Day Four

[Naiya]

36th day of Winter, 515 AV
Before dawn
Just outside of Endrykas

Three days had passed in a blur of misery, three days that she had given herself to mourn. This morning she had awoken before dawn, as she always did, always had, with Shahar. Rather than sharing a greeting, a kiss, and beginning a leisurely morning of grooming and tending to the herd, she had dressed herself quickly and struck out into the grasses in hopes of finding some sort of creature to bring home, something to feed her family so that they would not have to break into their winter stores.

She had donned her cloak in its fullest, hood, gloves and all, it was not nearly warm enough, but she knew that her best chance was to remain unseen, unheard. Her bow was strung, held beneath her cape, and her arrows strapped to her leg rather than her back so that she might reach them.

She walked unhindered through the darkness, her eyes cast to the ground, searching for tracks, or for the holes in the brush that decried their passage. There had been rabbits, not so many days ago, and she hoped to find one of those. So far she'd had no luck, her feet moving lightly through the mud. Water would attract animals, not the sea, but rivers, lakes, they would bring creatures to them. Naiya followed the curve of the Arale river, Banti hunting beside her somewhere in the grass.

Tracks, droppings, burrows, she sought them all, crouched close to better see. She was no hunter, though, and all but the most obvious signs escaped her notice. She had no real understanding, just bits and pieces of things from her husband. She touched the mark on her neck, a reminder that Shahar was alive yet, and forged onward, leaving that path of thought behind.

Without any better plans, she resorted to the rope in her bag, she would set traps, or were the ropes called snares? She wasn't sure. All the same, she unstrung her bow, sliding the bone into the quiver and tucking the string into her boot. Next she made a noose of rope, tying the knot loosely around one end. It had to tighten around the animal to capture it. The other end needed to be stuck somewhere, tied or weighed down. She slid the rope up and down its length while she searched for a spot. A rock proved a likely spot, it would weigh the end down. She tied the loose end around the rock, and propped the noose up just enough that she thought it might catch the foot of anything that might step near it.

She tied the sliding knot around two more segments of rope all marked with the golden thread, seeking two more spots to set the snares. She placed the second on another rock, this one near spore she had found. The final one she hung from the branch of a shrub, low to the ground but not quite laying down.

As the sky began to lighten she had to pause, wondering how much longer she might move unhindered. She began to take more care, staying low, stepping with extra attention to what she might be stepping on. Still she sought prey, hoping to stumble across something.

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[Naiya]

She found tracks, two ovals and two circles clear in the mud. She wasn't sure how old they were, nor could she distinguish what exactly they were made by. A rabbit, or a squirrel maybe. The smaller circles had to be their front paws, so she followed those smaller marks in the direction they must reach away from the hind legs as they moved.

She followed them until she found a hole in the brush, presumably where it had continued through, she didn't know where the trail went from there, so instead she made another noose from the rope, securing it to a rock and leaving it to hang over the opening.

The sun was peeking over the horizon, that surely meant her cloak was simply a cloak once more. She pulled the thick furred vest from her backpack, sliding it over top of her cloak.She returned to her crouch, bow at the ready as she sought some form of prey.

She walked, legs bent low until they burned and began to shake. The sun was rising higher, soon her efforts would be wasted, the animals hiding away for the day, warm and safe in their dens.

A rustle in the grass froze her in place. She couldn't shoot at it until she knew it wasn't Banti or some other hunter seeking something to feed their family with.

She aimed her bow, waiting, ready. It was easier to be accurate if she moved the tip of the arrow in the smallest circles rather than trying to keep it completely still.

The rustling grew louder, the grass parting to a small gray squirrel. She lined her shot, released the arrow, and drew a second as soon as the first had cleared the bow. Her eyes followed the first arrow, missing the small creature who stood tall, frozen for an instant. Naiya released the second arrow, her haste stealing her aim, and that arrow too flew into the ground behind the grey coated animal.

It did spur the animal into motion, he dashed across the small space, running past Naiya, she turned, lined up a third arrow, took a deep breath while she aimed, and released the arrow.
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[Naiya]

It sailed through the air, the point cutting through the fur but not harming the creature as it ran. She lined up another shot, pulling the arrow back to her cheek and letting it anchor there before releasing it once more.

Still she missed, her entire morning's efforts wasted as the grey ball of fur disappeared into the grass. She was useless as a hunter, her bow a child's toy in her hands. Anger and frustration filled her, she would return to her pavilion with nothing. They would have to break into the stores again, decreasing their supplies so early in the winter. All because she was the least capable Drykas hunter in the city.

Tears welled in her eyes as she went to gather her arrows, only one had come close, a tuft of gray fur stuck in the ground with the tip. She dug it loose, fingering the soft strands.

Without Shahar and the promise of his success, it fell to Naiya to bring their family food, and already she had failed. The sun was well above the horizon, if she found deer now, it would be only by luck, a yearling lost on the way home, an old doe, too unwell to keep up. Not that she could see much through her tears.

