Solo The Bull and The Lion

[Dravite]

40 Fall, 515 AV
Afternoon
Sea of Grass

Dravite crushed one of the local grassland plants he had gathered down into a sticky green paste. He managed to make a very weak paint like substance out if the paste and rubbed some over the length of his exposed limbs to add to the camouflage he had already applied. Once this was complete, he got his weapons ready and slowly stalked out of camp on foot, carrying a yvas and saddle bags over his right shoulder.

When he finally reached the herd outside of the city gates, all three hunting dogs in tow, Dravite whistled for Cree but it was Vicious who raised her head and trotted over to greet him. He rubbed the mare's neck and combed his fingers through her mane, picking out bits of grass and twigs where she had obviously decided to roll around in the tall grass and make the most of the weather while it wasn't raining.

Unfused, he fixed the yvas to the animal's back and connected the safety strap across her chest before tightening the yvas bags and offering the mare a piece of dried meat as a reward for standing so still, meat he usually reserved for the dogs or himself were he to be forced to camp outside of the city over night. Before getting up onto the mare, Dravite decided it best to plot his course of action. He sat down close by and closed his eyes, concentrating on clearing his mind in order to slip into a meditative trance that would sweep him away into the depths of the Drykas web.

There he was able to roam the land faster than any strider could carry him, and was able to travel further than most dreamed. Today, however, he did not plan to go very far, choosing to hunt anything he managed to stumble upon as long as it was red meat, something that was easier for the pavilion to dry out. Ideally he would have liked a young deer that wouldn't be too hard to carry and cart back to the city, but he couldn't be too picky, it was nearing the end of the hunting season and soon most animals would be off limits; this being the time the Drykas people left them to feed up and grow fat in order to survive the winter. Such was the circle of life on the plains which they all needed to respect if they wanted the spring to be fruitful.

In the web Dravite stumbled upon nothing but a few rabbits, a couple of coyote brothers roaming closer to the river and a snake he would rather avoid. He didn't use the web so much for hunting as he did to seek out hungry predators that he would rather steer clear of, though with all the foot traffic that had come and gone this fall, it seemed even they were few and far between, choosing to hunt on the other side of the lake in favour of greener pastures.

The horse lord weaved his way through the web in order to return to his physical form and got to his feet slowly, finding that Kavu had been sitting licking the natural paints off his right hand while he had been lost to the world, "hey," Dravite scolded the Painted Desert dog, "I need that for blending in."

Once he was up on his horse he decided to steer the mare towards the wild grove of fruit trees that stood bare of the leaves they had harboured at the beginning of the season. It is going to be a cold winter, the watchman thought to himself then, for the trees have already tasted the cold and the season is only young yet. With a low whistle, he summoned the dogs to follow. Grim was happy to gallop ahead with his nose to the ground, following the enticing smells of rabbits and other small game while Kavu and Meka hung back, more suited to the task of guarding and shepherding than hunting as Dravite was attempting to train them for.

With a light nudge to the mare's side, Vicious sprung forwards and galloped after the Imperial Watcher that had gone before them, making a beeline towards the grove. It felt strange to hunt alone without Roan or Lian to tag along and Dravite felt an odd feeling of déjà vu pass over him, though he couldn't be sure what had sparked the peculiar sensation, he tried to think back to a point in the season, either this or the last, when he had found himself in the same predicament.

.
.
.

[Dravite]

The grass surrounding the grove was a lot more lush than that of the rest of the grasslands and the way the land rolled into a natural dip here suggested that perhaps this area trapped a bit more water than the rest of the plains, allowing the grass to stay greener for longer, even in the summer when the shade from the bushy trees protected the grass a lot better. Dravite singled for Vicious to gallop up towards rather tree line before he had the mare slow down into a controllable trot, allowing him to steer her through the trees more effectively.

