[Cobalt Mountains] Frostbound [Klyph, Hrafn]

[Leviathan]

Terrified was right, the was practically frozen in fear, that is until Jonathon's arrow managed to lodge itself in the dirt a mere two inches from the Rabbit's little spot. Even with the time he took to aim, such a small target was difficult for the novice marksman. Either the furred creature found a new breath of courage, ironically, to flee for its life. It didn't take long for the rabbit to fly across the ground with impressive speed, yet it didn't get far. The second arrow was fired, not by Jon, but by his companion Klyphaestus. The arrow managed to pierce the rabbit through the chest, pinning the now dying creature to the ground. Hrafn didn't even have to lift a finger, not yet. The three men (two and an Isur to be exact) could now officially return to Syliras and truthfully tell that they hunted and made a kill. Let's just hope nobody asks what it was that three grown men managed to take down. With the bleeding furball now unconscious, it was as ready as ever to be retrieved. Surely they had further plans for hunting though. A simple rabbit, even though it was quite plump in comparison to your standard creature, it wasn't dire nor dangerous, and the rewards for said kill was pretty low, especially when it was divided amongst three.

[Jonathon DuFraine]

Jonathon swore as the arrow missed it's mark. Damn! I'm out of practice... Jonathon watched as the startled rabbit began to run... and suddenly fell! Another arrow had pierced it's hide. Amazing. Jonathon turned around to see Klyphaestus, without an arrow to his bow. Jonathon blinked in astonishment. This guy must be a better marksman then I thought... "Nice shot! Good reflexes, too."

Jonathon was jubilant that they got a kill early in. He walked over to the rabbit, retrieving the arrow as he went. The arrow itself lodged into soft earth, and seemed perfectly all right. Still, he placed in his backpack instead of his quiver, then kneeled to investigate the rabbit.

The game arrow had done it's job; the rabbit was dead as could be. Looked fat, too. "I was sure it would run before we could even shoot; when I shot, I was sure I was going to hit it. When it missed, yet again I was sure it was gone... I must stop assuming such things." Jonathon had a grin on his face as he said this; the kill seemed to have changed his view of the trip.

Picking up the rabbit, he inspected it more closely. "Okay... Klyph, your kill, you can carry it. When we take a break later, we can discuss doing any more." Jonathon handed it to Klyphaestus.

[Klyphaestus]

'I was sure it would run before we could even shoot; when I shot, I was sure I was going to hit it. When it missed, yet again I was sure it was gone... I must stop assuming such things.' Jonathon had a grin on his face as he said this. Picking up the rabbit, he inspected it more closely. "Okay... Klyph, your kill, you can carry it. When we take a break later, we can discuss doing any more." Jonathon handed it to Klyphaestus.

Klyphaestus beamed as he put away his bow, half trying to conseal the glee. First game. His shot. Who would have thought that he, a novice in archery, actually pinned the rabbit with but one arrow? He knew all very well that it was but sheer luck which guided his arrow, for Klyphaestus saw nothing but a blur of motion when he released the shot. A small rabbit would not be sufficient for the three of them, but it signed off a good start. Perhaps.

'Luck carried the arrow,' said Klyphaestus, scratching his temple. He reached out, ready to take the rabbit, but then saw the round eye of it. The open eye shined like black pearl in the sunlight.

There was a tiny pause before Klyphaestus took the blood-dripping rabbit by its hind feet, with his arm stretching forward to keep the dark liquid from staining his clothes. Klyphaestus cleared his throat and smiled. 'Let's go.'

[Hrafn Alaric]

Hrafn croaked when Jonathon missed, sure that the rabbit would get away. Out of nowhere, Klyphaestus fires with great aim the arrow that pierced the animals skin. -"Good shot, Klyph!" Hrafn called as he ran up to the corpse, ready with the knife. If it wasn't dead, it was good to ease it's pain as quick as he could. It was not a pretty sight, the rabbit was pinned to the ground barely alive. Hrafn sliced it's neck, the blood splurting on his face. -"You'll take it from here, won't you Klyph?" Hrafn sneered as he grinned.

"Luck carried the arrow," Hrafn heard. He looked back down at Klyphaestus, -"Nonsense! It was a skillful shot. You have a naturally born talent. It must be in your blood! From what region do you hail from, friend?" Hrafn reassured Klyph. A sound victory was held and moral was high with the group. They had finally, after an hour or so gotten a kill. This would prove to be most excellent, Hrafn thought to himself as he followed Jonathon, looking forward to a a short break.

[Leviathan]

Perhaps it was luck that guided the arrow. If they had been looking closely, which was difficult in itself to analyze a situation when you were caught up in said moment, they might had realized that Kyphaestus's shot was actually further off target than Jonathon's shot, yet thank to a slight delay, and the luck that placed the arrow on its trajectory, the rabbit actually leaped straight into the path. Unfortunate for the creature, fortunate for the hunting trio. How long would the luck last though? Every moment in the wilderness was just that much more experience learned, lives changed. Now that the kill was slain, which Hrafn took it upon himself to make sure death was thorough, swift, and smeared on his own face, the trio found themselves on their journey once again, searching for something. At some point they would need to move again, it was unlikely that anything else as helpless as a rabbit would dare wander into the area with the smell of blood, the sound of squealing pain, or the not-so-stealthy footsteps of the men. It was time to move if they planned on murdering more woodland wildlife.