It was her responsibility, she reminded herself, to take care of the family. She dashed the tears from her cheeks, blinking her eyes clear once more. She would keep an eye out for deer, her hunt continued, until she reached the water once more, there she would abandon her bow for a wooden stick and the tackle that she'd brought just in case.

Or more she didn't expect herself to succeed, because her success came from her heart's partner who was missing.

She dashed still more tears from her eyes, inspecting the arrow in her hand with more intensity than called for. Ready then, she shifted back into her crouch, with careful steps, she turned her eyes to the grass around her, seeking spore on the ground, or shapes in the grass.

She found no trace beyond the small pile of pellet like stool that was old and hard. Familiar tracks caught her eye as well, the paws of a large feline had disturbed the path. Banti.

She could see the river now, frozen around the edges, but still there would likely be fish. A familiar chirp caught her attention, her huntress returned. The feline called softly again, a small furry creature in her maw. Naiya grew momentarily excited, before realizing the creature was far too small. Banti brought it to Naiya anyway, and the woman accepted the mouse. She admired the kill, and praised the feline with both word and touch. Then she tossed the mouse back to the cat. No more than a bite for the feline, not worth attempting to butcher for their family.

She searched for a branch to use as her fishing pole, finding a suitably flexible one not far from the river and notching the tip with her dagger. She used the sharp blade to carve away the twigs and bumps from the base where she would hold it, keeping her hands safe, before she approached the water to see where she might find a catch.

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[Naiya]

She whittled away a bit more at the stick in her hand. The blade angled nearly flat as she chased away sharp edges and large knobby protrusions from her grip. Her blade shook in the vice of her grip, each motion she made steady, determined. Her body was beginning to ache, her wounds warming up and reminding her of their presence, of the loss the represented.

She cut away another stray twig, the harsh motion giving herself more room to move her hand up the pole, more force to press away her melancholy. She cut away bark and bumps with decreasing force until she could focus once more on the task at hand.

The ground was softer near the bank, so her hands were tool enough to dig for bait. She dug her fingers through a top layer of mud, too damp to be a good home for worms, she dug deeper, piling the discarded dirt beside her growing hole, pausing to search the new dirt occasionally, but confident that they would be deeper into the ground.

She formed a hard line with her fingertips, curling her hand to pry up dirt, until she eventually uncovered a worm. She found a beetle too, but she had no where to store it while she waited, and dead bait was hardly any good, and with her track record of failure this morning, she needed the best of luck on her side.

She scrubbed dirt and mud from her hands with rough strokes, the rounded pebbles at the bottom of the river helping to grind away the chunks as she rolled them against her skin.

Newly clean she dug into her pack, removing the thin fishing string and a small metal hook. She tied a knot at one end, slipping it through the notch she had made at the top of the stick, then looped the line through the eye of the hook, a process as easy as threading a needle. She tied the hook in place, a few tucks and turns of the line forming a secure knot that kept the hook from moving too much out of place. She ran the hook through the worm in three places, making sure he wouldn't be pulled off the hook by a nibble or a strong current.

She dropped the hook and worm into the water, dragging it along the water slowly as she searched for her next tool. A spear, or at least a piece of wood that she could fashion into one. She didn't have time for sitting still, there was too much to be done, and all of it needed done at once.

The branch she found was too far from the shore to leave her line in the water, but after a quick trip away from the bank she returned, roaming just a bit farther down the river before deciding the spot she found looked deep enough to house a fish or two.

She settled into a comfortable position, eye on the worm in the water, and arranged the fishing pole in the crease of her leg so that she could work on her spear, and feel the tug of a fish on her line. Perfectly placed, she decided, as she watched the water for a few long chimes.

She had to catch fish, or they'd have nothing for lunch but herb broth. Shahar would have brought them a bounty, wouldn't have lost the rabbit. She relied on him, relied on her family when she'd lived with the Nightsongs, and learned frivolous skills that helped her none. Sewing, embroidery, what use were such things when you had a family to feed?

None at all, but Shahar hadn't chided her, hadn't steered her away from the work she enjoyed. He'd shouldered the burden she brought him, and forged on, the hunter, the provider.

She was stuck, useless and alone. Providing for a family both too large and too small. Too large for her to feed on her meager skill, too small to rely on others to help with the work load.


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[Naiya]

Enough, she reminded herself. She'd sat about in misery for more than her share of days. Now she needed to focus.

She resettled the pole, bouncing the bait slowly though the water for just a few moments before turning to the long straight branch in her hand. She broke off the larger protrusions with her hand, attention carefully split between the pole and the branch. She didn't have tools for carving, although surely Seirei would allow her the use of her tools, she didn't think them important for this task.

Her blade was sharp, the difficulty was keeping the angle and pressure of her hand steady as she stripped bark and the bulk of the wood away. She applied her blade, her force light but steady, carving the rough bark away from the tender inner wood. Her first stroke scarred the bark but didn't remove it, so her next pass was more firm, the wobble as she hit a bump in the wood didn't deter her.

