Flashback Hunting Lessons

[Na'oni]

89th day of Summer, 511 AV
Estimated, 9 or 10 Bells

Na'oni and Thia sat crouched behind a bush, being as still and patient as they possibly could. Na'oni was smiling; as soon as the most recent storm passed, her mother had given her a mischievous grin and grabbed a practice bow and quiver from the barracks. Wearing little but the essentials, she and her mother ran into the wet jungle to hunt. Na'oni could've sworn she'd seen her mother grow a pair of tiger ears for a split second before she'd pulled her behind the bush. As she sat, she concentrated on the sounds of the jungle, the chirps of birds, whirs of insects, and the peeps of frogs; the jungle was alive and so was she, breathing in the scent of growth and life that hung in the forest. She thought she heard monkeys far above her head and she gazed up into the mysterious green canopy that gave up no secrets as to the location of them.

A rodent scurried by, too fast to catch, and then, quietly, her mother passed her the bow as she pointed out a large lizard skittering into their view. Na'oni swallowed and studied the lizard for a second before her mother silently gave her an arrow. Guiding her hands, she helped her child steady the bow and removed her hands. Na'oni breathed in deeply and as she slowly let the breath out, she let the arrow fly, just like she had seen her mother do before.

Unfortunately, nobody is perfect when they first start learning and she was no different. While her arrow struck the animal in the rear, it wasn't a fatal shot by any standards and the thing shrieked and flailed it's limbs. Thia did nothing and just gave Na'oni a look, hoping she would know to finish it and moved forward with her as she moved to do so. Na'oni knelt down, one knee on its body, and put her hands on either side of its scaly head. With one hard twist, she heard the neck snap and it's body slowly went limp. "You need to eat it's heart and give its blood back to the earth." her mother said as she watched over her actions. Na'oni first cut its throat with the offered dagger, feeling blood pool around her knees. She then brought the knife to its chest and slowly carved it open.

She reached inside the warm cavity, and felt around until she found its heart, yanking and pulling with all her might until it came loose and she landed on her rear holding the bloody organ. Staring at it for a moment, her mind wandered slightly. This..just this..it's all that keeps us alive. This tiny little heartbeat.. Raising the heart to her lips, she sent a prayer of gratitude to Kihala and Caihya before sinking her teeth into the juicy meat.

[Na'oni]

The meat, while gamey and tough, was juicy and delicious, a treat only worthy of a successful hunt. She had to rip and tear at it like an animal to get bites and she ground pieces between her teeth to break the tough muscle. Blood sprayed in her face with every few bites and Na'oni knew these clothes were doomed to be bloodstained forever. With her finishing bite, she grinned at her mother happily and plunged the knife back into its chest to finish carving the animal in half. As the abdominal cavity opened wide before her, she plunged her hand inside and pulled out the intestines and bowels, leaving them for the jungle cats on the ground. Thia had taught this to her on quiet nights at the long house, to prepare her for the future.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thia smiling proudly at her before pulling a bag off her belt. As she turned and deposited the body into the bag, she tried to force her djed to morph her head into that of the reptile's. Her attempt to impress her mother further resulted in a great cracking sound and her face a scaly mess. It quickly snapped back to its original form and she dropped her hands onto the ground, leaning over and panting. It was still just long enough for Thia to have seen it and she clasped Na'oni's shoulders.

"Do not overgive!" her mother warned in an ominous tone. "I would think even you would know to not go beyond the limits of your magic!" With a whimper, she sat back up, holding back tears as her usually kind mother chastised her. "I'm sorry!" She whispered, looking at her mother with big eyes. Her plan had gone horribly wrong and she held back bitter tears as she followed her mother as she stalked away deeper into the jungle.

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It was quiet for what felt like hours as they walked quietly, in the dainty dance one has to do in the jungle to avoid stepping on things. Well, not quiet. There was still the sound of the vibrantly alive jungle around them. But there seemed to be a blanket of silence over the two Myrians dancing through the jungle and it almost caught them off guard when an Okapi stumbled across their path; only savages would be caught off guard in the jungle though.

