Closed Scout Testing (Khara)

Azira demands that Khara go hunting with her

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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]

Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Azira on December 23rd, 2014, 11:41 pm

Once the fire seemed to have truly started, a glance was thrown in Khara's direction to see where the scout had gotten to when she needed her. She still seemed occupied with the task that Azira had given her although she'd taken the time to drop off some new wood so that the huntress could keep the fire going. She still needed the fan though but for the moment she could improvise. The teen started to fan the smoke by hand and blow it to help direct it down into the tunnels beneath the ground. She didn't think that it was working too well, her simple means doing little to change the smoke's path. More of it ended up in her face than where she wanted it to go. The huntress was left with watering and stinging eyes and was set coughing every so often although she tried to control her breathing so as not to inhale too much of the smoke.

It was a relief when the Chiet appeared with a bundle of twigs and leaves that seemed to be the fan that she had come up with. She added some more wood to the fire, snapping bits that were a little too big over her knee. Once the new fuel was added, she took the makeshift fan from her companion and set to work. It moved the air better than her mouth and hands had, the movement of the smoke far more noticeable. It was used to beat the smoke back down into the hole, to stop it from rising out and to try to force it towards the inner chambers of the burrow below. The heat increased as air was fed to the fire and after a few chimes she had to add a little more fuel. It was burning fiercely now, spewing noxious clouds that would have set the Avora coughing again if she'd been forced to breathe them in instead of the rabbits. As it was it seemed to be doing its job.

Whether it was heard or felt, there was something going on below ground, a mass movement of the wildlife below. It became more noticeable as more smoke wafted down the hole and she could almost feel the ground shaking as her prey started to move. They'd bolt out of their home at any moment now but if all went well they'd end up in her traps instead of running to their freedom. She allowed the fanning to continue on automatic while she looked around, searching for signs that her traps might have been filled as the sounds continued below. From here the huntress could make out where her nets were placed although she couldn't see into them, only the edge of them. She searched with twitches of movement that would suggest that she'd captured one of the bunnies.

She gave the fire another few fans for good measure before putting her makeshift fan down and getting to her feet. "Now we see what we've got. Snare first 'cos that can only hold one at a time and if there's anything in it I can kill it and reset the trap," she told the scout. Even though the rabbits beneath her had already been disturbed and spooked she kept her steps as light as she could to sneak over to the snare. If she wanted to catch a rabbit in it she didn't want to go tramping around above it and make the rabbits keep away. The teen walked as briskly as she dared and kept her tread soft, dropping into a crouch as she reached the hole with the snare in it. Peering in she spotted a brown furry lump within.

"Gotcha," she exclaimed triumphantly, reaching in to take the small cage from the hole. The trap was opened and the animal withdrawn squirming into the open air. It was pinned firmly with one hand while the other targeted its neck, the edge of her hand slamming hard into the side of its neck with an audible crack. It went limp. The dead rabbit was dropped off to one side as she set the trap up again and replaced it carefully in the burrow entrance. "Have a rabbit." The dead animal was picked up and thrust it at the other girl. It was held out until the other took it, her eyes moving to the nets as she waited for Khara to react. They were still empty. Azira frowned.

They definitely should have bolted already, the sounds below were quieter now and yet the only had one rabbit. They couldn't resist that smoke any more than she could in their situation. It'd be terrible if they died below ground instead of making their way up to the surface. She opened her mouth to tell the Chiet to go back to the fire to waft smoke when a rabbit came flying out into the nearest net, the creature striking it with enough force that the stakes holding it in place seemed to be in threat of being pulled loose. She hurried over as her prey started to wiggle out of a hole that it had somehow managed to find. A growl escaped her as she lunged for it, scrabbling for it as it came free and tried to pull out of her hands.

Wrestling a petching rabbit, she thought wildly as she struggled to hold it. Better to finish it quickly. She drew her hunting knife quickly and stabbed it in front of her and aiming for the rabbit's head. It caught its ear instead, a mewling sound escaping it and a hiss coming from the huntress as the blade nicked one of the fingers on her right hand. She drew it back to suck at the injury, the animal temporarily pinned but it was quickly ripping itself away, hurting itself and suffering in silence in its desperation to escape. It was held down, the knife drawn from its ear before it could rip free or the point come free from the ground and sawed the edge across its throat savagely, catching a blood vessel and spraying blood everywhere.

