[Flashback] An Autumn Hunt (Lanvira)

[Poison]

„Good.“ Valydor nodded curtly as Lanvira let him know that she didn’t have any questions. His gaze lingered on the young woman a while longer, and then he turned around and walked out of the house, the various members of the Nepenthes Web in tow. He didn’t talk a lot as they made their way across the thick ropes that were the streets of Kalinor and towards the Woven Gate. He mostly answered with „yes“ or „no“.

At the Woven Gate, he exchanged a few words with the guards. One of them turned to Lanvira and wished her good luck – apparently Valydor had informed him why they were leaving the city – and then they were already moving through empty caves and tunnels, closer and closer to the surface. After about twenty minutes Lanvira could see light in the distance, and the air smelled different as well. It was fresher, cooler, and there was the hint of a breeze.

„We are almost there“, Valydor explained. A few more metres, and the group of Symenestra were climbing through a hole in the ground and found themselves in a small hill. It was still morning. There was a thick layer of mist, half covering the forest beneath the hill. It was colder than it had been in Kalinor where the seasons never changed and the temperature was almost constant throughout the year.

Lanvira’s brothers looked at the scenery around them open mouthed. They hadn’t been on the surface very often and stared at the grass and the trees. Somewhere a bird sang. Their parents were mostly unaffected by the sight in front of them, but waited for Lanvira to make her way out of the hole and join them.

„Come here, Lanvira“, Valydor said. „We have a few moments before we walk down that hill. Where do you think is north?“ He gave her just a moment to answer before he asked another question. „What do you think is most important when going on a hunt? How do you ensure that your prey doesn’t run away before you ever get the chance to lay eyes on it?“

[Lanvira]

Lanvira ambled along behind Valydor with little difficulty, showing the dexterity she had earned through years of just exploring the city as well as simply traveling along the silken strands that served as bridges. She had some questions of course, as much of the hunt was still sort of ambiguous, but she let her brothers ask the questions to which Valydor only answered with a "yes" or "no." Now that she was getting the blood flowing and more awake than before when the news of her first solo hunt reached her, Lanvira was feeling a bit more excited at the prospect. Nervous yes, but the excitement of being outside the city was slowing starting to overshadow the anxiety. At the woven gate she paid little attention to the quick conversation between Valydor and the guards, having expected him to inform them of their departure. What took her by surprise was the guard wishing her luck, to which she stammered a reply as they passed. The journey through the tunnels to the surface was little different, silence accompanied by the occasional shift of stone or gear. Twenty minutes into their journey she could feel a shift in the air and smell the crispness that accompanied fresh air. She was the last to climb out onto the surface of their party, her brothers staring out at the world in wonder as her parents and Valydor seemed unimpressed. Lanvira herself simply closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking in the difference of the outside world from Kalinor. It was strange, having the open sky above her and the coolness of the air. She turned and traveled the few steps over as Valydor called to her. Her head tilted slightly as he asked her the first question, but before she could give an answer he bombarded her with several more. To the first she shrugged a bit, she had no idea which way was north in the open skies, her father having led her on the few times she'd come outside before. "I'm sorry but I have no idea which direction would be north, the few times I've come outside the city were in the company of my father." Lanvira took a moment to think before answering the other two questions. "To what is most important I would have to say where you are, what good is it to catch your prey if you yourself become lost. To your other question I can only guess to stay down wind, I remember father mentioning something about how many animals have superior senses that can warn them before you even get close."

[Poison]

„No, you wouldn’t have any idea where north is“, Valydor murmurred. It was hard to tell whether he was disappointed or not. His face wasn’t particularly expressive. He turned to her father, as if he wanted to criticize him for not teaching her more about surviving in the wilderness, but then he just looked at him curtly and adressed Lanvira once more. „There are two very simple methods. The first requires sunlight to be present. Since it is still very early in the day, there is not a lot of sunlight there yet.“ He gestured towards the mist that still surrounded them. „But the other method will work. Boys ...“ he adressed Lanvira’s brothers now. „You’ll pay attention as well.“ Lanvira’s brothers nodded. They seemed to be looking forward to learning more.

It was then Valydor realized that he hadn’t reacted to her answer yet. „That is correct“, he remarked. His impression of her had just improved somewhat. „Many animals have superior senses, and thus we’ll be quiet from now on. Follow me down the hill.“ Behind Valydor and Lanvira the boys had started whispering among themselves which earned them a hard look from the hunter. „Quiet, I said“, he told them. The two young Symenestra had the decency to look a little guilty as they climbed down the hill behind the adults.

It didn’t take them particularly long to reach the bottom of the hill. Lanvira found herself surrounded by high trees now. The very air arround her smelled different now. She could smell plants and flowers and the earth beneath her feet. It was totally unlike Kalinor. Where she had only heard the birds before, she could hear other animals as well, and she could see some kind of bug crawling on the floor.