As it turned to run, Na'oni's lips started moving as prayers to Myri were whispered under her breath. With her mother standing straight, she couldn't reach the quiver and she thanked the gods when her mother slapped an arrow into her hand. Aiming as she drew back, her small hands quivered slightly as the tip came to rest on the back of its head. She sent her prayer as the arrow flew and with a slight, worrying shiver it flew true. When it struck, the animal shrieked and continued to stumble but both her and Thia knew that it would fall soon enough.

[Na'oni]

Na'oni let out a gruff grumble as she stood overlooking the corpse, glancing at her mother but she saw in her eyes what she knew she would see; they had to deal with the game they've already caught before continuing and that meant going back to Taloba. Sure they could grab a few small ones along the way but essentially, their hunting trip was over. She channeled her anger as she drove the dagger into its chest, cutting a line in the thick bone and muscle. Anger fueled her movements, her bites as she ate this heart and she reveled in its blood. When she put its bowels on the ground, she did it with an angry fling and her mother glared at her.

"You are too impatient! Though this was only one kill, it will be days of food! How dare you act ungrateful! We only take from the jungle what we have to and only kill what we have to." Even now in her 11 years of life, she felt the bloodlust buried deep inside her. Even then she wondered if she would become one of those Myrians that the savages scared their children at night with stories of. But isn't it good to have them scared of us? the voice in her head responded. It's easier to get what we want if they're scared, if they think we'll kill them for it. A grin grew across Na'oni's face as she thought this and she brushed off the voice and brushed off her mother as she tied it's hooves together and picked up one end. Thia grabbed the front end of the animal and started walking with her towards Taloba.

As she walked, Na'oni honed her observational skills and her hearing as she listened to the animals in the forest and tried to hone in on each one's location. Though she was largely unsuccessful and grew very frustrated, she was able to pinpoint a location or two before her thoughts were once again interrupted by the jungle. A small jungle bird who had strayed a bit too far close to the ground grazed in front of them and the entirety of Na'oni's attention was drawn to it.

[Na'oni]

Quicker than Thia could stop her or even turn around, Na'oni had dived onto the bird, dropping her end of the Okapi in her eagerness. She had crushed most of it's delicate bones and made the corpse useless other than its meat. Once again on the hunt, her eagerness had made her act before she thought and once again Thia was mad at her. Unlike last time though, her mother just had a disappointed look on her face. However, as Na'oni went to cut the bird she shook her head and took the dagger from her. "To apologize for this insult to the land, bury the corpse. Do not eat the heart." Na'oni growled audibly but followed her mother's instructions, this time holding back her anger as she acted. Thia's gaze into Na'oni's had told her that she had messed up but she already knew it and she cursed her inability to think before she acted, the way she ran on instinct and not common sense.

By the time they reached Taloba, Na'oni scarcely looked up from the ground and she ignored the praises for a good first hunt. She knew she must go through another few hours of work with her mother but prayed they'd end soon so that she could retreat to comfortable solitude. They walked to the long house, where, for once, Fek was actually there; he beamed as they approached and slapped Na'oni on the back. Na'oni dredged up a smile and aimed it at her father before following Thia to a patch of sunlight where they set down the Okapi and untied it's hooves.

Instead of thinking about what was going on or looking at Thia, she concentrated on the Okapi's neck, plunging her knife in to begin cutting it off. She kept her face emotionless though she wanted to smile at the soft squish of flesh, the oozing blood, and the natural resistance of muscle and eventually bone. She drew her arm up and stabbed it down as hard as she could and the bone snapped; she continued carving away. When it fell loose to her feet, she snapped back to reality and stared at the stump of spine sticking out of the severed, bleeding, raw meat. An idea fluttered through her mind and she smiled then glanced at her mother.

Thia's anger had vanished and she was smiling proudly at her once again, as if the incident never happened. Na'oni's tension eased a bit and she brushed her hair away from her face to continue the bloody task of carving up the animal.