Completed Use What You Have

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

30th Summer 515
When he had asked her to hunt with him, she had been overwhelmed.

No, he had asked if he could hunt with her, something even better.

She had, of course, agreed, and the next day they found themselves out past the fringe forest, both mounted on glorious horses, although his was just a mix and hers a strider. The akalak, who called himself Hunter, carried a spear, sharp and deadly, with intricate patterns along the shaft, carvings of leaves and rabbits darting among them. It hung casually down one side of the horse, where he held it with the reins.

Merevaika clutched her own bow in her left hand, resting it on one side of the horse's withers, with her quiver hanging the other side, brushing lightly against Eryunt's legs as he walked towards the foreign horse. As they came closer, his ears flattened against his head and he snorted, stamping his feet. The other horse held the same posture towards him, but nipped him sharply. Merevaika nudged her horse a little, trying to get him to stop, but he continued pawing at the ground until the other horse stepped back in submission.

"Sorry for that, " Merevaika apologized, "Eryunt gets a bit dominating over other stallions sometimes. " What she didn't mention was that he only did it when their owners were troublesome too. She had never met a horse who he acted like that towards who had a nice owner. That wasn't the best sign.

She clicked with her tongue, guiding Eryunt away from the other horse and towards the hunt, nudging with her leg to guide him. It wasn't just her legs she used though. Her whole body moved with him, tilting and shifting position. They picked up the pace to a trot, then a canter, before breaking into a gallop. The akalak followed behind, horse following her own. Through the corner of her eye, she watched him ride, and didn't like what she saw.

First, he struggled to stay on, especially at the faster speeds. He also insisted in hitting and poking the horse with the spear, despite the fact that he was going as fast as he could. "There!" the man called out, pointing into the distance where they could just about make out a herd of deer. Merevaika shook off the thoughts of him riding, stopping her horse. It was fairly small, five deer at the most, but they didn't want more, so that was enough.

Merevaika started signing with quick fluid motions, before remembering that the akalak wasn't fluent in Pavi, so slowed down, the Grassland sign slower and more deliberate. You
west, I east. Drive north, then pick. He nodded in agreement, spurring his horse on. Merevaika clicked again, and she disappeared into the other direction, making a long loop round to avoid being down wind from the animals.

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

Their agreement was simple. They would hunt down two deer, and butcher and skin them together, aiding the other. They would keep one each for themselves. The akalak had assumed that she was a good hunter, as well as competent in the other skills involved with the trade, so had happily agreed, but what he didn't know was that she wasn't that good at anything.

Merevaika was planning on conning him into doing most the work for her, free of charge, and keep the deer for herself. It seemed simple and effective. Of course, with her skills being as they were, she couldn't exactly expect to get two deer which was the whole point of the hunt.

Another part of the plan was that she would pick out the best deer and shoot them with arrows tipped with bright red feathers, marking them and injuring them in the process. The akalak, who had simply called himself Hunter, would chase them down.

That plan had holes in too. She wasn't exactly the most competent at using a bow, so she couldn't vouch on her shots hitting. But she would do her best, which would hopefully be enough.

The two hunters leveled off beside the deer, and charged. It was a herd of young deer, the largest only having four points, and at spotting the charging horses, bolted off, zigzagging left and right in various directions. They first went around the south, driving the deer north, before running alongside them, keeping them together. Merevaika caught up with a fairly large one, steadying herself on her horse and taking her bow and arrow, using her lower body to stay on the horse.

She notched the arrow, the bow tilted so it didn't move away from it but instead rested on it. She drew it back like this, fingers tensing when they reached her cheek. Despite her efforts to loosen up, her whole body was tense, struggling to stay on the horse and try shoot the deer at the same time. At last she let the arrow drop, falling towards the stag, which bolted at just the large moment. Somehow, despite the shaking and movement, it managed to imbed itself into the stag's rear, and Merevaika shouted at Hunter, pointing towards the marked deer. He nodded and made his way towards it, spear at the ready.

Merevaika moved forward to the last deer moving north, the rest having scattered. This one had three points on each antler, and was fairly large, and strong , judging from the speed. Eryunt, being a strider, latched onto the Web, pushing forward until they were running neck to neck. The deer darted from side to side, suddenly changing direction, but she managed to follow, falling back then catching up again.

