PM to join A Prickly Encounter (Devlin)

[Colt]

9th of winter, 515 a.v
early afternoon

The sun was setting, and Shahar was feeling overdressed.

This feeling in itself felt like an odd, noteworthy occurrence to him. Shahar had experienced many things in his lifetime, and many feelings of standing out when he didn’t want to, or standing out when he didn’t need to, or when he had to stand out to get what he wanted. But he was a hunter. More than that; he was an animal. His home was the grassland, outside the realm of men and mizas and haggling and politics. Day in, day out, he was covered in dust and grime, usually with a spatter of blood or two as decoration. He dressed in what he needed to accomplish his tasks, nothing more, nothing less. He was dirty. He was ratty. He was never overdressed.

Never, except for the fact that he was now feeling as if he had dressed for a different occasion than he had found himself in.

The ixam scale armor fit perfectly. In thread and cloth, Naiya’s fingers were like magic. And apparently they accessed the same magic with armor and scales, because she knew his measurements even when he was away, and the armor hugged him expertly. The armpits were missing, so it didn’t chafe when he moved about, and the overlapping scales on his sides and stomach were layered such that he could bend and jump with ease. It made noise, yes, but it was better than being showered with quills.

It was midday by the time that Shahar caught sight of the Stardown crater, betrayed by the brown ring of trees at the crater’s edge. Pulling Akaidras to an easy trot, Shahar angled away from the treeline directly ahead of him; their prey would hear them coming, and probably already had. He wanted to get Akaidras out of the line of fire first, and then hunt. If he cut around the end of their territory and brought his strider into the trees, he would have leeway; the animals would likely still sense them, but Shahar could dismount and get closer on foot without bringing undue danger to his horse.

The clink of teeth on metal pierced the air as Snow mouthed at her own armor, made of thin metal plates lashed together by leather. Shahar turned at the sound, leaned down from the yvas and smacked her lightly on the rump. Don’t.

She opened her mouth in indignance; the armor was annoying her, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Shahar flashed her the image of a spearback, Scout’s Bane to the locals, which was an image still seared fresh into both of their minds. Though it didn’t placate her, the chastisement did stop her from chewing up her armor; both of them would much prefer hauling about metal and scale than spend hours plucking quills out of their skin.

[Devlin Greenstride]

Why was he out here again? Back in his pavilion his wife and son sat cozy by a fire, playing games and singing while he was out here in the cold and for what? They had spare rations for the winter, in fact almost to much to eat and much of it would be sold off to those too foolish to have stocked up on it. However the way in which his grandfather had looked at him, the tilt of the head and the slight crease on his brow as he requested Devlin to go out and hunt had quickly sent him scurrying. It was something he had noticed about his grandfather, while he never raised his voice just a slight change of expression could strike fear into his heart just as much as if he had actually been threatened. He knew deep down that his grandfather would never actually hurt him, but it still didn't stop him from running and gathering his things as quickly as he could. "Devlin, it is the duty of the Drykas to assist there clan in times of harshness. We may be prosperous this year, but next it may be us who are in need of anothers aid." It was those words that served as his grandfathers farewell as Devlin left the tent with his things.

And that's how he found himself on the back of Zephyr, moving over the plains at a moderate pace careful of the patches of ice still on the ground. He didn't know why he chose this direction, he had just picked one and went. The odds of finding an animal and bringing it back were long unless it was another predator, and that's why he kept his bow across his lap within easy reach, his quiver hanging from his hip as he rode ready for easy pull and draw if he didn't panic. Of course, Panicing was always a possibility. He certainly would if he saw a glassbeak or something else of the nature, but short of that he thought he would be fine.

Looking all around himself he finally spotted the landmark he was approaching, Stardown. He had chosen this path, knowing that animals hibernated in this area and if he could find a rabbit hole or two, he could finish this trip easily enough. Or at least that's what he was telling himself now. Slipping off Zephyr he patted the striders neck and smiles to him, "Don't worry we'll be done out here quickly enough." His emerald green clothes stuck out slightly as he stood up and peered over the grassland before bending over and keeping his eyes on the ground looking for any signs at all of an animals burrow or tracks.

One foot in front of the other, first sliding it forward slowly and then to the side as he came down with his weight on it, minimizing the noise he made as much as he could though still the crisp blades of grass crunched underneath his feet every few steps. Zephyr however didn't feel the need to follow him, simply moving to the side and starting to kick at the grass before bending his neck to graze. Holding his bow in one hand he occasionaly put the other down to the ground as he bent lower to better get a look at the ground. He wasn't the best tracker but he figured he could probably find at least something.

Looking up he stared at the tree's for a bit before shrugging and starting to move in there direction, "Perhaps I can find something hiding beneath the roots of one of those." And with that he set off, still moving as quietly as he can but now with a determination to get this hunt over with.

[Colt]

Snow was the first to notice the presence of another.

Shahar and Akaidras paid little attention to the land around them, occupied by the sight of the Stardown and with the desire to draw nearer to it; perhaps it was the armor, perhaps it was the new confidence regarding what had happened to him for the past days, but in any case, Shahar’s observation had lapsed until Snow brought it back to the fore.

Stranger! She said, slowing as the scent became clear.

Shahar eased Akaidras into a slower pace as well, following his partner as she put her nose to the ground and turning to set his own eye to what exactly she might have picked up. A few moments of searching revealed the trail of their quarry quickly in the form of bent foliage and a gentle partition in the grass. He leaned down to examine it closer, and caught sight of hoof-prints, angled squarely away from them and heading towards the ring of trees that lined the rim of the Stardown.

What is? he sent towards Snow.