Once it had stopped twitching she picked it up, shook it as if to get rid of the blood and offered the messy creature sheepishly. "That could have gone better but it's dead now."
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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Khara on December 27th, 2014, 7:55 pm

If there were cleaner ways of killing an animal, Khara wasn't sure she would ever find out at this rate. Hunting never seemed this messy with the others that had dragged her and other scouts along with them, but then again, they never really let the game scouts get close when they were making actual kills, either. As Khara took the second rabbit from the huntress she offered a quick silent apology to Caiyha for the bit of suffering it had to go through. The occasional movement under their feet caused Khara to repeat the sentiment. She knew hunting was necessary, even wanted to be part of the task more than anything else, but she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be driven from your home in fear only to end up dead as you tried to escape.

The thought was shoved aside, this wasn't the time to be thinking of things like that. She should have been focusing on all the nuances of how the traps had been set and reset, instead. Azira's methods may not have been as swift and clean as some, but there were still lessons to be learned if Khara was able to pay attention. Not that she figured she would even remotely try and catch some rabbits on her own any time soon, but if nothing else maybe the next time she came out with Azira she could be more helpful than just standing around holding the Avora's kills.

The Chiet glanced back to the fire, wondering if fanning more of the smoke would drive the animals out faster or just possibly cause greater likelihood that they would die in the tunnels below. Maybe once they checked the other net and Azira set up for shooting the others that came from the-

Movement caught her eye as she glanced over to the last burrow. As they quickly approached, however, what Khara thought was just one rabbit turned out to be two that were frantically struggling to free themselves but only seemed to be making things worse for their companion. It would be interesting to see how the huntress handled the pair.


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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Azira on January 13th, 2015, 9:25 pm

There was no comment made by the scout on the state of her kill but she didn't think that the teen would dare to voice an opinion anyway. Azira was still an Avora and Khara still a Chiet even if their castes fell a bit by the wayside during a hunt. She followed her obediently as she moved to check the last net, which to her delight contained two rabbits instead of the one she'd thought she was seeing. The net didn't seem in danger of giving them an opening this time and so she could afford herself a bit more time to decide how she would deal with them.

Crouching beside them, a finger was slipped in through one of the net's holes to rub at the fur of one of the creatures, which tried to dart from it. There was nowhere for it to run and so instead it was left trembling beneath her touch. "Hello, little rabbit," she cooed softly. Keeping one finger on her prey, she wormed one part of the net free of the pegging that held it in place and reached into the new opening to grab the animal. It was secured in two hands, the teen rising but keeping a foot on the open section of net to seal off the escape of the other rabbit. The caught rabbit made an attempt to nip her but she closed the finger and thumb of one hand around its neck while the other hand gripped its hind legs; no chance of biting now.

"See how much easier they are to deal with when they don't have a chance to run away?" she questioned rhetorically before addressing her companion directly. "Nice, humane way to kill them and easy too. You just put your thumb at the back of the neck, wrap a finger around and get a good grip. Then you just give the legs a pull, press your thumb in and lift the chin." As soon as she'd explained, the huntress wrenched at its hind legs, its back seeming to bow inwards as the head was pulled back with a crack. It jerked in her hands for a few ticks before going limp and she relinquished her grip on its head so it was left dangling in the air by its legs. It was handed to the scout with complete nonchalance.

The second rabbit was retrieved from the net, her foot keeping the hole closed for the moment until she could secure it. There was no sense in leaving an escape route if another one decided to bolt out although it was unlikely. The new victim was held in the same way but the huntress paused before she snapped its neck. Why had she explained what she was doing before to Khara? With the way she'd been talking it was as if she'd expected the girl to be killing them too. The Chiet was a scout, not a hunter. Chances were that although she took part in hunts, she probably wouldn't be so keen on the actual killing. She'd shot at the moose but that had been different. It was easy enough to shoot something because you didn't feel the effects of it. If you killed something by hand or with a blade then you felt bones crack or flesh tear. It was tempting to offer the opportunity to her to see what she'd do. She'd surprised her before so why not see if she'd do it again?