Eryunt's breathing had sped up, but he didn't slow, hooves thundering over the landscape, flying past bushes and grass. She drew out her bow again, notching another arrow. This one, she would take down. They ran round in circles, Eryunt not letting the stag go. It started slowing, legs tired from the movement, while the strider could still run across the Sea of Grass and back at the same speed, and they took over, driving the deer left and right.

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

Once they had slowed to a decent speed, she drew back the arrow, straightening up and moving both arms up. Aiming was hard, but the arrow flew well, missing only by a little. The next arrow hit its mark, thudding into the stomach. The deer buckled, and she used the moment to slow Eryunt to a trot, swinging her right leg up onto his back, before pushing off, slipping off onto the ground with a uncomfortable landing. The air knocked out of her, and her back ached with the impact, but she couldn't wait. Merevaika had already stood up and was sprinting towards the deer, which was slowly limping away. Her knife was out and she jumped onto the animal, pushing it to the floor. It thrashed, hitting her shin with its antlers, scraping a little skin away, but before it could fight back more, Merevaika slit its throat, fur becoming red.

Hunter rode up towards her, his deer dragging behind him. It was a similar size and age, perhaps even slightly younger. "I've never seen someone dismount a horse like that," he commented, "Or someone take a deer down like that. It could have injured you."

Merevaika shook her head. "I don't know. I didn't want to puncture the skin more," she explained, coming up an quick explanation for her stupid move. She shifted off the stag, wincing at the pain. Her back killed, and Hunter, seeing this, helped her up, pulling the deer up and over Eryunt, leaving it on rather oddly. Merevaika pushed him away from her horse, who was stamping his feet at the man's touch, and adjusted the prize comfortably, slotting nicely around the yvas.

"Let's go to the forest. We can use some trees there to hang up the deer for butchering," Hunter suggested, and Merevaika nodded, as if she was just about to suggest the same thing. The more she tried to convince him, the more successful she would be. She mounted Eryunt slowly, finding walking uncomfortable. He set off on a slow trot, which seemed to hurt even more, but the speed was good. Eventually the ache disappeared, and all she had to concentrate on was riding.

Once they reached the forest, Merevaika pulled herself and the stag off, taking the yvas off with her. She gave him a quick brush, getting rid off some of the swaet built up on his body, before leading him to a stream, letting him drink a little before leaving him to chew on the grass.

The trees they eventually chose were large and strong, standing right next to each other. Hunter tied his deer around the neck with rope, and she copied, tightening the knot like he did. He then threw it over the tree branch, hoisting it up and securing it in place. He spotted Merevaika struggled with pulling it up, the deer heavy for her, and gave her some help, smiling comfortably.

He then slit the deer down from the neck, pulling out organs as he went. Merevaika copied him, although a little more messily that he did. Rather than remaining mostly whole like his did, they came out like little scraps of meat, suitable for the dogs to eat. She would smoke it, or something, and feed it to them.

Then, the two took the legs, chopping off the hooves at the elbows. Hunter occasionally glanced at his companion to see how she was coping - when he did, she looked away from him, trying to make things up. At times it was hard to see exactly what he did, the large akalak blocking her view, but this step didn't seem too hard. Her knife made an incision, and she cut around the joint, tearing ligaments as she sawing and hacked at it, struggling to cut through it nicely. Eventually, she gave up with the knife, twisting and turning the joint before snapping it off.

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

By the time she had finished with two, Hunter had moved on to the next step. Desperate not to fall behind, she called out to him, beckoning for him to come closer. "Help me with this? My knife isn't the sharpest," she lied, sawing at one hoof while he worked on the other one.

Once she had finished, she followed his next step. They cut around the base of the skull, joining up with the vertical cut that they had used to get the organs out. Her fingernails dug under the skin, peeling it back and trying not to get hair on the meat underneath. To do this, she worked slowly and carefully, scraping at the skin and slicing it apart from muscle tissue. Hunter chuckled, and she realized that he was standing right behind her. "You aren't the best at that, are you?" he chuckled, moving her out the way to help with the skinning. He was quicker, peeling back a little before slicing it away, each movement concise and accurate.

"No," she blushed, head down in shame.

"Here, I'll help you."

Hunter prised the last of the skin away, resting it on log and handing her a bone, shaped a little to scrape off the flesh. "Use small movements, and don't press too hard. Just get all the flesh off it."

