12th of fall, 515 a.v
midday
There was a heavy heat that hung over the grasslands today. Not as thick as the previous heat of summer, but hot enough that Shahar had chosen to go about shirtless, quiver strap sticking to his bare skin as he made his way through the tall brush.
At his right trotted Snow, ears perked and eyes roving over everything within sight; she didn’t usually come on hunts, but this morning had managed to convince her partner that yes, she was young, yes, she was inexperienced, but she couldn’t very well get any better if she just stayed at home and waited for him to return. Beneath it, though, Shahar could still sense a deep longing and worry; Snow didn’t like being left alone, because the others in the camp didn’t meet the same definition of ‘company’ that he did. She wanted to remain with him, and so he had allowed her to come on the condition that she did everything he said and asked no questions until they got home, at which time he would answer everything she wanted to ask. She had agreed happily, and now flanked him closely as he followed their lead.
Tuka was ahead of them, cutting a strafing pattern through the grass as she followed the scent of their prey. They weren’t quite ‘close’ yet, but they were gaining quickly; prints and signs of passage were appearing more and more frequently as they trailed the hunting cat, and Shahar was surprised to find Snow already putting her attention to it, vague inquiry directed at the ground. She didn’t ask any direct questions, but Shahar found himself answering her anyway.
That, he said, pinpointing a single hoofprint in the earth. The mind could say things that the mouth could not, and whatever bound him to Snow allowed him to break down every piece of the print, keeping the image in both of their minds even as they moved beyond the physical reality of it. He drew her attention to both dewdrop-shaped marks, and to the two dots below them. When she conveyed understanding of the print in its entirety, he flashed her a picture of deer, the very kind they were hunting. That deer that foot-print. He told what color they were, how big they were, the differences between male and female, and how that once one could tell the difference between the tracks of individual animals, they could determine gender by how they behaved. Snow met each thought with determined openness, absorbing every detail with meticulous resolve to learn.
Their silent exchange was halted when Tuka let out an excited chirp ahead of them; they were getting close. Shahar summoned Tuka back to his side and weighed how far they had come; he knew that there was a pond just a few minutes’ walk ahead, and he suspected that that was where the herd of deer would gather. The heat of the past days encouraged thirst, and not only would it be a place for the deer to drink, but the water would surely beget thick and generous plant life at its banks. The trail they were following was very fresh, and Shahar was relatively certain that the herd would linger at the waterbank for at least a small while. Long enough for them to catch up.
Flashing tense to Tuka and sending caution to Snow, Shahar stooped into a cautious, quiet crouch and began closing in.
midday
There was a heavy heat that hung over the grasslands today. Not as thick as the previous heat of summer, but hot enough that Shahar had chosen to go about shirtless, quiver strap sticking to his bare skin as he made his way through the tall brush.
At his right trotted Snow, ears perked and eyes roving over everything within sight; she didn’t usually come on hunts, but this morning had managed to convince her partner that yes, she was young, yes, she was inexperienced, but she couldn’t very well get any better if she just stayed at home and waited for him to return. Beneath it, though, Shahar could still sense a deep longing and worry; Snow didn’t like being left alone, because the others in the camp didn’t meet the same definition of ‘company’ that he did. She wanted to remain with him, and so he had allowed her to come on the condition that she did everything he said and asked no questions until they got home, at which time he would answer everything she wanted to ask. She had agreed happily, and now flanked him closely as he followed their lead.
Tuka was ahead of them, cutting a strafing pattern through the grass as she followed the scent of their prey. They weren’t quite ‘close’ yet, but they were gaining quickly; prints and signs of passage were appearing more and more frequently as they trailed the hunting cat, and Shahar was surprised to find Snow already putting her attention to it, vague inquiry directed at the ground. She didn’t ask any direct questions, but Shahar found himself answering her anyway.
That, he said, pinpointing a single hoofprint in the earth. The mind could say things that the mouth could not, and whatever bound him to Snow allowed him to break down every piece of the print, keeping the image in both of their minds even as they moved beyond the physical reality of it. He drew her attention to both dewdrop-shaped marks, and to the two dots below them. When she conveyed understanding of the print in its entirety, he flashed her a picture of deer, the very kind they were hunting. That deer that foot-print. He told what color they were, how big they were, the differences between male and female, and how that once one could tell the difference between the tracks of individual animals, they could determine gender by how they behaved. Snow met each thought with determined openness, absorbing every detail with meticulous resolve to learn.
Their silent exchange was halted when Tuka let out an excited chirp ahead of them; they were getting close. Shahar summoned Tuka back to his side and weighed how far they had come; he knew that there was a pond just a few minutes’ walk ahead, and he suspected that that was where the herd of deer would gather. The heat of the past days encouraged thirst, and not only would it be a place for the deer to drink, but the water would surely beget thick and generous plant life at its banks. The trail they were following was very fresh, and Shahar was relatively certain that the herd would linger at the waterbank for at least a small while. Long enough for them to catch up.
Flashing tense to Tuka and sending caution to Snow, Shahar stooped into a cautious, quiet crouch and began closing in.