The low hanging branches seemed to reach out and grab at him and after a few chimes of navigating the grove on horseback, the watchman decided to steer Vicious into a clearing and dismount, using the toe of his boot to guide her movements until he brought her to a comfortable stop. As he got down from the horse, Dravite heard a snapping sound, the ground feeling rather springy under foot and reminded himself to tread carefully, lest he give away his position. He looked down to find that he had landed on a pile of old leaves and twigs and quickly got to work, looking around for any signs of tracks he might be able to find, or markings that suggested the recent movement of animals.

It was the tree bark that gave him his first clue where the wet, leathery coating of the tree had been torn and scratched at, either by a set of antlers or and playful bear cub. Dravite scanned the ground around the tree for any other signs of life and found a couple of impressions on the ground that could have belonged to the footfalls of a deer, though they seemed a little bigger than he recalled. Curious, the man took his sketchbook from the yvas bag and flipped to one of the pages where he had already attempted to record a hoof print he was more than certain belonged to a deer. He compared this to the tracks on the ground and when he found the two to be slightly different, the watchman took an ink stick from his pack and started sketching in the shape roughly onto a blank page.

It wasn't too difficult to get the shape of the print right, but adding detail still proved tricky. Dravite worked on some shading techniques, cross hatching and shadowing, which proved harder than he had imagined, leaving the end result to be less than desired. Not too fussed, he made a short list of some of the animals the hoof print could have belonged to, penning them down beside the sketch he had left half finished. Deer, elk, a young moose? The Pavi words read before he returned the sketchbook and ink pen back to the saddle bag and left Vicious alone while he ventured further out into the grove, signalling the dogs to stay low and move as quickly and quietly as possible, just as he was doing now, concentrating his weight to specific parts of his feet in order to move quietly.

The black, green, and brown tones of paint he had decided to don worked well against the skeleton trees, this partnered with the black of his clothing and the way Dravite moved ahead so slowly, he figured it would be difficult but not impossible for whatever might be out here to spot him. Kavu and Meka crawled on their bellies comically and the watchman rewarded them every now and then for doing as they were told, reinforcing good habits.

Though it seemed relatively quiet, the few birds that he was able to see up in some of the treetops were happy to hop about, skipping from branch to branch merrily while they sang and called to one another. Bird chatter, Dravite had come to find, was a good sign that nothing too dangerous was in the area, though considering that probably made him the main danger, he was careful not to try and draw their attention. Grim, the Imperial Watcher, was proving a little more stubborn when it came to stealth and twice he had to call the animal back with a low, short whistle; maybe I should have come without them, he reconsidered, until Grim stopped dead in his tracks and pointed with one leg bent, eyes fixed on just the kind of prey Dravite would be all too happy to take home.

.
.
.

[Dravite]

The bull was a good fifty metres from where the watchman was crouched low in the tall grass, relying on his camouflage to keep him hidden while he tried to dream up the best way of going about taking the animal down. He had never hunted elk alone before and as the beast was a lot bigger than the average deer, whatever form of attack he decided to use, it would have to be quick and powerful. Though the horse lord tended to rely on his skill with the spear, he decided he would probably have a lot more luck with the bow worn over his shoulder and across his chest today.

Tentatively, he worked himself free from the weapon and looked around for a better point to shoot from, one that was clear of the trees he found himself surrounded by. The only problem was if he moved now, the dogs might get the wrong idea and race ahead, spooking the elk from the area. After weighing up his options for a time, Dravite realised his best bet was probably to try and take the shot from where he stood and only send the dogs after the elk if he was unable to land a hit before racing back the way he had come to fetch Vicious in order to go after them all.

Slow, he reminded himself, the temptation to race the shot overwhelming especially as the elk moved in and out of range along the tree line. He crept forwards in the grass, holding his breath as if he feared it might betray him and rush out all at once, alerting the bull to his being there. Carefully he breathed through his nose without making a sound and raised the bow very slowly as not to draw the animal's eye. He put his right hand across his body to draw an arrow from the quiver on his left hip and fixed the arrow to the string of his bow before drawing the sting back slowly until it was taut and the arrowhead was in place.

