*
*
*
60th of Winter, 515 A.V
The Sea of Grass
Winter presented a number of challenges in the Sea of Grass, but the Myrian was beginning to see its perks as well. Tiny footprints in the snow looked freshly made, the space between them short. 'A small animal, easily hunted, Kiva thought. "What are you?" Kiva muttered, her voice as soft as the gentle wind. She crouched to get a closer look at the prints. 'Little padded feet, small nails. A rabbit? A fox?'
She began to look for other clues, things she might have missed, or were otherwise hidden. The snow wasn't overly disturbed, which made her think this animal wasn't in a hurry. Nothing had been hunting it. The bushes nearby were sparce, mostly jagged twigs little to no foliage. Any fruit or nuts that may have survived the cold were either gone, or their faint residue lay on the ground. When she studied the branches, she noticed small gnawing marks. 'You're a rabbit, aren't you?'
Whatever had been here had moved on. Kiva's boots crunched in the snow, and she ducked under a low hanging branch that had cracked and broken from the pressure of ice. Snow fell on her shoulders and she dusted the white powder out of her hair. It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Silence wasn't something the Myrian cared for. Not total, void-like silence. She felt it was unsettling. More than once, she looked over her shoulder, allowing her paranoia to distract her from her hunt. An eeiry feeling washed over her and her dark eyes darted. She felt.. exposed. Watched.
But there was no one else. No movement or sound other than herself. Snow stretched as far as the eye could see, and in this moment, she felt lonely. There wasn't a memory of living in Taloba were she could recall such a lack of sound. There was always noise - Myrians bickering in the market, drums beating, fires burning, war cries and the sound of children playing. The jungle was alive with the trill of birds, the chirping of insects, the hiss of snakes. Here...things lay buried in the snow, waiting until the cold passed. It was a depressing realization.
Kiva kept her focus on the tracks, following them past the trees and into an open field. A burrow was the only explanation to her; someplace the animal could hide in such an environment. She guessed there had once been tall grasses that would have given adequate cover in the warmer seasons, hence the name of the place. Now, inches of snow spread like a heavy blanket over the vast expanse. White was far as the eye could see... and red.
Squinting, Kiva took a slow step towards where the tracks ended, spotting a crimson stain splattered messily against the pure ground. The snow was disheveled heavily the closer she moved, and tuffs of matted fur that had been pulled from the animal were a haunting omen.
Something was killed here, but what, and by whom, Kiva was unsure. There were no other print which suggested it had not been another land creature. A bird of prey, maybe? The Myrian circled the evidence, stopping when she noticed something obscured by the trodden snow.
*
*
60th of Winter, 515 A.V
The Sea of Grass
Winter presented a number of challenges in the Sea of Grass, but the Myrian was beginning to see its perks as well. Tiny footprints in the snow looked freshly made, the space between them short. 'A small animal, easily hunted, Kiva thought. "What are you?" Kiva muttered, her voice as soft as the gentle wind. She crouched to get a closer look at the prints. 'Little padded feet, small nails. A rabbit? A fox?'
She began to look for other clues, things she might have missed, or were otherwise hidden. The snow wasn't overly disturbed, which made her think this animal wasn't in a hurry. Nothing had been hunting it. The bushes nearby were sparce, mostly jagged twigs little to no foliage. Any fruit or nuts that may have survived the cold were either gone, or their faint residue lay on the ground. When she studied the branches, she noticed small gnawing marks. 'You're a rabbit, aren't you?'
Whatever had been here had moved on. Kiva's boots crunched in the snow, and she ducked under a low hanging branch that had cracked and broken from the pressure of ice. Snow fell on her shoulders and she dusted the white powder out of her hair. It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Silence wasn't something the Myrian cared for. Not total, void-like silence. She felt it was unsettling. More than once, she looked over her shoulder, allowing her paranoia to distract her from her hunt. An eeiry feeling washed over her and her dark eyes darted. She felt.. exposed. Watched.
But there was no one else. No movement or sound other than herself. Snow stretched as far as the eye could see, and in this moment, she felt lonely. There wasn't a memory of living in Taloba were she could recall such a lack of sound. There was always noise - Myrians bickering in the market, drums beating, fires burning, war cries and the sound of children playing. The jungle was alive with the trill of birds, the chirping of insects, the hiss of snakes. Here...things lay buried in the snow, waiting until the cold passed. It was a depressing realization.
Kiva kept her focus on the tracks, following them past the trees and into an open field. A burrow was the only explanation to her; someplace the animal could hide in such an environment. She guessed there had once been tall grasses that would have given adequate cover in the warmer seasons, hence the name of the place. Now, inches of snow spread like a heavy blanket over the vast expanse. White was far as the eye could see... and red.
Squinting, Kiva took a slow step towards where the tracks ended, spotting a crimson stain splattered messily against the pure ground. The snow was disheveled heavily the closer she moved, and tuffs of matted fur that had been pulled from the animal were a haunting omen.
Something was killed here, but what, and by whom, Kiva was unsure. There were no other print which suggested it had not been another land creature. A bird of prey, maybe? The Myrian circled the evidence, stopping when she noticed something obscured by the trodden snow.