Why Not? (Ven)

[Vala]

OOC Note : Ven, You can take more charge of the thread more often. It would probably take a lot of pressure off me. She used a handful of dry scratchy leaves to clean off bloody tip and shaft of her arrow. She was lucky; the arrow had not pierced the intestines as she had believed. She had to use her nail to scrape off the bit of bone that had latched itself onto the dented metal. It was a bit of rib; Vala had pierced the lungs. The arrow was sound; Vala nocked the same arrow. She glanced at Ven; it was sniffing and scratching – a good sign? He back tracked on the trail. Vala was never good with directions; she would count herself lucky if she got back to the gates. She followed him without question. Well just a little. Vala checked the trail first. This definitely wasn’t as fresh as the last; she had doubts on whether the prey would still be there if they followed the faded prints. She had never tracked before, but after her rabbit hunt with Ronin and their current success, she was starting to recognize the pattern. Vala crouched on bended knee. Her sensitive fingers traced the light oval indents in the dry and cracked dirt path. It was faint but she could just make out four toes at the very end of each individual print. The hare had not been in much of a hurry, the tracks were close together with frequent horizontal movement to augment the general lateral course. Ven was on to something. She stood back up, pulling the bow string until it was half taut. Vala said nothing, her lips pressed into a thin line. The bagged hare shifted around her hip as she walked. Lead the way. Vala’s cold eyes ordered.

[Ven]

With the icy glare she gave him he didn't need another thought to know what she was thinking, so quickly he went back onto the trail he picked up and followed it. No doubt it was another bunny, the scent still was the same even though it wasn't as strong. However the more he followed the unique scent the more he found it to be stronger, in fact he bound it strong enough as if something else had covered the tracks before him. This scent was about the same, but something was off. Far off. In fact he could only tell that this wasn't the same bunny because this scent had a wet musky smell.....like a wet dog. That raised his fur on edge, up ahead was no doubt a wolf. If there was such a thing, what should he do? What were he to do? Vala had to know that there was a possible threat ahead, and the tracks were hard to find underneath the growth of the shrubs and ferns. He didn't turn to her but still stood still, and within a moment he morphed into his human form.

He didn't turn to her when he did, he still faced the direction the trail went into. Before she could say anything he whispered, "Another animal is up ahead, and I believe it is a wolf. From the scent I have picked up it could only be one, but I can't say for sure." He eyed the forest left and right to find any sign that the wolf was somewhere, the trail wasn't that weak to begin with. So if the wolf was tracking down some supper, then it surely would've went after the bunny. When though? He took a moment to think for a minute, and then decided what he wanted. "I... know I was a bit excited about the next hunt, but what do you say we turn back just a bit... We can go ahead and eat the one we caught, and get back to hunting then..." He didn't want to tell her, but it was only natural that any sign of a wolf being nearby was danger to him. After all the last time he was in the wild and attacked by wolves he lost his master, and now here he is with the possibility of another wolf. He was not ready to encounter those predators again.

[Vala]