Valydor stood next to a tree that was covered with moss. „You said that it is important to know where you are so that you don’t get lost. Moss always grows on the south side of a tree because that is where it gets the sunlight it needs. It will never grow on the north side. If you are standing looking at the side of the tree that has moss on it – like we are now – then you are facing north. Kalinor is north of us. We will go south now.“

„Do you think you’ll remember that?“

[Lanvira]

Lanvira trekked lightly behind Valydor, her steps light and even, leaving only small indents in the soft grass to mark her passing. The ground was different and small bits stuck to the bottoms of her feet, squishing softly when she pressed her weight down on each foot. The dimmed light siphoning through the mist had made it easier on her eyes, though it also rounded out the edges and blurred the figures of their party as they moved. Not enough to lose anyone, but it was noticeable. She kept quiet as her brothers were reprimanded, taking in the sights quietly unlike her siblings. Topside was as she remembered from the infrequent trips she'd made with her father, though those memories were hazier than the mist they currently stood in. Were the things she could hear now always there? She paused mid step, staring downwards at some sort of insect crawling by, taking note of how it moved as the rest of their party passed her by. Carefully stepping over the creature she moved a little quicker to catch up as Valydor stopped by a tree. She listened carefully as he explained how to identify which way was north, though her eyes wandered up along the tree beyond where the moss grew as well. Lanvira took a moment to squat down, ignoring the last question by Valydor for a moment as she reached out to touch the moss on the tree, deft fingers picking at it a little to remove a small portion that she rolled in her fingers for a moment before it broke up. "Yes.." she replied, trailing off a bit as she stared at the moss. "I should remember that just fine. What's the other method of telling which way is north? Even if there needs to be more sunlight to demonstrate, it might be nice to know it before hand." Granted the man was probably waiting for enough sunlight to demonstrate, but there was also the off chance that he would forget later in the day as they had to teach her everything they could before she went off on her own.

[Poison]

„The other method ...“ Valydor began and broke a branch off a tree. „... is this one.“ He cleared the branch from leaves and placed it upright in the ground. Lanvira’s brothers stood next to her because they wanted to watch as well. Valydor didn’t continue to explain right away though, but began to search the ground. His hand eventually closed around something. As he returned to the branch, Lanvira could see that he was holding two small stones.

„If the sun were shining, the branch would cast a shadow, and I’d mark the tip of the shadow with something ...“ He placed the stone on the ground. „... and then I’d wait a while. The shadow would mostly move from west to east in a curved line. I’d proceed to mark the new position of the shadow in a similar fashion.“ He placed the second stone on the ground as well, and then he broke another branch off. „After that I’d connect the two marks. This would be an east-west line.“ He placed the second branch on the ground.

„Finally I would position myself here.“ He pointed at the middle between the two marks. „The first mark would be on my left, the second one on my right. I would thus be facing north. But as I said, the sun isn’t shining right now, and thus we don’t have any shadows.“ He removed the branches and the rocks again.

Seeing that the demonstration was over, the boys began to grow restless again. One of them had apparently spotted something and pointed at a branch high up in a tree excitedly. The other boy nodded. By the time Valydor and their parents reacted, he was already halfway up the tree, grinning like an idiot. Now Lanvira could see what had caught his attention as well. He had found a bird’s nest with eggs!

„Down!“ Valydor told the boy. „You don’t need the eggs, do you? Only take something from the forest if you absolutely need it. We have our food with us, and it isn’t right to destroy a bird’s nest for fun either. Let’s continue. I don’t want to spend the whole day here. And be quiet again. Lanvira, I want you to pay particular attention. You will occasionally see traces of animals, bits of hair or marks they have left on trees. You will also hear sounds. I want you to try and identify the animal that made them.“

[Lanvira]

Lanvira took careful note of the other method of finding north. Their current position had placed them with plenty of trees, meaning that the initial method that Valydor had shown would be most effective in the woods. The sundial method, however, would be better used in other locations. She frowned a moment, fidgeting in place a little as she tried to memorize everything. It was important information for staying alive after all. Intent on remembering the pattern for the stones, she barely even registered that her brothers had left her side until Valydor was chastising them. She glanced up at hearing her name, nodding her head in acceptance before glancing back out into the woods. Her eyes roamed the area, searching and hoping to find something so as not to simply be quiet till the huntsman pointed something out to her. It wasn't as if she was experienced at finding trail, but for some reason she really didn't want to disappoint. She chewed a little on her lower lip, listening to the noise coming from father out in the woods beyond eyesight. There were scratches on various trees, no doubt from some small mammal or rodent, but for the moment Lanvira ignored them, hoping for bigger game. What she needed was a deer, or rabbit, something... bigger. She could hear birds, a good variety of calls, but could identify none. Her father had mentioned the names of various animals above Kalinor but never had she heard them. Perhaps if she could spot them.... In the end Lanvira shook her head, a bit upset at having spotted nothing of note.

[Poison]

Valydor made a face as he noticed that Lanvira seemed to have a hard time finding animals or identifying the birds that sang in the trees above them. But then again, he had expected that. He gestured for her to come closer.

„Can you see that?“ he asked her and pointed at a spot directly in front of him. „These are deer tracks on the ground. They look a little like an upside-down heart, don’t you think? The sides of the track are convex, and the tips of the hooves are located towards the inside of the track. Take a look at those leaves.“ He pointed south where the fallen leaves had been kicked up. „The deer moved into that direction.“

„If the deer had grazed here rather than simply moving through, you’d also find a lot of hair here. Which other animals do you think you can find in a forest like this one? Do you think there are rabbits for example?“ While he waited for Lanvira’s answer, he gestured for everybody to follow him. „We’ll reach our destination soon. There is a clearing further ahead. We will stop there, I will explain a few more things to you, and then we’ll separate."

„I think father would be very impressed if you brought a deer home“, one of Lanvira’s brothers whispered into her ear.