She passed over the bump again, this time with real strength, a section of more than bark came away, the blemish growing smaller. She passed the bump once more, the angle of her blade flattening. She didn't have it quite right, missing the removal of the bump still. She persevered, whittling away until the blade passed smoothly over the place where the bump had been.

Pleased she moved onto the next line of bark, carving away the roughness in sections the width of her pinkie. It was slow, laborious. She paused to adjust her fishing pole, nothing having really changed there.

The blade continued on, long curls of bark falling into her lap. She would save them for kindling, she'd need all the help she could get, she had never been good at starting fires from scratch.

Her hand and wrist soon felt the strain of the repetitive motion, of the work to remove the bark and the knobs of the wood. She forged on, the branch slowly becoming pale and smooth.

The reach of her arm didn't quite cross the half way mark of the branch, so once she had cleared the closest sections of the branch, she moved, gathering the shavings of wood into her pack. There were no fish here, or at least not hungry ones, so she moved down to a new spot, her worm long dead, but still dancing in the current of the water.

Settled once more with a prayer to Caiyha for fish, she positioned her branch into a position to scrape away more bark. She worked until she felt a pull on her leg, dropping her branch in favor of her pole, she tugged sharply upwards, hoping to catch the hook into the flesh of the fish. She waited only ticks before repeating the sharp tug, the weight on the end of the pole a promise of a catch.

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[Naiya]

She pulled again, this time with real intent to remove it from the water, but the line refused to budge. She pulled again finding the same resistance. She followed the trail of the thin clear line with her eyes, finding the entry to the water, then squinting to find where the hook was.

"Of course," She sighed, anger in the shape of her body. Her line was stick in the water, tangled in a bit of greenery. She had to abandon her carving and walk the shore, carefully angling the line to free it from its underwater prison.

Her worm was gone, probably snagged by a fish while the line was captured. She dug again, forcing her fingers through the cold pebbly dirt, seeking a new critter for her bait.

Her pile of dirt grew large before she found anything, hooking the squirming beetle on the line. She tossed him into the water, trolling through the light current before settling back into place beside her pile of woodshavings and her spear.

Careful to keep her line in place, this time carefully away from the branches that grasped at her line, she returned to carving, her dagger gouging the shaft as she forced away the bark. She had a few notches in the wood so far, where she had pushed too hard at the wrong angle, other spots she had been so focused on removing a bump that she formed a divot instead.

It wasn't so important, she didn't need a perfect weapon. She just needed a spear. The javelin she had fought with had been too thin, sliding out of her grasp, or not inflicting the damage she wanted.

This spear would be better, at least for practice. She had no spear head, just the long rounded pole she was carving. But prehaps she could carve a tip to the end to give it some sense of reality. She wasn't sure how useful it would be, wood was soft and pliable.

She finished carving away the bark, her blade scooping just beneath the dark bark before forcing it's way down the wood, trying to carefully follow the line of the wood. Seirei might have something to help her smooth it out at home, but it would do for now.

She sharpened the end to a point, the same idea applying, only this time she added force to her cut as it neared the end of the stick, taking away more and more wood as the blade progressed. She rotated the spear, carving the same pattern of force into each side until her weapon had a reasonable looking point.

She spent only one bell more fishing, knowing that as the sun arced across the sky her day dove away from her, promising more failure if she wasn't careful. She needed to cook, and she needed to take care of the herd, and she needed to make sure Seirei was okay.

She had neglected her sister in the past few days, struggling to remember that the grief that threatened to overwhelm her was grief that Seirei shared.

Her pole tugged as she was contemplating, keeping her from shifting too far from the present. She jerked the line straight up, hard, and it popped out of the water with a fish attached.

With a grin she tugged sharply again, making sure her hook was deep before pulling the fish from the water. One fish was hardly a meal, but it would stew with some grain and make a flavorful stew.

She gathered her belongings. Piling the woodshavings into her bag to store with the other tinder. Then she lifted her spear, admiring the weapon despite the rough shape it was in. She'd made it herself, it was nearly taller than she was with the sharpened tip, and it would do just fine to practice with. She wouldn't be caught off guard again.
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[Jasmine Stormblood]

let me know if I missed anything

 

Naiya Dawnwhisper

XP

• Observation: 3 XP
• Fishing: 3 XP
• Carving: 3 XP
• Endurance: 2 XP
• Trapping: 2 XP
• Hunting: 3 XP
• Weapon- Longbow: 2 XP
• Stealth: 1 XP
• Tracking: 1 XP
• Planning: 1 XP
• Weaving: 1 XP
• Cleaning: 1 XP
• Gardening: 2 XP

Lores

• Tracking: hard to do for a new hunter
• Carving: making a fishing pole and spear
• Seirei: willing to lend Naiya her tools
• Naiya: the current ankal of the Dawnwhisper Pavilion
• Tracking: recognizing mouse spore
• Tracking: following the direction of movement in tracks

Miscellaneous

• 1 fish
• 1 Spear (poor quality)
• Woodshavings (kindle)