"You want to have a go at killing it?" she regarded the other closely. "It's not cruel or anything. You break its neck and it dies instantly. No pain," she reassured her. The furry creature was offered to her, beginning to squirm now in Azira's grip in a vain attempt to escape. If Khara said yes and she dropped the bloody thing then she'd actually kill her. "We don't have all day, you know. Simple yes or no before it makes a break for freedom."
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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Khara on January 17th, 2015, 1:37 am

While not always successful, Khara was trying to make a habit out of watching Azira carefully when she had no other task assigned to her. Of course, a lot of the time she was also trying to make it appear like she wasn’t watching, at least not as closely or eagerly as she was. This time, however, as Azira actually talked through the steps of breaking the rabbit’s neck, she openly tried to take note of every movement; from the way she held the rabbit with each of her hands, to the positioning of her fingers behind and around the creature’s neck, to that final swift tug that resulted in a crack that caused only the briefest of flinches in the Chiet. In short, the huntress made it look easy. Not that it was something Khara figured she would actually have to make use of herself. That was, not until the next rabbit was held out to her.

A flood of emotions welled up and surged through her: surprise, apprehension, uncertainty, but over it all was the undeniable sensation of… Well, Khara couldn’t quite come up with the word for it. It wasn’t happiness or excitement, those was far too simple and made it sound like she was looking forward to killing the creature. Whatever it was, it was the fact that Azira had offered, had showed her how to do it and then asked if she wanted to try that caused the unfamiliar sensation. She wasn’t sure if it was a sign of trust or a test, but either way the Chiet wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

As she eyed the squirming rabbit though, the strange feeling of - whatever it was - faded a bit. That same sympathetic thought from earlier crept in again. She was going to kill something. That concept may have thrilled others, and Khara had known very well it was an obvious part of hunting, but now that she was faced with it, it seemed a daunting unfortunate task.

There was a flare of pain from her lip as she was forced to realize that she’d been absentmindedly biting at it.. Only a tick or two had passed since Azira had asked but it felt like ages. Now or never, Sparrow! The slightly authoritative voice that always seemed to colour her inner thoughts came forward, leaving no room for hesitation.

"S-Sure!" Khara quickly replied with far more certainty than she actually felt.

The rabbits she had been holding onto were gently placed on the ground and she took the live one from Azira. The animal continued to squirm frantically but Khara was determined to hold on, no way was she going to let it go! She took hold of it’s hind legs in one hand and moved her other towards the back of it’s neck, Azira’s instructions replaying in her mind; You just put your thumb at the back of it’s neck, wrap a finger around… As she moved her hand into position she offered only the quickest glance towards the huntress to see if any corrections were going to be made. Nothing came, and Khara wasn't sure if that meant she had it right or if the Avora was waiting to see what would happen if she did it wrong. No use wondering…

With her thumb behind the rabbit’s neck and her finger under its chin she felt herself tense against the impending action. It was silly to think that taking the life of one little bunny was going to change her forever, but the sentiment wouldn’t leave her head. After all, she had helped with killing the moose the season prior, hadn’t she? Caiyha forgive me if this goes bad, she silently pleaded. A countdown began in her head. Three, Two, One...

The hesitation and overthinking cost her.

She tugged on the rabbit’s hind legs, but not nearly hard enough. The rabbit let out a strangled scream, Khara didn’t even know they could make such a sound! It was small miracle that she hadn’t let the thing go but the noise had been enough to almost make her give in, hand the animal back off so Azira could finish it properly. A sudden flare of stubbornness and determination shoved forward, though and with a silent apology mentally echoing to both rabbit and Goddess of Nature, she tried again. The crack that followed was horrific yet satisfying. The last few twitches from the rabbit sent a shudder through her but soon it was still and Khara finally let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

Without a word she crouched down and retrieved the other rabbits from the ground, adding the new with the others. Her breathing was kept as steady as possible despite the haze that had begun clouding her vision. Pull it together, you can’t cry in front of her. Not now! The thought was more plea than scolding and a quick intake of breath was taken through her nose and held again to keep herself under control. Stupid. It was just a rabbit. You want to hunt, you have to kill things.