[Jonathon DuFraine]

(When Hrafn killed the rabbit, he put a mental note to make sure to do that next time; the faster it died, the better.) Jonathon shrugged. "Lucky maybe. We'll all see eventually..." Jonathon's good humor had now evaporated some; he was ready to go. After Klyph's response to Hrafn's question, Jonathon caught both their attentions. "All right, that was good... Nice shot by Klyph."

He felt a bit of his authority slip with Klyph's successful kill, but perhaps that was for the best. A party of equals. "But if we plan on catching anything more-" He made this sound like the logical next step, for that's how he viewed it- "-then we better keep a move on. Remember, stay sharp, stay quite. We want to get out of this place soon- the blood-smell may attract predators." Jonathon began walking in the direction they had been traveling earlier, once again expecting the others to follow.

[Klyphaestus]

'Predators!' Klyphaestus exclaimed before he could stop himself. The sound echoed in the quiet wilderness, disappearing into the distance. Suddenly being aware to his own behavings, Klyphaestus laughed awkwardly and scratched his temple again. The blood formerly dripping down from the rabbit's throat spilt a little because of his movements.

'Oops.' Klyphaestus at once made his arm still. The dark smudges on the grass now looked somewhat threatening. Even Klyphaestus could smell the bloody odour that was getting strong. The companianship of Jonathon and Hrafn gave him some confidence and assuring security in the wild, but somehow, when Klyphaestus was walking at the end of the line, he would feel this unusual coldness on his back. He would even hear, at times, some small rustling sounds in the stillness of the air. He had looked over his shoulder several times without letting the rest of the party know, but had found no more than the quiet trees and dry grass.

Johnathon had started to walk again. Sensitive as Klyphaestus to most information hidden behind the surface of things in the world, he thought he had just read something from Johnathon's face. The slightly thoughtful eyes, a thin slice of lost which perched Johnathon's brows, and then the calmness of his expressions all made Klyphaestus wondered if his accidental shot had somehow caused the brief lowering of Johnathon's mood. No, he wouldn't be sush a person, thought Klyphaestus to himself, and besides, I shall gave him the whole hindleg as a token of thanks and honour according to the codes of Drykas I heard.

With these thoughts in mind, Klyphaestus smiled again and followed Johnathon and Hrafn into the deeper part of the mountains, momentarily forgetting the strange unease he had felt along the way.

[Hrafn Alaric]

Hrafn remained quiet throughout the conversation. After Klyphaestus's yell, Hrafn remained aware of his surroundings. He nodded at Jonathon as they continued. Klyphaestus looked shyly up to Hrafn, probably just ashamed for the cry. As Hrafn continued with Jonathon up, he readied his hammer and knives and rested his hands on both. He was constantly on the lookout for any signs of animals and was always trying to hear a growl or a birds call.

-"Jonathon! I think I see something!" Hrafn called, furrowing his eyebrows and squinting his eyes. He drew the shortbow immediately and waited for Jonathon's command.

[Jonathon DuFraine]

Jonathon almost stumbled when Klyph yelled. "Quite! Yes, of course. These woods look idyllic, and mayby they are, but it's just as dangerous as the rest of the world." Jonathon sighed. "Yes, oops. No need to shout..." Jonathon resumed walking at a brisk but conservative pace. "And we should find a way to mask that bloody smell... Maybe there isn't. But it won't help us, anyways..." Jonathon considered taking a break soon, to try and solve the problem.

"Jonathon! I think I see something!" Hrafn's call was pretty quite, but still loud enough to possibly scare off prey. Jonathon glanced at him irritably, then towards what he was looking at.

[Leviathan]

'Predators!' His voice echoed lightly as it traveled away from the hunting trio, birds of all sorts of color, mostly small birds too miniature to hunt, fluttered away from the area as they were indeed startled by such a sudden noise. If there was anything to hunt within a twenty meters radius, it was bound to be invisible to them now. No, they would have to travel farther now, thanks to the magnificent rabbit slayer of the group. Jonathon was fairly annoyed, as would be any true hunter. As they continued to trek, Hrafn too seemed to forget their situation, since in the distance he saw something by a small creek, most likely drinking. He called out to Jonathon, warning him about the creature he had spotted, yet the creature was not a deaf one. It too was startled by the sound of loud hunters storming through the forest like a brigade of soldiers. It turned out to be a deer, it was a surprise that Hrafn even saw it, yet in moments it had bound away in the opposite direction, and vanished into the world of the woods. Another three or four hours passed and there seemed to be no real target worth trying to kill, or at least none that wasn't scared away. And by this time, our adventurers started to feel the sting of hunger. They were not starving, not even close, but at that moment, all three of them were pondering the same thing. 'There is a rabbit to eat (or supplies if they had them), the sun is starting to fall (given, they still had a few hours of visibility left to hunt if they chose to), and camp won't set itself up (which was vital if they didn't plan to head home now)'. Out of the three of them, Jonathon was feeling particularly infected with a subtle anger. His companions who he had put faith into being decent partners, seemed almost to work against him and his cause. Something had to change if they expected any more spoils. As self proclaimed leader, what decision would he make, if anything?