No matter how zoned into the hunt you are, not even if you are a sociopath who cares for no one but yourself – Having a naked man suddenly pop out in front of you is flustering. Ven was lucky Vala was a competent calligraphist and archer. If she had been a smidge less steady with her hands, she would have probably nailed his ass (his very naked ass). Her eye twitched, but she managed to keep a straight enough face when he began to talk to her. She could hear the string crying in pain, as she pulled it tauter, past the point of efficiency, but she didn’t dear loosen her grip seeing as the pain of the string cutting into her pads was helping her focus. She scowled, her brows furrowed, until her face was a mask of ugly disappointed ruts. She wasn’t disappointed, she was far from it, but Vala kept up the mask to hide the swirl of confusion that would have invaded her façade. For reasons unknown, it was far easier to act surly than nonchalant. Mouth zipped, Vala nodded. If she said anything, she risked letting something uncontrolled fall from her tongue. She turned on her heel, and began to make her way back to the human path. She did not loosen her hold on her nocked arrow. A wolf wouldn’t be worth it. Vala shivered as memories of the bear that had attacked her last season wracked her body. They had just caught rabbit, a pretty meager one at that. Vala had suggested the break in case her new sniffer fox wasn’t up to the task. Vala was a moderately competent archer, but a hunter, she was not. Ven was turning out to be a more useful resource than she had first expected him to be. The directionally challenged girl took her time, though not intentionally, getting back on track. She would have probably gotten them lost on some misleading side route had it not been for a craggy rock that Vala recognized. She walked up to blood red slab, pressing her palm against the steady surface. It was a risk to rely on a somewhat common type of rock to navigate on a mountain, but Vala was sure she was sure. She traced her fingers across the five main cracks that made their way from top to bottom. She even let her soft fingers linger over the sharply textured face at the right side. She definitely knew this rock. With her landmark to orient her, Vala continued down the path to her right until she could see past the dry foliage into the human path. Vala cleared the brush, Ven probably still at her heels, It wasn’t shame that kept her from looking at Ven. She had already given a speech about how she didn’t care much for social mores and demands for modesty. So no, no it wasn’t modesty keeping Vala from letting her eyes wander from their narrow view. It should be no surprise to anyone that Vala was leaving Ven a semblance of modesty only because she didn’t want to wake up in the morning with the image of a still awkward naked boy burned into her retinas. It was hard enough to wake up every morning realizing you were sharing your room with someone you just barely tolerated, only to have his naked bum niggling into your waking consciousness. Vala allowed herself a 30 degree wide view, never letting her head inch to the side lest Ven decided to walk up. As they walked, Vala unhitched her quiver, shouldering her bow. Her steps slowed, but never stopped as she began to untie Ven’s clothes from her quiver. Her fingers moved quickly and deftly to untie the simple knots. “Here.” Was the only warning she afforded the poor boy before tossing the set behind her, not really caring if he caught it or not. As she waited for him to get dressed, Vala began to look for landmarks to help her orient herself. They were walking further down the path, away from the gates, and she had already taken a right from a possible fork. From the few times she had gone down the path with other hunters, as an observer, they had reminded her to keep to the right of the path, assuming she was still a bumbling hunter. Only when she proved her worth, they said, should she take the leftward path. It had been a bit insulting to hear that, the taste of her own blood had filled her mouth throughout the entire trip as she bit her tongue both figuratively and literally. But even if they had been condescending, which was almost required of a higher caste member, at least they had given her some good advice. She knew they were still on track because a few meters ahead was ‘The Old Man’s Beak. A bulbous jutting face off the rock wall, it was a feature that so resembled an old man’s nose that it was an easy landmark for even novices to identify. As they walked under ‘The Old Man’s Beak, Vala reached her hand up; she was too short to touch it. She looked up, into the faintly distinguishable ‘nostrils’, where a good sized fist could nestle in. The rock underneath looked smoother, worn down, probably was. Even if Vala was too short, others of her race were not, and it was obvious that they took the opportunity to touch the beak; it was known to give one luck on the hunt. Vala scowled; she wasn’t superstitious, but didn’t mean she couldn’t be jealous. A few more meters. Vala walked on, faster now that they were so close to their destination; she wanted to get back to the hunt as soon as possible. A small campsite by the mountain ledge with breathtaking view, though that was a given being in Wind Reach. Before Vala sat down on the worn rock bench Vala scanned the area. The small fire pit, filled only with ashes and gray dry husks of logs, suggested it had been a while since anyone had started a fire. The small clearing could have held no more than ten men standing, but it was more enough than the two of them. Two good sized stones, made make shift benches that could have held two men each. Vala allowed herself a small smirk when she caught sight of a previously used skewering stick. One end had been burnt, but it was still quite usable. Waste not, want not. Vala walked over and picked it up; it felt sturdy and it was still dry: perfect. She sat down on the bench with her new treasure. She spoke to Ven, but still did not look at him. “I can start preparing the rabbit if you would be so kind as to fetch us some firewood.” Vala looked up. Her gaze lingered for a fleeting moment on Ven’s face before she looked to the path again. The campsite was both secluded and open; as in she wouldn’t see what was sneaking up on them right until they turned the corner. Vala did not let her guard down.

[Ven]

camp

"Yes Ma'am." Without word or hesitation Ven trudged about twenty feet away from the camp to find excellent wood that would make great fire, gathering as much as he could carry in each arm as he stumbled his way back to find Vala patiently waiting on the wood. She was alert and ready for anything, a hunter in her prime as Ven would call it. When he ventured about five more feet further than his last stop he found wood that was just as good, but not in the same amount. Still it was enough to keep the fire going, so braced himself for the pile he was about to grab until something stopped him. His mind shifted straight from picking up the wood to his instinct, which had kicked in faster than he could think. He felt odd like something or someone was watching him, but he wasn't sure if there was anything there. As he remained still his ears remained vigilant, his eyes searching around for anything that would move. Nothing had been picked up, besides the noise coming from the camp. Had Vala already begin working on the fire? He tried to pay attention to the sound a bit more, the shuffling of wood could be heard. Perhaps so, either way he cautiously returned to the task at hand. Gathering the wood before him while remaining cautious of any predator close by, moving swiftly until he was back in the camp with Vala. He placed the wood down and began helping her moving branches and sticks to the fire pit. He kept a low voice so he wouldn't startle Vala, or alert anything that could be nearby. "Vala, are bears....common to run into here?"

