy enough to predict even if the three Inarta didn't stumble across where the original trail broke apart. They would have run at full speed away from where their brethren was being chased and killed, which definitely meant away from the kittens rather than towards them. Once the deer felt they were safe from the threat they would no doubt look for a place to recuperate and that would be where the trio would come across them. At least, Khara hoped so. The whole thought process made sense to her, at least.

"We may even get lucky, depending on how panicked the other deer became when the cat attacked their small herd," Khara said, trying to inject a bit of her usual optimism into her tone. "It's not exactly like the terrain is smooth and while deer are graceful, fear can make them less so, sometimes, right? They should leave more than just prints behind in their wake. Why run around a bush when you can run through it; that sort of thing."

With the decision all but made, the Chiet looked back towards where the trail had been left behind and tried to get her bearings based upon what she could remember of the images that Sira had flashed into her mind. If she was right then the kittens weren't actually all that far off from where the trail seemed like it intended to go so she'd have to keep their position in mind and hopefully the Endal could let them know if they were veering too far off back towards where the cat might be prowling.

Khara listened carefully to their surroundings as she suddenly remembered how quiet the area had become when they were in more immediate danger. It was still relatively quiet where they were, but that may have been more from the disruption of Sira's rough landing than the other predator. The scout could hear birds chirping not too far off though ahead in the direction she intended to lead them - that was a good sign at least. As soon as the others confirmed they were ready to go she'd begin leading them.


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