Khara thankfully didn’t burst into tears, however, and after a few shaky breaths and a quick wipe of the back of her hand across her eye just to be safe, she finally looked back to the Avora. She wasn’t sure what to say, exactly. Should she thank Azira for showing her how to actually kill something? Should she apologize for the first botched attempt? Should she make some offhand joking remark about how she very nearly lost her composure? In the end the Chiet simply gave a heavy breath that felt her shoulders slump as the tension that had built up within her began to drain away.

"What’s next?" She finally asked, not entirely managing to disguise the somewhat hollow feeling that was settling in despite her best efforts to push it all aside.


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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Azira on January 28th, 2015, 10:29 pm

It was always an amusing exercise to watch Khara's face. She was very expressive, her moods easily read by the huntress as she considered the invitation that had been offered to her. There was surprise, which was to be expected, the uncertainty that seemed to come to the scout so naturally and something that Azira could only describe to herself as being eagerness. Eagerness didn't quite seem to fit either and it provided the huntress with a delightful little distraction as she tried to decipher it.

The rabbit itself seemed to be remembered as the Chiet looked at it, no doubt considering the prospect of extinguishing its life. It was one thing to get an offer to try something outside your normal job description but it was quite another to consider what accepting that offer would actually entail. It was no doubt wonderful to receive an offer like that but it would mean actually snapping its neck. Khara took a moment to come to a decision, nibbling at her lip as she looked upon the squirming creature before a stuttered affirmative was given. The stutter should have signified that she wasn't certain about doing this but her tone said something else. Her voice said that she wanted to do it but Azira never got a chance to read her face properly as the previous kills were deposited. As soon as her hands were free, the huntress placed the live animal in them. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she watched the Chiet closely, eyes drifting between her face and her hands as she waited for the neck breaking to take place.

The grip that the Avora had explained and demonstrated to her was copied, a firm hold taken and then... the rabbit screeched. The teen actually started at the sound. It hadn't been what she'd expecting at all. It was an easy method to use but if you didn't pull hard enough it wouldn't work. The teen had apparently hesitated and the creature had suffered for it. If she did it again and failed then the animal wouldn't make a sound. It was a disconcerting thing about rabbits. They could become caught in a trap, have a wire left cutting into it somewhere, maybe its leg, and it would squirm in it, cause itself pain and make hardly any sounds. They could suffer in relative silence for bells and such a thing made her feel worse than outright killing it.

It didn't get a chance to wriggle in silent pain though, the Chiet correcting the botched job with a brutal snapping. Its death jerks lasted for only a few ticks but the other girl mimicked it with a shudder of her own. She couldn't blame her. Azira had had a better idea what to expect with a job like that done badly than the scout had and yet she had still been startled. The other rabbits were gathered back up, her companion looking to her for what they would need next. Her eyes were overly bright and shiny, which suggested that she was on the verge of tears. The huntress blinked at her in surprise, amazed that she had looked her in the eyes while in such a state. Her voice wasn't choked with threatened tears though and so after a few moments, she wondered if she'd simply imagined it.

She glanced over the traps from her current position but couldn't see any sign of more rabbits. "Now we head back to the fire, keep it going and hope that something else pops out of one of the holes. You go ahead, I'll deal with this," she explained, waving in the direction of the trap that she was keeping closed with her foot. She waved Khara on and then bent to fix the stakes back in place, the net woven in among them and made secure before she crept back towards the fire. The rabbits certainly had an idea that they were there, especially after that scream, but there was no harm in a bit of caution.

The fire was leaned over when she reached it, a stick used to prod aside some ash before more green fuel was added. Her makeshift fan was used to circulate more of the smoke down into the warren although it was sure to be full of the noxious fumes already. She sat herself down, crossing her legs beneath her and fanning the fire occasionally while she watched Khara. "Are you all right?" she asked finally, her voice soft. There was no contempt in her gaze, nothing to suggest that she considered the game scout's reaction a sign of weakness. Her head tilted to the side, hair tucked back behind her ear when it swept into her face. She'd actually thought to consider the other girl's feelings.
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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Khara on February 1st, 2015, 1:53 am

As Azira reset the netting, Khara set about trying to find a bit more fuel to keep their fire going. It was mindless, deciding which leaves to pick up, which pine needles might work best, which twigs were too small or too large - but it offered the smallest distraction she needed from the horrific sound the rabbit had made. The noise wanted to be on infinite loop within her head. The animal had deserved a quicker cleaner death, even if it only had been a rabbit.