[Vala]

She had sent Ven on a ‘fetch’ mission to get him ‘out of her hair’, not having to rummage in the dirt was a nice bonus. Vala reached beneath the stone bench, fingers gingerly searching for a smooth nook. She smiled triumphantly when the dry tinder prickled her soft flesh. Pinching a good palm full, Vala pulled out a mass of dried hair, brush, and bark. She could have made kindling from the skin of the hare, but having a ready supply of tinder was good. Vala made a note to resupply the stash once they ate, while she did not believe in unrequited kindness, Vala strongly believed in quid pro quo. As Ven gathered firewood, Vala pulled a rusty, almost blunt blade from her pack. It was old and badly kept; Vala was only borrowing it from a mate from the library for the day. After watching Ronin skin a rabbit on their first hunt, Vala had taken the initiative to research it further in the Enclave – her favorite were the diagrams. Straddling the stone bench, Vala set the still stiff rabbit on its back. Blood matted the fur on the upper torso, but thankfully, there wasn’t much… matter. Using her left hand, Vala pinched the skin at the loose part of the white underbelly. Using the knife Vala began to cut a small hole in the skin. A bead of sweat dripped down her brow. It was crucial for her not to puncture the stomach lining, and possibly ruin their meal; the task was made all the more difficult with the blunt edge that refused to pierce properly. Vala started breathing again when she finally made it through the skin, just avoiding the stomach folds. Now, as if she was just removing a very tight jacket, Vala reached in with her fingers and began to pry the skin and fur away from the muscle. It was hard work; Vala grunted unconsciously, several times. Once all the fur was bunched up at either the head or feet, Vala prepared herself for the gristly stuff. At first, well just the first time, Vala had been naturally apprehensive to do such a thing, now her hands moved mechanically, her eyes staring on indifferently. Food was food. Unsure if the blunt knife would be able to saw through the sinew neck and crunchy spine, Vala decided to risk something brasher, more brutal, but possibly a hell of a lot more fun. The blade was as long as her finger; it was short enough to be maneuverable but long enough that she wouldn’t likely miss. Without wasting another moment, Vala raised the blade high above her head, left hand holding the skinned rabbit in place, and with calculated force, Vala brought the edge down hard, almost decapitating the corpse. A few fibers were particularly persistent, but at least her make shift guillotine broke through the spine without problems. With the head taken care off, Vala daintily snapped of the rabbit’s paws until nothing was left but torso and extremity-less limbs; it was like she was just snapping the ends of flowers, she was so callous. The rest was fairly straightforward. Because this was still Vala’s ‘first’ times preparing a rabbit on her own, she did not want to risk food poison by trying to identify the edible organs. It was a waste, she regretted that, but she tossed the puny little sacks into the bushes for the other animals to contest for. Wiping her sticky hands on the end of her byrda, Vala delicately uncapped her water flask. It was her drinking water, yet another waste, but she was in no mood to go traipsing back to the murky watering hole they had spotted earlier. Pouring no more than a mouth full, Vala cleaned out the hollowed innards of any remaining bile that could possibly poison them… though she did wonder if Ven could take it au natural since he was a ‘fox’. Unfortunately her curiosity would go unsatiated since she had to eat too. Ven returned. “Drop the wood by the fire pit. I’ll arrange it myself.” She frowned; she remembered. “Bears are not uncommon, but neither are they known to attack unless in dire circumstances. Why.[/i] She was not asking a question, it was more a comment on why was he wasting her time, so she was going to waste his on a rhetorical one. OOC Note : You really want to have a predator attack? If you do PM me so we can plot something reasonable.

[Phoenix]

Character: Vala Experience: Hunting- 5, Leadership- 5, Tracking- 3, Navigation- 3, Survival (Setting up camp)- 3, Skinning- 3 Lores:Learning a bit about Kelvic-ness, Taking charge of the mini-hunt, Trying to communicate with an animal, Giving silent instructions, Using anger to hide every other feeling, Setting up camp Character: Ven Experience: Hunting- 5, Tracking- 5, Navigation- 5, Survival- 5 Lores:Falling for Vala’s fakeness, Taking orders from a Yasi, Taking silent instructions, Finding the prey, Changing form to warn of danger, Knowing when a challenge is too great The Method, The Fire: I am sad that this thread had to stop before it ended- a predator attack would be awesome! The only suggestion I have is for Ven. Take control of your character, and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and make things happen. Don't simply wait for your thread partners to do it for you. Trust me, once you get used to taking the lead and making the thread move forward, it will be so much fun! If you just go along for the ride, it puts a lot more pressure on everyone else in the thread, as Vala mentioned. But otherwise, great job! Any questions or concerns, please send me a PM and I'll be happy to help!