Hunt Or Be Hunted (Khida & Shahar)

[Ayetah]

Hunt Or Be Hunted
12th of Winter, 514 AV

Just a few days ago, Ayetah was determined to stand on her own two feet. Ayetah's plan was to march into the city, buy a one person tent and bedroll and begin living on her own. Now, around the time she had came up with this plan, it did not sound too bad. To the fierce benshira, it sounded kind of easy. Endrykas was not too different, right? Wrong. She was utterly wrong. It was not easy at all because of the language barrier.

Common seemed like a rare language used in Endrykas. The people she tried speaking to could barely understand what she was saying and those that did understand's own common was broken and confusing. Some of the drykas refused to talk to her in any other language but their native tongue. What was it called... pavi? Yes, pavi. The language sounded very demanding to the dark skinned woman. The drykas' hands were needed the whole entire time they talked. Each time they said a word, their hand gestures were different.

Trying to communicate with the people was beginning to make her head spin. Ayetah decided she would return to the woman that offered to let her stay with her and ask for help. The woman did not refuse but was very busy now and did not have time to tend to the homeless girl's needs like she did before. The woman promised to take her to the city but it would be awhile. Ayetah tried her best not to become so dependant on the woman like she did in the past when the snowstorm had came. For a change, she cooked for the woman and woke her up each and every morning. She even washed her clothes and cleaned her tent when it was necessary. This was all in exchange for her help, something the drykas woman promised frequently. She promised to help the benshiran blend in with the rest of Endrykas, to even help her understand pavi when it was needed. The biggest promise she made was that she would help Ayetah get her tent and bedroll. A promise the drykas woman could not go through with at the moment.

Ayetah woke up very early this morning. She bathed using water from a nearby river, a pot and fire. When she was done she got dressed and returned to the tent the woman let her barrow. Like every morning, she prayed to Yahal for strength and protection. When she was done, she left the tent and entered the drykas woman's own."Madam, wake-"

The woman was not in the tent. She was gone and Ayetah could not tell if it was by choice."Where is she?" Ayetah exited the tent and looked around their little camp spot. The drykas was no where nearby.

Ayetah was beginning to grow worried. The woman was not in her tent and didn't tell the benshiran she was leaving. Ayetah was really considering if she should look for her or not. She thought long and hard on the idea before deciding she would look for her in the unknown wilderness.

It was not the brightest idea she had but Ayetah would not forgive herself if anything ever happened to the drykas. Yahal probably would not forgive her either. She started trudging through the wilderness cautiously, making sure she did not step on anything unknowingly or run into not-so-friendly animals. Ayetah had to part grass many times to see what was in front of her. She heard many animal noises and almost mistaken them for human noises.

Ayetah has yet to find the woman and after chimes of searching, she thought it would be best to rest for a little bit before starting back up again. Ayetah stood in tall grass which was not the best the best place to stand and take a second to rest.

[Colt]

Shahar didn’t much like snow. It was cold and wet and it stayed on him when he passed, caking to his boots and to the hem of his cloak even when he sat upon the back of a sixteen-hand-high stallion; the tallgrass plains around them had lifted the snow to where it could be dusted against all manner of things, especially passing horsemen and their mounts.

Still, the days of sun since the storm had let the snow fade somewhat, and now it was less like powder and more like a blanket. Much of the grass could now wave unfettered over a solid expanse over ground that crunched with every hoofbeat. The noise was the greatest disadvantage that the group of hunters had found themselves facing, and there would be some planning to do before they could think about taking down anything with four legs.

For now, though, he and his bondmate just had to focus on finding something with four legs to hunt.

Winter was a lean and difficult time, no matter who or where one happened to be, and the presence of Khida was one that left Shahar feeling just a bit easier. More time had begun to pass between their shared hunts than he would have chosen, and that was something he wanted to halt––something that could begin here, today, in the midsts of irritating masses of white frost.

Tuka, at least, seemed to be the best of them at moving through the snow. Light-boned and wide-strided, her steps were the quietest and left her with no qualms about cutting a strafing course ahead of them, nose down for scents. Shahar’s recent trip to the Hunter’s Allegiance and to the beastmongers found there had yielded a number of useful behaviors that Tuka now found great joy in expressing; while still nowhere near capable of understanding and obeying complex instructions, she had been taught that prey-scents were valuable to Shahar, and that she would be rewarded for finding and bringing them to his attention.