The mixture of emotions that came with it all was entirely confusing. There was guilt at the top and forefront, but there was also the barest hinting of pride in having actually finished what she had started and hopefully had learned from her mistake. But with that came the reluctance, the worry, the thought that if she was to ever be given the chance to actually kill another creature would she hesitate? Would she be unable to do it?

Worrying led to the Chiet biting at the inside of her lower lip, tugging at the soft skin until Azira returning to the fire drew enough of her attention away that she stopped. The small gathering of new materials for the fire were set down next to the huntress and Khara lingered awkwardly, waiting for the next set of instructions. Her fingertips wove into a strand of her hair as she looked back to the burrow openings the traps had been set at.

She hadn't expected the question when it came and her golden gaze briefly met Azira's before her eyes darted downward, as was more proper. Khara wasn't entirely sure how to answer the question, and the entire lack of judgement that she had noticed when her eyes and the Avora's had briefly met made her even more uncertain.

"I think so," Khara finally settled on. It would have been easy to simply state that she was fine and move on, but Azira was far more deserving than some half-truth. "I just... I just haven't ever killed anything before."

The admission wasn't some revelation. She was a scout, not a hunter, killing wasn't something she was supposed to be expected to do even in the slightest. It wasn't something Khara had thought would be easy, but the way the two of them had handled the moose certainly had given her the impression she wouldn't have been so hesitant. "I guess I just wasn't sure what to expect."

Khara chanced a glance back upwards to fleetingly meet Azira's eyes once more. She considered holding back the question that lingered, of obediently keeping her tongue still but whatever emotions were tugging at her seemed to also have torn down what restraint she had in the matter. "What was it like when you first made a kill?"


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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Azira on March 17th, 2015, 10:39 pm

Looking at the scout, Azira obviously knew that she was far from all right. It was one thing to know something by instinct and another thing entirely to have it admitted out loud. Khara needed to say that she wasn't all right or else she'd wouldn't be able to deal with the emotions that had arisen from killing the rabbit. The killing was the only thing that could have prompted such an upset in the teen. Well, maybe classing her as upset was wrong. The girl was more shaken than anything else. Better to deal with it now, regardless of what it was, in case it did indeed turn out to be a problem.

The other's surprised eyes rose to meet hers before darting away again. She'd been caught off guard but with her downcast gaze, she wasn't going to give away any more than she intended. Her reply was reluctant but a safe one. If she wasn't all right then she wasn't exactly lying. It wasn't necessarily a complete truth either. She tried to convey encouragement through her gaze on the off-chance that the Chiet would raise her eyes to meet it. She nodded her understanding.

Khara hadn't killed anything before; she'd guessed as much. That was part of the reason why she'd given her the chance to test her mettle. The girl could track and maybe if a few skills could be helped along, Azira could have a few words with some of the hunters... but if she had trouble killing then there was no point in the huntress going to so much effort. She'd thought that the scout had what it took during the summer when they had taken down the moose together but that had been a different situation. She had shot at the animal in a rush of adrenaline but she hadn't dealt the killing blow, a blade across its throat, that Azira had. It had been an assumption she'd made and had led her to jump to certain conclusions that perhaps she shouldn't have.

"Yes, well I hadn't expected you to have killed before; scouts don't normally," the Avora responded, trying to keep her tone neutral. She didn't want to sound derisive. When Khara's gaze shifted to hers once more, the huntress forced a small smile, the expression gone as soon as the other looked away again. She was aiming for appearing friendly but judging by how quickly her companion had looked away, she hadn't managed that. The question shocked her, so unexpected was it, but a small, nervous laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

"My first kill? Do you really want to know about that?" she asked, smiling uncertainly. Was she trying to relate her first kill with Azira's? It had been a long time ago and her brow furrowed as she tried to recall the incident. It hadn't been long into her apprenticeship, Si'ira had wanted to make sure that she actually had the stomach for taking lives.

