Location: Wilderness just outside Ravok
Aello knocked an arrow onto the serving of her bow. The peacock feathers that tipped her arrows tickled her fingers as she slowly raised her bow, so that the string was pulled back past her smile, and her right eye was staring down the length of the arrow. Aello moved her bow so that it was a few more inches to the left. Her left hand was clenching more and more tightly on the grip with anticipation, her thumb guiding the arrow. The three middle fingers of her right hand were growing sore as they pulled back more and more tightly on the string. Aello was barely breathing, as she sighted down the arrow, squinting slightly as she did her best to perfect her aim. She had been hunting a doe, who was standing approximately twenty feet away. The doe had bent its head down delicately, and pulled several dark green leaves away from a low-lying shrub. Slowly, it lifted its head back up, and chewed on the leaves, glancing around from time to time with its large black eyes, surveying the area for possible threats to its existence. This was her chance! Aello thought, as she pulled back on the bowstring before letting it go. The arrow propelled off of her bow, and flew straight for the doe. The long legged, dark-furred creature must have heard it, or been startled off for some other reason, because just before the arrow hit it’s mark, the doe scampered away into the woods.
“Petch!” Aello cursed as she gripped more tightly onto her bow, her knuckles growing white. Aello stepped out of the pile of small white flowers she had been standing in. She took a few deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth to help herself calm down. She had been so close to having venison for dinner, she thought, before letting out a loud sigh. “Well we can’t always get what we want,” Aello muttered under her breath, figuring she should go claim her arrow before she let too much time lapse between the time she shot it, and the time in which she went to retrieve it. After all, the longer the waited, the more likely she was to forget where it had gone.
Aello took a few steps forward, while looking down at her feet, and moving her head slightly back and forth, so that her eyes would be able to scan more of the terrain that surrounded her. Aello walked like this for a few moments before stepping into a clearing, and looking up. She was surrounded by a thin line of trees, and inch-long green grass coated the forest floor. A thin stream of light trickled down and into the clearing, casting it in a pale yellow color. In the center of the clearing, rested Aello's arrow.
The peacock-feathers that fletched it were gently swaying in the breeze, and the arrowhead was imbedded in the cold earth. Aello strode over to the center of the clearing and dropped her bow. She then bent over at the waist, and placed her left hand on the ground. The arrow was resting between the space in-between her thumb and index fingers. Her right hand reached down as and clutched as close to the bottom of the arrow as she could. Slowly, Aello twisted the arrow and pulled it out of the ground. She straightened herself up, the tip of her arrow was covered in dirt. Aello wiped it off on the grass before sticking it back in her quiver with the others. She then picked up her bow, and gripped it tightly in her right hand, just as a low howling sound was heard. Aello looked wildly around her, waiting for whatever had made that sound to come walking towards her, out of the line of trees.
It didn't take long for Aello to spot the source of the noise padding out from the thin line of trees. A pure white wolf with golden eyes was heading towards her. Its mouth was hanging open, in a wide snarl, a low guttural sound reaching Aello's ears. All of the wolf's pearly white teeth were exposed; glimmering with a thin sheen of fresh saliva, that dripped off the tips of the wolf's elongated canine teeth. The wolf seemed to be alone, but even so, this was so not what Aello needed right now.
Aello gripped her bow even more tightly, her knuckles growing white as she took a cautious step back, and her brow began to sweat. The wolf inched closer and closer, growling relentlessly as it approached, its bushy white tail swishing back and forth. Aello gulped, "petch," she whispered as she slowly reached a hand behind her and pulled out an arrow from her quiver, she knocked it as the wolf stared her down. Its eyes were blazing while hers were filled with trepidation.
The two were circling around the tiny clearing. They were barely fifteen feet away from each other. Aello was scarcely breathing, but her heart was pounding, and her palms felt sweaty.
Aello's bow was pointed at the ground. After having decided that this would never end unless she made a move, Aello raised the bow just a bit, as she pulled back on the bowstring and let go. The arrow shot out of the bow, and pierced the wolf in its front right paw. A thin trickle of blood spilled out of the wound and onto the ground, clumping in the wolf's white fur. The wolf emitted a pained howl, which gave Aello just enough time to drop her bow and retrieve the cursed blade from concealment before it lunged at her.
The wolf jumped on top of Aello, forcing her to the ground. She fell with a low thud.
The wolf had run into the blade, and its front right leg had been slashed on impact, blood was streaming from the wound, but the wolf seemed to be ignoring it as it attempted to get back at Aello. If it wasn't for her left hand pushing the wolf's neck away, and the blood loss making the wolf weaker, the wolf would have ripped her head off.
As the wolf clawed at her chest, ripping her clothes, and drawing thin lines of blood here and there, Aello gasped. Not only were her clothes now ruined, but she now had several cuts on her chest, and was losing blood. Thankfully, they weren't too deep or she'd more than likely be dead already.
Crying out in pain, Aello tried to lift her hand again, it was still wedged under the wolf's body. She only had about three inches worth of wiggle room, but it was enough to bring her hand up and to plunge the knife into the wolf's belly. The wolf let out a startled yelp, and let up on Aello enough where she could just pull the blade out, only to plunge it into the wolf's flesh again.
The wolf howled as blood dripped down the blade and onto Aello's hands. The blood was warm. Crimson red. It smelled metallic, and Aello couldn't help but scrunch up her nose in disgust as the wolf staggered, and took a step off her body.
Aello got up slowly and walked over to the spot where the wolf was bleeding and crying out in pain. She pulled the knife out of its belly before plunging it into the wolf's right shoulder, pulling it out, and then bringing it down on the wolf's left shoulder.
Blood was spilling out everywhere. It had splattered onto Aello's face, onto her clothes, it was pooling out of all the wolf's wounds, and dripping from Aello's knife and fingertips. The wolf's chest was heaving, and it seemed to be wheezing. Its fur, which had once been pure white like snow, was now caked with crimson red, and drying brown blood. Its eyes were starting to glaze over, the animal seemed close to death.
Aello was starting to get dizzy. Her heart was pounding in her tiny rib cage, and her eyes felt heavy and sticky with sweat. Her hands were shaking, and sweat poured down the sides of her cheeks. She would have to end this soon, or risk passing out. Silently praying to any of the gods to help her, Aello brought the knife down, running it through the wolf's snout.
When Aello pulled the blade out, a thin trickle of blood shot out as the wolf crumbled to the floor. Its eyes closed; dead. Aello dropped the knife, it landed in the grass with a muffled thud.
Aello fell back in the grass. Her wounds were still bleeding, and although they weren't deep or likely to leave scars, the blood loss was enough to make her dizzy, and so very tired. Aello looked up at the sky through the barren tree branches, hoping that they'd clot on their own if she lay still long enough. Aello closed her eyes, and everything went black.
The Wolf :