As it was, though, the clanless Drykas contented himself with following Tuka’s lead, all the while keeping an eye on the land from atop his strider. Even with a few feet of distance he could pick out the telltale signs of activity here and there; soft lines in the earth made from repeated passages of tiny feet, gaps in the grass of regular paths and ruts in the dirt where a rabbit had scratched for food, but they were all stale and held scents too old for Tuka to pick up on. Not worth wasting the energy it would take to follow.

He hoped that Khida would find herself with better luck than he; they had not wandered off too far from Endrykas, although it seemed that the decision had cost them in the numbers of beasts that they could pursue. He didn’t want to resort to dipping into their rations if they could help it, even if it meant them ranging farther from the city.

[Khida]

The hunter rode below her, his Strider dark against the ice-glazed grasses -- for while the white on the ground might be called snow, it was really frozen hard and crusty, more like little pellets than flakes. Khida preferred snow as a powder, when it was light and soft like feathers brushing against skin... albeit very cold feathers. When it squished underfoot, rather than crunching and cracking loudly. She could hear the horse's steps, some of them anyway, from her vantage above. Though, there was nothing but air in the distance between them; nothing at all to muffle the crackle of fracturing crust. Hopefully, they were not so loud from elsewhere on the ground.

The falcon Kelvic kept note of the hunter's path, of the tawny hunting cat out searching on his far side. She herself canvassed the nearer side, using eyes where the cat employed nose and ears, looking for tracks or motion that might belong to either predator and prey. An advantage of snow was that it made tracks incredibly obvious, especially from altitude, provided the sun was at suitable angle to cast shadows. Which was true throughout most of the day, including this early morning bell. The disadvantage of snow was that the frozen crust held footprints until the stuff melted. From her vantage aloft, Khida could not readily tell if any tracks she saw were fresh spoor, or if they had been made days prior.

For, as she ranged to and fro, she did see tracks.

Here lay a line of round marks, the hoofprints of a horse, perhaps belonging to another Drykas out hunting in bells or days past. Horse did not interest her. Farther on, a run leading to a burrow, the dark shadow of the den's entrance standing out boldly amidst silver-white snow. The falcon dipped down and came about to study the space more closely -- but the dweller was probably either tucked inside or foraging elsewhere. She deemed it probably not worth their effort, and climbed back upwards, continuing on. There were more horse prints, another line essaying away from Endrykas; disappointing, though not surprising, for as near as they yet remained to the city. They paralleled a less-orderly collection of deer prints, or maybe antelope, evidence of someone else's hunt from some time in the recent past.

Khida wondered, briefly, if that hunter had returned successful.

She ranged farther, seeking other tracks, newer tracks. Something that could be hunted with trap or javelin. Something actually here, not a memoriam of prior events.

She found something not tracks.

A figure stood among the snow-coated grasses, an odd darkness glimpsed at the edge of the falcon's vision, resolving into a woman as Khida came about for a better view. A woman just standing there, at the end of a line of prints which led back towards the city. A woman whose clothing seemed better suited to the warm lands of the south, to a desert Khida hardly even thought of anymore. She was a strange sight indeed out here on the wintry plains. The falcon turned again, looking back towards her companions in the distance while also climbing higher still, gaining perspective and removing herself from potential hazards on the ground. Keeping a watchful eye on the stranger, she tried to focus a wary caution at her bondmate, a silent bid for his attention.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Ayetah]

The grassland was nothing like the desert she originated from. In the desert, you could spot someone twenty miles away, recognizing them immediately. The grassland was nothing like the desert at all, the thick and very large strands of grass made it very hard, you could not see even the largest creature. Winter didn’t help either, adding a thick layer of snow. Snow was nothing Ayetah never heard of but it was indeed new to her. The feeling, the looks of it was all new to her and she somewhat enjoyed it. She enjoyed it all up until this point. The snow had made it hard for her to find even ground to step on and the benshira could not see anything more than a few feet away. She was forced to yell the woman’s name.

”Madam!” She called. There was no answer from the woman, but the sound of a flock of birds rang in the air afterwards.

Ayetah kneeled, looking closely at the ground for any tracks. She squinted for a very long time to see if she could make out any prints, ones that belonged to a human. Ayetah was not a hunter nor would she ever be one, the chance of her finding a foot print was little to nothing and she knew it. Why I even tried? She thought to herself before getting up and sighing in disappointment. She had to make a decision. Should she move forward and continue searching for Madam on her own? Or should she get help from someone.