The she-wolf was hard at work sniffing out the details of their new company. Two, she eventually concluded. Horse, man. Not especially surprising; Endrykas was a mere few chimes’ ride away.

Follow, Shahar said, urging Akaidras back into an easy trot. Snow fell into practiced step at the side, nose still trained on the trail even though they were within clear line of it; the trail was clearly quite fresh, and therefore quite easy to follow.

When Shahar caught sight of the horse, he was unsurprised to recognize the conformation as that of a strider and the shape of an yvas on its back. The rider, however, didn’t appear to be near. Snow realized the same, and glanced up questioningly.

Find, Shahar commanded.

Snow pulled ahead to follow the scent, which led deeper into the trees. Akaidras had to slow down to navigate the tighter space, and Shahar had to focus on pushing low-hanging branches out of the way so they didn’t swat him in the face.

When Snow located their quarry, she hung back. Although she knew they didn’t hunt humans like they hunted animals, she was still well aware that humans could be just as dangerous, and sometimes needed to be killed like animals. She didn’t walk straight up to the strange Drykas and start yapping out a hello, but she did make her presence known in the rustle of the leaves and the flashing of her white fur, close enough for him to hear but far enough to be non-threatening.

“Drykas!” Shahar called out, sensing from Snow that the stranger was near enough to shout at. “Are you a hunter?” He couldn’t see him, as atop a horse his head was blocked by quite a few branches, but he hoped his voice would make it through––this was an important place to keep control of, and dangerous to a hunter that didn’t know the full scope of what was going on.

[Devlin Greenstride]

He kept a slow and steady pace as he approached the tree line constantly crouched so as to better see the dirt underneath the grass for signs of small game. He hadn't intended to leave Zephyr behind by so much but as he reached the first tree and looked back he realized the distance was larger than he had originally thought. He stood like that just staring back the way he came for a minute as he contemplated backtracking and getting zephyr but after that moment he just shook his head and continued on, I can always run to him if needed and he'd come running fast enough if called.

It was with that thought that he continued into the trees with his eyes peeled. Each tree he passed he stepped up to first, kneeling down and peering at its base trying to find any signs of burrows or something having had dug at them. It was in this fashion that he ended up losing track of the time, still having had no luck in finding any signs of prey. The darned things had really hidden themselves well for the winter. It didn't help that he had next to no experience hunting underneath the boughs of tree's instead of out on the open plains.

"Petching things, can't they just come up to me it'd make it a whole lot easier." He muttered under his breath. It was at that moment he decided to stand up and look around when he heard a rustling in the leaves behind him. Turning quickly he had a hand on an arrow in his quiver in an instant as he saw a flash of white fur. His mind quickly started going over what it possibly was. He couldn't quiet see it clearly at first and so he started pulling an arrow from his quiver, slow enough not to startle the animal. What could be white out here? Wolfs were usually a darker color.

He didn't have time to figure it out when he heard a voice call to him. It was the voice of another hunter and it calmed him. While he was still on edge, after all survival depended on it out here, he slipped the arrow back into it's place as he stepped closer to get a look at who called for him and the animal he had seen that had started the encounter. It was a large white canine, a breed he hadn't before seen and one that looked very very large. However the fact that it wasn't attacking him, or making any threatening movements certainly made it clear it belonged to the voice he had heard. As he came to that thought he saw a strider and someone mounted on it so he responded before walking closer to get a good look at the face of the other hunter.

"Yes I'm a hunter, though I'm having little luck out here. Names Devlin Greenstride of the Emerald Clan." He gave his full title as he liked to do, though his green clothes would probably give away what clan he was from easily enough. "I came out here in hopes of finding extra food for those pavilions who don't have enough stored up. How about yourself?" It was at that moment he noticed the armor the man was wearing, it seemed like a little much if he was out here to hunt though perhaps he was a little paranoid. After all there had been reports of wolfs taking a child just the previous day, so it might not be paranoia at all.

And just like that he felt under-dressed compared to this strange man. He had just noticed the unkempt nature of him, the slight layer of dirt and dust that covered him, and yet it still didn't keep him from feeling unprepared. He looked about worriedly for a moment his imagination placing a Glassbeak behind every tree. He slowly forced himself to pay attention to his new acquaintance, after all he had to be polite, but it was a difficult thing and his eyes kept darting back and forth.

[Colt]

Snow yipped at Shahar in greeting as she joined her in regarding the stranger, temporarily forsaking her position to circle back to the stallion. Shahar leaned over enough to give her an affectionate pat on the head before reminding her to stay down; dealing with Akaidras’ annoyance was never pleasant, and he was always annoyed by Snow jumping up on him.

The man they had found was a lean, dusty fellow, wrapped up in the telltale greens of the Emerald. He confirmed Shahar’s suspicions of being a hunter, then went on to introduce himself fully Devlin Greenstrider of the Emerald Clan. Shahar nodded in acknowledgement, but the information wasn’t particularly useful to him. Neither were social niceties; Shahar didn’t even introduce himself back.

Not that it seemed greatly necessary; although he was keeping up the appearances of paying attention, Devlin’s eyes were darting back and forth over the world around them, as if expecting a pack of wolves to leap out and devour them at any moment. Shahar simply observed him curiously for a few heartbeats, wondering why he was assuming such pessimism, then sighed and decided to do his best to alleviate those fears.

Unnecessary fear, he signed. No danger, trees, no animals. There’s nothing there. He would have felt the presence of a dangerous animal nearby, because that would have indicated some degree of balance––a quality that this area currently did not have.

“Animals don’t come here,” he informed Devlin, somewhat sadly. “Most are dead and skinned. Others are eaten by the scout’s bane. Spearback.” They’re here, closer, nearby, dangerous. “Unless you’re hunting spearback, you won’t find anything here.”