On one knee the man found he had more movement than he first imagined and was thankful then that he had picked a short bow to learn over the long bow his people seemed to prefer. After steadying his shot, he turned his body with the slow movement of the elk and as the animal stilled, the hunter felt his heart thump hard as if to tell him to take the shot now. The newly released arrow travelled faster than the watchman's eye could follow it, piercing the elk in his lower belly, just in front of his left, hind leg. The animal made a guttural sound and kicked his legs, darting away deeper into the grove, "Seek!" Dravite ordered the dogs into motion and all three of them raced towards the area that the elk had been and then out of sight, their barking the only clue that would lead him towards them.

The hunter ran back to his horse and fixed his bow over his head to rest on his shoulder so that it lay across his body once more before jumping up onto the mare's back. He kicked the wild Bloodbane into action and steered her through the trees towards the sound of the hunting dogs, ducking out of the way of low hanging branches that whipped and pulled at him. Once Vicious caught onto the smell of blood she moved like a hound, head low and feet stalking, racing ahead whenever she got a good whiff of which direction the elk had gone in or heard Grim’s lurid bark.
.
.
.

[Dravite]

The elk had more stamina than Dravite had given it credit for and soon they had raced from the cover of trees out onto the open plain. The grass was a blur below his feet and air thick with the promise of rain, pushed his knotted hair back from his face as he rode the horse the way the crow flies across country. Every now and then he caught a glimpse of the animal, slowly gaining ground on the bull, which seemed to be slowing down.

It was only another chime before Grim managed to take a hold of one of the elk's back legs, wrestling it to a halt. The large animal tried to turn and impale the dog with the impressive antlers on his head, of which looked to host at least six or seven tines on each side. Grim turned with the bull, avoiding the antlers while Kavu and Meka stood back out of the way; their smaller bodies no match for a large elk.

Dravite brought his horse to a stop and readied his bow for another shot. It was rare for him to shoot from horseback, but he was close enough now and wanted to make the most of the opportunity Grim had provided him with by holding the animal in place and causing it to turn in circles on itself. He fixed an arrow and took aim, checking down the sights to make sure that his shot was right before he waited for the right moment to strike. With a slow, measured breath he loosed the arrow and watched it whizz like a bolt of lightning towards the bull, striking it in its lightly maned neck, too close to the top where the thick muscle protected the spine.

The watchman, though pleased to find that he was landing hits, felt a little robbed by the idea that he wouldn't have been able to take the bull down alone. He wore his bow and raised the spear he often fell back on in battle, lifting it up into an attacking stance as he drove Vicious straight towards the wounded elk, who stood, belly and the length of both back legs painted with blood. As the horse galloped towards its target, the bull spun to face them with antlers lowered like a wall of spikes, stopping the Bloodbane from getting any closer.

Vicious reared up and kicked her front legs forward in an act of defiance that saw Dravite only just manage to stay on, one hand taking up a fistful of the mare's grey mane while the other plunged the spear down between the elk's shoulders, piercing the hide on his back which grew thick with fur, just as ready for winter as the naked skeleton trees in the grove had been. As the bull charged forwards, Vicious danced away from his attack and Dravite got down from the mare's back, choosing to go on foot if he planned to take back his spear successfully.
.
.
.

[Dravite]

"Hold!" He encouraged Grim, "good boy, get him!"

The Imperial Watcher growled and shook, trying to take the bull down from behind while Dravite tried to dart in against his side and grab the spear while the animal was focused on his horse. Vicious bared her sharp fangs and snapped intimidatingly at the elk, confusing the poor beast that had never before run into a horse such as this one. Perplexed, the bull raised his head and that was when Vicious took her chance, lunging forwards to take the elk by the throat. It was then Dravite fetched his spear and plunged it into the bull's chest, using his strength and body weight to drive the weapon as deep as he could.

The elk folded forwards on its knees and with dagger in hand, Dravite ripped the animal's neck open to try and end his suffering quickly. He made a low, deep sound that would carry on the wind for half a mile as he died and Dravite knew he would have to work quickly in order to take what he could before the grasslands summoned an opposing team of predators, hungry for scraps.