Someone that knew the land better than her.

The language barrier, she reminded herself. There was no way she would be able to find someone she could communicate with. Pavi was her tongue’s enemy, the language was not easy for her to speak. It would not matter if she was able to speak the language anyway. Ayetah wouldn’t be able to find her voice and find the courage to ask someone for help. She was so bashful and mute around people she didn’t know. It was hard for her. It was hard for her to utter a word in common the day she visited the city. It was hard too for her during that horrible snowstorm, to ask for help. It was luck that horrible day that Madam stumbled upon her and offered her shelter.

”I need to go back and try to find someone, I must try again.” Ayetah told herself taking just a few steps back, she twirled around to follow the footprints she made back to the tent. She only remembered which way the city was from that point, from the tent.

Ayetah started back, watching the ground for her own prints. Ayetah was focusing too much on her own prints, she did not notice the dark almost chestnut color horse heading her way, it’s rider sitting atop. The crunching sound of its hooves did not reach her hears at all. Not even

Common|Shiber

[Colt]

The world of track and sign continued to crisscross unhelpfully, and Shahar and Akaidras continued to crunch stubbornly through it. There had to be something recent, and the hunter refused to turn back without anything to show for it.

As the man, horse and cat moved through the snowy plains, Shahar began to wonder if ground prey was really the wisest of quarry. Noise would be unavoidable today, even if he dismounted and hunted on foot, and any land beast that wasn’t deaf would know he was coming before he even laid eyes upon it.

But what about birds? To flush them into the air often required noise, and fallen snow did not hinder fowl’s wings after they abandoned the ground––nor a falcon’s. With winter turning, more and more flocks were migrating southward to escape the less forgiving places in the north, and they rested in Cyphrus where the wind was drier and less biting. One of those would be a prize to bring home, if they could find a resting flock.

His thoughts were interrupted by a cautious uneasiness, and it took a moment for him to realize that the feeling was not his own. He looked into the sky for his bondmate, who had risen even higher in the sky and was focused on something below, something on the ground.

Shahar brought Tuka to his side with a quick here, caution, close follow. The cat read the wariness in his posture and obeyed, though her ears remained pointed in curiosity, and Shahar angled his Strider towards Khida. Something was not right, although his bondmate didn’t seem to hold feelings of immediate, outright danger.

It was a peculiar speck that first came into his view, dark against the snow and taller than the surrounding grass. Two-legged. Fluttering clothes. A Drykas? There was no horse to be seen. A woman, Shahar realized as he came closer. A woman that appeared to be entirely alone, without even a Strider, dog or other animal for protection, causing Shahar to take up the assumption that she was not native to the Sea of Grass; no Drykas would dare put themselves in the position she was in.

Shahar let the matter of his hunt settle in to wait; he couldn’t leave an apparently defenseless person to the Sea of Grass, especially a person that seemed unaware of the danger. Urging Akaidras onward, Shahar turned to cut a wide loop around the woman until he entered her field of vision.

Stranger, he signed cautiously. Out here why? Far from city, danger.

[Khida]

The woman didn't look up, took no sign of the falcon in the air. Perhaps wherever she was from did not have Zith menace from the sky -- or maybe she simply had no awareness of danger.

The woman proceeded to shout a summons to the horizon, which resolved that mystery.

He took note, though whether of the shout or his sense of her through the bond, the Kelvic couldn't say. Enough that he approached, bringing Akaidras widely around the woman, finally closing the distance from the fore where she surely couldn't help but notice him.... Even if she was studying the ground just as intently as the hunters had been only moments ago. This stranger was no hunter, no tracker; what quarry did she seek? A missing child? Not one named Madam. Her mother?

The falcon whistled down to her bondmate, communicating intent. With a sharp cant of her body, she broke off circling and fell through the air; not truly diving, but descending at an angle too steep to be a glide. Wide-spread wings only moments later slowed her hurtling; she came into the column above Akaidras at a much more moderate velocity, one which let her select one of the handles on the Strider's yvas and guide herself in to land upon it.

So perched, the falcon cocked her head and peered towards the stranger with bright, intent gaze, waiting for her response to the hunter's query.