Merevaika nodded, scraping carefully. It tore and ripped a little, but Hunter nodded happily, satisfied with her work. "Then we wash it, and scrape off the hair."

The two moved the skin to a small stream, letting the water soften the hairs before scraping them off. Once again, she got holes in it, and this time a scowl on his face. They hung up the skin, stretching it out with rope, scraping at it even more. Some parts took too long, her scrapes too weak, and when she tried to speed up the process, she managed to poke more holes through it.

Hunter then fetched the deer's brain, showing Merevaika how to mash it up with a little water and apply it to the skin to soften it. While waiting for the skin to soften, they butchered up the meat.

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

Merevaika had given up long before she reached this step. She cut the meat up in little strips as she could, while Hunter separated the legs, the shoulders and the back in large chunks. She started a small fire, blowing on the embers until it was fairly large, before hanging up the meat to smoke above it.

Hunter soon joined her beside the fire, his own deer skin hung up to dry. "We can take them down at night fall. They won't be the softest, but we can't leave them out here, some animals might damage them." What he said was true, and Merevaika just wanted to get her skin anyway, to try repair the holes as best she could. She would use it as a blanket, especially as it got colder through the next season.

"Mine is already damaged," Merevaika said simple, gesturing towards the skin filled with rips and holes. Hunter smiled, rolling his eyes.

"It's what, your first time? I can tell, you looked so helpless. I was just like that when I first did it. Mine was worse though," he said, poking at the fire a little, "So what's a girl like you doing alone and away from home? Are you with your pavilion?"

"They died," she said softly, looking away to hide the tears that had built up.

"I'm sorry." His eyes were filled with a similar pain, although he didn't share it. She didn't ask.

"Don't be. The gods just wanted to punish me. I came to Riverfall this spring, to look around, change of scenery. I just happened to stay. I'm going back though; Riverfall is amazing, but not for me. And you? How do you know Pavi and all about the drykas?"

"I lived in Endrykas for a few years when I was younger, to learn their hunting ways. The Drykas are amazing hutners, you must know that. I prefer Pavi to Tukant, as it isn't as complicated, and grassland sign has so many uses. Hunting, of course, is rubbish without being silent."

Merevaika smiled, taking one piece of smoke deer meet and handing it to him. He took it gratefully, eating slowly. She took another and ate it, before starting to roll the others into small balls to save space when traveling. "You know, you need to stop using the spear to stab your horse."

"Huh?"

"It's not nice, he doesn't like it. Horses don't need to be forced forward. If you want him to go faster, click your tongue or kick him, not hard so it hurts, but hard so they understand."

Hunter nodded, listening curiously. "And treat him with respect. Take off his saddle as soon as you can. Give him water, and food, and groom him often," she added, examining his coat, which was matted with mud and sweat, "This hasn't been brushed for days! A horse is a person, not a tool."

Hunter smiled, getting up. "Thank you for the advice, but its getting late. I'll take him home and give him a good bath, how about that?"

Merevaika nodded with approvement. "Thank you for the help."

The man smiled back. "Thank you too."

[Konrad Venger]

Nice job, Merevaika! Your work has pleased The Sloth! Rewards XP: Observation - 2 Riding - 3 Hunting - 4 Weapon: Short Bow - 2 Animal Husbandry - 2 Subterfuge - 2 Socialization - 2 Wilderness Survival - 1 Lore: Hunter: Akalak Who Follows His Name Hunting: Staying Downwind Subterfuge: Let The Akalak Do The Work Hunting: Tiring Your Prey Out Animal Husbandry: Maintaining Your Hunting Mount Hunting: How To PROPERLY Skin A Deer Socialization: Giving Advice Without Being Pushy Click Me! : I really am enjoying your threads, love. You seem to have them flow quite well. Not very much introspection going on, which I would usually think was kinda shallow, but much like Mere herself, your posts are always IN THE MOMENT. Not to mention impeccably researched. I usually have to include pictures for trapping/hunting but your descriptions are thorough enough to not need them at all. Here's hoping "Hunter" reappears some time. Seems like a good bloke. Oh, and please make sure you go back and edit your post in the Request Thread to reflect the fact this one is now done and dusted. PM me with any questions and later 'tater!