With his hatchet he cut the head free at the neck as quickly as possible, thanking Caiyha for the kill and leaving the head to busy his blood thirsty horse. With his hunting knife he opened the belly, drawing a quick line down the middle before removing the arrow and burying his hands in the bull's gut in order to pull out everything he had no time to find a use for. He used his hunting knife then to skin the animal, not bothering to go to the trouble of taking the hide from the legs, just the belly, back, and neck, leaving him with a large wet sheet to spread out and lay any good meat on before he would wrap it for the trip home.

As much as the idea of taking the ribs caused the man's mouth to water, they would be too heavy to carry home with one horse alone and Dravite cursed himself for not bringing along a second. He cut all four legs free and tied them at the feet, hanging them over the mare's back. The watchman stripped the remains as quickly as he could, careful not to cut a finger with the sharp knife in the process. By the time he was done he had more meat than he knew what to do with and wrapped it in the wet hide before bundling it up and tying it off with rope to secure the contents. Lifting the meat proved a challenge, and the horse lord’s legs shook as he finally brought it up off the ground and managed to secure it across the mare's back, one end in each of the large yvas bags to secure the load.

Vicious made a low grunting sound as if to say she was feeling the weight, and Dravite, still not willing to let so much go to waste, hacked at the top side of ribs, cutting them free from the spine before he did the same to the stripped antlers, which even without their velvet were a nice take. He hiked the side of ribs up onto his shoulder and looked up to the rise to find that the coyotes were already gathering, which meant other, more dangerous animals were on the way. When the man looked skyward, two large birds of prey were circling overhead and Dravite took this as his cue to depart, leaving them to fight over the guts and remains his dogs hadn't already managed to gorge themselves on.

.
.
.

[Dravite]

Returning home on foot was risky and less than ideal, but unless Dravite wanted to leave anything he had packed behind, it was his only current option. He led the mare and hunting dogs back towards the grove, even though it made the trip home further than it would have been if they travelled in a straight line, the trees, as bare as they were, provided valuable cover from predators, such as the larger prey animals that preferred the open space of the plains to the closed in neck of the woods.

It took all of three bells and a near miss with a nasty looking snake before they made it home and by the time Dravite stumbled into camp he was too tired to unpack the horse. He flopped down on the grass near the fire pit and groaned; his feet and shoulders sore, his mouth dry and his limbs throbbing. The man was covered in blood, but thankfully, none of it was his own. Belkaia stepped out of the tent and caught her breath suddenly, "I'm all right!" He told his wife before she had a chance to panic, "it's elk blood, not mine."
The woman placed a hand against her chest and sighed, "thank the gods, I thought I was going to have to run and fetch Pearl, and I'm really in no shape to run," she laughed and Dravite joined her, "would you like some water, my love?"
"Please," he nodded and sat up.

After drinking the water offered to him, Dravite got to his feet and filled a bucket of water for Vicious, setting it down in front of her for the mare to drink deeply from while he started unpacking the meat from her back.
"This was a good take," Belkaia smiled, "we must thank the gods for our fortune."
"We must," the watchman agreed, "but first there is work to be done."
"What work?"
"I need to make a drying rack and hang this meat to dry so that we can use it during the winter," he explained.
"My love the meat is not going anywhere, can't you rest first?"
"No," he insisted, he wanted to get this done today while he still had two hours of light left.

Dravite got out of his blood soaked tabard and pulled off his shirt before having a quick wash to remove the paint that still clung to his skin then setting to work. He took some long, straight branches from their wood reserves and stripped them of their twigs and made sure they were all about the same length before he tired together a frame that he could use to run three or four more lengths of wood between to hold the drying meat. Carefully, he measured the lengths with rope and then cut the rope to length, enough to hold up the weight of the rack to hang in the storage room of the tent where it was out of the weather, but close enough to the wall to expose to the elements on a warm day.