"I was eleven, eager to prove that I could hunt, to show that I belonged with the Avora," she began, "My mentor, Si'ira, brought me out on a hunt. I was supposed to help carry stuff mainly, learn how to be quiet and learn some trapping and tracking while I was at it. We found a fawn, half perished from cold, its mother nowhere to be found. It was a miracle that something hadn't come along to kill it when it was so vulnerable and it didn't even have the energy to run when we came across it. It wouldn't have lived for much longer and we had to eat, the city had to eat, so it was good for both of us. So I took my knife and I went up to it, fumbling and dropping the blade because I was shaking, big brown eyes staring at me in such a knowing way. I managed to do it though. I managed to pick up that knife and slash it across the fawn's throat. It was badly done, it was messy, I ended up with blood all over me, but I did it. The shock of what I'd done didn't hit me until I reached the city and I threw up."

She'd been staring reflectively into the fire as she spoke, reminiscing but she remembered where she was with a start. The fanning of the smoke and flames resumed, her attention given entirely to the task for a few moments before she looked Khara's way again. "Short answer? It was pretty horrible but it was a... proud moment as well. I was glad about it afterwards. I could feel a lot better about it after I got sick. Everyone's different though so I don't know how it'll be for you," Azira told her honestly.
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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Khara on April 12th, 2015, 11:57 pm

Khara remained quiet, shifting her weight from one foot to another as Azira answered. Despite the manner in which Azira described how she had to kill the animal, Khara couldn't help but think that it was a kindness that Azira and her mentor had come across the fawn that day. Still, killing something so seemingly innocent and frail must have been quite different from a healthy rabbit. It was hard to compare the two in her mind, though, both were animals whose deaths would serve Wind Reach. It was a natural cycle of predator and prey, nothing to feel guilty over.

The logic seemed sound enough, but it didn't exactly explain why Khara felt a lingering sense of guilt over it all or why Azira had been sick after her first kill. Maybe that's what made people different than animals, she supposed. Or maybe animals felt the same way after their first kill when they were young, it wasn't like you could exactly ask and find out.

Either way it sounded perfectly okay that she wasn't feeling quite like herself anymore in that moment and time would be necessary to work through all the mixed feelings she was experiencing. One thing was still for certain, if she wanted to become a hunter then killing would have to be something that Khara would have to become comfortable with doing. It was exactly like Azira had said, scouts didn't normally do such a thing.

"Thank you," Khara said softly even if it sounded weird to say such a thing at such a time. "For giving me the chance to do it and teaching me how."

There was sincerity in her voice, the gratitude she felt not even slightly faked. Most hunters would have never let the scout that accompanied them even remotely consider taking part in such a way. Khara wasn't sure what it meant that Azira had, but she wanted to know that the opportunity wasn't something she simply thought of as a normal occurrence or something to just brush off.

The Chiet finally took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself, though wasn't entirely pleased with the fact she had temporarily forgotten where they were as a bit of smoke was drawn in and caused her to cough a bit. The bounty of rabbits they had so far as eyed before Khara turned her full attention back to Azira, her posture shifting and hoped her attitude did as well towards the task and finishing up the day's work.

"About how many more do you think we should try and bring back?" She asked, glad for the actual curiosity that managed to push forth past whatever bleakness was still attempting to linger.


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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Azira on June 4th, 2015, 9:25 pm

She was making up for lost time. While she'd been distracted the fire had had a chance to die down a little, the smoke from it drifting skywards instead of down into the hole. She added more fuel to the flames and directed the thick smoke where she wanted it. They might not catch anything else. There were bound to be escape routes that they had failed to cover up and the captured rabbits had probably warned others away. Rabbits were resourceful little buggers but there was a possibility that some of them had suffocated on the smoke choking up the warren below. They might be wasting their time but they had to make sure.

An eyebrow was cocked at Khara's thanks. She shrugged in response, continuing to fan the flames in silence for a chime. "I have to test your limits. You showed yourself to be more capable with that moose than I expected. I was curious so I had to see if you could do it again when your heart wasn't pumping with all the excitement that went along with that kill," she explained, frowning down at the fire. She squinted back at her traps for any sign of movement. There didn't appear to be anything at all. Azira suspected that they might have gotten all they were going to get. That was certainly disappointing. Their kills were in a meagre heap, they couldn't even be said to be in a pile. She sighed. Three rabbits was all they had to show for their efforts and by the looks of things it might be all that they'd go home with, which seemed like failure to the Avora.