ShaharI'm assuming they wouldn't do something like have Khida land on Shahar's arm, given that he doesn't have a glove. If you think anything needs to be adjusted, just let me know.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Ayetah]

Finding your footsteps in snow seemed to be very easy. Ayetah’s footsteps were not spaced too far apart and so far she had been walking in the same direction. With her eyes concentrating on the ground she began to hum a little, the buzzing noise she made as she hummed blocking out the sound of what’s to come even more. Still, as she grew closer and closer to the man and his horse, her eyes were on the ground. The man did not catch her attention until the last moment, spooking Ayetah and causing her to jump. She took a couple steps back and away from the man, clutching her shawl and scowling at him.

It was not his fault she was not paying attention but Ayetah made it look like it was. Her eyebrows were drawn together in an angry manner, her lips were pressed tightly together; though that was not out of the ordinary. The young woman’s face never showed any other expression, especially to strangers. The very tanned-skin man that stood before her was indeed a stranger. His whereabouts were unknown to her , she could not tell if he were a friendly local or a sleazy traveler wandering about. He did not seem too much like a threat but Ayetah made it clear that she did not trust him .

Still, distance was kept. When the hawk came swooping out the air, landing on the saddle of the horse, the benshira took a couple more steps back. The man not only had a horse and a large cat but a hawk. A hawk that’s stare seemed to burn a hole through her. Why so many animals? She thought to herself. She did not understand why he needed so many. Ayetah felt the cat looked ready to pounce and she did not want to be its target.

Ayetah did not utter a single word to the man. Before the hawk appeared, he had done something with his hands and she was unsure what it was that he was doing. She just shook her head, feeling unsure what to say or do.

Yahal… watch over me.

Common|Shiber

[Colt]

The woman was less than pleased at his approach; she startled, clutched at her shawl and shot him a decidedly unfriendly glare, one that had Shahar tilting his head in curiosity. It was a strange expression to see upon a lone traveler in the Sea of Grass.

His curiosity was halted as his bondmate sent him her intent, and without though he leaned back to make room for her as she descended from the sky, stirring the air around him and coming to land upon the handle of the yvas. He gave her space to find stability, then settled himself back into a comfortable seat and returned his attention to the woman.

She was eyeing Tuka, who was crouched and flicking her tail in excited curiosity. New people were always something that interested her, especially if they were able to play with her. Although from the look of it, play was the last thing on the stranger’s mind.

She hadn’t responded to his signs. She hadn’t seemed to even recognize them as an attempt to communicate. A definite foreigner, then, and likely very unfamiliar to the Sea of Grass.

“Endrykas,” Shahar rasped. “Out bad, danger. You no others, danger. Why?”

[Khida]

The woman's manner suggested unease, apprehension. Only now, with the specter of a stranger before her -- close enough that, did any of them mean her harm, it would probably have already been done. Now, and not before, not before shouting her presence for all in the Sea to hear.

Khida cast a glance towards the horizons on either side, just in case. Though her view was now obscured in places by horse and rider, not so complete as it might have been. She would still watch for what she could.

The woman said nothing, causing the hunter to resort to speech in order to make his point. Danger, he emphasized in Common. Khida tipped her head the other way, then whistled her own emphasis.

Would the stranger prove to understand Common? If she did, Khida might shift and help translate. Though, too, there was little to say -- danger, foolish, go in to safety. All concepts he did not need the Kelvic to convey. So she waited, watched, listened -- the woman would explain, or not; she would return, or not; and the falcon would do as the situation and her bondmate required.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Naiya]

Here's what the Fox says

Name: Shahar
XP Award:

• Hunting +1
• Tactics +2
• Tracking +1

Lore:

• Hunting: when noise is unavoidable, use it to your advantage
• Tactics: adapting to the situation at hand
• Tuka: always seeking new playmates
• Tuka: an avid hunter

Notes: There was not a lot here as far as skills, but I gave you what I found, if you feel I missed anything let me know!

Name: Khida
XP Award:

• Tracking +1

Lore:

• A whistle to signal intent
• Observation: Spotting a stranger in the grasses
• Observation: Tawny companions in the grass
• Tracking: identifying hoof prints
• Tracking: snow will hold a track until it melts

Notes: Were you not maxed out in observation I would have awarded it here, as it was, I tried to give lores for what you did see. If you think I missed something here, please let me know!

Name: Ayetah

Notes: Should you return, PM me and I will post your grade