With the bark then stripped, he rolled four short, fat logs from the wood pile and used them as legs to hold the rack up off the ground, ready to hang the meat over. Belkaia helped him cut the lean red meat into long, thin strips, smother it in a thick layer of salt, and place them over the rack with a finger's width set between them to ensure that everything would dry out correctly. The man was forced to repeat this project twice more until he had enough racks for all of the meat and his wife beamed at him, impressed by this efforts, "Pearl will be pleased," she offered, her words partnered with a warm smile.
"I am pleased," he replied, "winter will be that much easier to get through now."
"We should cook the ribs to feast on tonight," Belkaia grinned.
"I will smoke them," Dravite agreed and set to work removing small chunks of fat from the lining of the hide before he worked on tanning it, rubbing fistfuls of salt into the wet side in order to toughen and cure the leather.

.
.
.

[Dravite]

Dravite held the makeshift match close to the thick knots of dry grass he had balled up in order to get the fire going, adding bits of kindling and dried vegetation to the mix in order to feed the young flames. He added two logs to the flame once it was a roar and set down the grill, high enough that the fire could not lick at the rack of ribs. The watchman then covered the meat and fire pit to leave the smoke to do its work before hanging the salted meat above that to fast track the curing process, which along with the salt, would dry the meat out enough for him to hang in the tent later after rotating the stack a few times.

The smell of the curing meat would stink the tent out for a few days, but it was a smell Dravite was willing to put up with, though he felt somewhat guilty for expecting his pregnant wives to do the same, especially Pearl. He wasn't quite in a position to buy a second tent just yet, one they could use for food storage or housing their animals and guests, but planned to do such the following season.

The horse lord sat up for hours, tending to the racks of meat and adding more wood to the fire pit. By the time the rack of ribs was ready to eat, the meat was falling off the bone, but Dravite felt too tired to eat. Belkaia had long fallen asleep with their children and Pearl had gone straight to bed after a long shift at the River Flower. Roan was still up to helped carry the meat racks into the back of the tent quietly, and after getting all three hung up, he joined Dravite outside under the stars to enjoy the last of the warmth the smouldering fire pit would provide.
"You're working yourself to the bone," Roan piped up quietly, "you don't have to you know, we all respect what you do, but try and slow down? We all rely on you and can't afford for you to get sick."
Dravite grunted, "I'm fine."
"No, you're not," Roan scolded, "you're wasting away and I'm not the only one to notice; eat something would you?"
The watchman stared at his comrade in the dark before picking a piece of meat from the ribs of the smoked elk, "here," he waved the tender meat back and forth before throwing it in his mouth to chew and gulp down hurriedly, "satisfied?"
"I will be," Roan hissed, "when you look like the man I chose to follow in the summer, because right now," he offered, "I hardly recognise you anymore."

Dravite fell quiet but sniffed as if to let the remark roll away like water off a duck's back. He didn't say anymore, nor did his friend, but the two of them sat eating until their bellies were full and it seemed more comfortable to add wood to the pit to get the fire burning again and spend the night under the stars, talking until they both fell asleep, though come morning neither could be sure of who had drifted off first.

.
.
.

[Pearl]

Dravite

Experience

• Camouflage 2
• Philtering 1
• Painting 1
• Webbing 1
• Scouting 2
• Logic 2
• Animal Husbandry 3
• Riding: Horse 3
• Drawing 1
• Writing 1
• Stealth 2
• Intelligence 2
• Hunting 4
• Tactics 1
• Weapon: Shortbow 2
• Weapon: Spear 2
• Weapon: Dagger 1
• Running 1
• Body Building 2
• Butchering 1
• Wilderness Survival: Plains 4
• Endurance 2
• Leadership 1
• Cooking 2
• Cleaning 1
• Carpentry 1
• Food Preservation 2
• Tanning 1

Lore

• Logic: Respect the Circle of Life
• Intelligence: Birds are quiet when predators are near
• Tracking: Elk prints
• Intelligence: Do not rush your shot
• Butchering: When the scavengers arrive, it's time to leave
• Never under-estimate the advice of a trusted friend

Rewards

• 100 pounds of boneless elk meat
• 1 x common elk pelt

Comments: Thank you for allowing me to grade your thread. It's always a pleasure to read your threads. Such detail and imagery in your writing makes me feel like I am truly there with Dravite in the hunt. Please do let me know if you feel I have missed anything.

.
.
.