"We should have seen more activity by now. I'm sure they have entrances to this burrow that we didn't block up. This might be all that we manage to get. I'm not happy about it but we might have to undo everything here and move on to somewhere else to try again," she nodded towards the rabbits' corpses, "I know you can get a fair amount of food off them but it's a bit pathetic. We have stores to build up, you know. The more we can get the better."

She finished directing the smoke and set the fan to one side. Earth was scraped from around the hole and pushed in on top of the flames, smothering and extinguishing them. More earth was showered in to make sure that it was out and she stood and pressed her foot down on top of it. Better safe than sorry. "We'll check the traps one last time and remove them. I hope that we've caught more than this." The teen dusted her legs off. She gestured for Khara to remain where she was while she went to check the traps. Each one turned out to be empty and feeling disappointed she collected them and carried them back to her companion. "Stick the rabbits in the net and carry them that way. You can carry the rest. I'll get my stuff."

The huntress gathered her gear and the makeshift fan and looked to Khara. "Where do you think we should go, game scout? Have you any suggestions? That's why you're here after all, not just to carry my stuff and try your hand at hunting," she laughed. Azira watched the Chiet closely. She was curious to see if she was still coping with the killing she had carried out. It might be cruel to continue to drag her around the mountainside and start this entire operation again on the off chance that they'd get lucky. Would it be kinder to return, or at least get closer to the city? The girl had seemed rather upset after all and she probably wasn't happy carrying around the evidence of what she had done. They had been away for quite awhile anyway so it wasn't as if they would be returning too early.

"Would you prefer if we went back?" she asked softly. Her head cocked to the side, golden orbs fixed on Khara's own.
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Scout Testing (Khara)

Postby Khara on June 25th, 2015, 12:57 am

Khara couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when Azira said than they should have seen more rabbits try to escape from the burrow than they had. It had been her job to block up the other entry ways after all, and if they had managed to make use of others that she hadn't come across that was her fault. The Avora's tone didn't sound accusing, however, but Khara wasn't sure if that made it worse or better. In the end it was what it was and all she could do was force herself to be be more vigilant and do better on the next set of burrows.

You're learning, remember?, her thoughts added - helpful for a change - and swaying her mind on a more productive course, even as Azira returned from checking the traps.

Khara did as instructed and places the rabbits they had so far into the middle of the net before gathering the ends together in her hand to hold the whole thing together. The weight felt strange to her and for a moment she tried to distinguish the one whose life she had ended from the others but found the effort to be rather pointless. With a sigh she slung the net over her shoulder just as Azira spoke up again.

Her mind whirled at trying to think of another location to try. There were plenty of potential spots, any area with similar foliage or covering would be good to check for burrows and at this altitude there were plenty. You could use other visual cues too, someone had once told her that if you looked to the trees and sky for birds of prey you could almost be sure to find the lairs of smaller animals nearby. Khara hadn't ever really seen if it was true or not, but it certainly would be worth testing if they had time to.

She was almost so lost in thought that she barely registered the huntress' last question, the softened words forming tugged a hint of a frown at her features. Did she want to head back? Khara wasn't really sure. The incident with the rabbit had her feeling off, but not enough that she didn't think she could work through it. Working was probably exactly what she needed to keep doing, really. If they returned to Wind Reach she would just end up sitting and dwelling on the mistake she had originally made, the rabbit's cry echoing in her mind. No, it was best to keep busy.

She forced a small smile and a shrug that wasn't nearly as casual as Khara would have liked it to be. "You said it yourself, the more we can return with the better. We time to try at least one more spot, I think."

That was that, then. With the decision firmly made, at least to the scout, her attention turned - even if somewhat reluctantly away from the weight of the dead rabbits - back towards their predicament.

"I think anywhere too close by wouldn't be good. If any rabbits did escape they'll be looking for new shelter and the smell of smoke will probably scare off any others in the area for a while. We can try to head a little higher up to where it's more rocky if you like. I always see rabbits and other small animals when tracking goats in the area, I just don't usually pay them much attention," Khara offered the suggestion.

Her expression turned thoughtful once more and she glanced away from the huntress, towards the higher ground she had spoken of. "Not sure how well the trick with the fire will work there, though. I don't know how interconnected all the burrows are around there. I'd think it would be similar, but haven't really had reason to find out."


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